BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 476|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 476
Author: Torlakson (D)
Amended: 8/19/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 7-1, 7/8/09
AYES: Romero, Alquist, Hancock, Liu, Maldonado, Padilla,
Simitian
NOES: Huff
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-5, 08/27/09
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza, Price, Yee
NOES: Cox, Denham, Runner, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wolk
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 52-26, 6/3/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Standardized Testing and Reporting Program
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to contract for an independent evaluation of
the Standardized Testing and Reporting Program, including
the standards aligned tests administered in grades 2
through 11, and report findings of the evaluation to the
Governor and Legislature by November 2010.
ANALYSIS : The Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR)
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Program, initially authorized in 1997, requires testing of
students in grades 2 through 11, including English language
arts and mathematics at most grade levels, and science and
history/social science at specified grade levels. In 2003,
the California Standards Test (CST) replaced a nationally
published "off the shelf" test as the primary battery of
STAR tests. The CSTs are written specifically to test
California's content standards. The STAR Program is
currently scheduled to sunset in July 2011.
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 the
assessment and accountability requirements of the federal
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, which requires
standards-aligned achievement testing in reading and
mathematics to all students in grades 3 through 8 and grade
10; and also requires science testing in grades 5, 8 and
10.
This bill:
1.Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI)
to contract, by April 1, 2010, for an independent
evaluation of the STAR Program. This evaluation is to be
a meta-analysis of existing information and data from the
STAR Program based upon the following:
A. 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.
B. 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.
C. Grade level continuity and vertical anticipation
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of the content standards and the ability of the tests
to produce scores.
D. A report on the results of prior analyses
regarding pupil performance by test, grade level,
race or ethnicity.
E. The degree to which the STAR Program complies with
professional testing standards and satisfies state
and federal testing requirements for each grade
level.
F. The usefulness of STAR tests for program
evaluation.
G. 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 be tested under federal law.
2.Requires the evaluator to include recommendations:
A. To improve the quality, fairness, validity, and
reliability of the tests.
B. For revisions in design, administration, scoring,
processing, or use of the tests to ensure compliance
with state and federal requirements.
C. For revisions to improve grade level continuity
and vertical alignment of test content and the
ability of the tests to produce scorers for an
individual pupil that can be validly compared from
year to year.
D. For revisions to improve integration of content
standards in core curriculum areas and improve the
usefulness of the test to state and local educational
agencies, as well as, schools, teachers, pupils, and
parents.
E. For revisions that would allow the STAR Program to
provide pupil-level diagnostic information and to
provide a diagnostic assessment for classroom use.
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F. Recommendations regarding alternative diagnostic
assessments that align with state academic content
standards.
3.Requires the SPI to provide the evaluation to the
Legislature, the Governor, and the State Board of
Education by November 1, 2010.
4.Requires the SPI's advisory committee on API matters to
advise the SPI on the independent evaluation, as
specified, and requires the SPI to add four individuals
having expertise in large-scale assessment to the
advisory committee for this purpose only.
5.Requires the SPI to use $150,000 of specified federal
funds for the purpose of the contracted evaluation.
Related/Prior Legislation
SB 800 (Hancock), pending in the Senate Education
Committee, eliminates grade 2 STAR testing and makes
conforming changes to dates by which related sections of
law become inoperative and are repealed.
SB 1448 (Alpert), Chapter 233, Statutes of 2004,
reauthorized the STAR Program.
AB 376 (Alpert), Chapter 828, Statutes of 1997, established
the STAR Program and authorized testing in grades 2 through
11.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 Fund
STAR evaluation $150
Federal
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/31/09)
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Association of California School Administrators
Business for Science, Math and Related Technologies
Education
California Alliance for Arts Education
California Teachers Association
Small School Districts' Association
California Science Teachers Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The California Alliance for Arts
Education supports the exemption of second grade students
from the annual STAR testing program. They agree with the
California Teachers Association that this action would free
up valuable instructional time and resources at the second
grade level. They further assert that eliminating second
grade testing would reverse the well-documented narrowing
of the curriculum in the second grade. Recent California
research identifies the "pressure to improve test scores"
as one of the top barriers to providing visual and
performing arts instruction at the elementary grades.
Further, arts teachers at the upper elementary, middle, and
high school levels are challenged to provide
standards-based instruction that is grade-level appropriate
due to a lack of arts instruction in the early grades.
Increased provision of visual and performing arts
instruction in the primary grades creates a foundation of
valuable cognitive, emotion, social, and physical
development that positions students for successful learning
across the curriculum, and sets the state for grade-level
study in the arts as they move through their K-12 career
and strive to meet the admissions requirements for the UC
and CSU systems.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Emmerson,
Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani,
Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones,
Krekorian, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning,
Nava, Nestande, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez,
Portantino, Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner,
Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Bass
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NOES: Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee,
Conway, Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Fletcher, Fuller, Gaines,
Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Jeffries, Knight,
Logue, Miller, Niello, Nielsen, Silva, Smyth, Audra
Strickland, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Block, Yamada
DLW:cm 9/1/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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