Student assessment is an integral component of classroom instruction. Assessment is intended to help teachers identify what students are able to do and what content and skills students must develop further. State tests play an important role in guiding instruction. However, for some students, the tests may lead to inaccurate conclusions about student mastery of key content and skills. For other students, the tests may provide information about what they cannot do, but do not help inform teachers about what students can do. (Contains 7 figures, 5 tables and 1 footnote.)