This document provides guidance for education leaders in developing a communication plan when there are changes to statewide assessments. The goal is to make sure people understand what is changing, why it is changing, and what that means for them—before results are released. A strong communication plan is important to ensure assessment results are interpreted and used as intended.
A communication plan is needed anytime a change in an assessment system disrupts the comparability of results across administrations, including the adoption of new academic standards, substantial changes in test design or content and/or the establishment of new performance standards.
This guidance is structured around three key questions:
- Who needs to know about changes to the assessment—and why?
- What do different users need to know based on how they use the results—and when?
- How should this information be communicated—and by whom?
