To select or create assessments that provide accurate information about student learning, assessment-literate educators must be clear on the specific instructional learning targets to be assessed. Five steps are involved in the process:

Step 1. Deconstructing the Standards—Identify the action required by the learner and identify the content in the standard to develop smaller, more explicit instructional learning targets.
Step 2. Task Analysis—Break down a standard into building blocks and identify the teachable and measurable sub-skills to provide a road map for sequencing instruction and assessment of that standard.
Step 3. Developing Specific Learning Targets—Translate sub-skills into individual instructional learning targets (knowledge, reasoning, skill, and product) that become the focus of daily instruction and classroom-level assessment.
Step 4. Identifying Type of Instructional Learning Targets and Matching Learning Targets and Assessment Methods—Identify the types of instructional learning targets addressed and select the most effective and efficient assessment method(s) to match the learning targets or content standard to increase the accuracy of the assessment information.
Step 5. Communicating Instructional Learning Targets—Communicate learning targets in student-friendly language to help ensure that students are clear about what it is they are expected to know and be able to do as a result of classroom instruction.