Small States Find Benefits in Jointly Developed Tests

As students in New Hampshire sit down this month to take new state mathematics and reading tests, they won’t be alone. Their fellow students in Rhode Island and Vermont will be taking the same exams along with them.

In the first collaboration of its kind under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, those three New England states have joined forces to create the reading and math tests in grades 3-8 that states must give starting this school year. They’ve also jointly developed writing tests in grades 5 and 8.

By pooling expertise and resources, state officials say, they’ve devised better tests at less cost: just shy of $7 million a year for all three states combined over the life of their five-year contract...