Develop agreed-upon learning goals and standards for students or review and revise existing goals and standards. Compare outcomes to the national standards to ensure sufficient coverage. Design curriculum and instruction strategies that help students learn established outcomes. Match assessments to the purposes for assessment . Consider the technical quality of alternative assessments when designing or selecting such assessments.
Some schools try to change everything at once without adequate buy-in from staff.
Assessment decisions always should be related to the purpose of the assessment and the content to be assessed. Teachers need to be involved in the changes and need time to decide how best to change the strategies that they use with their students and to incorporate the changes into their practice. Indeed, instructional reform and measurement quality are being perceived increasingly as two ends of the assessment reform continuum. Most advocates of either goal recognize the importance of the other goal, but view their own goal as paramount. Instructional reform is paramount when the assessment is to be used for local purposes - at the classroom and school level, where the local curriculum is addressed and individual students have multiple opportunities to demonstrate what they know and can do.