Prohibition on federally sponsored testing

Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal law and except as provided in subsection (b), no funds provided under this chapter to the Secretary or to the recipient of any award may be used to develop, incentivize, pilot test, field test, implement, administer, or distribute any federally sponsored national test in reading, mathematics, or any other subject, unless specifically and explicitly authorized by law, including any assessment or testing materials aligned to the Common Core State Standards developed under the Common Core State Standards Initiative or any other academic standards common to a significant number of States. Subsection (a) shall not apply to international comparative assessments developed under the authority of section 9543(a)(6) of this title and administered to only a representative sample of pupils in the United States and in foreign nations.