Teachers, principals, superintendents and school board members must be vigilant. The race is on to ready their schools for more rigorous standards that demand new kinds of teaching and computer-based testing. They have two years to complete the necessary professional development, upgrade and expand their technology infrastructure, and prepare students for online high-stakes assessments unlike any they've seen before. If they are already in training for this race, they are perhaps well informed about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the assessments coming in 2014-15. They may be a little nervous, but are eager to get started. If they are not in training but wish to get in shape on the issues of common standards and aligned assessments underway across the country, this article presents a short tutorial so they can ready their selves and their community to make informed decisions on what is best for their school children. (Contains 2 figures and 16 endnotes.)