II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 197 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 20, 2015 

Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. BROWN, Mr. FRANKEN, Ms. 

WARREN, Mr. MURPHY, and Mr. CASEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

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 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart 1 of part A of title VI 

3 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

4 (20 U.S.C. 7301 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 made avail9 able under section 6114(b)(5) and subject to subpara10 graphs (A) and (B) of such section for a fiscal year, the 

11 Secretary shall make grants, from allotments under sub12 section (b), 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 academic content standards required by sec16 tion 1111(b)(1); 

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

19 to students who are limited English proficient and 

20 students who are children with disabilities to im21 prove the rates of inclusion in State assessments of 

22 such students; 

23 ‘‘(3) develop State assessment systems aligned 

24 to the State’s academic content standards that sup25 port systems of continuous improvement; 


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1 ‘‘(4) support local educational agencies in iden2 tifying uses of assessment data, which may include 

3 appropriate use of student assessment data as one 

4 of multiple measures of student learning for teacher 

5 and school leader performance and evaluation; and 

6 ‘‘(5) carry out the activities described in the re7 port required under subsection (c). 

8 ‘‘(b) ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS.—From the amount re9 served under section 6114(b)(5) for each fiscal year, each 

10 State shall receive an allotment for such year in an 

11 amount equal to— 

12 ‘‘(1) $4,000,000; and 

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

14 after the allotment is made under paragraph (1) to 

15 all States, an amount that bears the same relation16 ship to such total remaining amounts as the number 

17 of students ages 5 through 17 in the State (as deter18 mined by the Secretary on the basis of the most re19 cent satisfactory data) bears to the total number of 

20 such students in all States. 

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

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

23 in consultation with education stakeholders, prepare and 

24 make publically available a report that explains how the 

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


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

2 assessment system, including assessments not re3 quired by section 1111(b)(3), and for related activi4 ties; 

5 ‘‘(2) ensure that all summative assessments 

6 that are used for accountability purposes are valid 

7 and reliable, and consistent with relevant, nationally 

8 recognized professional and technical standards; and 

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

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

11 related activities, such as— 

12 ‘‘(A) disseminating the assessment data in 

13 an accessible and understandable format for 

14 educators, parents, and families; 

15 ‘‘(B) decreasing time between admin16 istering such State assessments and releasing 

17 assessment data; 

18 ‘‘(C) supporting the dissemination of 

19 promising practices from local educational 

20 agencies that have successfully used assessment 

21 data to improve individual student and overall 

22 school performance; 

23 ‘‘(D) identifying appropriate uses of as24 sessment data, which may include appropriate 

25 use of student assessment data as one of mulVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:21 Jan 24, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S197.IS S197

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1 tiple measures of student learning for teacher 

2 and school leader performance and evaluation; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(E) providing professional development on 

5 assessment and data literacy to teachers and 

6 school leaders, including on the development 

7 and effective use of formative and classroom8 based assessments aligned with State academic 

9 content standards. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 6112. GRANTS FOR ASSESSMENT SYSTEM ALIGN11 MENT, QUALITY, AND USE. 

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

13 under section 6114(b)(3) for a fiscal year, the Secretary 

14 shall make grants, from allotments under subsection (b), 

15 to States to enable the States to— 

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

17 section to a State for the first time— 

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

19 systems and ensure that local educational agen20 cies carry out audits of local assessments under 

21 subsection (e)(1); 

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

23 under subsection (e)(6); and 

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

25 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 per fiscal year. 

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 20:21 Jan 24, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S197.IS S197

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1 porting the results of the audit required under such 

2 paragraph. 

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 academic content 

25 standards under section 1111(b)(1); 


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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 who are limited English 

8 proficient 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 assessment 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) are not aligned to the 

2 State’s content standards under sec3 tion 1111(b)(1); 

4 ‘‘(III) in the case of summative 

5 assessments used for accountability 

6 purposes, are not valid or reliable and 

7 are inconsistent with nationally recog8 nized professional and technical 

9 standards; 

10 ‘‘(IV) do not contribute to sys11 tems of continuous improvement for 

12 teaching and learning; or 

13 ‘‘(V) are redundant; 

14 ‘‘(ii) supporting the dissemination of 

15 promising practices from local educational 

16 agencies or other States that have success17 fully improved assessment quality and effi18 ciency to improve teaching and learning; 

19 ‘‘(iii) supporting local educational 

20 agencies or consortia of local educational 

21 agencies to carry out efforts to streamline 

22 local assessment systems and implementing 

23 a regular process of review and evaluation 

24 of assessment use in local educational 

25 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 con24 sortia 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 con8 taining such other information as determined by the 

9 State. The application shall include a description of 

10 the agency’s or consortium’s needs to improve as11 sessment quality, use, and alignment (as described 

12 in paragraph (1)). 

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

14 under this subsection to a local educational agency 

15 or consortium of such agencies may be used to— 

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

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

18 ‘‘(B) eliminate any assessments identified 

19 for elimination by such audit, such as by buying 

20 out the remainder of procurement contracts 

21 with assessment developers; 

22 ‘‘(C) disseminate the promising practices 

23 described in subsection (e)(6)(A)(ii); 

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

25 and educators to disseminate assessment data 


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1 in an accessible and understandable format for 

2 parents and families, including for individuals 

3 with disabilities or individuals with limited 

4 English proficiency; 

5 ‘‘(E) support the appropriate use of assess6 ment data, which may include appropriate use 

7 of student assessment data as one of multiple 

8 measures of student learning for teacher and 

9 school leader performance and evaluation; 

10 ‘‘(F) provide professional development to, 

11 and time for teacher collaboration on designing 

12 classroom-based assessments and improving as13 sessments and data literacy for, teachers and 

14 school leaders, which may include providing ad15 ditional planning time to analyze student and 

16 team data and designing instruction based on 

17 data analysis; 

18 ‘‘(G) improve assessment delivery systems 

19 and schedules, including by increasing access to 

20 technology and exam proctors, where appro21 priate; 

22 ‘‘(H) hire instructional coaches, or promote 

23 educators who may receive increased compensa24 tion to serve as instructional coaches, to sup25 port educators to develop classroom-based asVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:21 Jan 24, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S197.IS S197

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

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

5 who are children with disabilities and students 

6 who are limited English proficient, including by 

7 providing the assessments described in section 

8 1111(b)(6). 

9 ‘‘SEC. 6113. NATIONAL ACTIVITIES. 

10 ‘‘From the amount reserved under section 

11 6114(b)(4), the Secretary shall provide technical assist12 ance to States to improve State understanding of existing 

13 flexibility in design and implementation of high-quality, 

14 streamlined State assessment systems to meet the require15 ments of section 1111(b)(3), including by— 

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

17 State assessment systems that meet the require18 ments of section 1111(b)(3); 

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

20 including appropriate assessment design and accom21 modation strategies that meet the requirements of 

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

23 students in State assessments; 

24 ‘‘(3) providing technical assistance to States 

25 conducting audits of State assessment systems 


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1 under section 6112(e), including by providing re2 sources such as templates and guidelines for data 

3 collection and for making audit results publicly 

4 available; 

5 ‘‘(4) conducting Departmental review of exist6 ing regulations and guidance for any language that 

7 unnecessarily confuses or inhibits innovation and 

8 flexibility in assessment design and implementation, 

9 and making revisions where needed, consistent with 

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

11 ‘‘(5) collecting information on State develop12 ment of new and innovative assessment systems that 

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

14 ‘‘(6) reporting on such new and innovative as15 sessment systems to the Committee on Education 

16 and the Workforce of the House of Representatives 

17 and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

18 and Pensions of the Senate. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 6114. FUNDING. 

20 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATIONAL

22 PROGRESS.—For the purpose of administering the 

23 State assessments under the National Assessment of 

24 Educational Progress, there are authorized to be ap25 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 AND USE OF APPROPRIATED

10 FUNDS.—From amounts made available for each fiscal 

11 year under 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) use the remainder (after reserving funds 

21 under paragraphs (1) through (4)) to carry out sec22 tion 6111, except that— 

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

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

25 equal to or greater than $450,000,000, each 


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1 State that receives a grant under section 6111 

2 shall use the grant to carry out paragraphs (1) 

3 through (5) of section 6111(a); and 

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

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

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

7 State that receives a grant under section 6111 

8 shall only be required to use the grant to carry 

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

10 6111(a). 

11 ‘‘SEC. 6115. DEFINITIONS. 

12 ‘‘In this subpart: 

13 ‘‘(1) LOCAL ASSESSMENT.—The term ‘local as14 sessment’ means an academic assessment carried out 

15 by a local educational agency that is separate from 

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

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

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

19 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The table of con21 tents in section 2 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu22 cation Act of 1965 is amended by striking the items relat23 ing to subpart 1 of part A of title VI and inserting the 

24 following: 

‘‘SUBPART 1—ACCOUNTABILITY


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‘‘Sec. 6111. Grants to improve delivery of high-quality assessments and for related activities. 

‘‘Sec. 6112. Grants for assessment system alignment, quality, and use. 

‘‘Sec. 6113. National activities. 

‘‘Sec. 6114. Funding. 

‘‘Sec. 6115. Definitions.’’. 

Æ 


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