U.S. panel debates standard college tests

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- A federally appointed U.S. panel is debating whether there should be nationally standardized tests at the college and university level.

The 19-member Commission on the Future of Higher Education, appointed last fall by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, has until August to make a report on issues that include accountability, cost and quality.

The chairman, Charles Miller, wrote to members that standardization works hand-in-hand with accountability.

"What is clearly lacking is a nationwide system for comparative performance purposes, using standard formats," Miller wrote. He was head of the Regents of the University of Texas several years ago when they directed the university's nine campuses to use standardized tests to prove students were learning.

The New York Times said that concept is of concern to David Warren, president of the National Association of Independent Colleges, which represents private, non-profit colleges.

"What we oppose is a single, national, high-stakes, one-size-fits-all, uber-outcome exam," Warren said. "The notion of a single exam implies there are national standards, and that implies a national curriculum. Then we are on the way to a centralized Prussian education system."