I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 408 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to award 

grants to States to improve delivery of high-quality assessments, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 20, 2015 

Ms. BONAMICI (for herself and Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to award grants to States to improve delivery 

of high-quality assessments, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Support Making As5 sessments Reliable and Timely Act’’ or the ‘‘SMART 

6 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ACCOUNTABILITY. 

2 Subpart 1 of part A of title VI of the Elementary 

3 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7301 

4 et seq.) is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 6111. GRANTS TO IMPROVE DELIVERY OF HIGH-QUAL6 ITY ASSESSMENTS AND FOR RELATED AC7 TIVITIES. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From the amount reserved 

9 under section 6114(b)(5) and subject to subparagraphs 

10 (A) and (B) of such section, the Secretary shall make 

11 grants by allocating funds in accordance with subsection 

12 (b) of this section to States to enable the States to— 

13 ‘‘(1) develop, administer, and further align 

14 State assessments required by section 1111(b)(3) to 

15 State content standards required by section 

16 1111(b)(1); 

17 ‘‘(2) ensure the provision of appropriate accom18 modations as required by section 1111(b)(3)(C)(ix) 

19 to students with limited English proficiency and stu20 dents with disabilities to improve the rates of inclu21 sion in State assessments of such students; 

22 ‘‘(3) develop State assessment systems aligned 

23 to the State’s content standards that support sys24 tems of continuous improvement; 

25 ‘‘(4) support local educational agencies in iden26 tifying uses of assessment data, which may include 


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1 appropriate use of student assessment data as one 

2 of multiple measures of student learning for teacher 

3 and school leader performance and evaluation; and 

4 ‘‘(5) carry out the activities described in the re5 port required under subsection (c). 

6 ‘‘(b) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—From the amount re7 served under section 6114(b)(5), each State shall receive 

8 an allocation for each fiscal year in an amount equal to— 

9 ‘‘(1) $4,000,000; and 

10 ‘‘(2) with respect to any amounts remaining 

11 after the allocation is made under paragraph (1), an 

12 amount that bears the same relationship to such 

13 total remaining amounts as the number of students 

14 ages 5 through 17 in the State (as determined by 

15 the Secretary on the basis of the most recent satis16 factory data) bears to the total number of such stu17 dents in all States. 

18 ‘‘(c) STATE REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after 

19 a State receives a grant under this section, the State shall, 

20 in consultation with education stakeholders, prepare and 

21 make publically available a report, that explains how the 

22 State has used, or will use, the grant to— 

23 ‘‘(1) improve the quality and use of the State’s 

24 assessment system, including assessments not reVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:06 Jan 24, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H408.IH H408

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1 quired by section 1111(b)(3), and for related activi2 ties; 

3 ‘‘(2) ensure that all summative assessments 

4 that are used for accountability purposes are valid 

5 and reliable, and consistent with relevant, nationally 

6 recognized professional and technical standards; and 

7 ‘‘(3) improve the use of State assessment data 

8 by school leaders, educators, and parents, and for 

9 related activities, such as— 

10 ‘‘(A) disseminating the assessment data in 

11 an accessible and understandable format for 

12 educators, parents, and families; 

13 ‘‘(B) decreasing time between admin14 istering such State assessments and releasing 

15 assessment data; 

16 ‘‘(C) supporting the dissemination of 

17 promising practices from local educational 

18 agencies that have successfully used assessment 

19 data to improve individual student and overall 

20 school performance; 

21 ‘‘(D) identifying appropriate uses of as22 sessment data, which may include appropriate 

23 use of student assessment data as one of mul24 tiple measures of student learning for teacher 


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1 and school leader performance and evaluation; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(E) providing professional development on 

4 assessment and data literacy to teachers and 

5 school leaders, including on the development 

6 and effective use of formative and classroom7 based assessments aligned with State content 

8 standards. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 6112. GRANTS FOR ASSESSMENT SYSTEM ALIGN10 MENT, QUALITY, AND USE. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From the amount reserved 

12 under section 6114(b)(3), the Secretary shall make grants 

13 to States to— 

14 ‘‘(1) in the case of a grant awarded under this 

15 section to a State for the first time— 

16 ‘‘(A) carry out audits of State assessment 

17 systems and ensure that local educational agen18 cies carry out audits of local assessments under 

19 subsection (e)(1); 

20 ‘‘(B) prepare and carry out the State plan 

21 under subsection (e)(6); and 

22 ‘‘(C) award subgrants under subsection (f); 

23 and 


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1 ‘‘(2) in the case of a grant awarded under this 

2 section to a State that has previously received a 

3 grant under this section— 

4 ‘‘(A) carry out the State plan under sub5 section (e)(6); and 

6 ‘‘(B) award subgrants under subsection 

7 (f). 

8 ‘‘(b) MINIMUM AMOUNT.—Each State with an ap9 proved application shall receive a grant amount of not less 

10 than $2,000,000. 

11 ‘‘(c) REALLOCATION.—If a State chooses not to apply 

12 to receive a grant under this subsection, or if such State’s 

13 application under subsection (d) is disapproved by the Sec14 retary, the Secretary shall reallocate such grant amount 

15 to other States with approved applications. 

16 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—A State desiring to receive a 

17 grant under this section shall submit an application to the 

18 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing 

19 such information as the Secretary may require. 

20 ‘‘(e) AUDITS OF STATE ASSESSMENT SYSTEMS AND

21 LOCAL ASSESSMENTS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) AUDIT REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 1 

23 year after a State receives a grant under this section 

24 for the first time, the State shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) conduct an audit of the State assess2 ment system; 

3 ‘‘(B) ensure that each local educational 

4 agency under the State’s jurisdiction and re5 ceiving funds under this Act— 

6 ‘‘(i) conducts an audit of each local 

7 assessment administered by the local edu8 cational agency; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) submits the results of such audit 

10 to the State; and 

11 ‘‘(C) report the results of each State and 

12 local educational agency audit conducted under 

13 subparagraphs (A) and (B)— 

14 ‘‘(i) in a publicly available format, 

15 such as a widely accessible online platform; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(ii) with appropriate accessibility 

18 provisions for individuals with disabilities 

19 and individuals with limited English pro20 ficiency. 

21 ‘‘(2) RESOURCES FOR LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

22 AGENCIES.—In carrying out paragraph (1)(B), each 

23 State shall develop and provide local educational 

24 agencies with resources, such as guidelines and pro25 tocols, to assist the agencies in conducting and reVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:06 Jan 24, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H408.IH H408

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1 porting the results of the audit required under such 

2 paragraph (1)(B). 

3 ‘‘(3) STATE ASSESSMENT SYSTEM DESCRIP4 TION.—An audit of a State assessment system con5 ducted under paragraph (1) shall include a descrip6 tion of each State assessment carried out in the 

7 State, including— 

8 ‘‘(A) the grade and subject matter as9 sessed; 

10 ‘‘(B) whether the assessment is required 

11 under section 1111(b)(3); 

12 ‘‘(C) the annual cost to the State edu13 cational agency involved in developing, pur14 chasing, administering, and scoring the assess15 ment; 

16 ‘‘(D) the purpose for which the assessment 

17 was designed and the purpose for which the as18 sessment is used, including assessments de19 signed to contribute to systems of continuous 

20 improvement of teaching and learning; 

21 ‘‘(E) the time for disseminating assess22 ment results; 

23 ‘‘(F) a description of how the assessment 

24 is aligned with the State’s content standards; 


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1 ‘‘(G) a description of any State law or reg2 ulation that established the requirement for the 

3 assessment; 

4 ‘‘(H) the schedule and calendar for all 

5 State assessments given; and 

6 ‘‘(I) a description of the State’s policies for 

7 inclusion of students with limited English pro8 ficiency and students with disabilities. 

9 ‘‘(4) LOCAL ASSESSMENT DESCRIPTION.—An 

10 audit of a local assessment conducted under para11 graph (1) shall include a description of the local as12 sessment carried out by the local educational agency, 

13 including— 

14 ‘‘(A) the descriptions listed in subpara15 graphs (A), (D), and (E) of paragraph (3); 

16 ‘‘(B) the annual cost to the local edu17 cational agency of developing, purchasing, ad18 ministering, and scoring the assessment; 

19 ‘‘(C) the extent to which the assessment is 

20 aligned to the State’s content standards; 

21 ‘‘(D) a description of any State or local 

22 law or regulation that establishes the require23 ment for the assessment; and 

24 ‘‘(E) in the case of a summative assess25 ment that is used for accountability purposes, 


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1 whether the assessment is valid and reliable and 

2 consistent with nationally recognized profes3 sional and technical standards. 

4 ‘‘(5) STAKEHOLDER FEEDBACK.—Each audit of 

5 a State assessment system or local assessment sys6 tem conducted under subparagraph (A) or (B) of 

7 paragraph (1) shall include feedback on such system 

8 from education stakeholders, which shall cover infor9 mation such as— 

10 ‘‘(A) how educators and administrators use 

11 assessment data to improve and differentiate 

12 instruction; 

13 ‘‘(B) the timing of release of assessment 

14 data; 

15 ‘‘(C) the extent to which assessment data 

16 is presented in an accessible and understand17 able format for educators, parents, students, if 

18 appropriate, and the community; 

19 ‘‘(D) the opportunities, resources, and 

20 training educators and administrators are given 

21 to review assessment results and make effective 

22 use of assessment data; 

23 ‘‘(E) the distribution of technological re24 sources and personnel necessary to administer 

25 assessments; 


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1 ‘‘(F) the amount of time educators spend 

2 on test preparation; 

3 ‘‘(G) the assessments that administrators, 

4 educators, parents, and students, if appropriate, 

5 do and do not find useful; 

6 ‘‘(H) the amount of time students spend 

7 taking the assessments; and 

8 ‘‘(I) other information as appropriate. 

9 ‘‘(6) STATE PLAN ON AUDIT FINDINGS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) PREPARING THE STATE PLAN.—Not 

11 later than 6 months after a State conducts an 

12 audit under paragraph (1) and based on the re13 sults of such audit, the State shall, in coordina14 tion with the local educational agencies under 

15 the jurisdiction of the State, prepare and sub16 mit to the Secretary, a plan to improve and 

17 streamline State assessment systems and local 

18 assessment systems, including through activities 

19 such as— 

20 ‘‘(i) eliminating any assessments that 

21 are not required by section 1111(b)(3) 

22 (such as by buying out the remainder of 

23 procurement contracts with assessment de24 velopers) and that— 

25 ‘‘(I) are low-quality; 


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1 ‘‘(II) not aligned to the State’s 

2 content standards; 

3 ‘‘(III) in the case of summative 

4 assessments used for accountability 

5 purposes, are not valid or reliable and 

6 are inconsistent with nationally recog7 nized professional and technical 

8 standards; 

9 ‘‘(IV) do not contribute to sys10 tems of continuous improvement for 

11 teaching and learning; or 

12 ‘‘(V) are redundant; 

13 ‘‘(ii) supporting the dissemination of 

14 promising practices from local educational 

15 agencies or other States that have success16 fully improved assessment quality and effi17 ciency to improve teaching and learning; 

18 ‘‘(iii) supporting local educational 

19 agencies or consortia of local educational 

20 agencies to carry out efforts to streamline 

21 local assessment systems and implementing 

22 a regular process of review and evaluation 

23 of assessment use in local educational 

24 agencies; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) supporting appropriate uses of 

2 assessment data, which may include appro3 priate use of student assessment data as 

4 one of multiple measures of student learn5 ing for teacher and school leader perform6 ance and evaluation; and 

7 ‘‘(v) providing professional develop8 ment to teachers and school leaders on se9 lecting and implementing formative assess10 ments, designing classroom-based assess11 ments, and assessment and data literacy. 

12 ‘‘(B) CARRY OUT THE STATE PLAN.—A 

13 State shall carry out a State plan as soon as 

14 practicable after the State prepares such State 

15 plan under subparagraph (A) and during each 

16 grant period of a grant described in subsection 

17 (a)(2) that is awarded to the State. 

18 ‘‘(f) SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN19 CIES.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amount awarded 

21 to a State under this section, the State shall reserve 

22 not less than 20 percent of funds to make subgrants 

23 to local educational agencies in the State, or a con24 sortium of such local educational agencies, based on 

25 demonstrated need in the agency’s or consortium’s 


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1 application to improve assessment quality, use, and 

2 alignment with the State’s content standards. 

3 ‘‘(2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY APPLICA4 TION.—Each local educational agency, or consortium 

5 of local educational agencies, seeking a subgrant 

6 under this subsection shall submit an application to 

7 the State at such time, in such manner, and describ8 ing that agency’s or consortium’s needs to improve 

9 assessment quality, use, and alignment (as described 

10 in paragraph (1)), and such other information as de11 termined by the State. 

12 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.—A subgrant awarded 

13 under this subsection to a local educational agency 

14 or consortium of such agencies may be used to— 

15 ‘‘(A) conduct an audit of local assessments 

16 under subsection (e)(1)(B); 

17 ‘‘(B) eliminate any assessments identified 

18 for elimination by such audit, such as by buying 

19 out the remainder of procurement contracts 

20 with assessment developers; 

21 ‘‘(C) disseminate the promising practices 

22 described in subsection (e)(6)(B); 

23 ‘‘(D) improve the capacity of school leaders 

24 and educators to disseminate assessment data 

25 in an accessible and understandable format for 


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1 parents and families, including for individuals 

2 with disabilities or individuals with limited 

3 English proficiency; 

4 ‘‘(E) support the appropriate use of assess5 ment data, which may include appropriate use 

6 of student assessment data as one of multiple 

7 measures of student learning for teacher and 

8 school leader performance and evaluation; 

9 ‘‘(F) provide professional development to, 

10 and time for teacher collaboration on designing 

11 classroom-based assessments and improving as12 sessments and data literacy for, teachers and 

13 school leaders, which may include providing ad14 ditional planning time to analyze student and 

15 team data and designing instruction based on 

16 data analysis; 

17 ‘‘(G) improve assessment delivery systems 

18 and schedules, including by increasing access to 

19 technology and exam proctors, where appro20 priate; 

21 ‘‘(H) hire instructional coaches, or pro22 moting educators who may receive increased 

23 compensation to serve as instructional coaches, 

24 to support educators to develop classroom-based 


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1 assessments, interpret assessment data, and de2 sign instruction; and 

3 ‘‘(I) provide for appropriate assessment ac4 commodations to maximize inclusion of students 

5 with disabilities and students with limited 

6 English proficiency, including by providing the 

7 assessments described in section 1111(b)(6). 

8 ‘‘SEC. 6113. NATIONAL ACTIVITIES. 

9 ‘‘From the amount reserved under section 

10 6114(b)(4), the Secretary shall provide technical assist11 ance to States to improve State understanding of existing 

12 flexibility in design and implementation of high-quality, 

13 streamlined State assessment systems to meet the require14 ments of section 1111(b)(3), including by— 

15 ‘‘(1) informing States of innovative designs in 

16 State assessment systems that meet the require17 ments of section 1111(b)(3); 

18 ‘‘(2) providing technical assistance to States on 

19 including appropriate assessment design and accom20 modation strategies that meet the requirements of 

21 section 1111(b)(3) and provide for inclusion of all 

22 students in State assessments; 

23 ‘‘(3) providing technical assistance to States 

24 conducting audits of State assessment systems 

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1 sources such as templates and guidelines for data 

2 collection and for making audit results publicly 

3 available; 

4 ‘‘(4) conducting Departmental review of exist5 ing regulation and guidance for any language that 

6 unnecessarily confuses or inhibits innovation and 

7 flexibility in assessment design and implementation, 

8 and making revisions where needed, consistent with 

9 the requirements of section 1111(b)(3); 

10 ‘‘(5) collecting information on State develop11 ment of new and innovative assessment systems that 

12 meet the requirements of section 1111(b)(3); and 

13 ‘‘(6) reporting on such new and innovative as14 sessment systems to the Committee on Education 

15 and the Workforce of the House of Representatives 

16 and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

17 and Pensions of the Senate. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 6114. FUNDING. 

19 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATIONAL

21 PROGRESS.—For the purpose of administering the 

22 State assessments under the National Assessment of 

23 Educational Progress, there are authorized to be ap24 propriated $72,000,000 for fiscal year 2016, and 


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1 such sums as may be necessary for each of the 5 

2 succeeding fiscal years. 

3 ‘‘(2) STATE ASSESSMENTS AND RELATED AC4 TIVITIES.—For the purpose of carrying out this sub5 part, there are authorized to be appropriated 

6 $600,000,000 for fiscal year 2016, and such sums 

7 as may be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fis8 cal years. 

9 ‘‘(b) RESERVATION OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS.— 

10 From amounts made available for each fiscal year under 

11 subsection (a)(2), the Secretary shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) reserve one-half of 1 percent for the Bu13 reau of Indian Affairs; 

14 ‘‘(2) reserve one-half of 1 percent for the out15 lying areas; 

16 ‘‘(3) reserve 20 percent to carry out section 

17 6112; 

18 ‘‘(4) reserve 3 percent to carry out section 

19 6113; and 

20 ‘‘(5) reserve the remainder (after reserving 

21 funds under paragraphs (1) through (4)) to carry 

22 out section 6111, except that— 

23 ‘‘(A) for any fiscal year for which the 

24 funds appropriated under subsection (a)(2) of 

25 this section are equal to or greater than 


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1 $450,000,000, each State that receives a grant 

2 under section 6111 shall use the grant to carry 

3 out paragraphs (1) through (5) of section 

4 6111(a); and 

5 ‘‘(B) for any fiscal year for which the 

6 funds appropriated under subsection (a)(2) of 

7 this section are less than $450,000,000, each 

8 State that receives a grant under section 6111 

9 shall only be required to use the grant to carry 

10 out paragraphs (1) through (3) of section 

11 6111(a). 

12 ‘‘SEC. 6115. DEFINITIONS. 

13 ‘‘In this subpart: 

14 ‘‘(1) LOCAL ASSESSMENT.—The term ‘local as15 sessment’ means an academic assessment carried out 

16 by a local educational agency that is separate from 

17 an assessment required by section 1111(b)(3). 

18 ‘‘(2) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 

19 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the 

20 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.’’. 

Æ 


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