BILL ANALYSIS AB 476 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 22, 2009 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Kevin De Leon, Chair AB 476 (Torlakson) - As Amended: April 14, 2009 Policy Committee: EducationVote:8-3 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No SUMMARY This bill eliminates the administration of the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program to pupils in grade 2 and requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), on or before April 1, 2010, to contract with an independent contractor to evaluate the STAR program. Specifically, this bill: 1)Requires the evaluation to include, but not be limited to, the following: (a) alignment of federal and state accountability; (b) alignment of the STAR assessments and the state academic content standards; (c) pupil performance; (d) alignment with the STAR program and professional teaching standards; (d) usefulness of the STAR program for diagnostic purposes; (e) feasibility and cost of the development of a diagnostic assessment for all grade levels and content areas; and (f) separate analysis of test results for significant subgroups (i.e., English learners, pupils with special needs, and economically disadvantaged pupils). 2)Requires the report submitted by the independent contractor to include the findings of the different analyses and evaluations as described above and recommendations for improvements/revisions to the STAR program, as specified. This measure further requires the report to be submitted to the Legislature, Governor, and State Board of Education on or before November 1, 2010. 3)Requires the State Department of Education (SDE) to use funds, not to exceed $150,000, made available by the elimination of the STAR program for grade 2 for the purpose of contracting for the evaluation. AB 476 Page 2 FISCAL EFFECT 1)GF/98 savings, of approximately $2 million, to eliminate the STAR program assessments for pupils in grade 2. The 2009 Budget Act allocates $55.4 million for the support of the STAR program. Of this amount, $50 million is GF/98 and $5.4 million are federal assessment funds. Local education agencies will receive $2.52 per pupil to administer the STAR assessments in the 2009-10 fiscal year. 2)Reallocation of GF/98 savings, of at least $150,000, to contract with an independent evaluator, as required in this measure. This bill requires SDE to use the savings from the elimination of the STAR program for grade 2 to fund the evaluation, which may not exceed $150,000. This provision eliminates the discretion of the Legislature to realize the full $2 million in GF/98 savings. COMMENTS 1)Purpose . The STAR program, established by Chapter 828, Statutes of 1997 (SB 376, Alpert), reauthorized by SB 80 (Committee on Budget), Chapter 174, Statute of 2007, consists of three elements: (a) the California Standards Tests (CST); (c) the Spanish Assessment of Basic Education primary language test, and (d) the California Alternative Performance Assessment for special education pupils. Under the STAR program, the state requires schools to test all students in grades 2 to 11 in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics using a CST. However, only specified grades are assessed in history/social and science. Likewise, AB 519 (Budget Committee), Chapter 757, Statutes of 2008, eliminated the California Achievement Test, the norm-referenced test administered to pupils in grades 3 and 8. The STAR program sunsets in 2011. As a condition of receiving over $1.6 billion in federal funding, the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) requires states to assess pupils, including English language learners and special education pupils, in ELA and mathematics in grades 3-8 and grade 10. Also, NCLB also requires states to assess pupils in grades five, eight, and 10 in science. AB 476 Page 3 The STAR program fulfills the state's assessment requirements with respect to federal law. However, the state administers assessments beyond the requirements of federal law with respect to academic content and grade level. For example, the state assesses pupils in history/social science in grades 8-11 and in ELA and math beginning in grade 2 until grade 11. Many individuals argue that the state spends too much time and money administering assessments to pupils beyond what is required by federal law. In particular, individuals argue that pupils in grade 2 are too young to endure a week of standardized testing under the STAR program. However, many school districts, teachers, parents, and the author argue that there is value to assessing second graders for diagnostic purposes (i.e., level of reading skills). This bill eliminates the STAR program in grade 2 and requires a comprehensive evaluation of the program, including exploring a diagnostic purpose for the assessments. 2)Similar legislation . SB 800, pending in the Senate Education Committee, eliminates STAR program assessments for pupils in grade 2. 3)Previous legislation . AB 1695 (Goldberg) required a school district, by January 1, 2007, to select a diagnostic reading test for administration to each pupil in grade 2 in that district. This bill was held on this committee's suspense file in May 2005. Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916) 319-2081