H. R. 1—477
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in paragraph
(3), parents and members of the public shall have access
to all assessment data, questions, and complete and current
assessment instruments of any assessment authorized
under this section. The local educational agency shall make
reasonable efforts to inform parents and members of the
public about the access required under this paragraph.
‘‘(B) TIMELINE.—The access described in this paragraph
shall be provided within 45 days of the date the request
was made, in writing, and be made available in a secure
setting that is convenient to both parties.
‘‘(C) PROHIBITION.—To protect the integrity of the
assessment, no copy of the assessment items or assessment
instruments shall be duplicated or taken from the secure
setting.
‘‘(2) COMPLAINTS.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Parents and members of the public
may submit written complaints to the National Assessment
Governing Board.
‘‘(B) FORWARDING
OF
COMPLAINTS.—The National
Assessment Governing Board shall forward such com-
plaints to the Commissioner, the Secretary of Education,
and the State and local educational agency from within
which the complaint originated within 30 days of receipt
of such complaint.
‘‘(C) REVIEW.—The National Assessment Governing
Board, in consultation with the Commissioner, shall review
such complaint and determine whether revisions are nec-
essary and appropriate. As determined by such review,
the Board shall revise, as necessary and appropriate, the
procedures or assessment items that have generated the
complaint and respond to the individual submitting the
complaint, with a copy of such response provided to the
Secretary, describing any action taken, not later than 30
days after so acting.
‘‘(D) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit a summary
report of all complaints received pursuant to subparagraph
(A) and responses by the National Assessment Governing
Board pursuant to subparagraph (B) to the Chairman of
the House Committee on Education and the Workforce,
and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions.
‘‘(E) COGNITIVE QUESTIONS.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner may decline
to make available through public means, such as
posting on the Internet, distribution to the media, dis-
tribution through public agencies, or in response to
a request under section 552 of title 5, United States
Code, for a period, not to exceed 10 years after initial
use, cognitive questions that the Commissioner intends
to reuse in the future.
‘‘(ii) EXTENSION.—Notwithstanding clause (i), the
Commissioner may decline to make cognitive questions
available as described in clause (i) for a period longer
than 10 years if the Commissioner determines such
additional period is necessary to protect the security
and integrity of long-term trend data.
H. R. 1—478
‘‘(3) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner shall ensure that
all personally identifiable information about students, their
academic achievement, and their families, and that
information with respect to individual schools, remains con-
fidential, in accordance with section 552a of title 5, United
States Code.
‘‘(B) PROHIBITION.—The National Board, the Commis-
sioner, and any contractor or subcontractor shall not main-
tain any system of records containing a student’s name,
birth information, Social Security number, or parents’ name
or names, or any other personally identifiable information.
‘‘(4) PENALTIES.—Any unauthorized person who knowingly
discloses, publishes, or uses assessment questions, or complete
and current assessment instruments of any assessment author-
ized under this section may be fined as specified in section
3571 of title 18, United States Code or charged with a class
E felony.
‘‘(d) PARTICIPATION.—
‘‘(1) VOLUNTARY
PARTICIPATION.—Participation in any
assessment authorized under this section shall be voluntary
for students, schools, and local educational agencies.
‘‘(2) STUDENT PARTICIPATION.—Parents of children selected
to participate in any assessment authorized under this section
shall be informed before the administration of any authorized
assessment, that their child may be excused from participation
for any reason, is not required to finish any authorized assess-
ment, and is not required to answer any test question.
‘‘(3) STATE PARTICIPATION.—
‘‘(A) 
VOLUNTARY.—Participation 
in 
assessments
authorized under this section, other than reading and
mathematics in grades 4 and 8, shall be voluntary.
‘‘(B) AGREEMENT.—For reading and mathematics
assessments in grades 4 and 8, the Secretary shall enter
into an agreement with any State carrying out an assess-
ment for the State under this section. Each such agreement
shall contain provisions designed to ensure that the State
will participate in the assessment.
‘‘(4) REVIEW.—Representatives of State educational agen-
cies and local educational agencies or the chief State school
officer shall have the right to review any assessment item
or procedure of any authorized assessment upon request in
a manner consistent with subsection (c), except the review
described in subparagraph (2)(C) of subsection (c) shall take
place in consultation with the representatives described in this
paragraph.
‘‘(e) STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT LEVELS.—
‘‘(1) ACHIEVEMENT LEVELS.—The National Assessment Gov-
erning Board shall develop appropriate student achievement
levels for each grade or age in each subject area to be tested
under assessments authorized under this section, except the
trend assessment described in subsection (b)(2)(F).
‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF LEVELS.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Such levels shall—
‘‘(i) be determined by—
H. R. 1—479
‘‘(I) identifying the knowledge that can be
measured and verified objectively using widely
accepted professional assessment standards; and
‘‘(II) developing achievement levels that are
consistent with relevant widely accepted profes-
sional assessment standards and based on the
appropriate level of subject matter knowledge for
grade levels to be assessed, or the age of the stu-
dents, as the case may be.
‘‘(B) NATIONAL CONSENSUS APPROACH.—After the deter-
minations described in subparagraph (A), devising a
national consensus approach.
‘‘(C) TRIAL
BASIS.—The achievement levels shall be
used on a trial basis until the Commissioner determines,
as a result of an evaluation under subsection (f), that
such levels are reasonable, valid, and informative to the
public.
‘‘(D) STATUS.—The Commissioner and the Board shall
ensure that reports using such levels on a trial basis do
so in a manner that makes clear the status of such levels.
‘‘(E) UPDATES.—Such levels shall be updated as appro-
priate by the National Assessment Governing Board in
consultation with the Commissioner.
‘‘(3) REPORTING.—After determining that such levels are
reasonable, valid, and informative to the public, as the result
of an evaluation under subsection (f), the Commissioner shall
use such levels or other methods or indicators for reporting
results of the National Assessment and State assessments.
‘‘(4) REVIEW.—The National Assessment Governing Board
shall provide for a review of any trial student achievement
levels under development by representatives of State edu-
cational agencies or the chief State school officer in a manner
consistent with subsection (c), except the review described in
subparagraph (2)(C) shall take place in consultation with the
representatives described in this paragraph.
‘‘(f) REVIEW OF NATIONAL AND STATE ASSESSMENTS.—
‘‘(1) REVIEW.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide for con-
tinuing review of any assessment authorized under this
section, and student achievement levels, by one or more
professional assessment evaluation organizations.
‘‘(B) ISSUES ADDRESSED.—Such continuing review shall
address—
‘‘(i) whether any authorized assessment is properly
administered, produces high quality data that are valid
and reliable, is consistent with relevant widely
accepted professional assessment standards, and pro-
duces data on student achievement that are not other-
wise available to the State (other than data comparing
participating States to each other and the Nation);
‘‘(ii) whether student achievement levels are
reasonable, valid, reliable, and informative to the
public;
‘‘(iii) whether any authorized assessment is being
administered as a random sample and is reporting
the trends in academic achievement in a valid and
reliable manner in the subject areas being assessed;
H. R. 1—480
‘‘(iv) whether any of the test questions are biased,
as described in section 412(e)(4); and
‘‘(v) whether the appropriate authorized assess-
ments are measuring, consistent with this section,
reading ability and mathematical knowledge.
‘‘(2) REPORT.—The Secretary shall report to the Committee
on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representa-
tives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions of the Senate, the President, and the Nation on the
findings and recommendations of such reviews.
‘‘(3) USE
OF
FINDINGS
AND
RECOMMENDATIONS.—The
Commissioner and the National Assessment Governing Board
shall consider the findings and recommendations of such
reviews in designing the competition to select the organization,
or organizations, through which the Commissioner carries out
the National Assessment.
‘‘(g) COVERAGE AGREEMENTS.—
‘‘(1) DEPARTMENT
OF
DEFENSE
SCHOOLS.—The Secretary
and the Secretary of Defense may enter into an agreement,
including such terms as are mutually satisfactory, to include
in the National Assessment elementary schools and secondary
schools operated by the Department of Defense.
‘‘(2) BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS SCHOOLS.—The Secretary
and the Secretary of the Interior may enter into an agreement,
including such terms as are mutually satisfactory, to include
in the National Assessment schools for Indian children operated
or supported by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.’’.
(b) NATIONAL ASSESSMENT GOVERNING BOARD.—Section 412
of the National Education Statistics Act of 1994 (20 U.S.C. 9011)
is amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 412. NATIONAL ASSESSMENT GOVERNING BOARD.
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the National Assess-
ment Governing Board (hereafter in this title referred to as the
‘Board’), which shall formulate policy guidelines for the National
Assessment.
‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.—
‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT AND COMPOSITION.—The Board shall be
appointed by the Secretary and be composed as follows:
‘‘(A) Two Governors, or former Governors, who shall
not be members of the same political party.
‘‘(B) Two State legislators, who shall not be members
of the same political party.
‘‘(C) Two chief State school officers.
‘‘(D) One superintendent of a local educational agency.
‘‘(E) One member of a State board of education.
‘‘(F) One member of a local board of education.
‘‘(G) Three classroom teachers representing the grade
levels at which the National Assessment is conducted.
‘‘(H) One representative of business or industry.
‘‘(I) Two curriculum specialists.
‘‘(J) Three testing and measurement experts, who shall
have training and experience in the field of testing and
measurement.
‘‘(K) One nonpublic school administrator or policy-
maker.