Standardized Testing and the Common Core Standards: You Get What You Pay For?

Eighty-five percent of American students attend school in a state that has adopted the Common Core State Standards. As these states transition from adoption to implementation of the new standards, many are grappling with how best to assess whether students are learning the material contained in the Common Core. Debates about the costs and merits of Common Core tests are raging in states across the country. In this report, Brown Center Fellow Matthew M. Chingos critically examines the likely costs of the various assessment options that are available to states, but urges states to also consider test quality in addition to cost when choosing an assessment.