Current Application Closing Date: May 11, 2009

The purpose of the Enhanced Assessment Grants is to support state activities designed to improve the quality, validity, and reliability of State academic assessments beyond the requirements for such assessments in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The grant funds may be used for the development of new assessment products or procedures, such as innovative test format, empirical analysis of variations in test format or procedures, or statistical models useful for combining data from multiple measures, or charting student progress over time.

An individual State or a consortium of States may apply for a grant. An applicant may work in collaboration with institutions of higher education, other research organizations, or other organizations but the grant will be awarded to the State educational agency designated as the applicant. (Sec. 6112(a)(1))

Previous awards have been used to support development of English proficiency assessments, creation of a model technical manual for alternate assessments baed on alternate achievement standards, and refinement of a procedure for documenting alignment of statewide assessments to State standards. States are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to improve the quality of assessments designed to measure the academic achievement of students with disabilities and students with limited English proficiency.

The Secretary has established the following competitive preferences for the current competition and will award up to 35 points to an applicant based on how well its application meets the following preferences. The preference points will be in addition to points an applicant earns under the selection criteria.

1. Accommodations and alternate assessments. (20 points) Applications that can be expected to significantly advance practice in the area of increasing accessibility and validity of assessments of students with disabilities and/or limited English proficiency, including strategies for test design, administration with accommodations, scoring and reporting.
2. Collaborative efforts (10 points) Applications that are sponsored by a consortium of States.
3. Dissemination. (5 points) Applications that include an effective plan for dissemination of results.

The application for the next competition for grants under the Enhanced Assessment Instruments Program is now available via the Grants.gov web site. To access the electronic grant application go to www.grants.gov and search for the downloadable application package by the CFDA number (84.368). Do not include the CFDA number's alpha suffix in your search.

• Federal Register Notice Inviting Applications (March 10, 2009)