Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 108 Part 5.djvu/548

 108 STAT. 4038 PUBLIC LAW 103-382—OCT. 20, 1994 Contracts. (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 412, 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), 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), the Commissioner shall use such levels or other methods or indicators for reporting results of the National Assessment and State assessments. (0 REVIEW OF NATIONAL AND STATE ASSESSMENTS.—

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