Competitive Grants for State Assessments
Grant Opportunity Analysis
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education is offering the FY 2026 Competitive Grants for State Assessments program to improve the quality of state assessment instruments and assessment systems for elementary and secondary students. The grant supports projects that develop innovative assessment item types and design approaches or create meaningful learning opportunities, with additional priorities related to scoring and score reporting, student growth, comprehensive assessment instruments, assessment and data literacy, and comprehensive assessment systems. Eligible applicants are State Educational Agencies and consortia, and awards may run up to 48 months with selection based on project design, management, resource adequacy, and evaluation quality. The program expects about $16,556,000 in total funding for 4 to 6 discretionary grants ranging from $1,000,000 to $4,000,000, has no cost-sharing requirement, and applications are due electronically by June 16, 2026, at 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
Eligible Applicants
SEAs of the 50 States, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and consortia of such SEAs.