Peter Schorsch
In a recent report published by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a public policy think tank, Jeremy Wayne Tate, founder and CEO of the Classic Learning Test (CLT), outlines how limited standardized testing options hamper the benefits of school choice.
Tate emphasizes that diversifying assessment choice must go hand in hand with the expansion of school choice.
The report highlights a January 2024 survey revealing that 72% of parents considered a new school for their child at some point in the previous year alone. Alternatives to traditional public education are on the rise, and Florida has emerged as a leader in embracing parents’ rights to choose where their child goes to school.
Florida has led the charge in empowering students to achieve their educational goals through school choice options. Two years ago, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 1, establishing universal school choice for every student, regardless of background or financial situation. This prioritization of school choice also included the expansion of classical education options for students.
DeSantis recently announced that, as of January 2025, Florida has surpassed 1.4 million students utilizing a school choice option statewide, with 500,000 students participating in the state’s school choice scholarship program.
Florida has also been welcoming to diverse testing options. In 2023, the Legislature approved, and DeSantis signed, a measure that enabled high school students to use the CLT to qualify for graduation and to earn Bright Futures scholarships. Later that year, the Board of Governors voted to accept the CLT as an alternative to the SAT and ACT for college admissions.
Since its implementation in Florida, CLT has administered more than 120,000 tests to Florida students. Launched in 2015, the CLT is accepted by over 270 colleges across the U.S. with more currently considering adopting it.
Other states, such as Texas and Tennessee, have also begun to follow Florida’s blueprint for educational freedom and are adopting policies inspired by Florida’s success.
In the report, Tate stresses that assessment options must keep pace with education choice expansions. He argues that banning standardized testing is not the solution. Instead, he advocates for testing choice, which offers the flexibility students, teachers, and parents need to achieve their educational goals.
“With testing choice, schools can either choose a test that fits their pedagogical style or allow students to choose from a number of tests, thus freeing teachers from the pressure to mold lesson plans to one assessment.”
AEI’s report highlights that a symbiotic relationship between school choice and assessment choice is vital for sustainable expansion of educational freedom, outlining that the right of families to choose the optimal educational environment for their child must be accompanied by a right to choose between a variety of assessment options to measure their child’s success.
Alternative assessment options will guarantee that students are not artificially confined to a one-size-fits-all system that does not accurately measure their success in school. By coupling school choice with assessment choice, Tate says parents and educators will pave the way for a brighter future for students across the nation.
