BILL ANALYSIS
AB 391
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 391 (Torlakson)
As Amended June 30, 2010
Majority vote
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: |44-27|(January 27, |SENATE: |23-12|(August 23, |
| | |2010) | | |2010) |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Original Committee Reference: ED.
SUMMARY : Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI) to contract for a one-time independent evaluation of the
Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program to be
completed on or before November 1, 2011, specifies that the
California Department of Education (CDE) use federal funds for
this evaluation, and requires that these provisions become
operative only if an appropriation is provided for this purpose
by the Legislature. Also 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.
The Senate amendments are technical in nature and make no
substantive change to the bill.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar
to the version passed by the Senate.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, based on recent evaluations, the cost of this bill is
likely to be at least $250,000 and likely closer to $500,000.
The Committee also notes that the bill also requires the use of
federal funds, but all of the relevant funds appear to be
subscribed, which means this evaluation would require the use of
General Fund.
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
AB 391
Page 2
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.
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 and on results from the high school exit
examination. 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. The CDE is required to us
federal funds for the purpose of contracting for this
evaluation, and the provisions of the bill become operative only
AB 391
Page 3
if an appropriation is provided for this purpose in the Budget
Act or other statute.
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
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: 0006021