BILL NUMBER: AJR 64	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Mullin
   (Principal coauthor: Senator Scott)

                        JUNE 5, 2008

   Relative to the public school curriculum and pupil assessment.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 64, as introduced, Mullin. Pupil testing and secondary
education.
   This measure would urge the 110th Congress to recognize the
importance of curriculum and instruction covering all subjects,
including history/social science, science, art, music, and physical
education, when Congress considers reauthorization of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act. This measure also would urge school
districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to focus
teaching the whole child in a wider curriculum and would urge the
State Board of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction
to consider and recommend alternatives for including all subjects in
the assessment and accountability system.
   Fiscal committee: yes.



   WHEREAS, The statewide Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR)
Program has focused primarily on English language arts and
mathematics since 1998, and tests California pupils, with few
exemptions, in those two content areas in each of grades 2 to 11,
inclusive; and
   WHEREAS, The high school exit examination has tested only English
language arts and mathematics since 2001; and
   WHEREAS, California pupils take statewide tests in the content
area of science only at grades 5, 8, and 10, and in the content area
of history/social science only at grades 8, 10, and 11; and
   WHEREAS, In California, no statewide testing exists in any other
content area; and
   WHEREAS, The state educational accountability system has been
based since 2000 on the Academic Performance Index, which is
calculated solely using state testing data; and
   WHEREAS, The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C.
Sec. 6301 et seq.) has required states since 2001 to test pupils,
with few exemptions, only in the content areas of English language
arts and mathematics, and in the content area of science starting in
2007-08; and
   WHEREAS, No federal testing is required in any other content area;
and
   WHEREAS, The federal educational accountability system, including
designation of schools and districts for program improvement
potentially resulting in sanctions and interventions, is based on
adequate yearly progress, that is determined solely on the basis of
participation and performance on English language arts and
mathematics assessments; and
   WHEREAS, The Center for Education Policy reported in 2007 that 62
percent of school districts in a nationally representative survey had
increased instructional time in English language arts or mathematics
since the 2001-02 implementation of the federal No Child Left Behind
Act of 2001; that 44 percent of school districts had cut
instructional time from other subjects in order to increase time in
English language arts or mathematics; that the decreases amount to an
average reduction of 31 percent in the total instructional time
devoted to other subjects since 2001-02; and that these changes are
more prevalent in low-performing school districts; and
   WHEREAS, The President of the National Education Association
stated in 2007 that, "Narrowing the curriculum and teaching to the
test are only two of the unintended consequences of No Child Left
Behind, and educators were the first to sound the alarm on this
trend. The law's single-minded focus on test preparation is robbing
students of the opportunity to think critically and solve problems.";
and
   WHEREAS, The National Association of School Psychologists has a
stated position that recognizes that, "High stakes testing programs
can also have unintended but negative effects on the education
provided to all students by narrowing the curriculum and unduly
emphasizing basic skills to the exclusion of the arts, technology,
sciences and humanities; creating a culture of 'teach-to-the-test';
increasing the psychological stress on children and families; and
decreasing teacher job satisfaction. Further, schools may focus
limited resources on efforts to directly improve test scores, rather
than on strategies to improve school climate and student learning.
Tests should inform instruction, not dictate what is taught."; and
   WHEREAS, The American Federation of Teachers has resolved to
sponsor legislation that calls for delivery of a well-rounded
education, including a full measure of social studies and the arts,
necessary to the development of the whole human being and citizen,
rather than narrowing delivery of instruction to meet the needs of
standardized tests; and
   WHEREAS, The Executive Director of the American Association of
School Administrators stated in 2004 that, "we are aligning the
curriculum to the tests we are giving rather than finding the tests
that assess what we are teaching. This practice creates problems. The
resulting education isn't very good and parents have figured that
out and don't like it. They know that teaching to the test means we
are narrowing the curriculum to fit what is being tested, narrowing
instruction to fit what is being tested and narrowing minds to
regurgitate only what is being taught. We are aligning our schools to
a very limited vision of what learning can be."; and
   WHEREAS, The National Board on Educational Testing and Public
Policy found in 2003 that 79 percent of teachers in states with
accountability testing reported that instruction in the tested
subject areas had increased, that more time was being devoted to the
tested segments of the curriculum, and that instruction and
curriculum has been further impacted by a focus on test-taking
skills; and
   WHEREAS, Numerous educational researchers have reported on the
negative implications of curriculum narrowing, on the correlation
between instruction in subjects such as the arts and high levels of
achievement in reading and mathematics, and on the formation of a
tiered education system in which pupils from schools of a low
socioeconomic status have less access to subject areas outside of the
core subjects than their higher socioeconomic status peers; and
   WHEREAS, Many teachers, other education experts, and parents have
pointed out that other subjects are still important to the
development of young people, even though the federal No Child Left
Behind Act of 2001 does not mandate testing in subject areas other
than reading and mathematics; and
   WHEREAS, A 2004 study by the Council for Basic Education found
ample evidence of waning commitment to the arts, foreign language,
and elementary social studies. Additionally, it was found that the
greatest erosion of the curriculum is occurring in schools with high
minority populations, the very populations whose access to such a
curriculum has been historically most limited, and that the fact that
high-minority schools are most likely to divert time and resources
from liberal arts subjects, including the arts and foreign language,
raises the specter of a continuing opportunity gap between white and
minority pupils; and
   WHEREAS, The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and
Improvement found in 2006 that dramatically reducing instructional
time for social studies, science, and the arts carries major costs
for pupils, that those costs are unlikely to be recouped later in the
educational pipeline, and that denying pupils the opportunity to
build vocabulary and background knowledge curtails reading
comprehension and increases the achievement gap; and
   WHEREAS, The California Master Plan for Education, as reported by
the Joint Committee to Develop a Master Plan for Education in 2002,
states that, "While it is important to equip students with the
knowledge and skills that will prepare them for success in California'
s workforce and postsecondary education, it is equally important that
students become well-rounded individuals with a sense of self worth
and of the importance of civic and community involvement. These
qualities are essential to a democratic society. They equip
individuals with the ability to accept opinions that are different
from their own without devaluing their own opinions. They instill a
set of values that motivate a person to engage with the larger
society, to try to make a positive difference and to improve the life
conditions of others as well as themselves."; and
   WHEREAS, Article IX of Section 1 of California's Constitution
recognizes a commitment to a broad-based education and reads, "A
general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence being essential to
the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people, the
Legislature shall encourage by all suitable means the promotion of
intellectual, scientific, moral, and agricultural improvement."; now,
therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California
urges the 110th Congress to recognize the importance of curriculum
and instruction that covers all subjects, including history/social
science, science, art, music, and physical education, when Congress
considers reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of California urges
California school districts, county offices of education, and charter
schools to focus on teaching the whole child in a wider curriculum
that includes history/social science, science, art, music, and
physical education, as well as English language arts mathematics; and
be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of California urges
the State Board of Education and the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to consider and recommend alternatives for including all
subjects in the assessment and accountability system of the state,
including, but not limited to, the integration of core subject-matter
standards and grade-level appropriate history/social science and
science content into literacy and mathematics questions, without
further reducing instructional time or promoting teaching to the
test; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to
the Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States, to the State
Superintendent of Public Instruction, to each California county board
of education, to each California school district governing board, to
each California county superintendent of schools, to the State Board
of Education, to each California school district superintendent, and
to each California charter school administrator.