Coming Together to Raise Achievement: New Assessments for the Common Core State Standards

April 2012 (Prior version July 2011)

This guide, developed by the K–12 Center at ETS, will answer many of the questions you may have concerning the Common Core State Standards, the assessment Consortia, and state memberships. It contains concise, Consortia-approved summaries of all five current assessment Consortia, namely:

Two Comprehensive Assessment Consortia: the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) and the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (Smarter Balanced);
Two Alternate Assessment Consortia: the Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM) Consortium and the National Center and State Collaborative (NCSC) Consortium; and
An English Language Proficiency (ELP) Assessment Consortium: the Assessment Services Supporting English learners through Technology Systems (ASSETS).

The updated guide also contains summaries of the Consortia's plans for supporting states and districts as they transition to the Common Core State Standards as well as guidance from two prominent educators about what schools and districts can do now to begin that transition. In addition, we have compiled a listing of highly recommended websites concerning the Common Core State Standards and the new assessments.

This guide may be reproduced locally to support efforts to increase understanding among educators, parents and the public. We only ask that you credit the Center when doing so.