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SF 211 – Online Schools, Remote Testing (LSB1245SV)
Staff Contact: Lora Vargason (515.725.1286) lora.vargason@legis.iowa.gov
Fiscal Note Version – New
Description
Senate File 211 allows a school district, accredited nonpublic school, or charter school providing
instruction primarily over the Internet to administer the required State summative assessment in
an online setting pursuant to conditions detailed in the Bill. The State Board of Education is
required to adopt administrative rules to implement the provisions of the Bill.
Background
The Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) is the summative accountability
assessment for all Iowa students that meets the requirements of the federal Every Student
Succeeds Act (ESSA). 2018 Iowa Acts, chapter 1037 (Student Academic Achievement
Assessments Act), named Iowa Testing Programs (ITP) within the University of Iowa as the test
administrator for the statewide assessment. Iowa Testing Programs partners with Pearson to
deliver, support, and provide training for the ISASP. Assessments for English language arts
and mathematics are administered in grades 3 through 11. Assessments for science are
administered in grades 5, 8, and 10.
State assessments administered to students in different educational settings may use a parallel
testing format. Parallel testing is when different versions of a test are administered to students
at the same time, where each version covers the same content and difficulty level but uses
different questions. By using a second set of questions, test security concerns can be
minimized. If parallel testing is not used, an additional option for supporting test security is to
offer the virtual remote administration of the assessment after the in-person administration is
completed.
The Department of Education (DE) currently receives a $3.0 million annual appropriation for the
Statewide Student Assessment that partially offsets the cost of the assessment to school
districts and accredited nonpublic schools. Schools are charged additional fees per test based
on whether an online version or paper-and-pencil version was used.
Assumptions
• To support changes to the administration of the ISASP, Pearson will need to make design
and software changes to support remote proctoring, which are estimated to cost $200,000.
• Pearson and ITP will provide training to support remote proctoring, which is estimated to
cost $25,000 annually.
• If the ISASP is administered using a parallel testing format, ITP will be required to create a
second set of dedicated forms per grade for remote test taking, necessitating 4.50 full-time
equivalent (FTE) positions, which are estimated to cost $600,000 annually for the following:
• 0.75 FTE position for a math specialist.
• 0.75 FTE position for a reading specialist.
• 0.50 FTE position for a language specialist.
• 0.50 FTE position for a science specialist.
• 0.50 FTE position for an editor.
Fiscal Note
Fiscal Services Division 2
• 0.50 FTE position for a program coordinator.
• 1.0 FTE position for a psychometrician.
• The current $3.0 million appropriation for the Statewide Student Assessment will continue to
be used to partially offset the cost of the assessment for school districts and accredited
nonpublic schools.
• The United States Department of Education will approve the online administration of the test
to virtual students in the students’ home setting.
• Any necessary hardware or security monitoring software will be available or provided to the
student to meet the proctoring requirements of the Bill.
Fiscal Impact
If parallel testing is used, ITP estimates the first-year implementation costs to be $825,000.
Annual recurring costs are estimated to be $625,000. Iowa Testing Programs estimates an
increase in fees charged to all schools to be $1.00 per test, per student, to cover the estimated
increase in costs.
If parallel testing is not used, ITP estimates the first-year implementation costs to be $225,000.
Annual recurring costs are estimated to be $25,000.
Sources
Department of Education
Iowa Testing Programs
/s/ Jennifer Acton
March 11, 2025
Doc ID 1524508
The fiscal note for this Bill was prepared pursuant to Joint Rule 17 and the Iowa Code. Data used in developing this
fiscal note is available from the Fiscal Services Division of the Legislative Services Agency upon request.
www.legis.iowa.gov