After a period of convergence, the K-12 testing landscape is again looking more and more fragmented, concludes a report from the consulting group Education First. In 2010, 46 states belonged to one or both of the federally funded consortia designing shared tests aligned to the Common Core State Standards. That’s down to just 15 or 16 now, depending on whether Illinois’ recent decision to replace PARCC (formally the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) is included. Another four states blend items from the consortia tests into their own exams.
Also, 23 states are either seeking new vendors or have a testing contract due to expire.
