In 2010, Tennessee took another important step, adopting the Common Core State Standards in English language arts and
math.5 The adoption of these standards increased expectations for student learning and called for significant instructional
shifts to occur in classrooms. Research has found that these standards provide greater coherence than previous state standards, progressing more logically from one topic to another. This coherence more effectively ensures that students establish
mastery in foundational concepts before progressing further in course content.6 These standards also focus on fewer concepts, allowing students to develop greater depth of content knowledge across subject areas.7 Finally, these standards align
more closely to the standards of high-achieving countries and are rooted in the knowledge and skillsets students need to
succeed in college and career.8
While Tennessee’s current standards set higher expectations for what students should know and be able to do, aligned
assessments make those expectations concrete and establish measurable goals for teachers and students. During the transition to these new standards, Tennessee has continued to implement standardized assessments that are not fully aligned
with Tennessee’s State Standards, sending mixed signals to teachers and students about what they are expected to teach
and learn. Recent research found that in states where academic standards and assessments were less aligned, teachers had
weaker instructional responses to standards.9 As this paper will discuss, these mixed signals undermine the goals behind
standards-based reform and likely contribute to weaker than expected effects of the standards on teachers’ instruction and
student achievement.
Research finds that the content and format of assessments affect teachers’ implementation of academic standards.10 Thus,
if student progress on Tennessee’s State Standards is not measured with a high-quality, aligned assessment, it is unlikely the
standards will help teachers and districts reach their instructional and student achievement goals. This paper presents the potential impact high-quality, aligned assessments could have on education in Tennessee, outlines the history of standards and
assessments in Tennessee and across the nation, provides an overview of the quality of assessments implemented since 2001,
and establishes evidence-based criteria for high-quality assessments. The paper concludes that in order to ensure students
in Tennessee are progressing toward college and career readiness, it is critical to complement Tennessee’s State Standards in
English language arts and math with high-quality, aligned assessments.11
The Importance of High-Quality Assessment
Standardized assessments play an important role in school improvement practices, providing diverse stakeholders with
important information about students’ academic growth and performance during a school year. Data from standardized assessments allow different stakeholders to recognize when students are making progress and when students’ academic needs
are not being