A national test on various subjects administered at the same time is about the only way to compare educational outcomes. The AP and SAT subject tests are the ones that come close.
You cannot drop the same curriculum into a Texas agricultural border town that you have on Long Island. That is why you must allow for local conditions. There will be an ag-vo-tech emphasis in that ag town with none of that at NY magnet school.
I think "testing" should be early and often to track how a student is doing with results going back into an individualized instruction set. A lot of online coursework does this with good results.
Its a shame that bricks and mortar schools cannot adapt.
Many if not most school administrators do not want these types of tests (early and often ) because they will have to explain why some schools fail them.
Unfortunately, there is a hidden agenda among many who want "national standards." - the most obvious of which is the insertion of various philosophies into the curriculum. Another problem with national standards is that it stifles the desire for local experimentation and policy research which is where innovation comes from.
