View all text of Subchapter III [§ 9621 - § 9624]
§ 9621. National Assessment Governing Board
(a) Establishment
(b) Membership
(1) Appointment and composition
The Assessment 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 policymaker.
(L) Two school principals, of whom one shall be an elementary school principal and one shall be a secondary school principal.
(M) Two parents who are not employed by a local, State or Federal educational agency.
(N) Two additional members who are representatives of the general public, and who may be parents, but who are not employed by a local, State, or Federal educational agency.
(2) Director of the Institute of Education Sciences
(3) Balance and diversity
(c) Terms
(1) In general
(2) Service limitation
(3) Change of status
(4) Conforming provision
(d) Vacancies
(1) In general
(A) Organizations
(B) Nominations
(C) Maintenance of Assessment Board
(2) Additional nominations
(e) Duties
(1) In general
In carrying out its functions under this section the Assessment Board shall—
(A) select the subject areas to be assessed (consistent with section 9622(b) of this title);
(B) develop appropriate student achievement levels as provided in section 9622(e) of this title;
(C) develop assessment objectives consistent with the requirements of this section and test specifications that produce an assessment that is valid and reliable, and are based on relevant widely accepted professional standards;
(D) develop a process for review of the assessment which includes the active participation of teachers, curriculum specialists, local school administrators, parents, and concerned members of the public;
(E) design the methodology of the assessment to ensure that assessment items are valid and reliable, in consultation with appropriate technical experts in measurement and assessment, span and subject matter, sampling, and other technical experts who engage in large scale surveys;
(F) consistent with section 9622 of this title, measure student academic achievement in grades 4, 8, and 12 in the authorized academic subjects;
(G) develop guidelines for reporting and disseminating results;
(H) develop standards and procedures for regional and national comparisons;
(I) take appropriate actions needed to improve the form, span, use, and reporting of results of any assessment authorized by section 9622 of this title consistent with the provisions of this section and section 9622 of this title; and
(J) plan and execute the initial public release of National Assessment of Educational Progress reports.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress data shall not be released prior to the release of the reports described in subparagraph (J).
(2) Delegation
(3) All cognitive and noncognitive assessment items
(4) Prohibition against bias
(5) Technical
(6) Report
(f) Personnel
(1) In general
(2) Staff
(A) In general
(B) Technical employees
(g) Coordination
The Commissioner for Education Statistics and the Assessment Board shall meet periodically—
(1) to ensure coordination of their duties and activities relating to the National Assessment; and
(2) for the Commissioner for Education Statistics to report to the Assessment Board on the Department’s actions to implement the decisions of the Assessment Board.
(h) Administration
(Pub. L. 107–279, title III, § 302, formerly Pub. L. 103–382, title IV, § 412, Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 4039; Pub. L. 106–554, § 1(a)(1) [title III, § 307], Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 2763, 2763A–44; Pub. L. 107–110, title VI, § 602(b), Jan. 8, 2002, 115 Stat. 1904; renumbered Pub. L. 107–279, title III, § 302, and amended Pub. L. 107–279, title IV, § 401(c), Nov. 5, 2002, 116 Stat. 1983; Pub. L. 117–286, § 4(a)(154), Dec. 27, 2022, 136 Stat. 4322.)