Um. No. Sorry. The entire world's eduxcation system works on standardized tests. I grew up with standardized tests. Tests every week. Exams every semester. And the only exam that mattered was the year end one. If you didn't pass that one test, you repeated the year.

What that level of information gave me was an excellent knowledge of world history, world geography, good skills in math and arithmetic, and, of course basic literacy.

I confess that learning Latin was pointless, and that I had very little interest in the result of a bunsen burner experiment.

However, the problem is NOT tests. The problem is that American tests are generally multiple choice answers. In my day, you would be asked a simple question - examples as follows.

1. Here is a map of Europe. Place the capitals of France, Germany, Spain, and the UK in their respective places. Also name them.

2. Who were the leading figures in the Germany and Italian reformations.

3. Which countries formed part of the British Empire.

You couldn't guess. You had to know.

Also, you can't teach critical thinking skills. People either have the kind of intellect that does that, or they don't.