National Tests: What Other Countries Expect Their Students To Know.

Several leaders in education have concluded that the United States should have some form of national achievement testing. Such tests are proposed as part of the "America 2000" education strategy. Believing that the experience of other countries will be useful to educators, policymakers, and concerned citizens, the National Endowment for the Humanities provides English examples, in this document, of tests administered in other countries. Tests in the humanities are sampled, because the importance of the humanities is more likely to be overlooked than mathematics and the sciences. The examinations sampled make it clear that other nations are setting very high standards for the humanities. Most advocates of national testing in the United States argue that the tests should demonstrate that students can use the knowledge they have gained (performance tests). It is emphasized that national testing need not entail a national curriculum. Test examples from France, West Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, and the European Schools of the European Community are presented. A 22-item list of references is included. (SLD)