Education Week has tracked states’ testing plans in math and English/language arts since 2014. This year’s survey found a continued, steady erosion in the number of states using the PARCC or Smarter Balanced common-core-aligned tests: five fewer than in 2017. The number of states requiring students to take college-admissions tests, or pass an exit exam to graduate, is holding steady. (For an interactive breakdown of states’ 2016-17 testing plans, click here.)
Below are highlights from the latest survey of testing plans. Scroll down to see the full results for 2019.
- Which States Use PARCC or Smarter Balanced?
- Which States Require Students to Take the SAT or ACT?
- Which States Require Exit Exams?
- What Tests Are States Requiring in 2018-19?
Which States Use PARCC or Smarter Balanced?
Only ONE-THIRD of the states use the PARCC or Smarter Balanced tests.
- Fifteen states and the District of Columbia will administer PARCC or Smarter Balanced tests in the spring of 2019. That’s five fewer than in 2016 and 2017.
- Thirty-two states use tests they designed or bought.
- Three states give hybrid tests. Two mix their own questions with items from the PARCC/New Meridian item bank, and one adds its own questions onto the full Smarter Balanced test.
Read more about the current state of common-core tests.
Which States Require Students to Take the SAT or ACT?
Requiring the ACT or SAT is HOLDING STEADY after a rise in popularity.
- Twenty-five states require students to take the SAT or ACT, the same number as in 2016 and 2017. That number had been climbing steadily—from seven states a decade ago— as states looked for ways to encourage students to go to college.
Which States Require Exit Exams?
Requiring exit exams is HOLDING STEADY after a decline.
- Thirteen states require students to pass a test to get a high school diploma, one more than in 2017. In some states, students can use projects or portfolios to meet this requirement. Exit exams used to be more popular: In 2002, more than half the states required them.
What Tests Are States Requiring in 2018-19?
Below is a complete breakdown of results from our state survey.
