Assessments should be high quality:

• And aligned to the language and level of rigor of the standards
• Measuring critical thinking, asking students to analyze and justify problems or synthesize from multiple sources
• Including tasks worth doing and quality texts that are worthy of missed instructional time.

Assessments should be part of a meaningful process:

• Intended for instructional use, providing information about student needs so that teacher can better drive towards equity in the classroom
• Where analysis of student work gives context and explanation to the data reports
• In which conversations about data inform instructional strategies and materials.

Assessment should be part of a coherent system:

•  Providing students multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery, item sets provide observable evidence of student mastery of the standard
• That balances assessment types and provides timely data
• Helping teachers and students to better understand the expectations of the curriculum.