§ 6361 — Grants For State Assessments And Related Activities

(a) From amounts made available in accordance with section 6363 of this title, the Secretary shall make grants to State educational agencies to enable the States to carry out 1 or more of the following: (1) To pay the costs of the development of the State assessments and standards adopted under section 6311(b) of this title, which may include the costs of working in voluntary partnerships with other States, at the sole discretion of each such State. (2) If a State has developed the assessments adopted under section 6311(b) of this title, to administer those assessments or to carry out other assessment activities described in this part, such as the following: (A) Ensuring the provision of appropriate accommodations available to English learners and children with disabilities to improve the rates of inclusion in regular assessments of such children, including professional development activities to improve the implementation of such accommodations in instructional practice. (B) Developing challenging State academic standards and aligned assessments in academic subjects for which standards and assessments are not required under section 6311(b) of this title. (C) Developing or improving assessments for English learners, including assessments of English language proficiency as required under section 6311(b)(2)(G) of this title and academic assessments in languages other than English to meet the State’s obligations under section 6311(b)(2)(F) of this title. (D) Ensuring the continued validity and reliability of State assessments. (E) Refining State assessments to ensure their continued alignment with the challenging State academic standards and to improve the alignment of curricula and instructional materials. (F) Developing or improving balanced assessment systems that include summative, interim, and formative assessments, including supporting local educational agencies in developing or improving such assessments. (G) At the discretion of the State, refining science assessments required under section 6311(b)(2) of this title in order to integrate engineering design skills and practices into such assessments. (H) Developing or improving models to measure and assess student progress or student growth on State assessments under section 6311(b)(2) of this title and other assessments not required under section 6311(b)(2) of this title. (I) Developing or improving assessments for children with disabilities, including alternate assessments aligned to alternate academic achievement standards for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities described in section 6311(b)(2)(D) of this title, and using the principles of universal design for learning. (J) Allowing for collaboration with institutions of higher education, other research institutions, or other organizations to improve the quality, validity, and reliability of State academic assessments beyond the requirements for such assessments described in section 6311(b)(2) of this title. (K) Measuring student academic achievement using multiple measures of student academic achievement from multiple sources. (L) Evaluating student academic achievement through the development of comprehensive academic assessment instruments (such as performance and technology-based academic assessments, computer adaptive assessments, projects, or extended performance task assessments) that emphasize the mastery of standards and aligned competencies in a competency-based education model. (M) Designing the report cards and reports under section 6311(h) of this title in an easily accessible, user friendly-manner that cross-tabulates student information by any category the State determines appropriate, as long as such cross-tabulation— (i) does not reveal personally identifiable information about an individual student; and (ii) is derived from existing State and local reporting requirements. (b) Nothing in subsection (a)(2)(M) shall be construed as authorizing, requiring, or allowing any additional reporting requirements, data elements, or information to be reported to the Secretary unless such reporting, data, or information is explicitly authorized under this chapter. (c) Each State educational agency receiving a grant under this section shall submit an annual report to the Secretary describing the State’s activities under the grant and the result of such activities.