More Teaching Less Testing Act of 2023
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
More Teaching Less Testing Act of 2023
This bill reauthorizes certain programs and revises standardized testing requirements for public elementary and secondary schools.
Specifically, the bill removes the requirement for annual summative assessments to be administered to students every year in grades 3-8. The bill allows states to implement grade-span testing, representative sampling, or a combination of grade-span testing with either representative sampling or matrix sampling.
Additionally, the bill requires states to carry out a 90-day public comment period in order to set a target limit on the aggregate amount of time devoted to the administration of and preparation for assessments for each grade.
The bill establishes a task force within the National Center for Education Research to study and report on, among other things, the impact of standardized testing on student wellness, learning, and postsecondary education success.
The bill extends the demonstration period for state educational agencies (SEAs) to establish innovative assessment systems. It also increases the number of SEAs that may participate in these demonstrations.
Next, the bill authorizes for an additional 10 years a grant program that provides aid to local educational agencies for the education of disadvantaged children.
The bill also prohibits states from using federal elementary and secondary education funds for certain purposes, such as considering summative assessments as a sole or dominant factor when implementing grade-retention policies or evaluating the performance of teachers.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on March 23, 2023. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on March 23, 2023: Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) introduced it on March 23, 2023, and 25 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 25 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 23, 2023, 1267 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 1267 days ago, on March 23, 2023.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 118th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2025 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers