States have demonstrated their leadership and commitment to ensuring the success of all students by adopting college and career-readiness standards. To realize the potential of these standards, states require assessments that match the depth, breadth, and rigor of the standards; accurately measure student progress toward college and career readiness; and provide valid data to inform teaching and learning.
This document begins with an overview of the assessment criteria and continues with a chart containing detailed criteria and sample evidence. These criteria do not cover every area that a state would have to address in a procurement or evaluation process. Instead, they focus on the critical characteristics that should be met by high-quality assessments aligned to college- and career-readiness standards. A more comprehensive source for the development and validation of assessments is the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA, APA, and NCME, 1999). The assessment criteria and evidence discussed herein were developed by referencing the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing and several other key sources listed in the bibliography. Additional state-specific criteria at the end of the document highlight a few of the most important additional issues that states may wish to consider in a procurement or evaluation process.