Alignment is a means for understanding the degree to which different components of an educational system work together to support a common goal. Alignment research is one method to demonstrate that state organizations, districts, and schools send a consistent message to teachers and students about what is required. The authors (1) discuss the importance of alignment for facilitating proper assessment and instruction, (2) describe the three most common methods for evaluating the alignment between state content standards and assessments, (3) discuss the relative strengths and limitations of these methods, and (4) discuss examples of applications of each method.