Addressing inequities in educational outcomes — particularly for students of color, students from low-income backgrounds, students with disabilities, and multilingual learners — cannot happen without data from statewide summative assessments. Statewide assessment results help schools and district leaders target resources to the students and schools with the greatest need and track whether these resources are impacting student achievement.

However, the implementation of assessment systems has left the education field strained by a love-hate relationship with academic performance data and the statewide summative assessments mandated by law to produce it. Beginning with the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 — when federal assessment requirements were first introduced — a spotlight was cast upon the importance of assessment data along with the failure of the education system to adequately meet the academic needs of all students. Annual assessments have since been caught in a ceaseless tug-of-war around the direction of federal education policy, with supporters underscoring the value of testing as a tool that can target resources and advance equity, and opponents disparaging standardized exams as a punitive measure against teachers and a burden on students. Fatigue has set in, and advocates are wondering whether the requirement for statewide annual testing will survive Congress if it ever gets around to re-upping the federal education statute.

With this looming uncertainty, the questions facing supporters of state assessment data are multi-faceted. Can the field organize around a commitment to improve upon the testing regime status quo? Are there innovations in test format and delivery that viably offer substantive alternatives? And what can be done in the meantime to build greater support for assessments amongst key education stakeholders as well as the broader community?

EdTrust and the Collaborative for Student Success set out to answer the last question — how to build greater support for annual testing — with backing from the National Parents Union. This brief offers a comprehensive roadmap for district leaders and advocates alike on how to build support for testing and testing data along with essential recommendations for advocates.

Read the brief

Parent support for statewide assessments

Parents want to hear more about assessment data