107-110 ), signed into law on January 8, 2002, contains a number of new requirements related to student assessments for states and local educational agencies (LEAs) participating in Title I-A (Education for the Disadvantaged) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The authorization for ESEA programs expired at the end of FY2008, and the 111 th Congress is expected to consider whether to amend and extend the ESEA. This report will be updated regularly to reflect major legislative developments and available information. Standards were to be adopted in science by the end of the 2005-2006 school year, and assessments in science by the end of the 2007-2008 school year. 7. 12. State Assessment Grants

The ESEA authorizes (in Title VI-A-1) annual grants to the states to help pay the costs of meeting the Title I-A standard and assessment requirements added by the NCLB (i.e., the newly required assessments in science at three grade levels and at grades 3-8 in mathematics and reading). National Assessment of Educational Progress

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a federally funded series of assessments of the academic performance of elementary and secondary students in the United States. Beginning in 1990, NAEP has conducted a limited number of state-level assessments in 4 th and 8 th grade mathematics and reading. Under state NAEP, the sample of students tested in a state is increased in order to provide reliable estimates of achievement scores for students in each participating state. NAEP Provisions in the No Child Left Behind Act

The NCLB provides that all states wishing to remain eligible for grants under ESEA Title I-A will be required to participate in state NAEP tests in 4 th and 8 th grade reading and mathematics, which are to be administered every two years. In general, the regulations repeat statutory requirements, while clarifying the following points:
(a) content standards can cover multiple grades, but they must include grade-specific "content expectations," and achievement standards must be grade-specific;
(b) high school standards must cover what all high school students are expected to know and be able to do;
(c) assessments may include extended or essay response items or ask a student to analyze text or express opinions;
(d) assessments may include either CRTs or NRTs, although any NRTs used must be augmented to "measure accurately the depth and breadth of" the state's content standards, provide results expressed in terms of the state's achievement standards, and be "designed to provide a coherent system across grades and subjects";
(e) state assessment systems may include assessments which vary by LEA in some grades, and any LEA-selected assessments used to meet the Title I-A requirements must be "equivalent to one another and to state assessments, where they exist, in their content coverage, difficulty, and quality," "have comparable validity and reliability," provide "consistent determinations of the annual progress of schools and LEAs within the state," and produce results which are sufficiently comparable that they can be aggregated;
(f) LEP, migrant, and homeless students are to be included in the assessment system at all times;
(g) states are to determine the minimum number of students from specific demographic groups to include in public reports or accountability calculations, to maintain statistical reliability and protect privacy;
(h) the requirement for dissemination of "itemized score analyses" does not require the release of individual test items;
(i) states must provide evidence, from test publishers or other "relevant sources," that their assessment systems are of adequate technical quality to meet each purpose required under Title I-A, and this information can be made available by ED to the public, consistent with applicable federal laws on disclosure of information;
(j) the assessment requirements apply only to public schools and their students, not to private (or home) schools, although the achievement of private school students who participate in Title I-A must be assessed in some manner;
(k) while states must develop achievement (as well as content) standards in science by 2005-2006, they need not develop specific cut scores for the achievement levels until 2007-2008, when the assessments must be implemented; and
(l) for purposes of disaggregated score reporting, "students with disabilities" are only those identified under the IDEA, although all students with disabilities, whether identified under the IDEA or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, are to be included in assessments and provided with appropriate accommodations. Several changes to NAEP policies and practices have been implemented that are supportive of, or were adopted primarily in response to, the expanded role for NAEP under the NCLB. Issues Regarding the ESEA Title I-A Student Assessment Requirements

		What Types of Assessments Meet the Expanded Assessment Requirements? What Might Be the Impact of the Requirement for Annual Assessment of English Language Proficiency of LEP Students? What Might Be the Impact of Requiring State Participation in NAEP? To counteract this potential problem, the NCLB prohibits the use of NAEP assessments by agents of the federal government to influence state or LEA instructional programs or assessments.
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) contains several requirements related to student assessments for states and local educational agencies (LEAs) participating in Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I-A (Education for the Disadvantaged). Under the NCLB, in addition to previous requirements for standards and assessments in reading and mathematics at three grade levels, all states participating in Title I-A were required to implement standards-based assessments for students in each of grades 3-8 in reading and mathematics by the end of the 2005-2006 school year. States must also implement assessments at three grade levels in science by the end of the 2007-2008 school year. Students who have been in U.S. schools for at least three years must be tested (for reading) in English, and states must annually assess the English language proficiency of their limited English proficient (LEP) students. The grants to states program for assessment development was appropriated $410.7 million for FY2010.
In addition, the NCLB requires all states receiving grants under Title I-A to participate in National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests in 4th and 8th grade reading and mathematics to be administered every two years, with all costs to be paid by the federal government. NAEP is a series of ongoing assessments of the academic performance of representative samples of students primarily in grades 4, 8, and 12. Beginning in 1990, NAEP has conducted a limited number of state-level assessments wherein the sample of students tested in each participating state is increased in order to provide reliable estimates of achievement scores for students in the state. Previously, all participation in state NAEP was voluntary, and additional costs associated with state NAEP were borne by participating states. The statutory provisions authorizing NAEP are amended by the NCLB to maximize consistency with the NCLB requirements and prohibit the use of NAEP assessments by agents of the federal government to influence state or LEA instructional programs or assessments.
The authorization for ESEA programs expired at the end of FY2008, and the 111th Congress is expected to consider whether to amend and extend the ESEA. Issues regarding expanded ESEA Title I-A student assessment requirements that are being addressed by the 111th Congress include the following: Are states meeting the expanded assessment requirements on schedule? Will federal grants be sufficient to pay the costs of meeting the assessment requirements? What might be the impact on NAEP of requiring state participation, as well as the impact of NAEP on state standards and assessments? What are the likely major benefits and costs of the expanded ESEA Title I-A student assessment requirements? And should the assessment requirements be expanded further?
This report will be updated regularly to reflect major legislative developments and available information.