As 48 states charge ahead with plans to adopt common academic standards, the U.S. Department of Education will enlist experts and the public to help design a $350 million competition for the next step: the development of common tests. In coming weeks, top Education Department officials will travel to Atlanta, Boston, and Denver for a series of meetings to solicit testimony from testing experts, including those with research and technical know-how, as well as to hear from the public. In addition to seeking general advice on what the next generation of state testing systems should look like, the department wants specific guidance on how testing of students receiving special education and of English-language learners would fit into any new common assessments. All of that information will be used by the department to design the grant competition--paid for through the federal economic-stimulus program--that will help consortia of states fund new, common assessments. The tests are meant to complement an ongoing state-led initiative to adopt a common core of academic standards.