America's K-12 education system is in the middle of an exciting transformation driven by the principles of choice and competition. In the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, educators, states, and families are embracing innovative, market-oriented ways to measure and celebrate student achievement.

While recovery from learning disruptions continues, a movement toward flexibility in selecting from among high-quality assessments is gaining momentum – offering students more opportunities to shine in ways that align with their unique strengths and school missions, all powered by the dynamism of free markets.

Leading the charge are states like Florida, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Texas, and others that have integrated the Classic Learning Test (CLT) as a recognized option for college admissions, scholarships, and even high school accountability.

Florida's pioneering adoption in 2023 has been particularly successful: Over 120,000 students participated in the 2023–2024 school year alone, with the CLT now accepted for Bright Futures scholarships, state university admissions, dual enrollment, and graduation requirements. Early results show promising predictive power for college success.

This growing acceptance – now extending to the U.S. service academies starting in the 2027 admissions cycle – highlights the value of diverse, rigorous pathways that honor classical education, critical thinking, and timeless texts, proving how competition unleashes better options.

The vision for the future is clear: States should expand this momentum by offering more test choice to bring competition, such as through a "menu of assessments" that states can implement under existing frameworks like the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Schools could select from a pre-approved list of options – including the SAT, ACT, CLT, and others – while still meeting accountability standards.

This approach celebrates educational freedom and free-market principles: A classical academy focused on Greek philosophy and civic virtue could thrive with the CLT's emphasis on deep reading and reasoning. Another might prefer to keep the SAT.

By matching assessments to school missions, educators can foster deeper student engagement, higher motivation, and stronger outcomes – particularly for underserved students, diverse learners, and those in specialized programs.

Just as school choice competition improves public schools by forcing them to innovate and perform better through market incentives, test choice competition improves existing tests by creating incentives for providers not to dumb them down over time, to stay out of politics, and to measure true merit – rewards that only flourish in a competitive, free-market environment.

In Utah, legislators have introduced House Bill 234, which would initiate a pilot program allowing for a small portion of schools to have the flexibility that more test choice would provide. House Bill 2482 in Kansas would similarly end the ACT's monopoly over public high school testing enshrined in state law and allow for testing choice.

In Indiana, the Senate has passed SB 88 by a vote of 39 to 9 with bipartisan support, requiring public universities to accept the Classic Learning Test in the same way the schools accept ACT and SAT. The bill is now being considered in the House. Similar bills are now moving in legislatures in Iowa, Georgia, Ohio, and West Virginia.

Indiana should go a step further by passing legislation to allow private schools participating in their EdChoice scholarship program to choose a nationally norm-referenced test. They're currently one of the few school choice programs that forces private schools to administer the state test, a one-size-fits-all approach that defeats the purpose of letting a thousand flowers bloom with meaningful school choice and a variety of options.

Real-world successes demonstrate the power of this flexibility. In Florida, widespread CLT adoption has expanded access and driven competition that benefits all students, showing how market forces elevate quality. States like Louisiana and New Hampshire have pioneered innovative systems under ESSA's Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority (IADA), blending local insights with benchmarks to create assessments that better reflect varied curricula.

Recent developments such as Missouri's 2025 IADA approval for modular, personalized assessments starting in 2025–2026, show how states are building on this foundation to enhance instructional value and support student growth.

Consider the SAT's history of dumbing down over time, including shortened reading sections that reduce emphasis on deep comprehension – these changes highlight why competition is essential to keep assessments rigorous, apolitical, and responsive to real needs, countering the stagnation that monopolies breed.

A recent study conducted by University of Cincinnati researchers found that “SAT math difficulty decreased by an average of 0.21 [standard deviations]” between 2012 and 2023.

The advantages are transformative:

• Aligned assessments boost motivation and achievement by providing validation of the pedagogical choices of parents and schools.

• Competition among providers encourages ongoing innovation, such as digital formats and improved validity, as free markets reward excellence.

• School choice and personalization flourish, attracting families to mission-driven programs and supporting retention in specialized settings through consumer-driven demand.

• Concordance studies enable fair comparisons across tests, and IADA pilots scale only after demonstrating success, comparability, and compliance.

In an era of school choice and individualized learning, more test choice honors educational freedom by empowering states and educators to innovate without expanding federal overreach, letting free-market competition drive progress.

By embracing thoughtful pilots and expansions, policymakers can help create a system where assessments don't just measure learning – they inspire it, celebrate student potential, and prepare the next generation for success.