BILL NUMBER: AB 1130 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 8, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 31, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 18, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 22, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Solorio
(Principal coauthor: Senator Romero)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Mendoza)
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to add Section 52052.6 to the Education Code, relating to
education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1130, as amended, Solorio. Academic performance.
Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to
establish an advisory committee to make recommendations by July 1,
2005, on a methodology for generating a measurement of academic
performance by utilizing unique pupil identifiers for pupils and
annual academic achievement growth to provide a more accurate measure
of a school's growth over time. Existing law also requires, if
appropriate and feasible, the Superintendent, with the approval of
the State Board of Education, to implement this measurement of
academic performance.
This bill would state findings and declarations regarding
standards-based education reform, assessments, and accountability and
the use of cohort growth measures in accountability systems and
intervention determinations. the
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature
that the committee take into consideration specified recommendations
and consider measures approved by the United States
Department of Education that are already in use by other
states. The bill would also provide that if the committee considers
any measure of annual academic achievement growth, the measure of
annual academic achievement growth by cohort approved in connection
with requirements described above or adopted through a state plan, as
specified, shall meet certain requirements. The bill would
require the advisory committee, by February 28, 2010, to identify a
growth model appropriate for use in California, and to make
recommendations to the state board, and would require the state board
to approve the model if it meets specified requirements.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes
no . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature hereby finds and
declares all of the following:
(a) California began the 21st century among a small group of
states that lead the nation in standards-based education reform,
assessments, and accountability. However, other states have now
surpassed California, particularly with the use of cohort growth
measures in accountability systems and intervention determinations.
(b) California's current public school accountability system is
based on a static model that compares snapshots of individual school
and school district academic performance by grade level. Therefore,
determinations of whether or not schools have met growth targets are
calculated by comparing the difference in achievement from one year
to the next of different cohorts of pupils.
(c) This accountability system fails to adjust for the fact that
beginning levels of achievement vary each school year among cohorts.
As a result, schools and school districts, particularly with middle
grades and at the secondary level, are often unfairly held
accountable for the low performance of the school the pupils
previously attended.
(d) The limitations of a static model make it difficult for
California's accountability system to provide meaningful, reliable,
and valid longitudinal information to parents, educators, and
policymakers on whether or not local schools and school districts are
improving at a rate that will achieve success for all of California'
s pupils within a reasonable period of time.
(e) A cohort growth measure incorporated into California's public
school accountability system will enable the state to more fairly
evaluate the academic achievement of California public schools and
school districts, and to hold them accountable for results.
(f) At the school and school district level, measuring each cohort'
s academic growth over time will provide better information to assist
educators in identifying pupils who need additional assistance and
identify where resources can best be targeted to close achievement
gaps.
(g) Parents, educators, and community leaders will be best served
by a public school accountability system that includes a cohort
growth measure that provides consistent, reliable, and valid
information as they collaborate to meet the needs of all pupils, each
year.
SECTION 1. SEC. 2. Section 52052.6
is added to the Education Code, to read:
52052.6. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that, in
conducting its responsibilities pursuant to subdivision (b) of
Section 52052.5, the advisory committee take into consideration the
recommendations of the California pilot study conducted pursuant to
Provision 10 of Item 6110-113-0890 of the Budget Act of 2007, the
statutory and regulatory requirements and related guidance pursuant
to the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.), and waivers for cohort growth measures
approved for other states by the United States Secretary of
Education.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the advisory
committee established pursuant to Section 52052.5 also consider
measures that are approved by the United States Department
of Education and are already in use by other states to
facilitate the identification of various performance levels of cohort
growth, including, but not limited to, whether each pupil, subgroup,
school, and school district made at least one year's academic growth
in one year's time and whether the amount of academic growth is
adequate to reach a performance level of proficient within a
timeframe specified in the state's approved accountability plan
required pursuant to the federal Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.), and to provide the ability
to determine the following with reasonable statistical confidence:
(1) High achievement with a growth rate indicating ability to
remain at proficiency or to move into the highest range of
achievement.
(2) High achievement with a growth rate indicating ability to
remain at least at proficiency.
(3) Low achievement with a growth rate indicating ability to reach
proficiency within a specified timeframe.
(4) Low achievement with a growth rate indicating significant
inability to reach proficiency within a specified timeframe.
(c) If the advisory committee established pursuant to Section
52052.5 considers a measure of annual academic achievement growth
pursuant to Section 52052.5, any measure of annual academic
achievement growth by cohort approved in connection with requirements
of Section 52052.5 or adopted through a state plan approved by the
State Educational Agency pursuant to any provision, or waiver of, the
federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
Sec. 6301 et seq.), or any other plan submitted by the state as a
requirement of receiving or allocating federal funds shall:
(1) Utilize a growth model in the public domain that is not
proprietary.
(2) Be able to be replicated by an independent statistician.
(3) Be able to be fully and accurately explained, including the
generation of all results, the specification of the standard error,
and the stringency of the confidence interval used to determine
whether the annual change in test scores is statistically
significant, in a document available to the public.
(4) Be consistent with regulatory and technical guidance from the
United States Department of Education for academic growth models
under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
Sec. 6301 et seq.).
(d) On or before February 28, 2010, the advisory committee shall
identify a growth model appropriate for use in California, and shall
make recommendations to the state board at the state board's meeting
in March of 2010. After consideration, if the model is deemed to meet
all of the requirements in this section, the state board shall
approve the model in time for use by local educational agencies in
the 2010-11 school year.
(e)
(d) The Legislature finds and declares the importance
of transparency and full disclosure of the activities and
recommendations of the advisory committee established pursuant to
Section 52052.5. Therefore, the Legislature requests the advisory
committee, in making any notification required by Article 9
(commencing with Section 11120) of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code, to additionally notify in writing the chairpersons
of the Committees on Education and on Appropriations of the Senate
and Assembly, including, but not limited to, any activities that may
be conducted pursuant to subdivision (c).