Council Seeks a National Testing System by 1993-94

By Robert Rothman

WASHINGTON--A national assessment system should be created in at least three subjects by the /993-94 school year, a Congressionally mandated panel has concluded.

Acting at a meeting here last month, the National Council on Education Standards and Testing rejected the idea of a single national test. Instead, the panel agreed that states should be encouraged to collaborate to create assessments that would be judged according to national standards.

The panel also agreed that, initially, the exams should be in reading, writing, and mathematics, and that the first--for 4th graders-should be in...