Between May and August of 2018, the federal government approved 44 proposals submitted by state departments of education to meet testing and accountability requirements under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015. As these states move towards implementing their federally approved plans for meeting external regulatory requirements for accountability, they face several challenges. They should be alert to any unexpected negative outcomes of testing on students, schools, and education systems, and they need guidelines to help them avoid test misuses.

This “consumer’s guide” from Professor Madhabi Chatterji explains how best to apply information from the adopted tests with a mind to their design and with close attention to their purposes, technical merits and limitations.  

The guide draws on best practice guidelines in the 2014 Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, combined with published recommendations of selected professional associations, educational researchers, educational leaders and practitioners to elaborate on the problem, and to provide guidelines, examples and recommendations.