EdTrust issued a brief titled How District Leaders and Advocates Can Build Parent Support for Statewide Assessments that emphasizes the need to engage parents to support districtwide annual testing. Their analysis revealed a significant disconnect between policymakers and parents, including that while school leaders reported using assessment data to make key decisions about resource allocation, parents were unaware of how these results informed targeted support for their children. Many parents did not realize that year-end tests were used to strategically distribute limited resources based on student needs. Although leaders claim they use this data to support students, the public continues to view testing in a negative, punitive light. Based on the results of the analysis, EdTrust and the Collaborative for Student Success have developed a roadmap to guide parental support, an initiative backed by the National Parents Union.

Find the brief here.