New Federal Grant Awards Hold Promise For The Future Of Assessment

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education announced $29 million in new grant awards to 10 states to support innovative new approaches to student assessment. 

The new funding, passed by Congress earlier this year, met a critical gap in Federal leadership to rethink assessment. The Innovative Assessment Pilot in the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) finally allowed approved states to test out new assessments in their accountability systems. However, the pilot had no funding attached to it and states often lacked the resources or political will to support the costly development of a new assessment system on top of the existing statewide assessment. 

Education Policy Strategies was the consulting partner to the Student-Centered Assessment and Accountability Coalition (SCAAC). SCAAC and its members have worked tirelessly to attain a historic funding increase in the Competitive Grants for State Assessments. The new funding prioritizes developing innovative, student-centered assessment systems.

The ten states awarded CGSA grants are Arkansas, Hawai’i, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, and North Carolina for their awards.