Dive Brief:

• Massachusetts is leading nine states in trying to measure what students learn in college by using their actual work instead of standardized tests.
• The goal is to create a reliable standard to compare students across states and to improve teaching.
• The project received $1 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Dive Insight:

The states are trying to get ahead of the curve and impose their own standards rather than having national standards imposed upon them. One focus of the effort is to get the support of professors—not just to have them back the program overall, but to have them help evaluate and compare students' work.