Three Types of Reports That Can Be Used to Communicate Test Results to Communities

Three types of reports can be used to communicate test results to the public. The first report provides background information about the assessment program and the assessment instruments. It is distributed to the public before the assessment results are received. The second report contains the actual assessment information. The third report presents follow-up activities to further analyze or or use the assessment information for improvement purposes.

These three reports may be the same as or similar to those used for reporting results to the school board. But because a typical board report does not highlight the key results for the media, the preferred format is a press release.