Years ago, college was held up as the ultimate destination for every K-12 student.
These days, policymakers in both parties are quick to say that preparing students for the workforce is every bit as important as getting them ready for college.
In response to the Trump administration’s pledge for greater flexibility on K-12 policy, states are putting the idea that career and technical education is on par with college to the test—literally.
Alabama is seeking a waiver from the Every Student Succeeds Act that would require all students to take both the ACT college entrance exam (which the Yellowhammer State already uses to fulfill ESSA’s requirement for a high school assessment) and ACT WorkKeys, an exam created by the same organization to gauge career readiness.
And Idaho initially drafted a waiver request that would have allowed individual high schoolers to choose the assessment that best aligns with their post-graduation plans, instead of giving all kids the same test.
Leaders in both states argue that these changes would ensure high school assessments better measure students’ preparedness for life after graduation, whether that’s post-secondary education or immediately joining the workforce.
Advocates for educational equity, meanwhile, contend the proposals would water down academic standards.
It is also unclear whether the plans will pass muster with the U.S. Department of Education, which must approve ESSA waivers.
The law requires states to use the same test in every district, with limited exceptions, potentially complicating these proposals.
In considering such requests for flexibility, the department is trying to balance the Trump administration’s core belief that states are better positioned than Washington to lead the way on K-12, with an imperative to boost student achievement and enforce the legal requirements in ESSA, said Kirsten Baesler, the assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education, in an interview with Education Week earlier this year.
Idaho hit the pause button on letting high school students choose their own test
In fact, Idaho has already put its ask on hold in response to feedback from the federal Education Department.
Under the state’s original proposal, drafted last year, 11th graders could choose among a proposed menu of assessments to fulfill the state’s testing requirement, including the state’s current high school test, the SAT, the ACT, the Classic Learning Test, ACT’s WorkKeys, and the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB).
Idaho still plans to submit the proposal, but will complete work showing that these alternate tests are valid and reliable and align to state standards before formally asking for the waiver, said Maggie Reynolds, a spokesperson for the Idaho Department of Education.
“Our preference is to create the strongest request possible by having the 11th grade test alignment in place prior to submission,” Reynolds said in an email.
Debbie Critchfield, the state’s superintendent of public instruction, remains committed to pursuing the flexibility, in part because she believes that giving students the chance to choose a test that fits their future plans will make the high school assessment more meaningful to students, Reynolds added.
Critchfield said earlier this year that proposal would help put career-based education on par with postsecondary readiness.
“We do a fantastic job getting kids to college. If you want to go to college, we’re going to help you get there,” said Critchfield in an interview in February, before the state decided to hit the pause button on the high school assessment portion of its waiver request.
The request would help Idaho’s schools “get as good at all of the other things that are available and that, frankly, our kids are interested in,” Critchfield added. “My whole goal in this is to provide a relevant experience for every kid.”
Alabama wants every student to take both a college-entrance and a workforce readiness test
Eric Mackey, Alabama’s state chief, made a similar argument about his state’s pitch to require all students to take both the ACT and ACT WorkKeys.
“We had this period where we thought, well, everybody needs to go to college, which was probably never a good, reasonable idea,” Mackey said in an interview earlier this year.
Mackey believes that schools should still prepare every student for post-secondary education, but that career readiness should be seen as equally important.
“If we only give schools credit on their accountability system for how many kids they get to college proficiency, then we’re going to have this whole group of other students doing good work that doesn’t get measured,” Mackey said.
So far, the biggest pushback in the state has come from the highest performing districts, which tend to send most of their students to four-year colleges, Mackey said.
Those districts initially argued that they did not need to use the WorkKeys assessment because “all of our kids are going to college,” Mackey said. But Mackey countered with the idea that all students need to understand how to use their academic knowledge on the job.
“I can be extremely bright, but I also need to know how to apply those skills,” he said.
The states’ testing proposals could close off long-term options for students, advocates say
Amy Loyd, the chief executive officer of All4Ed, a nonprofit focused on educational equity and preparing students for life after high school, worries that Idaho’s and Alabama’s asks could limit students’ future choices.
“Education needs to be in the business of expanding opportunities and never foreclosing on them,” said Loyd, who served as assistant secretary of the Education Department’s office of career, technical, and adult education during the Biden administration.
Policymakers should strive to ensure there’s “no wrong door, no dead end, [when] we design pathways. And my concern about this is that [the waivers] could be inadvertently or deliberately narrowing students’ options after high school.”
Idaho’s proposal to let students choose their own test might lead schools to steer certain students towards less academically rigorous options, essentially creating a “tracking issue that is dressed up as choice,” Loyd said.
And in Loyd’s mind, incorporating WorkKeys alongside ACT into Alabama’s accountability system would also diminish academic expectations.
While ACT is widely recognized by colleges as an entrance examination, WorkKeys doesn’t have the same status among employers, Loyd argued.
The test “does not necessarily predict employment outcomes and traction in the labor market,” she said. “I worry that mandating it statewide [is] putting a lot of time and money and energy towards something that does not have an evidence base.”
But Colin Dingler, the senior director of policy at ACT, said WorkKeys is recognized by 656 employers in Alabama, from small businesses to large corporations.
About two-third of 11th graders in the state already take the WorkKeys test, he added.
Those who argue that WorkKeys lacks rigor are likely “cherry-picking the test’s most basic questions,” Dingler said. “WorkKeys measures a student’s ability to apply the academic skills and knowledge needed for success across a vast range of workplace settings. The key is that test takers can only earn the highest-level, work-ready certifications by demonstrating proficiency in high school-level math skills, such as linear, quadratic, and exponential functions and interpreting categorical and quantitative data.”
Lazaro Lopez, who oversees career-connected education as the associate superintendent for teaching and learning for High School District 214 outside Chicago, sees both the Alabama and Idaho proposals as a step in the wrong direction.
Alabama’s waiver ask would amount to additional testing, said Lopez, a 2025 Education Week Leader to Learn From.
He believes current testing requirements are already sufficient, and a new test would divert time and effort from “giving students real-world experiences that help them discover their future.”
And Idaho’s proposal might lead to students missing out on academic preparation they need to be successful in workforce education.
“Many of the skills that you’re using in career and tech ed. are actually applications of high levels of physics and algebra and technical reading,” Lopez said. “All students really need the same level of academic readiness in order to prepare for post-high school opportunities, whatever those might be.”
