S. 5597 — Introduced in Senate

II 119th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 5597 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES September 29, 2026Mr. Banks introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To promote the use of standardized testing at military service academies and DoDEA schools. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Service Academy Testing Enhancement Act of 2026. 2. Promoting the use of standardized testing at military service academies and DoDEA schools (a) Military service academies The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that each of the Service Academies (as that term is defined in section 347(d) of title 10, United States Code) may satisfy any standardized testing requirement through scores from any of not fewer than three nationally recognized standardized assessments that are designed to evaluate college readiness and that measure, at a minimum, mathematics, reading, grammar and writing, and analytical reasoning skills. Such assessments may also evaluate critical and logical reasoning, comprehension of literary, historical, or philosophical texts, and other indicators of postsecondary readiness as determined appropriate by the Secretary. (b) DoDEA schools The Director of the Department of Defense Education Activity shall ensure that students enrolled in the eleventh grade are offered the opportunity to take not fewer than three standardized assessments described in subsection (a).