[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3771 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3771

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide 
      competitive grants for creating and implementing innovative 
                              assessments.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 13, 2010

Mr. Feingold (for himself and Mr. Leahy) 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 provide 
      competitive grants for creating and implementing innovative 
                              assessments.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Improving Student Testing Act of 
2010''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO FORMULA GRANTS FOR CREATING AND IMPLEMENTING 
              HIGH-QUALITY AND INNOVATIVE ASSESSMENTS.

    Section 6111 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 7301) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``The Secretary'' and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary'';
            (2) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
            ``(1) to pay the costs of the development of the additional 
        State assessments and standards required by section 1111(b), 
        which may include the costs of working in voluntary 
        partnerships with other States, at the sole discretion of each 
        such State, and which may also include--
                    ``(A) partnering with institutions of higher 
                education and nonprofit organizations to design and 
                implement high-quality and innovative assessments, 
                including performance assessments, technology-based 
                assessments, through-course assessments, adaptive 
                assessments, and appropriate assessments for students 
                with disabilities and English language learners;
                    ``(B) aligning high-quality and innovative 
                assessments with the common core standards or State 
                challenging academic content standards and challenging 
                student academic achievement standards;
                    ``(C) partnering with institutions of higher 
                education and other nonprofit entities with experience 
                in high-quality professional development to train 
                teachers and principals in--
                            ``(i) how to design balanced assessment 
                        systems that include summative, interim, and 
                        formative assessments;
                            ``(ii) how to effectively embed high-
                        quality and innovative assessments in classroom 
                        instruction;
                            ``(iii) how to interpret the data generated 
                        by multiple types of assessments; and
                            ``(iv) how to use the data generated by 
                        assessments to improve student achievement;
                    ``(D) designing and implementing alternative 
                assessments that are fair, valid, and reliable for 
                students with disabilities and English language 
                learners;
                    ``(E) developing scoring mechanisms that enable 
                high-quality and innovative assessments to be scored in 
                such a way as to produce fair, valid, reliable, and 
                comparable results for all students;
                    ``(F) integrating the use of technology in both the 
                design, implementation, and scoring of assessments;
                    ``(G) implementing assessment systems that use 
                multiple sources of evidence collected throughout the 
                course of a school year for the purposes of calculating 
                adequate yearly progress under section 1111(b)(2)(C); 
                and
                    ``(H) collaborating with other State educational 
                agencies to share information and best practices about 
                assessment design and implementation; and''; and
            (3) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the following:
                                    ``(I) Developing and administering 
                                formative and interim assessments to 
                                help measure student growth, improve 
                                classroom instruction, and provide 
                                timely feedback to teachers, 
                                principals, and parents during the 
                                academic year.''.

SEC. 3. COMPETITIVE GRANTS FOR CREATING AND IMPLEMENTING INNOVATIVE 
              ASSESSMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 6112 of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7301a) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 6112. COMPETITIVE GRANTS FOR CREATING AND IMPLEMENTING 
              INNOVATIVE ASSESSMENTS.

    ``(a) Purposes.--The purposes of this section are as follows:
            ``(1) To provide additional resources to States and State 
        educational agencies so that accountability decisions about 
        students and schools are based on well-designed multiple 
        measures rather than 1 high stakes standardized test.
            ``(2) To assist States, State educational agencies, local 
        educational agencies, and schools in the design and 
        implementation of high-quality and innovative assessments, 
        including technology-based assessments, adaptive assessments, 
        formative assessments, performance assessments, standardized 
        portfolio assessments, interim assessments, appropriate 
        assessments for students with disabilities and English language 
        learners, through-course assessments, and other assessments 
        that measure higher-order thinking skills and are aligned with 
        common core standards or State challenging academic content 
        standards and challenging student academic achievement 
        standards, in order to create multiple measures that--
                    ``(A) are used for Federal and State accountability 
                purposes;
                    ``(B) improve classroom instruction; and
                    ``(C) provide timely and meaningful feedback to 
                students, teachers, principals, and parents.
    ``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Adaptive assessment.--The term `adaptive assessment' 
        means an assessment in which questions are administered to 
        students based on the students' answers to previous questions 
        both on and out of grade level.
            ``(2) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means--
                    ``(A) a consortium of States;
                    ``(B) a State educational agency;
                    ``(C) a consortium of local education agencies; or
                    ``(D) a local education agency.
            ``(3) Formative assessment.--The term `formative 
        assessment' means an assessment that--
                    ``(A) is integrated into classroom instruction;
                    ``(B) produces evidence about student learning and 
                achievement in a timely manner; and
                    ``(C) provides students and teachers with 
                meaningful feedback so that teachers can modify, 
                improve, and target instructional strategies based on 
                individual student need, and so that teachers and 
                students can assess the students' academic growth.
            ``(4) Interim assessment.--The term `interim assessment' 
        means an assessment that--
                    ``(A) is given at regular and specified intervals 
                throughout the school year;
                    ``(B) is designed to evaluate students' knowledge 
                and skills relative to a specific set of academic 
                standards; and
                    ``(C) produces results that can be aggregated by 
                course, grade level, school, or local educational 
                agency in order to inform students, teachers, and 
                administrators at the student, classroom, school, and 
                local educational agency levels.
            ``(5) Multiple measures.--The term `multiple measures' 
        means evidence gained from different forms of assessment that 
        offer all students various ways to fairly, validly, and 
        reliable demonstrate academic achievement and academic growth.
            ``(6) Performance assessment.--The term `performance 
        assessment' means an assessment that measures the ability of 
        students to apply knowledge and skills, and demonstrate 
        achievement through performance-based tasks.
            ``(7) Standardized portfolio assessment.--The term 
        `standardized portfolio assessment' means an assessment that 
        accumulates the same types of student work, created under 
        similar conditions across all schools within a State, to use as 
        formative or summative evidence of student academic progress.
            ``(8) Technology-based assessment.--The term `technology-
        based assessment' means an assessment that utilizes technology 
        such as computers in the development, administration, and 
        scoring of the assessment.
            ``(9) Through-course assessment.--The term `through-course 
        assessment' means an assessment system or component or set of 
        assessment system components that is administered periodically 
        during the academic year, in which a student's results are 
        combined to produce the student's total summative assessment 
        score for such academic year.
            ``(10) Universal design for learning.--The term `universal 
        design for learning' means a scientifically valid framework for 
        guiding educational practice that--
                    ``(A) provides flexibility in the ways information 
                is presented, in the ways students respond or 
                demonstrate knowledge and skills, and in the ways 
                students are engaged; and
                    ``(B) reduces barriers in instruction, provides 
                appropriate accommodations, supports, and challenges, 
                and maintains high achievement expectations for all 
                students, including students with disabilities and 
                students who are English language learners.
    ``(c) Grants Authorized.--The Secretary is authorized to award 
grants to eligible entities to enable the eligible entities to carry 
out the authorized activities described in subsection (d).
    ``(d) Authorized Activities.--
            ``(1) In general.--An eligible entity that receives a grant 
        under this section shall use the funds made available under 
        this section for the design or implementation of high-quality 
        and innovative assessments in local classrooms, including--
                    ``(A) partnering with institutions of higher 
                education and nonprofit organizations to design, test, 
                and implement assessments in classrooms;
                    ``(B) aligning the assessments with common core 
                standards or State challenging academic content 
                standards and challenging student academic achievement 
                standards under section 1111(b)(1);
                    ``(C) partnering with institutions of higher 
                education, local educational agencies, and nonprofit 
                organizations that provide high-quality professional 
                development to train teachers and principals in--
                            ``(i) how to utilize the assessments 
                        described in subsection (a)(2) in the teachers' 
                        classrooms;
                            ``(ii) how to interpret the data generated 
                        by these assessments; and
                            ``(iii) how to use the data generated by 
                        these assessments to improve student 
                        achievement;
                    ``(D) designing achievement reports that--
                            ``(i) detail assessment results, including 
                        student achievement and student-level and 
                        school-level growth;
                            ``(ii) are desegregated by student 
                        subgroups listed in section 
                        1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II); and
                            ``(iii) can be used to inform classroom 
                        instruction and provide parents and the 
                        community with timely information on student-
                        level and school-level progress;
                    ``(E) designing and implementing alternative 
                assessments that are fair, valid, and reliable for 
                students with disabilities and English language 
                learners;
                    ``(F) developing scoring mechanisms that enable the 
                assessments to be scored in such a way as to produce 
                fair, valid, reliable, and comparable results for all 
                students;
                    ``(G) integrating the use of technology in both the 
                design, implementation, and scoring of assessments;
                    ``(H) collaborating with other eligible entities to 
                share information and best practices about assessment 
                development and implementation across the States; and
                    ``(I) implementing assessment systems that use 
                multiple measures collected throughout the course of a 
                school year for purposes of calculating school-level 
                and district-level achievement in Federal and State 
                accountability systems.
            ``(2) Requirements.--Assessments designed or implemented 
        with funds provided under this section shall--
                    ``(A) be aligned with common core standards or 
                State challenging academic content standards and 
                challenging student academic achievement standards 
                under section 1111(b)(1);
                    ``(B) be capable of measuring student academic 
                growth and achievement of State challenging academic 
                content standards and challenging student academic 
                achievement standards;
                    ``(C) be fair, valid, reliable, and capable of 
                producing comparable and disaggregated results for all 
                students, including all the student subgroups 
                identified under section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II);
                    ``(D) be able to measure readiness for college or 
                the workplace;
                    ``(E) use scoring mechanisms that enable the 
                assessments to be scored in such a way as to produce 
                fair, valid, reliable, and comparable results for all 
                students;
                    ``(F) incorporate principles of universal design 
                for learning;
                    ``(G) produce evidence about student learning and 
                achievement in a timely manner; and
                    ``(H) provide teachers with meaningful feedback so 
                that the teachers can modify, improve, and target 
                instructional strategies based on individual student 
                need.
            ``(3) Restrictions.--Grant funds received under this 
        section--
                    ``(A) shall be used only for the authorized 
                activities described under this subsection; and
                    ``(B) may not be used for the purchase or 
                development of high stakes, large scale assessments or 
                for test preparation materials for high stakes testing.
    ``(e) Other Eligible Partner Entities.--
            ``(1) In general.--Each eligible entity that receives a 
        grant under this section, upon receipt of the grant funds, may 
        partner with an entity described in paragraph (2), in order to 
        carry out the activities assisted under the grant.
            ``(2) Partner entities.--A partner entity referred to in 
        paragraph (1) is--
                    ``(A) an institution of higher education; or
                    ``(B) a nonprofit entity with experience in 
                designing high-quality and innovative assessments.
    ``(f) Application.--To be eligible to receive a grant under this 
section, an eligible entity shall submit an application to the 
Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information 
as the Secretary may require, including, at a minimum--
            ``(1) a proposal to use the grant funds to design or 
        implement the assessments and assessment systems described in 
        subsection (a)(2);
            ``(2) a description of how the eligible entity plans to 
        ensure that teachers and principals are provided meaningful and 
        effective professional development in the use of such 
        assessments in the teachers' and principals' classrooms and 
        schools, including how to interpret and utilize data generated 
        from the assessments to improve student learning and outcomes;
            ``(3) a description of how the eligible entity plans to 
        assess the effectiveness of the assessments and assessment 
        systems in raising student achievement and narrowing the 
        achievement gap among the State's student population;
            ``(4) a description of how the eligible entity plans to 
        ensure that the assessments and assessment systems will be used 
        to improve teaching and provide detailed and timely feedback to 
        students and parents; and
            ``(5) a description of how the eligible entity plans to 
        ensure that there is a transparent and fair process for scoring 
        assessments designed or implemented with funds provided under 
        this section so that scores are accurate, valid, and reliable.
    ``(g) Duration.--A grant under this section shall be awarded for a 
period of not more than 3 fiscal years.
    ``(h) Award Considerations.--In awarding grants under this section, 
the Secretary shall select eligible entities that demonstrate the 
greatest need for the grants and the greatest potential benefit from 
receipt of the grants.
    ``(i) Report and Evaluation.--
            ``(1) State reports.--Each eligible entity that receives a 
        grant under this section shall submit--
                    ``(A) an annual report to the Secretary detailing 
                how the eligible entity is using the grant funds and 
                detailing ongoing evaluation of--
                            ``(i) the design of the assessments 
                        assisted under this section;
                            ``(ii) the training of educators in using 
                        the assessments;
                            ``(iii) the effectiveness of the 
                        assessments as measured by student achievement 
                        and growth based on multiple measures; and
                            ``(iv) the reliability and validity of the 
                        scoring process for the assessments;
                    ``(B) a comprehensive 3-year report at the end of 
                the 3-year grant period including a detailed analysis 
                of--
                            ``(i) how the grant funds were used; and
                            ``(ii) the impact of the grant on student 
                        achievement, narrowing the achievement gap, and 
                        the quality of teaching, based on multiple 
                        measures.
            ``(2) Federal evaluation and report.--Not later than 5 
        years after the date of enactment of the Improving Student 
        Testing Act of 2010, the Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) develop and execute a plan for evaluating the 
                assessments assisted under this section and section 
                6111 and the strategies financed under this section; 
                and
                    ``(B) submit a report to Congress detailing--
                            ``(i) how eligible entities used the grant 
                        funds provided under this section;
                            ``(ii) the impact of the grants on student 
                        achievement and teaching in the States; and
                            ``(iii) any recommendations for 
                        improvements that can be made to the grant 
                        programs under this section and section 6111.
    ``(j) Authorization of Appropriations.--In addition to the amounts 
authorized to be appropriated under section 6113(b)(2), there are 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $10,000,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2011 through 2015.''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents in section 2 of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended by striking 
the item relating to section 6112 and inserting the following:

``Sec. 6112. Competitive grants for creating and implementing 
                            innovative assessments.''.
    (c) Ending Taxpayer Subsidies for Exporters.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall develop 
        and implement a program to impose fees on businesses that 
        benefit from the trade promotion activities of the 
        International Trade Administration.
            (2) Budget neutrality.--The fees shall be imposed in an 
        amount that ensures that any Federal expenditures on trade 
        promotion activities of the International Trade Administration 
        are offset by the fees collected under the program in a budget 
        neutral manner.
                                 <all>