BILL NUMBER: AB 391 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 15, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 5, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Torlakson
( Coauthor: Assembly Member
Brownley )
FEBRUARY 23, 2009
An act to amend 60604 of, and to add Section and repeal
Section 60649.1 to, the Education Code, relating to pupil assessment.
An act to amend Section 60603 of, and to add Section
60604.6 to, the Education Code, relating to pupil assessment.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 391, as amended, Torlakson. Pupil assessment: STAR Program.
(1) The Leroy Greene California Assessment of Academic Achievement
Act requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to
design and implement provides for the development of
a statewide pupil assessment program , and defines various
terms for those purposes . 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
define additional terms for those purposes .
(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
for 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.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 60603 of the
Education Code , as amended by Section 10 of Chapter
2 of the Fifth Extraordinary Session of the Statutes of 2009, is
amended to read:
60603. As used in this chapter:
(a) "Achievement test" means any standardized test that measures
the level of performance that a pupil has achieved in the core
curriculum areas.
(b) "Assessment of applied academic skills" means a form of
assessment that requires pupils to demonstrate their knowledge of,
and ability to apply, academic knowledge and skills in order to solve
problems and communicate. It may include, but is not limited to,
writing an essay response to a question, conducting an experiment, or
constructing a diagram or model. An assessment of applied academic
skills may not include assessments of personal behavioral standards
or skills, including, but not limited to, honesty, sociability,
ethics, or self-esteem.
(c) "Basic academic skills" means those skills in the subject
areas of reading, spelling, written expression, and mathematics that
provide the necessary foundation for mastery of more complex
intellectual abilities, including the synthesis and application of
knowledge.
(d) "Content standards" means the specific academic knowledge,
skills, and abilities that all public schools in this state are
expected to teach and all pupils expected to learn in each of the
core curriculum areas, at each grade level tested.
(e) "Core curriculum areas" means the areas of reading, writing,
mathematics, history-social science, and science.
(f) "Diagnostic assessment" means interim assessments of the
current level of achievement of a pupil that serves both of the
following purposes:
(1) The identification of particular academic standards or skills
a pupil has or has not yet achieved.
(2) The identification of possible reasons that a pupil has not
yet achieved particular academic standards or skills.
(g) "Direct writing assessment" means an assessment of applied
academic skills that requires pupils to use written expression to
demonstrate writing skills, including writing mechanics, grammar,
punctuation, and spelling.
(h) "End of course exam" means a comprehensive and challenging
assessment of pupil achievement in a particular subject area or
discipline.
(i) "Formative assessment" means assessment questions, tools, and
processes that are embedded in instruction and are used by teachers
and pupils to provide timely feedback for purposes of adjusting
instruction to improve learning.
(j) "High-quality assessment" means an assessment designed to
measure a pupil's knowledge of, understanding of, and ability to
apply, critical concepts through the use of a variety of item types
and formats, such as open-ended responses and performance-based
tasks. The assessments should enable measurement of pupil achievement
and pupil growth; be of high technical quality by being valid,
reliable, fair, and aligned to standards; incorporate technology
where appropriate; include the assessment of pupils with disabilities
and English learners; and, to the extent feasible, use universal
design principles, as defined in Section 3 of the federal Assistive
Technology Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 3002) in development and
administration.
(k) "Interim assessment" means an assessment that is given at
regular and specified intervals throughout the school year, is
designed to evaluate a pupil's knowledge and skills relative to a
specific set of academic standards, and produces results that can be
aggregated by course, grade level, school, or local educational
agency, in order to inform teachers and administrators at the pupil,
classroom, school, and local educational agency levels.
(i)
(l) "Performance standards" are standards that define
various levels of competence at each grade level in each of the
curriculum areas for which content standards are established.
Performance standards gauge the degree to which a pupil has met the
content standards and the degree to which a school or school district
has met the content standards.
(j)
(m) "Publisher" means a commercial publisher or any
other public or private entity, other than the department, which is
able to provide tests or test items that meet the requirements of
this chapter.
(k)
(n) "Statewide pupil assessment program" means the
systematic achievement testing of pupils in grades 2 to 11,
inclusive, pursuant to the standardized testing and reporting program
under Article 4 (commencing with Section 60640) and the assessment
of basic academic skills and applied academic skills, administered to
pupils in grade levels specified in subdivision (c) of Section
60605, required by this chapter in all schools within each school
district by means of tests designated by the state board.
SEC. 2. Section 60604.6 is added to the
Education Code , to read:
60604.6. (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 adopted pursuant to Sections 60605 and 60605.8, 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 those 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 for both groups and individuals.
(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, providing a diagnostic assessment
for classroom use, and providing formative and interim assessments in
order to better inform instruction and improve learning.
(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 be
limited to, all of the following:
(1) Improving the quality, fairness, validity, and reliability of
the examinations for both groups and individuals, including pupils
with disabilities and English learners.
(2) Revising the design, administration, scoring, processing, or
use of the examinations to ensure compliance with state and federal
requirements in an efficient manner.
(3) Revising 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) Revising the examination to improve integration of content
standards in other core curriculum areas for testing items, as
applicable.
(5) Improving the usefulness of the test to the state, local
educational agencies, schools, teachers, pupils, and parents,
including making use of test administration and scoring technologies
that will allow the return of test results to parents and teachers as
soon as possible in order to support instructional improvement.
(6) Revising the STAR Program to provide pupil-level diagnostic
information, to provide a diagnostic assessment for classroom use,
and to provide formative and interim assessments in order to better
inform instruction and improve learning.
(7) Developing and implementing alternative diagnostic assessments
that align with state academic content standards.
(8) Developing and implementing alternatives to the current
testing format to allow the greatest aggregate base for assessing
districtwide performance on content standards.
(9) Transitioning to a system of high-quality assessments, as
defined in this chapter.
(10) Aligning the assessments with the content standards adopted
pursuant to Sections 60605 and 60605.8, and the performance standards
adopted pursuant to Section 60605.5.
(11) Ensuring that no aspect of the system creates any bias with
respect to race, ethnicity, culture, religion, gender, or sexual
orientation.
(12) Incorporating a variety of item types and formats, including,
but not limited to, open-ended responses and performance-based
tasks.
(13) Generating multiple measures of pupil achievement, which,
when combined with other measures, can be used to determine the
effectiveness of instruction and the extent of learning.
(14) Assessing a pupil's understanding of and ability to use the
technology necessary for success in the 21st century classroom and
workplace.
(15) Minimizing testing time, while not jeopardizing the validity,
reliability, fairness, or instructional usefulness of the assessment
results.
(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 federal 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 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) 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.