BILL ANALYSIS
AB 391
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 391 (Torlakson)
As Amended January 25, 2010
Majority vote
EDUCATION 7-3 APPROPRIATIONS 12-0
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|Ayes:|Brownley, Ammiano, |Ayes:|De Leon, Ammiano, |
| |Arambula, Buchanan, Eng, | |Bradford, Charles |
| |Solorio, Torlakson | |Calderon, Coto, Davis, |
| | | |Fuentes, Hall, John A. |
| | | |Perez, Skinner, Solorio, |
| | | |Torlakson |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Nestande, Garrick, Miller | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires a one-time independent evaluation of the
Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), on or
before April 1, 2011, to contract for an independent
evaluation of the STAR Program, and requires the evaluation
to:
a) Be based upon information gathered in field testing and
annual administrations of the assessments, all existing
reports and other studies of STAR, state and federal
requirements, a review of research-based alternative
assessment models, and a review of existing and emerging
practices in large-scale assessment from across the nation;
b) Include, but not be limited to, the STAR Program's
alignment to statewide content standards and the tests'
content validity; the standards' grade level
continuity/vertical articulation and the longitudinal
validity of the tests across grade levels; the use of
content standards from other core curriculum areas for test
items; pupil performance; compliance with testing
standards; usefulness as a diagnostic, formative, interim
assessment or program evaluation tool; and the feasibility
of alternative diagnostic testing in new grade levels or
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content areas;
c) Make recommendations for improvements and revisions in
examinations and processes in the program, including
recommendations for improving the technical characteristics
of the tests for groups and individuals, including pupils
with disabilities and English learners; improving grade
level continuity and vertical alignment in the tests;
improving the ability to produce scores that are
longitudinally comparable; increasing the integration of
content from other core curriculum areas into test items;
improving the alignment to any new content standards and
transitioning to the new assessment system; using or
developing diagnostic information on assessments;
decreasing turn-around time for test results and testing
time; providing formative and interim assessments to better
inform instruction; assessing a pupil's understanding and
skill in the area of technology; ensuring that no bias is
created by the tests; and developing recommendations
regarding alternatives to the current testing format to
allow for multiple item types and the greatest aggregate
base for assessing district-wide performance on content
standards; and,
d) Be provided by the SPI to the Legislature, Governor and
State Board of Education (SBE) on or before November 1,
2011.
2)Requires the advisory committee advising the SPI on matters
involving the Academic Performance Index to advise the SPI, as
specified, on the evaluation of the STAR Program, and requires
the SPI to appoint four additional members, educators or
large-scale assessment experts, to the advisory committee for
the purposes advising the SPI on the evaluation.
3)Specifies that the California Department of Education (CDE)
use federal funds for this evaluation, and requires that the
provisions relating to the STAR evaluation become operative
only if an appropriation is provided for this purpose by the
Legislature.
4)Adds "formative assessment," "high-quality assessment," and
"interim assessment" to the assessment terms defined in
statute.
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EXISTING LAW requires, as part of the STAR Program, each charter
school, school district and county office of education to
administer designated achievement tests to each pupil in grades
2 through 11, inclusive, and the SPI and the SBE to undertake
activities in support of the program.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, General Fund/Proposition 98 or federal fund cost
pressure, likely between $250,000 and $500,000, to the CDE to
contract for an independent evaluation of the STAR program; the
Committee also notes that this bill requires the CDE to use
federal funds for this purpose, and that the 2009 Budget Act
allocates a total of $45.6 million for the assessment system,
including $40.2 million GF/98 and $5.4 million in federal
assessment funding.
COMMENTS : California's state assessment program is comprised of
three major testing components, the STAR Program, the English
language development test (the California English Language
Development Test, CELDT, is the adopted test), and a high school
exit examination (the California High School Exit Examination,
CAHSEE, is currently the designated test). The program also
includes a number of smaller, more specialized assessments.
The STAR Program, initially authorized in 1997, requires testing
of students in English language arts, mathematics, science and
history/social science at specified grade levels. In 2003, the
California Standards Tests (CST) replaced a nationally published
"off the shelf" test as the primary battery of STAR tests; the
CST include only questions written specifically for California's
content standards. Today, the STAR Program includes the CSTs,
the California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA)
administered to students with significant cognitive
disabilities, the California Modified Assessment (CMA)
administered to students whose disabilities preclude them from
achieving grade-level proficiency on an assessment of the
California content standards with or without testing
accommodations, and a national norm-referenced test in Spanish
that is administered to Spanish speaking English learners who
have been in school in the U.S. less than 12 months or who are
receiving instruction in Spanish. Neither the high school exit
exam nor the English language development test are components of
the STAR Program; each is separately authorized in statute.
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Results for STAR tests are reported for the individual pupil,
but no accountability attaches to these individual results; the
state and federal accountability systems are primarily based on
the aggregated STAR test scores from all pupils in a school or
school district. Many elements of the STAR Program are used by
California to meet federal assessment and accountability
requirements.
This bill requires an independent evaluation of the STAR
Program, and its effectiveness in measuring student progress on
California's academic standards, as well as in meeting the
requirements and needs of the state and federal accountability
systems. This evaluation would also examine the feasibility and
cost of a state-wide diagnostic testing model, to serve as both
a classroom-focused diagnostic tool and a state-wide data
tracking measure. This independent evaluation would inform the
STAR reauthorization discussion.
Given the impending sunset and potential reauthorization of the
STAR Program in the next legislative session, the Legislature's
need for an evaluation of the program is clear; the findings and
recommendations made by this evaluation will position the
Legislature to more efficiently use the state's resources to
design and support the reauthorized state testing program. The
STAR Program has tested millions of students in multiple content
areas annually for twelve years; however, no independent
evaluation has been required or completed. A technical report
on the test is completed annually by the testing contractor
responsible for administration, scoring, and reporting the test
and results, but the independence of contractors has been called
into question by the CDE and the SBE over the lifetime of the
program. A report by the SPI and SBE regarding the status of
implementation of the STAR Program was required and provided in
2001; an annual report of test scores from the SPI to the
Legislature and SBE is also required. Neither the annual
technical reports nor any of the SPI/SBE reports were completed
by an independent entity, and none of those reports examine all
of the issues that the Legislature should examine prior to the
reauthorization of the STAR Program.
By contrast California's high school exit examination,
authorized in 1999 and first administered in 2001, has had an
ongoing independent evaluator that has issued both annual and
biennial evaluative reports since 2001. These evaluations are
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contracted for separately from the contract issued to the vendor
or vendors responsible for the administration, development or
any other facet of the test, and have been conducted by a firm
and staff with backgrounds in measurement, and specializing in
research and program evaluation.
Analysis Prepared by : Gerald Shelton / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0003597