The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides an opportunity for states and local education agencies (LEAs) to rethink the goals and policies that they have in place for public education. Under the new law, education leaders have greater flexibility to define student success and to design their own systems and programs to ensure educational…

Standards-based reform is about setting standards and measuring attainment in criterion-referenced ways. Assessments should measure and monitor students' current achievement and progress over time. As Massachusetts testing deficiencies illustrate, assessments must stress longitudinal over cross-sectional designs, valued performances, developmental…