As part of the U.S. Department of Education's process for peer review of state assessment systems, states are required to submit documentation outlining the processes that they use to develop and administer state assessments in English language arts (ELA), mathematics, and science. States must demonstrate that the assessments are aligned with the "full range of the state's academic content standards; [are] valid, reliable, and of adequate technical quality for the purposes for which they are used; express student results in terms of the State's student academic achievement standards; and provide coherent information about student achievement" (U.S. Department of Education, 2015). Since 2010, many states have adopted new ELA standards that include speaking and listening skills, necessitating development of assessments that align with these new standards. The standards in the Speaking and Listening strand of the ELA Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are organized into two broad topic areas: (1) Comprehension and Collaboration; and (2) Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas. Key findings from this review include the following: (1) States emphasize the value of instruction in speaking and listening as the foundation for reading and writing. Overall, they endorse building language-rich classroom environments; providing opportunities for purposeful collaborative discussions and conversations; engaging in the use of academic language; and promoting students' comprehension and oral fluency skills; and (2) States are using several strategies for teaching the standards in the Speaking and Listening strand of the CCSS.