BILL NUMBER: AB 391 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 5, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Torlakson
FEBRUARY 23, 2009
An act to amend Section 49085 of 60604 of,
and to add Section and repeal Section 60649.1 to, the
Education Code, relating to public schools
pupil assessment .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 391, as amended, Torlakson. California School
Information Services. Pupil assessment: STAR Program.
(1) The Leroy Greene California Assessment of Academic Achievement
Act requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to design and
implement a statewide pupil assessment program. The act makes this
provision inoperative on July 1, 2011, and repeals it on January 1,
2012.
This bill would extend the operation of that provision to July 1,
2012, and the repeal date to January 1, 2013.
(2) The act establishes the Standardized Testing and Reporting
Program (the STAR Program), pursuant to which school districts,
charter schools, and county offices of education are required to
administer achievement tests to each of their pupils in grades 2 to
11, inclusive.
This bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction,
on or before April 1, 2011, to contract with an independent evaluator
for evaluation of the STAR Program, as specified. The bill would
require the independent evaluator to complete a report containing the
findings of his or her evaluation. The Superintendent would be
required to provide this evaluation to the Legislature, the Governor,
and the State Board of Education on or before November 1, 2011. The
bill would require an existing advisory committee to advise the
Superintendent on the independent evaluation of the STAR Program,
including making recommendations regarding the selection of the
independent evaluator and the evaluation parameters. The bill would
require the Superintendent to appoint 4 additional members to the
advisory committee for these purposes. The bill would require the
State Department of Education to use specified federal funds, not
exceeding the amount of $150,000, for the purpose of contracting for
the evaluation.
Existing law requires the State Department of Education to ensure
that the California School Information Services system meets the
needs of pupils in foster care and includes disaggregated data on
those pupils.
This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to that
provision.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 60604 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
60604. (a) The Superintendent shall design and implement,
consistent with the timetable and plan required pursuant to
subdivision (b), a statewide pupil assessment program consistent with
the testing requirements of this article in accordance with the
objectives set forth in Section 60602. That program shall include all
of the following:
(1) A plan for producing valid, reliable, and comparable
individual pupil scores in grades 2 to 11, inclusive, and a
comprehensive analysis of these scores based on the results of the
achievement test designated by the state board that assesses a broad
range of basic academic skills pursuant to the Standardized Testing
and Reporting (STAR) Program established by Article 4 (commencing
with Section 60640).
(2) A method of working with publishers to ensure valid, reliable,
and comparable individual, grade-level, school-level,
district-level, county-level, and statewide scores in grades 2 to 11,
inclusive.
(3) Statewide academically rigorous content and performance
standards that reflect the knowledge and skills that pupils will need
in order to succeed in the information-based, global economy of the
21st century. These skills shall not include personal behavioral
standards or skills, including, but not limited to, honesty,
sociability, ethics, or self-esteem.
(4) A statewide system that provides the results of testing in a
manner that reflects the degree to which pupils are achieving the
academically rigorous content and performance standards adopted by
the state board.
(5) The alignment of assessment with the statewide academically
rigorous content and performance standards adopted by the state
board.
(6) The active, ongoing involvement of parents, classroom
teachers, administrators, other educators, governing board members of
school districts, and the public in all phases of the design and
implementation of the statewide pupil assessment program.
(7) The development of a contract or contracts with a publisher or
publishers, after the approval of statewide academically rigorous
content standards by the state board, for the development of
performance standards and assessments of applied academic skills
designed to test pupils' knowledge of academic skills and abilities
to apply that knowledge and those skills in order to solve problems
and communicate.
(b) The Superintendent shall develop and annually update for the
Legislature a five-year cost projection, implementation plan, and
timetable for implementing the program described in subdivision (a).
The annual update shall be submitted on or before March 1 of each
year to the chairperson of the fiscal subcommittee considering budget
appropriations in each house. The update shall explain any
significant variations from the five-year cost projection for the
current year budget and the proposed budget.
(c) The Superintendent shall provide each school district with
guidelines for professional development that are designed to assist
classroom teachers to use the results of the assessments administered
pursuant to this chapter to modify instruction for the purpose of
improving pupil learning. These guidelines shall be developed in
consultation with classroom teachers and approved by the state board
before dissemination.
(d) The Superintendent and the state board shall consider comments
and recommendations from school districts and the public in the
development, adoption, and approval of assessment instruments.
(e) The results of the achievement test administered pursuant to
Article 4 (commencing with Section 60640) shall be returned to the
school district within the period of time specified by the state
board.
(f) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2011.
(f) Notwithstanding Section 60601, this section shall become
inoperative on July 1, 2012, and, as of January 1, 2013, is repealed,
unless a later enacted statute, that becomes operative on or before
January 1, 2013, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes
inoperative and is repealed.
SEC. 2. Section 60649.1 is added to the
Education Code , to read:
60649.1. (a) On or before April 1, 2011, the Superintendent shall
contract with an independent evaluator, who shall report to him or
her, for evaluation of the STAR Program. The evaluation shall be a
meta-analysis of existing information and data from the STAR Program
based upon all of the following:
(1) Information gathered in field testing and annual
administrations of the STAR assessments.
(2) Existing technical reports, peer reviews, and other studies,
reports, and evaluations of the STAR Program conducted by or at the
request of the department, the Legislature, or the state board.
(3) State and federal requirements.
(4) A review of research-based alternative assessment models.
(5) A review of existing and emerging practices in large-scale
assessment from across the nation.
(b) The evaluation shall include, but shall not necessarily be
limited to, all of the following:
(1) A report on the results of prior analyses regarding the
alignment between the STAR assessments and the full range of the
content standards and a determination of whether the STAR Program
assesses pupil knowledge in the same manner and at the same level of
complexity as expected in the content standards.
(2) An independent analysis of the grade level continuity and
vertical articulation of the content standards.
(3) An independent analysis of the ability of the tests to produce
scores for an individual pupil that can be validly compared from
year to year.
(4) An independent analysis of the use of content standards in
other core curriculum areas for testing items, as applicable.
(5) A report on the results of prior analyses regarding pupil
performance, broken down by assessment, grade level, race or
ethnicity, and end-of-course assessments, including any trends that
become apparent over time.
(6) An independent analysis of the degree to which the STAR
Program complies with professional testing standards and satisfies or
exceeds state and federal requirements for assessments for each
grade level.
(7) An independent analysis of the usefulness of the STAR Program
in terms of state and local program evaluations.
(8) An independent analysis of the usefulness of the STAR Program
in providing individual results and in terms of providing a
diagnostic assessment for classroom use.
(9) An independent analysis of the feasibility and cost of the
development and administration of a diagnostic alternative test in
grade levels and content standard areas that are not required to have
an assessment under federal law.
(c) The report by the independent evaluator containing the
findings of his or her evaluation shall include, but shall not
necessarily be limited to, all of the following:
(1) Recommendations to improve the quality, fairness, validity,
and reliability of the examinations.
(2) Recommendations for revisions in design, administration,
scoring, processing, or use of the examinations to ensure compliance
with state and federal requirements in an efficient manner.
(3) Recommendations for revisions of the examinations to improve
grade level continuity and vertical alignment of standards-aligned
test content and the ability of the tests to produce scores for an
individual pupil that can be validly compared from year to year.
(4) Recommendations for revisions of the examination to improve
integration of content standards in other core curriculum areas for
testing items, as applicable.
(5) Recommendations to improve the usefulness of the test to the
state, local educational agencies, schools, teachers, pupils, and
parents.
(6) Recommendations regarding revisions that would allow the STAR
Program to provide pupil-level diagnostic information and to provide
a diagnostic assessment for classroom use.
(7) Recommendations regarding alternative diagnostic assessments
that align with state academic content standards.
(8) Recommendations regarding alternatives to the current testing
format to allow the greatest aggregate base for assessing
districtwide performance on content standards.
(d) In order to provide the Legislature with adequate information
to consider reauthorization of the STAR Program, the Superintendent
shall provide the evaluation to the Legislature, the Governor, and
the state board on or before November 1, 2011.
(e) The advisory committee established pursuant to Section 52052.5
shall advise the Superintendent on the independent evaluation by
providing all of the following:
(1) Recommendations regarding the parameters of the evaluation.
(2) Recommendations regarding any request for proposals or request
for applications used to solicit contract proposals.
(3) Recommendations regarding the selection of the contractor.
(4) A review of any reports submitted by the independent
evaluator, including any midterm reports as well as the final
evaluation.
(f) The Superintendent shall appoint four additional members, who
shall be educators or individuals having expertise in large-scale
assessment and who shall serve only for the purposes of subdivision
(f), to the advisory committee established pursuant to Section
52052.5.
(g) The department shall use federal funds made available under
Title VI of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 7301
et seq.), not to exceed one hundred fifty thousand dollars
($150,000), for the purpose of contracting for this evaluation.
SECTION 1. Section 49085 of the Education Code
is amended to read:
49085. The department shall ensure that the California School
Information Services system meets the needs of pupils in foster care
and includes disaggregated data regarding pupils in foster care.