Sec. 6. Privacy protections for data systems. 
Sec. 7. Timeline. 
Sec. 8. Improvements to the peer review process. 
Sec. 9. Disaggregation of graduation rates. 
Sec. 10. Competitive grants for creating and implementing high-quality assess-
ments. 
Sec. 11. Competitive grants for increasing capacity at the State and local level. 
SEC. 2. REFERENCES. 
Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 
this Act an amendment or revision is expressed in terms 
of an amendment to, or revision of, a section or other pro-
vision, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 
section or other provision of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.). 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) State and local governments bear the ma-
jority of the cost of and responsibility for educating 
public elementary school and secondary school stu-
dents. 
(2) State and local governments often struggle 
to find adequate funding to provide basic edu-
cational services. 
(3) The Federal Government has not provided 
its full share of funding for numerous federally man-
dated elementary and secondary education pro-
grams. 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:22 Dec 08, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4305.IH
H4305
cnoel on PRODPC60 with BILLS_CN
(4) Underfunded Federal education mandates 
increase financial pressures on States and local edu-
cational agencies. 
(5) States and local educational agencies are 
facing increased costs when implementing the an-
nual student academic assessments required under 
section 1111(b)(3)(C)(vii) of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
6311(b)(3)(C)(vii)). 
(6) Multiple measures of student academic 
achievement on various methods of assessment pro-
vide a more complete picture of a student’s 
strengths and weaknesses than does a single score 
on a high stakes standardized test. 
(7) The frequency of using high-quality assess-
ments as a tool to measure student achievement 
should be decided by State educational agencies and 
local educational agencies. 
SEC. 4. PURPOSES. 
Section 1001 (20 U.S.C. 6301) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (8) through 
(12) as paragraphs (10) through (14), respectively; 
and 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol-
lowing: 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:22 Dec 08, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4305.IH
H4305
cnoel on PRODPC60 with BILLS_CN
‘‘(8) encouraging State educational agencies 
and local educational agencies to design innovative 
State assessment systems that include valid and reli-
able high-quality assessments, including teacher-de-
signed formative assessments, performance-based as-
sessments, portfolio assessments, and other locally 
designed assessments; 
‘‘(9) providing additional resources for States to 
encourage the use of more than high stakes stand-
ardized testing in making key decisions about stu-
dents and schools, including accountability deter-
minations, student promotion and retention deci-
sions, and school funding decisions;’’. 
SEC. 5. STATE AND LOCAL FLEXIBILITY IN ASSESSMENT 
AND ACCOUNTABILITY MODELS. 
(a) CHANGES TO ACADEMIC STANDARDS.—Section 
1111(b)(1)(D) (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(1)(D)) is amended— 
(1) in clause (i)(III), by inserting ‘‘, including 
higher-order thinking and analysis skills’’ after 
‘‘skills’’; and 
(2) in clause (ii)(III), by striking ‘‘the lower- 
achieving’’ and inserting ‘‘all’’. 
(b) ACCOUNTABILITY DEFINITION CHANGES.—Sec-
tion 1111(b)(2)(A) (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(A) is amend-
ed— 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:22 Dec 08, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4305.IH
H4305
cnoel on PRODPC60 with BILLS_CN
(1) in the matter preceding clause (i)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘or adequate yearly 
growth’’ after ‘‘progress’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘under this paragraph’’ 
and inserting ‘‘in the State plan in accordance 
with this paragraph and subject to the State’s 
selection of an assessment system described in 
paragraph (3)(E)’’; and 
(2) in clause (iii)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘sanctions’’ and inserting 
‘‘proven interventions’’; and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘or adequate yearly 
growth’’ after ‘‘adequate yearly progress’’. 
(c) ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS CHANGES.—Sec-
tion 1111(b)(2) (as amended by subsection (b)) (20 
U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)) is further amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘, and at 
the State’s selection, other academic indicators,’’ 
after ‘‘assessments’’; and 
(2) in subparagraph (D)— 
(A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 
the semicolon; 
(B) by striking clause (ii) and inserting the 
following: 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:22 Dec 08, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4305.IH
H4305
cnoel on PRODPC60 with BILLS_CN
‘‘(ii) in order to provide a more accu-
rate determination of school improvement 
and subject to subparagraph (C)(iv), may 
elect to use other academic indicators de-
scribed in clauses (vi) or (vii) of subpara-
graph (C) to determine which schools and 
local educational agencies are identified for 
school improvement, corrective action, or 
restructuring under section 1116; and’’; 
and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(iii) shall ensure that assessments 
described in paragraph (3) represent not 
less than 50 percent of the factors used to 
determine how academic achievement is 
measured for purposes of determining ade-
quate yearly progress or adequate yearly 
growth.’’. 
(d) CHANGES
TO ANNUAL MEASURABLE OBJEC-
TIVES.—Section 
1111(b)(2)(G) 
(20 
U.S.C. 
6311(b)(2)(G)) is amended— 
(1) in clause (iii), by inserting ‘‘, or to meet a 
certain level of adequate yearly growth,’’ after ‘‘pro-
ficient level’’; and 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:22 Dec 08, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4305.IH
H4305
cnoel on PRODPC60 with BILLS_CN
(2) in clause (iv), by inserting ‘‘, or definition 
of adequate yearly growth,’’ after ‘‘academic achieve-
ment’’. 
(e) STATE FLEXIBILITY TO DESIGN GROWTH MOD-
ELS.—Section 1111(b)(2) (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)) is fur-
ther amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(L) STATE
FLEXIBILITY
TO
DESIGN 
GROWTH MODELS.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 
any other provisions of this section, in car-
rying out this section a State may choose 
from among the following statewide ac-
countability models: 
‘‘(I) STATUS MODEL.—Maintain-
ing annual assessments under a status 
model, as described in subparagraphs 
(B) through (K) of this paragraph. 
‘‘(II) GROWTH
MODEL.—Imple-
menting a growth model account-
ability system described in clause (ii). 
‘‘(III) HYBRID
MODEL.—Imple-
menting 
a 
hybrid 
accountability 
model, including a combined growth 
and status model, if the growth model 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:22 Dec 08, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4305.IH
H4305
cnoel on PRODPC60 with BILLS_CN
(D) in clause (xv), by striking the period 
and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(E) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(xvi) if the State chooses, include 
other valid and reliable assessments, in-
cluding State or locally designed or admin-
istered formative assessments, performance 
assessments, portfolio assessments, bench-
mark assessments, end-of-course examina-
tions, and other local assessments, that— 
‘‘(I) are aligned with the State’s 
academic content standards and stu-
dent academic achievement standards; 
‘‘(II) have been approved through 
the peer-review process described in 
subsection (e); 
‘‘(III) 
measure 
higher-order 
thinking skills; 
‘‘(IV) produce evidence about 
student learning and achievement in a 
timely manner; and 
‘‘(V) provide teachers with mean-
ingful feedback so that the teachers 
can modify, improve, and target in-
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:22 Dec 08, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00014
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4305.IH
H4305
cnoel on PRODPC60 with BILLS_CN
structional strategies based on indi-
vidual student need.’’. 
(h) SPECIAL RULE.—Section 1111(b) (20 U.S.C. 
6311(b)) is further amended by striking paragraph (4). 
SEC. 6. PRIVACY PROTECTIONS FOR DATA SYSTEMS. 
Subpart 1 of part A of title I of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et 
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 1120C. PRIVACY PROTECTIONS FOR DATA SYSTEMS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State receiving a grant 
under this part shall implement measures to— 
‘‘(1) limit the use of information in a statewide 
education data system by a State educational agen-
cy, a local educational agency, or an institution of 
higher education to the purposes and functions for 
such information set forth in Federal or State edu-
cation law, and allow access to the information in 
the statewide education data system only to those 
State or local employees or agents, and only on such 
terms, as may be necessary to fulfill those purposes 
and functions; 
‘‘(2) prohibit the disclosure of student-level in-
formation in the data system to any other person, 
agency, institution, or entity, except that States may 
allow the disclosures permitted under section 444 of 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:22 Dec 08, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00015
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4305.IH
H4305
cnoel on PRODPC60 with BILLS_CN
the General Education Provisions Act in accordance 
with the limitations set forth in this section and any 
additional limitations set forth in State law; 
‘‘(3) require any person, agency, institution, or 
entity to whom disclosure of information in the data 
system is authorized under section 444 of the Gen-
eral Education Provisions Act to sign a data use 
agreement prior to disclosure, that— 
‘‘(A) prohibits the party from further dis-
closing the information; 
‘‘(B) prohibits the party from using the in-
formation for any purpose other than the pur-
pose specified in the agreement; and 
‘‘(C) requires the party to destroy the in-
formation when the purpose for which the dis-
closure was made is accomplished; 
‘‘(4) if consistent with the purpose of the disclo-
sure, remove personally identifying information and 
unique identifiers before disclosing student-level in-
formation in the data system; 
‘‘(5) in addition to the accounting requirements 
set forth under section 444 of the General Edu-
cation Provisions Act, maintain a record of the date 
of each disclosure of information in the data system, 
a detailed description of the information disclosed, 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:22 Dec 08, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00016
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4305.IH
H4305
cnoel on PRODPC60 with BILLS_CN
and the name and address of the person, agency, in-
stitution, or entity to whom the disclosure was made, 
which accounting shall be made available on request 
to parents of any student whose information has 
been disclosed, or to the student if the student has 
reached the age of 18 or is enrolled in a postsec-
ondary educational institution; 
‘‘(6) ensure that any disclosure of aggregate 
data in the data system is in a form that does not 
permit the identification of individual students, and 
that any unique identifiers in the data system are 
removed prior to disclosure of aggregate data; 
‘‘(7) maintain adequate security measures to 
ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the data 
system; and 
‘‘(8) ensure adequate enforcement of the re-
quirements of this section. 
‘‘(b) USE OF UNIQUE IDENTIFIERS.— 
‘‘(1) GOVERNMENTAL USE OF UNIQUE IDENTI-
FIERS.—It shall be unlawful for any Federal agency, 
any employee of any Federal agency, any State or 
local agency in a State that receives funds under 
this Act, or any employee of a State or local agency 
in a State that receives funds under this Act, to use 
unique identifiers employed in a statewide education 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:22 Dec 08, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00017
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4305.IH
H4305
cnoel on PRODPC60 with BILLS_CN
data system for any purpose other than as author-
ized by Federal or State education law, or to deny 
any individual any right, benefit, or privilege pro-
vided by law because of such individual’s refusal to 
disclose the individual’s unique identifier. 
‘‘(2) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of the Improving Stu-
dent Testing Act of 2007, the Secretary shall pro-
mulgate regulations governing the use of unique 
identifiers employed in statewide education data sys-
tems, with the goal of safeguarding individual pri-
vacy. The regulations may require States seeking 
grants under this part to have in place measures to 
limit the use of unique identifiers by nongovern-
mental parties to the extent practicable, consistent 
with the uses of the information authorized in Fed-
eral or State education law. 
‘‘(c) FORMULA GRANTS FOR PRIVACY PROTECTED 
DATA SYSTEMS.— 
‘‘(1) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary is 
authorized to award a grant, from allotments under 
paragraph (2), to each State receiving funds under 
this part, for the purposes of carrying out the re-
quirements of this section related to privacy protec-
tions and unique identifiers. 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:22 Dec 08, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00018
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4305.IH
H4305
cnoel on PRODPC60 with BILLS_CN
‘‘(2) ALLOTMENT
FORMULA.—The Secretary 
shall establish a formula for the allotment of grants 
under this subsection that ensures that no State re-
ceives less than $500,000 annually and that each 
State receives an equitable share of the amount al-
lotted based upon relevant State factors, including 
student population size. 
‘‘(3) DEFINITION
OF
STATE.—In this sub-
section the term ‘State’ means each of the several 
States of the United States, the District of Colum-
bia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 
‘‘(d) AUTHORIZED AMOUNTS.—There are authorized 
to be appropriated to carry out this section $35,000,000 
for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012.’’. 
SEC. 7. TIMELINE. 
Section 1111(b)(2)(F) (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(F)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The Sec-
retary shall waive the timeline described in this subpara-
graph if the amount appropriated to carry out this part 
for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2015 does not equal 
or exceed the amount authorized to be appropriated to 
carry out this part for each such fiscal year.’’. 
SEC. 8. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE PEER REVIEW PROCESS. 
Section 1111(e)(1) (20 U.S.C. 6311(e)(1)) is further 
amended— 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:22 Dec 08, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00019
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4305.IH
H4305
cnoel on PRODPC60 with BILLS_CN
‘‘(v) not less than 1 representative 
who works in a school; 
‘‘(D) ensure that there is consistency from 
State to State with respect to all decisions 
reached by the peer review panels; 
‘‘(E) ensure that States are given the op-
portunity to receive timely feedback from peer 
review teams, in person or via electronic com-
munication, and directly interact with peer re-
view panels on issues that need clarification 
during the peer review process;’’; 
(4) in subparagraph (H)(iii) (as redesignated 
by paragraph (2)), by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semi-
colon; 
(5) in subparagraph (I) (as redesignated by 
paragraph (2)), by striking the period and inserting 
a semicolon; and 
(6) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(J) post all approval and denial decisions 
regarding the State plans and final State plans, 
State plan amendments, and waiver decisions 
for each State plan, on a publicly available 
website in an easily identifiable location, and 
provide written notification to States of all such 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:22 Dec 08, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00022
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4305.IH
H4305
cnoel on PRODPC60 with BILLS_CN
decisions within 3 business days of such deci-
sions; and 
‘‘(K) direct the Inspector General of the 
Department to review the final determinations 
reached by the Secretary under this subsection 
for consistent decisionmaking through the peer 
review process across all States and report the 
findings to Congress once every 2 years.’’. 
SEC. 9. DISAGGREGATION OF GRADUATION RATES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1111(h)(1)(C)(vi) (20 
U.S.C. 6311(h)(1)(C)) is amended by inserting before the 
semicolon the following: ‘‘, disaggregated by the student 
subgroups described in subsection (b)(2)(C)(v)(II)’’. 
(b) FORMULA GRANTS FOR DISAGGREGATION AND 
REPORTING OF DATA.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education 
is authorized to award a grant, from allotments 
under paragraph (2), to each State receiving funds 
under part A of title I of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311 et 
seq.), for the purposes of carrying out the require-
ments to disaggregate and report data as required 
under sections 1111(b)(2)(C), 1111(b)(3)(C)(xiii), 
and 1111(h) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(2)(C), 
6311(b)(3)(C)(xiii), 6311(h)). 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:22 Dec 08, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00023
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4305.IH
H4305
cnoel on PRODPC60 with BILLS_CN
(2) ALLOTMENT
FORMULA.—The Secretary 
shall establish a formula for the allotment of grants 
under this subsection that ensures that no State re-
ceives less than $1,000,000 annually and that each 
State receives an equitable share of the amount al-
lotted based upon relevant State factors, including 
student population size. 
(3) DEFINITION
OF
STATES.—In this sub-
section the term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 
States of the United States, the District of Colum-
bia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 
(4) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to 
be appropriated to carry out this subsection 
$70,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 
2012. 
SEC. 10. COMPETITIVE GRANTS FOR CREATING AND IMPLE-
MENTING HIGH-QUALITY ASSESSMENTS. 
(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are as 
follows: 
(1) To provide additional resources to State 
educational agencies, local educational agencies, and 
schools so that accountability decisions about stu-
dents and schools are based on well-designed mul-
tiple measures of assessment rather than 1 high 
stakes standardized test. 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:22 Dec 08, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00024
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4305.IH
H4305
cnoel on PRODPC60 with BILLS_CN
(2) To assist State educational agencies, local 
educational agencies, and schools in the design and 
implementation of high-quality assessments, includ-
ing State or locally designed school district assess-
ments, formative assessments, performance assess-
ments, portfolio assessments, alternative assess-
ments for students with disabilities and English 
Language Learners, and other assessments that 
measure higher-order thinking skills and are aligned 
with State student academic achievement and aca-
demic content standards in order to create multiple 
measures of assessment that— 
(A) improve classroom instruction; or 
(B) are used in accountability systems. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) ESEA DEFINITIONS.—The terms used in 
this section have the meanings given the terms in 
section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 
(2) 
FORMATIVE
ASSESSMENT.—The 
term 
‘‘formative assessment’’ means an assessment that— 
(A) produces evidence about student learn-
ing and achievement in a timely manner; and 
(B) provides students and teachers with 
meaningful feedback so that teachers can mod-
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:22 Dec 08, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00025
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4305.IH
H4305
cnoel on PRODPC60 with BILLS_CN
ify, improve, and target instructional strategies 
based on individual student need, and students 
can assess the students’ own academic progress. 
(3) MULTIPLE MEASURES OF ASSESSMENT.— 
The term ‘‘multiple measures of assessment’’ means 
different forms of assessment that offer all students 
various ways to show academic achievement and 
progress. 
(4) PERFORMANCE
ASSESSMENT.—The term 
‘‘performance assessment’’ means an assessment 
that measures the ability of students to apply knowl-
edge and demonstrate achievement through perform-
ance-based tasks. 
(5) PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT.—The term ‘‘port-
folio assessment’’ means an assessment that accu-
mulates student work to use as formative or 
summative evidence of student academic progress. 
(c) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of Edu-
cation is authorized to award grants to State educational 
agencies to enable the State educational agencies to carry 
out the authorized activities described in subsection (d). 
(d) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency 
that receives a grant under this section shall use the 
funds made available through the grant for the de-
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:22 Dec 08, 2007
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00026
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4305.IH
H4305
cnoel on PRODPC60 with BILLS_CN