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The last two decades have witnessed language standards frameworks serving as guidance and the metric for the design and enactment of large-scale language assessment. In the United States (U.S.), federal legislation has also been a driving force in dictating the parameters for such an alliance. This article provides an illustrative example of how the thinking of a consortium of U.S. states, territories, and federal agencies has evolved in its conceptualization of language standards frameworks, working in tandem with the development of language assessment to ensure robust alignment between the two. Theoretical and historical foundations underpin the discussion while the components of the language frameworks with their close relation to language assessment are presented to substantiate validity claims between standards frameworks and assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]