20 U.S.C. § 6362 — State option to conduct assessment system audit

(a) From the amount reserved under section 6363(a)(3), the Secretary must give States grants. A State receiving its first grant must audit its State assessment system, ensure local agencies audit their assessments, carry out the State plan, and award subgrants. A State that previously received a grant must carry out the State plan and award subgrants. (b) Each recipient must receive at least $1,500,000 annually. (c) If a State does not apply, the Secretary must reallocate its amount to other States using section 6363(a)(4)(B)'s formula. (d) An applying State must describe its first audit and stakeholder feedback, or, for a repeat recipient, its plan, and how it will award local subgrants. (e) Within one year after its initial grant, a State must conduct the State audit, ensure each funded local educational agency audits its local assessments and sends the results to the State, and make State and local results widely accessible and public. The State must give local agencies tools such as guidelines and protocols. The State audit must list the schedule for all State assessments; for each, its designed and actual purposes and legal authority; and stakeholder feedback about using data to improve and differentiate instruction, data-release timing, accessibility and understandability, opportunities and training to review and use results, distribution of technology and staff, teacher time spent preparing and administering assessments, which assessments stakeholders find useful, and other appropriate information. Based on that information, the State must plan to improve and streamline the system, including eliminating unnecessary assessments and possibly paying contract-termination costs, sharing successful local or State practices, and helping local agencies streamline and regularly review their systems. A local audit must include the same information as applicable to that agency and its assessments. (f) Each State must reserve at least 20 percent of its grant for need-based subgrants to local agencies or consortia to improve assessment quality, use, and alignment, including alignment with challenging State standards when applicable. Applicants must describe their needs. Subgrant funds may audit local assessments; carry out the State plan as it applies locally; improve delivery and schedules, including technology and proctors; hire or better compensate instructional coaches to help teachers create classroom assessments, interpret data, and design instruction; provide accommodations for children with disabilities and English learners; and improve educators' ability to present assessment data accessibly and understandably to families, including those groups. (g) “Local assessment” means an academic assessment selected and administered by a local educational agency separately from an assessment required by section 6311(b)(2). “State” means the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.