Erin D. Lomax
Analyst in Education Policy
The Title I-A program of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB; P.L. 107-110), is the largest source of federal funding for elementary and secondary education. States that receive Title I-A funding must comply with certain requirements related to measuring student achievement by using state-level standards and assessments. The standards and assessment requirements adopted in the NCLB have resulted in vast growth in and demand for new types of assessment products. Estimates of annual expenditures on NCLB-required assessments range from $500 million to $900 million. The NCLB authorized a new grant assessment program to help states pay the additional costs of meeting the expanded assessment requirements. The purpose of this report is to provide an understanding of the factors that influence the overall cost of student assessment and a description of state expenditures on assessment systems.
This report describes factors that influence the cost of student assessment systems, including assessment development, scoring, and the effect of certain policy choices and implementation practices. It also reports and examines the results of existing research on state assessment expenditures, which highlight the variability among states in assessment expenditures. Next, the report presents the results of an analysis of how state assessment expenditures differ across states of varying populations. Results suggest that state assessment expenditures are dependent, in part, on a state’s population; however, there are other factors that contribute to the overall cost of state assessment systems (e.g., design choices regarding assessment development and scoring).
This report examines assessment issues that Congress may address during the reauthorization of the ESEA. As Congress considers reauthorization, it is likely that the standards and assessment provisions will be reviewed and debated. State assessments are currently the primary policy tool used to measure whether schools, LEAs, and states are meeting certain academic targets. As such, the effectiveness of federal policy is dependent upon a valid state assessment system. Designing an assessment system requires states to consider certain tradeoffs in order to meet the federal assessment requirements while meeting state requirements and containing costs. Decisions made in the design of a state assessment system have direct implications for the validity of the federal accountability system and direct consequences for schools. This report examines assessment practices that may be cost-effective and could be promoted by federal policy, including the following:
Analyst in Education Policy
The Title I-A program of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB; P.L. 107-110), is the largest source of federal funding for elementary and secondary education. States that receive Title I-A funding must comply with certain requirements related to measuring student achievement by using state-level standards and assessments. The standards and assessment requirements adopted in the NCLB have resulted in vast growth in and demand for new types of assessment products. Estimates of annual expenditures on NCLB-required assessments range from $500 million to $900 million. The NCLB authorized a new grant assessment program to help states pay the additional costs of meeting the expanded assessment requirements. The purpose of this report is to provide an understanding of the factors that influence the overall cost of student assessment and a description of state expenditures on assessment systems.
This report describes factors that influence the cost of student assessment systems, including assessment development, scoring, and the effect of certain policy choices and implementation practices. It also reports and examines the results of existing research on state assessment expenditures, which highlight the variability among states in assessment expenditures. Next, the report presents the results of an analysis of how state assessment expenditures differ across states of varying populations. Results suggest that state assessment expenditures are dependent, in part, on a state’s population; however, there are other factors that contribute to the overall cost of state assessment systems (e.g., design choices regarding assessment development and scoring).
This report examines assessment issues that Congress may address during the reauthorization of the ESEA. As Congress considers reauthorization, it is likely that the standards and assessment provisions will be reviewed and debated. State assessments are currently the primary policy tool used to measure whether schools, LEAs, and states are meeting certain academic targets. As such, the effectiveness of federal policy is dependent upon a valid state assessment system. Designing an assessment system requires states to consider certain tradeoffs in order to meet the federal assessment requirements while meeting state requirements and containing costs. Decisions made in the design of a state assessment system have direct implications for the validity of the federal accountability system and direct consequences for schools. This report examines assessment practices that may be cost-effective and could be promoted by federal policy, including the following:
· The use of various scoring practices—such as distributed scoring, teacher scoring, and artificial intelligence—that may have the potential to lower the cost of state assessment systems while maintaining quality.
· The use of state consortia that promote information sharing and other collaborative practices across states that may reduce assessment costs by realizing economies of scale.
· The use of technology, which may increase the efficiency of assessment administration. As technology becomes less expensive, online delivery of state assessments may lower administration and scoring costs. .
Date of Report: March 3, 2011
Number of Pages: 38
Order Number: R41670
Price: $29.95
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