A National Test We Don't Need

Five years ago, many states did not regularly measure their students' performance against the tough NAEP standards. Today, all 50 do. The president's plan to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act calls on states to post their scores side-by-side with the NAEP results. This would increase transparency and drive up the political will to raise state standards.

We are already seeing heartening signs of change. States are aligning high school coursework with college and employer expectations. Many have adopted a core curriculum of four years of English and three years each of math and science. Recently, nine states announced a common Algebra II assessment, the largest such effort ever undertaken.

In addition, all 50 governors have agreed to adopt a common measure of graduation rates to help solve the dropout crisis. "There is more momentum in the states now than at any time since . . . the release of 'A Nation at Risk,' " reports Achieve Inc., an alliance of governors and business leaders dedicated to high standards.

Our approach is working for students. According to NAEP, more reading progress was made by 9-year-olds from 1999 to 2004 than in the previous 28 years combined. Math scores have reached record highs across the board. History scores improved in all three grade levels tested -- fourth, eighth and 12th. And the number of students taking an Advanced Placement exam in high school has risen 39 percent since 2000.

President Bush wants to build on this progress. His plan would train more teachers to lead advanced math and science classes. It would offer incentives for the best teachers to work in the most challenging environments. It would also provide more choices and options, such as intensive tutoring and scholarships, to help children in underperforming schools -- measures opposed by the big teachers unions.

Accountability can light the way forward. But only higher standards can take us there. We've knocked down the blackboard wall that once stood between schools and parents. Now we must work with Congress and the states to share and replicate best practices, not scrap them for an untested system.

Our goal is a public education system that is transparent and responsive to the needs of parents and children -- not to the whims of Washington.

The writer is the secretary of education.