The U.S. Department of Education has released the latest batch of federal money aimed at making state assessments more 鈥渉igh-quality, innovative, and authentic,鈥� with over $29 million in grants going to 10 state education agencies this time around.
State agencies will be able to use the money under the Competitive Grants for State Assessments program to improve their testing systems after years of COVID-19 disruptions. States paused testing during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and many didn鈥檛 see testing data until the results of spring 2021 tests, which had historically low student participation in many areas.
This year鈥檚 funding priorities under the grant program emphasize the importance of better understanding students鈥� academic achievement and creating more-equitable testing systems for English-learners and students with disabilities, the department鈥檚 announcement said.
And the department encouraged agencies to use funds to help parents and families better understand assessment data.
Better assessments will also help school leaders 鈥減ersonalize instruction to meet student鈥檚 diverse needs; make critical, data-informed decisions that can positively affect student opportunities and outcomes; and communicate progress to parents and families,鈥� U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement.
The new grants also come as the National Assessment of Educational Progress, otherwise known as the 鈥淣ation鈥檚 Report Card,鈥� prepares to overhaul its design. The revamp will expand the list of devices used to take the exam, experimenting with computer-adaptive testing to alter questions as students get answers right or wrong, and gain a better understanding of achievement gaps to promote equity.
How the states plan to use their money
The states that received grants in this year鈥檚 program will be able to use the money for similar plans to improve equity and redesign assessment systems. Here鈥檚 the breakdown for this round of grants:
- Arkansas received $2.15 million for 鈥渕aking improved decisions for students on the cusp of alternate assessment participation using multiple measures of academic achievement from multiple sources鈥�;
- Hawaii received nearly $3 million for 鈥渆xpanding the classroom-based assessment system components in Hawaii鈥檚 Comprehensive Assessment Program鈥�;
- Illinois received $3 million for its 鈥淭ransici贸n Early High School Spanish Language Arts Assessment鈥� program;
- Kentucky received $3 million for its program, 鈥淯nited We Learn: transforming educational opportunity for Kentucky鈥檚 youth through the creation and scaling of competency-based assessment and accountability鈥�;
- Louisiana received $5.9 million for its projects, 鈥淭esting What鈥檚 Taught: Equity in Test Design Project鈥� and 鈥淧roject INTEL: Interim Assessments for English Learners鈥�;
- Missouri received $2.5 million for its 鈥淧athways for Instructionally Embedded Assessment鈥� program;
- Montana received nearly $3 million for 鈥渄emonstrating the full potential of a through-year assessment system in Montana鈥�;
- Nebraska received nearly $3 million for its program, 鈥淐oherence and Alignment for Science Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment鈥�;
- New York received nearly $3 million for its pilot program, 鈥淧erformance Learning and Assessment Networks鈥�; and
- North Carolina received $1.1 million for its 鈥淢ultilingual-Multimodal Science Inventory鈥� program.
