 
                CHAPTER 71--NATIONAL EDUCATION STATISTICS
 
Sec. 9010. National Assessment of Educational Progress


(a) Establishment

    The Commissioner shall, with the advice of the National Assessment 
Governing Board established under section 9011 of this title, and with 
the technical assistance of the Advisory Council established under 
section 9006 of this title, carry out, through grants, contracts, or 
cooperative agreements with one or more qualified organizations, or 
consortia thereof, a National Assessment of Educational Progress 
(hereafter in this chapter referred to as the ``National Assessment'').

(b) Purpose; State assessments

                             (1) Purpose

        The purpose of the National Assessment is to provide a fair and 
    accurate presentation of educational achievement in reading, 
    writing, and the other subjects included in the third National 
    Education Goal, regarding student achievement and citizenship. The 
    Commissioner, in carrying out the National Assessment, shall use 
    sampling techniques that produce data that are representative on a 
    national and regional basis, and on a State basis pursuant to 
    paragraph (2). In addition, the Commissioner shall--
            (A) collect and report data on a periodic basis, but at 
        least once every two years, on students at ages 9, 13, and 17 
        and in grades 4, 8, and 12 in public and private schools;
            (B) report achievement data on a basis that ensures valid 
        and reliable trend reporting;
            (C) include information on special groups, including, 
        whenever feasible, information collected, cross-tabulated, 
        analyzed, and reported by sex, race or ethnicity and 
        socioeconomic status; and
            (D) ensure that achievement data are made available on a 
        timely basis following official reporting, in a manner that 
        facilitates further analysis.

                        (2) State assessments

        (A)(i) The Commissioner, in carrying out the National 
    Assessment, may conduct State assessments of student achievement in 
    grades 4, 8, and 12.
        (ii) Each such State assessment, in each subject area and at 
    each grade level, shall be conducted on a developmental basis until 
    the Commissioner determines, as the result of an evaluation required 
    by subsection (f) of this section, that such assessment produces 
    high quality data that are valid and reliable.
        (B)(i) States wishing to participate in State assessments shall 
    enter into an agreement with the Secretary pursuant to subsection 
    (d)(2) of this section.
        (ii) Such agreement shall contain information sufficient to give 
    States full information about the process for consensus 
    decisionmaking on objectives to be tested, and the standards for 
    sampling, test administration, test security, data collection, 
    validation, and reporting.
        (C) A participating State shall review and give permission for 
    the release of results from any test of its students administered as 
    a part of a State assessment prior to the release of such data. 
    Refusal by a State to release its data shall not restrict the 
    release of data from other States that have approved the release of 
    such data.

                         (3) Prohibited data

        In carrying out the National Assessment, the Commissioner shall 
    not collect any data that are not directly related to the appraisal 
    of educational performance, achievement, and traditional demographic 
    reporting variables, or to the fair and accurate presentation of 
    such information.

                      (4) Technical assistance

        In carrying out the National Assessment, the Commissioner may 
    provide technical assistance to States, localities, and other 
    parties.

(c) Access

                          (1) Public access

        Except as provided in paragraph (2), the public shall have 
    access to all data, questions, and test instruments of the National 
    Assessment.

               (2) Personally identifiable information

        (A) The Commissioner shall ensure that all personally 
    identifiable information about students, their educational 
    performance, and their families, and that information with respect 
    to individual schools, remains confidential, in accordance with 
    section 552a of title 5.
        (B) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Commissioner 
    may decline to make available to the public for a period, not to 
    exceed ten years after initial use, cognitive questions that the 
    Commissioner intends to reuse in the future.

(d) Participation

                      (1) National and regional

        Participation in the national and regional assessments by State 
    and local educational agencies shall be voluntary.

                              (2) State

        Participation in assessments made on a State basis shall be 
    voluntary. The Commissioner shall enter into an agreement with any 
    State that desires to carry out an assessment for the State under 
    this subsection. Each such agreement shall contain provisions 
    designed to ensure that the State will--
            (A) participate in the assessment; and
            (B) pay from non-Federal sources the non-Federal share of 
        such participation.

                        (3) Non-Federal share

        (A) For each fiscal year, the non-Federal share for the purpose 
    of paragraph (2)(B) shall be--
            (i) the cost of conducting the assessment at the school 
        level for all public schools in the State sample;
            (ii) the cost of coordination within the State; and
            (iii) other reasonable costs specified by the Secretary in 
        the agreement described in paragraph (2), such as the cost of 
        analyzing and reporting the data.

        (B) The non-Federal share of payments under this paragraph may 
    be in cash or in kind, fairly valued.
        (C) The agreement described in paragraph (2) shall describe the 
    manner in which the costs of administering the assessment to private 
    nonprofit schools included in the State sample will be met.

(e) Student performance levels

                       (1) Performance levels

        The National Assessment Governing Board, established under 
    section 9011 of this title, shall develop appropriate student 
    performance levels for each age and grade in each subject area to be 
    tested under the National Assessment.

                      (2) Development of levels

        (A) Such levels shall be--
            (i) devised through a national consensus approach, providing 
        for active participation of teachers, curriculum specialists, 
        local school administrators, parents, and concerned members of 
        the general public;
            (ii) used on a developmental basis until the Commissioner 
        determines, as the result of an evaluation under subsection (f) 
        of this section, that such levels are reasonable, valid, and 
        informative to the public; and
            (iii) updated as appropriate.

        (B) In using such levels on a developmental basis, the 
    Commissioner and the Board shall ensure that reports that use such 
    levels do so in a manner that makes clear the developmental status 
    of such levels.

                            (3) Reporting

        After determining that such levels are reasonable, valid, and 
    informative to the public, as the result of an evaluation under 
    subsection (f) of this section, the Commissioner shall use such 
    levels or other methods or indicators for reporting results of the 
    National Assessment and State assessments.

(f) Review of National and State assessments

                           (1) In general

        (A) The Secretary shall provide for continuing review of the 
    National Assessment, State assessments, and student performance 
    levels, by one or more nationally recognized evaluation 
    organizations, such as the National Academy of Education and the 
    National Academy of Sciences.
        (B) Such continuing review shall address--
            (i) whether each developmental State assessment is properly 
        administered, produces high quality data that are valid and 
        reliable, and produces data on student achievement that are not 
        otherwise available to the State (other than data comparing 
        participating States to each other and the Nation); and
            (ii) whether developmental student performance levels are 
        reasonable, valid, and informative to the public.

                             (2) Report

        The Secretary shall report to the Congress, the President, and 
    the Nation on the findings and recommendations of such reviews.

               (3) Use of findings and recommendations

        The Commissioner 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 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.

(Pub. L. 103-382, title IV, Sec. 411, Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 4036.)

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 9001, 9011, 9012 of this 
title.
