New Assessments: A Guide for State Policymakers

States face a critical decision in the next year: how to assess student learning against new college- and career-ready standards. This decision has important ramifications, because testing and assessment have long had a powerful influence on instructional practice. Thus the assessment that states choose will affect teaching and learning in virtually every classroom. This guide outlines questions policymakers should ask about proposed new assessments and the ways in which the consortia assessments appear poised to answer them.