Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 111 Part 2.djvu/425

 PUBLIC LAW 105-78—NOV. 13, 1997 111 STAT. 1505 SEC. 303. No funds appropriated under this Act may be used School prayer. to prevent the implementation of programs of volimtary prayer and meditation in the public schools. (TRANSFER OF FUNDS) SEC. 304. Not to exceed 1 percent of any discretionary funds (pursuant to the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended) which are appropriated for the Department of Education in this Act may be transferred between appropriations, but no such appropriation shall be increased by more tnan 3 percent by any such trginsfer: Provided, That the Appropriations Committees Notification. of both Houses of Congress are notified at least fifteen days in advance of any transfer. SEC. 305. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal law, no funds provided to the Department of Education or to an applicable program (as defined in section 400(c)(1) of the General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1221(c)(1))), in this Act or in any other Act in fiscal year 1998, may be used to field test, pilot test, implement, administer or distribute in any way, any national tests. (b) EXCEPTION. —Subsection (a) shall not apply to the Third International Math and Science Study or the National Assessment of Educational Progress. SEC. 306. (a) STUDY.— The National Academy of Sciences, in consultation with the National Governors Association, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the White House, the National Assessment Governing Board, and the Congress, shall conduct a feasibility study to determine if an equivalency scale can be developed that would allow test scores from commercially available standardized tests and State assessments to be compared with each other and the National Assessment of Educational Progress. (b) REPORT OF FINDINGS TO CONGRESS. —(1) The National Academy of Sciences shall submit a written report to the White House, the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate, and the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate not later than September 1, 1998. (2) The National Academy of Sciences shall submit an interim report no later than June 15, 1998. NATIONAL ASSESSMENT GOVERNING BOARD SEC. 307 (a). Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the exclusive authority over all policies, direction, and guidelines for developing voluntary national tests pursuant to contract RJ97153001 previously entered into between the Department of Education and the American Institutes for Research and executed on August 15, 1997, shall be vested in the National Assessment Governing Board established under section 412 of the National Education Statistics Act of 1994 (20 U.S.C. 9011); Provided, That within 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Board shall review the national test development contract in effect on the date of enactment of this Act, and modify the contract as the Board determines necessary and not inconsistent with this Act or applicable laws: Provided further. That if the contract cannot be modified to the extent determined necessary by the Board, the

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