High-quality,
comprehensive, and timely information about what students know and can
do is critical to ensuring that schools and families can prepare each
and every student for success in school, college, careers, and life.
No single assessment or piece of student work can provide the robust
information needed to inform teaching, learning, and supports, as well
as public accountability and continuous improvement of education systems
through families, policymakers, and other stakeholders.
A high-quality system of assessments can facilitate this by providing
aligned and coherent information from a variety of assessments about
students’ college and career readiness—maximizing efficiency while
reducing duplication, in a timely and rich enough manner to inform
instruction, student self-direction in learning, and accountability. State and district leaders at the forefront of designing,
implementing, and overseeing assessment efforts can use these ten
principles as guidance as they evolve the current array of assessments
into a high-quality system of assessments.
