AFT Report: Many State K-12 Tests Don't Align
With Strong Content Standards
Results of Unaligned Tests Often Lead to Inaccurate Judgments about School Performance

• Read the state-by-state press releases
• Download the full report 

BOSTON—According to a new report on statewide testing released today by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), most states have made progress in developing clear grade-by-grade standards, but many have not aligned their high-stakes math, reading and science tests with a strong set of content standards, which leads to a distorted picture of how students, schools and teachers are performing.

 "Smart Testing: Let's Get It Right—How Assessment-Savvy Have States Become Since NCLB?" comes 11 years after the AFT issued its first "Making Standards Matter" report on the rigor of each state's core academic standards and five years after the enactment of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates.  "Smart Testing" examines the quality of the 50 states' and Washington, D.C.'s content standards for reading, math and science. The report analyzes whether state tests for those subjects are aligned with strong—clear and grade-specific—content standards. 

"If tests do not line up with strong content standards, then the results often lead to incorrect judgments about schools, principals, teachers and students," said AFT Executive Vice President Antonia Cortese. "Unfortunately, those eager to see bottom-line results frequently and incorrectly assume that this critical alignment is there."

The NCLB law's requirement to develop grade-by-grade content standards and assessments has placed enormous pressure on states.  While most states have met the challenge of developing these content standards, many are struggling to align their tests with the standards.  "Simply put, in too many cases, testing unaligned to strong standards is driving many accountability systems," the report says. "The result: those state's systems are not 'smart' enough to bear the weight of the accountability functions they are asked to serve."

The study shows that 11 states—California, Indiana, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia—lead the nation with systems that have strong content standards and tests that are aligned to the content standards in all grades. 

The "Smart Testing" report also made the following findings concerning standards:

• States’ weakest content standards are in reading.  A big problem is that many states simply repeat reading standards from grade to grade, with 15 states parroting the standards in three or more grades.
• States’ strongest standards are in science.
• All but six states (Colorado, Illinois, Montana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) have grade-by-grade content standards in reading and math, as required by NCLB.
• More than one-third of states have strong content standards in every grade and subject.  Eighteen states meet the AFT’s criteria for strong content standards in all assessed grades and subjects.

"Smart Testing" made the following findings concerning alignment:

• Many states continue to struggle in aligning tests with strong content standards.  Just over 20 percent of states clearly document how their tests are aligned in all grades and subjects reported under NCLB.
• Fifty-two percent of the state-administered tests are aligned to strong content standards.

Based on these findings, the AFT made the following recommendations for improving state testing:

• States with weak reading standards need to eliminate repetitious statements and write clearer and more specific content standards for all grade levels.
• States that do not have grade-by-grade or course-specific standards need to do so to improve the quality of their high schools.
• State departments of education need more funding to develop quality assessment systems.
• State departments of education should coordinate the work of state testing and curriculum divisions so that the materials inform and complement, rather than contradict each other.
• States should provide professional development on the assessments for teachers and administrators.
• States should post information about standards and tests—and how they align—on Web sites and keep it current.

In the coming months, the AFT will explore other aspects of standardized tests, such as the use of classroom time to prepare for tests; how test results can be used to give parents and teachers meaningful information beyond the number score; the need to ensure that students are not over tested through duplication of testing requirements at the state and local level; and the impact high-stakes test preparation has on non-tested subjects, like civics, art and music.

"Under the current system, too many schools are incorrectly labeled as 'needing improvement' when it is actually the assessment and accountability processes that need improvement," said Cortese. "We want to get testing right by consistently aligning state tests with strong content standards.  This will give us a much better idea of how our schools and students are doing."

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