Administrator certification requirements for student assessment competence

State lever administrator certification requirements were investigated with respect to student assessment expectations. To this end, certification offices of all 50 states and Washington, DC were asked to supply current administrator knowledge and skill requirements. The results show that 18 states require some form of student assessment knowledge and skills. Only Washington state precisely requires assessment competencies promulgated by the National Policy Board for Educational Administration. No state requires assessment competencies advocated by the American Association of School Administrators, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National Association of Secondary School Principals, and the National Council on Measurement in Education (1997). These findings suggest that the nation may be producing administrators deficient in the student assessment skills needed to meet their professional responsibilities.