An Analysis of Proposals by the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers and SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded $350 million in Race to the Top funding to the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers and the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium to develop what Secretary of Education Arne Duncan calls "next-generation" assessment systems. The proposed assessment systems will have significant implications for how states and districts organize and support the challenging work of principals and teachers to improve student outcomes. This comparative brief describes the major elements of each assessment system and is designed to assist system leaders in gearing-up for implementation.