Teachers may well have developed a more robust understanding of classroom assessment options, but they can still be caught off guard by misapplications of well-intended practices. Three issues, in particular, have created potential assessment missteps: the heightened rigor of the new content standards, the emphasis on using assessments for data-driven decision making, and the practice of pacing instruction. Assessing thoughtfully means making sure that we teach students how to accomplish the rigor embedded in our standards before we hold them accountable for having mastered that rigor, that we use formative assessments that have sufficient instructional traction, and that we give students sufficient time and opportunity to practice and improve before we hold them accountable for having mastered the learning target.