timely information about student attain-
ment of such standards; 
‘‘(iv) be used for purposes for which 
such assessments are valid and reliable, be 
of adequate technical quality for each pur-
pose required under this Act, and be con-
sistent with relevant, nationally recognized 
professional and technical standards; 
‘‘(v)(I) in the case of mathematics and 
reading, be administered in each of grades 
3 through 8 and at least once in grades 9 
through 12; 
‘‘(II) in the case of any other subject 
chosen by the State, be administered at the 
discretion of the State; 
‘‘(vi) measure individual student aca-
demic proficiency and growth; 
‘‘(vii) at the State’s discretion— 
‘‘(I) be administered through a 
single annual summative assessment; 
or 
‘‘(II) be administered through 
multiple assessments during the course 
of the academic year that result in a 
single summative score that provides 
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valid, reliable, and transparent infor-
mation on student achievement; 
‘‘(viii) include measures that assess 
higher-order thinking skills and under-
standing; 
‘‘(ix) provide for— 
‘‘(I) the participation in such as-
sessments of all students; 
‘‘(II) the reasonable adaptations 
and accommodations for students with 
disabilities necessary to measure the 
academic achievement of such students 
relative to the State’s academic stand-
ards; and 
‘‘(III) the inclusion of English 
learners, who shall be assessed in a 
valid and reliable manner and pro-
vided reasonable accommodations, in-
cluding, to the extent practicable, as-
sessments in the language and form 
most likely to yield accurate and reli-
able information on what such students 
know and can do in academic content 
areas, 
until 
such 
students 
have 
achieved English language proficiency, 
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as assessed by the State under sub-
paragraph (D); 
‘‘(x) notwithstanding clause (ix)(III), 
provide for the assessment of reading or lan-
guage arts in English for English learners 
who have attended school in the United 
States (not including Puerto Rico) for 3 or 
more consecutive school years, except that a 
local educational agency may, on a case-by- 
case basis, provide for the assessment of 
reading or language arts for each such stu-
dent in a language other than English for 
a period not to exceed 2 additional consecu-
tive years if the assessment would be more 
likely to yield accurate and reliable infor-
mation on what such student knows and 
can do, provided that such student has not 
yet reached a level of English language pro-
ficiency sufficient to yield valid and reliable 
information on what such student knows 
and can do on reading or language arts as-
sessments written in English; 
‘‘(xi) produce individual student inter-
pretive, descriptive, and diagnostic reports 
regarding achievement on such assessments 
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that allow parents, teachers, and school 
leaders to understand and address the spe-
cific academic needs of students, and that 
are provided to parents, teachers, and school 
leaders, as soon as is practicable after the 
assessment is given, in an understandable 
and uniform format, and to the extent prac-
ticable, in a language that parents can un-
derstand; 
‘‘(xii) enable results to be disaggregated 
within each State, local educational agency, 
and school by gender, by each major racial 
and ethnic group, by English language pro-
ficiency status, by migrant status, by status 
as a student with a disability, and by eco-
nomically disadvantaged status, except that, 
in the case of a local educational agency or 
a school, such disaggregation shall not be re-
quired in a case in which the number of 
students in a category is insufficient to 
yield statistically reliable information or 
the results would reveal personally identifi-
able information about an individual stu-
dent; and 
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‘‘(xiii) be administered to not less than 
95 percent of all students, and not less than 
95 percent of each subgroup of students de-
scribed in paragraph (3)(B)(ii)(II). 
‘‘(C) ALTERNATE ASSESSMENTS.—A State 
may provide for alternate assessments aligned 
with the alternate academic standards adopted 
in accordance with paragraph (1)(D), for stu-
dents with the most significant cognitive disabil-
ities, if the State— 
‘‘(i) establishes and monitors imple-
mentation of clear and appropriate guide-
lines for individualized education program 
teams (as defined in section 614(d)(1)(B) of 
the Individuals with Disabilities Education 
Act) to apply when determining when a 
child’s significant cognitive disability justi-
fies assessment based on alternate achieve-
ment standards; 
‘‘(ii) ensures that the parents of such 
students are informed that— 
‘‘(I) 
their 
child’s 
academic 
achievement will be measured against 
such alternate standards; and 
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‘‘(II) whether participation in 
such assessments precludes the student 
from completing the requirements for a 
regular high school diploma as defined 
in section 5101(35)(A); 
‘‘(iii) demonstrates that such students 
are, to the extent practicable, included in 
the general curriculum and that such alter-
nate assessments are aligned with such cur-
riculum; 
‘‘(iv) develops, disseminates informa-
tion about, and promotes the use of appro-
priate accommodations to increase the num-
ber of students with disabilities who are 
tested against academic achievement stand-
ards for the grade in which a student is en-
rolled; and 
‘‘(v) ensures that regular and special 
education teachers and other appropriate 
staff know how to administer the alternate 
assessments, including making appropriate 
use of accommodations for students with 
disabilities. 
‘‘(D) ASSESSMENTS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE 
PROFICIENCY.— 
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‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Each State plan 
shall demonstrate that local educational 
agencies in the State will provide for an an-
nual assessment of English proficiency of 
all English learners in the schools served by 
the State educational agency. 
‘‘(ii) 
ALIGNMENT.—The 
assessments 
described in clause (i) shall be aligned with 
the State’s English language proficiency 
standards described in paragraph (1)(E). 
‘‘(E) 
LANGUAGE
ASSESSMENTS.—Each 
State plan shall identify the languages other 
than English that are present in the partici-
pating student population and indicate the lan-
guages for which yearly student academic assess-
ments are not available and are needed. The 
State shall make every effort to develop such as-
sessments and may request assistance from the 
Secretary if linguistically accessible academic as-
sessment measures are needed. Upon request, the 
Secretary shall assist with the identification of 
appropriate academic assessment measures in 
the needed languages, but shall not mandate a 
specific academic assessment or mode of instruc-
tion. 
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‘‘(F) ADAPTIVE
ASSESSMENTS.—A State 
may develop and administer computer adaptive 
assessments as the assessments required under 
subparagraph (A). If a State develops and ad-
ministers a computer adaptive assessment for 
such purposes, the assessment shall meet the re-
quirements of this paragraph, except as follows: 
‘‘(i) 
Notwithstanding 
subparagraph 
(B)(iii), the assessment— 
‘‘(I) shall measure, at a min-
imum, each student’s academic pro-
ficiency against the State’s academic 
standards for the student’s grade level 
and growth toward such standards; 
and 
‘‘(II) if the State chooses, may be 
used to measure the student’s level of 
academic proficiency and growth using 
assessment items above or below the 
student’s grade level, including for use 
as part of a State’s accountability sys-
tem under paragraph (3). 
‘‘(ii) Subparagraph (B)(ii) shall not be 
interpreted to require that all students tak-
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ing the computer adaptive assessment be ad-
ministered the same assessment items. 
‘‘(3) STATE ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEMS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each State plan shall 
demonstrate that the State has developed and is 
implementing a single, statewide accountability 
system to ensure that all public school students 
graduate from high school prepared for postsec-
ondary education or the workforce without the 
need for remediation. 
‘‘(B) ELEMENTS.—Each State account-
ability system described in subparagraph (A) 
shall at a minimum— 
‘‘(i) annually measure the academic 
achievement of all public school students in 
the State against the State’s academic 
standards adopted under paragraph (1), 
which may include measures of student 
growth toward such standards, using the as-
sessments described in paragraph (2) and 
other valid and reliable academic indicators 
related to student achievement as identified 
by the State; 
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‘‘(ii) annually evaluate and identify 
the academic performance of each public 
school in the State based on— 
‘‘(I) student academic achieve-
ment as measured in accordance with 
clause (i); and 
‘‘(II) the overall performance, and 
achievement gaps as compared to all 
students in the school, for economically 
disadvantaged students, students from 
major racial and ethnic groups, stu-
dents with disabilities, and English 
learners, except that disaggregation of 
data under this subclause shall not be 
required in a case in which the number 
of students in a category is insufficient 
to yield statistically reliable informa-
tion or the results would reveal person-
ally identifiable information about an 
individual student; and 
‘‘(iii) include a system for school im-
provement for low-performing public schools 
receiving funds under this subpart that— 
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‘‘(I) implements interventions in 
such schools that are designed to ad-
dress such schools’ weaknesses; and 
‘‘(II) is implemented by local edu-
cational agencies serving such schools. 
‘‘(C) PROHIBITION.—Nothing in this section 
shall be construed to permit the Secretary to es-
tablish any criteria that specifies, defines, or 
prescribes any aspect of a State’s accountability 
system developed and implemented in accordance 
with this paragraph. 
‘‘(D) 
ACCOUNTABILITY
FOR
CHARTER 
SCHOOLS.—The accountability provisions under 
this Act shall be overseen for charter schools in 
accordance with State charter school law. 
‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS.—Each State plan shall de-
scribe— 
‘‘(A) how the State educational agency will 
assist each local educational agency and each 
public school affected by the State plan to com-
ply with the requirements of this subpart, in-
cluding how the State educational agency will 
work with local educational agencies to provide 
technical assistance; and 
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‘‘(B) how the State educational agency will 
ensure that the results of the State assessments 
described in paragraph (2), the other indicators 
selected by the State under paragraph (3)(B)(i), 
and the school evaluations described in para-
graph (3)(B)(ii), will be promptly provided to 
local educational agencies, schools, teachers, and 
parents in a manner that is clear and easy to 
understand, but not later than before the begin-
ning of the school year following the school year 
in which such assessments, other indicators, or 
evaluations are taken or completed. 
‘‘(5) TIMELINE
FOR
IMPLEMENTATION.—Each 
State plan shall describe the process by which the 
State will adopt and implement the State academic 
standards, assessments, and accountability system re-
quired under this section within 2 years of enactment 
of the Student Success Act. 
‘‘(6) EXISTING
STANDARDS.—Nothing in this 
subpart shall prohibit a State from revising, con-
sistent with this section, any standard adopted under 
this section before or after the date of enactment of the 
Student Success Act. 
‘‘(7) EXISTING STATE LAW.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be construed to alter any State law or regu-
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