BILL NUMBER: SB 1384 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 397
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 9, 2004
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 9, 2004
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 25, 2004
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 19, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 17, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 22, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 8, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 18, 2004
INTRODUCED BY Senator Scott
FEBRUARY 18, 2004
An act to add Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 60660) to Part
33 of the Education Code, relating to education, and declaring the
urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1384, Scott. Pupil assessment data: electronic resources.
Existing law requires each school district, charter school, and
county office of education to administer to each of its pupils in
grades 2 to 11, inclusive, certain achievement tests.
This bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction
to require the California Learning Resource Network to establish
review criteria and a process for the identification and review of
electronic learning assessment resources by December 31, 2004. The
bill would require the review to include a descriptive model for use
by administrators and teachers that differentiates and compares the
capabilities of the different types of electronic learning assessment
resources.
The bill would require the review also to include an exploration
of the feasibility of creating, implementing, and maintaining an
online customer feedback system.
The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to
direct the California Learning Resource Network to implement the
provisions of the bill by prioritizing the use of existing budgeted
resources available to the network.
The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an
urgency statute.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The purpose of the public school accountability system is to
improve the learning and academic achievement of all California
public school pupils.
(b) The Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) achievement test
and the California Standards Tests provide a wealth of data about
individual pupil achievement in different academic content clusters.
Currently, this assessment data does not sufficiently reach most
principals and teachers so they can efficiently utilize it in
recognizing the level of achievement of each pupil and designing a
program that is best tailored to meet the needs and improve the
achievement of each pupil.
(c) This information can and should be disaggregated to provide
teachers and principals all relevant data regarding individual pupil
learning and achievement so they make better decisions and design
more individualized learning and instructional programs for each
pupil.
(d) Many public school pupils transfer schools each school year,
making it difficult for principals and teachers to obtain and utilize
the available data regarding the status and level of academic
preparedness of each incoming pupil.
(e) The use of data to inform and to determine decisionmaking is
revolutionizing public and private entities worldwide by putting
formerly centralized information at the fingertips of educators so
they can make informed decisions with regard to improving the
academic achievement of their pupils.
(f) Many schools need assistance to utilize information technology
to craft appropriate programs that strive to improve the learning
and achievement of their pupils.
(g) Easy-to-use electronic learning assessment resources are now
available to provide educators with increased capacity to determine
the achievement status of their pupils and to better design programs
tailored toward their improvement.
(h) Putting easy-to-use electronic learning assessment resources
in the hands of principals and teachers would allow them to monitor
pupil academic achievement over time and use that data to effectively
design instructional strategies to improve pupil performance.
(i) The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 mandates that all
programs and interventions be quantitatively evaluated using
reliable pupil data and that technology be used whenever possible to
collect, analyze, and report findings. The burden of this mandate
may be partially relieved by the use of electronic learning
assessment resources to save time and money.
SEC. 2. Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 60660) is added to
Part 33 of the Education Code, to read:
CHAPTER 5.5. REVIEW OF ELECTRONIC RESOURCES CAPABLE OF
ANALYZING PUPIL ASSESSMENT DATA
60660. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall require the
California Learning Resource Network to establish, by December 31,
2004, review criteria and a review process for the identification and
review of electronic learning assessment resources.
60661. (a) The review performed by the California Learning
Resource Network shall identify new and existing electronic learning
assessment resources capable of assisting schools and school
districts to analyze assessment information for the purpose of
designing instructional plans to improve pupil achievement and shall
include a descriptive model for use by administrators and teachers
that differentiates and compares the capabilities of the different
types of identified electronic learning assessment resources.
(b) The descriptive model shall include, but not be limited to,
all of the following criteria:
(1) The ability to report the results of the statewide pupil
assessment programs in aggregate and disaggregate forms for analysis
by administrators and teachers to plan for improved pupil
achievement.
(2) The ability to quickly identify achievement gaps.
(3) The ability to link results of assessment to instructional
strategies that are aligned to state adopted content standards and
the curriculum frameworks.
(4) The extent to which information can be tailored to individual
pupil level, classroom level, school level, school district level,
and state level data.
(5) The ability to reduce the overhead and additional cost of
assisting teachers and school administrators to plan and align
instruction to address academic deficiencies identified by both
standardized and criterion referenced academic assessments.
(c) In performing its review, the California Learning Resource
Network may not make subjective evaluations of the electronic
learning assessment resources under review and shall limit its review
to the factual capabilities of those resources.
(d) The existing external evaluation of the California Learning
Resource Network will determine the overall cost and benefits of
providing statewide assessment information resources as described in
this chapter and the extent to which school administrators and
teachers access and use the information provided to accomplish all of
the following:
(1) Make use of state assessment information to inform
instructional planning.
(2) Link instruction to the state-adopted content standards.
(3) Save time and financial resources related to instructional
planning.
(4) Target instruction to the academic needs of pupils.
(e) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall provide a
written report of the results of the external evaluation of the
ongoing review process to the Director of Finance, the Legislative
Analyst, the State Board of Education, and the appropriate policy and
fiscal committees of the Legislature by January 1, 2006.
60662. In its review of electronic learning assessment resources,
the California Learning Resource Network shall explore the
feasibility of creating, implementing, and maintaining an online
customer feedback system that would allow purchasers of electronic
learning assessment resources identified and reviewed to document the
extent to which these electronic learning assessment resources
contribute to improved instructional planning.
60663. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall direct the
California Learning Resource Network to implement the provisions of
this chapter by prioritizing the use of existing budgeted resources
available to the network.
SEC. 3. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to provide school districts, at the earliest possible
time, with access to information on electronic learning assessment
resources that will assist them in monitoring pupil achievement,
designing instructional strategies to improve pupil performance, and
meeting the reporting requirements of the federal No Child Left
Behind Act, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.