BILL NUMBER: SB 651 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 1, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 6, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senators Romero and Steinberg
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to amend Section 52052.1 of, and to add Section
48070.6 to , the Education Code, relating to pupil
retention.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 651, as amended, Romero. Pupil retention.
Existing law requires the governing board of each school district
and each county superintendent of schools to adopt policies regarding
pupil promotion and retention. Existing law requires the Commission
on Teacher Credentialing, the state board, and the department to
provide to the State Chief Information Officer the individual
nonpersonally identifiable or aggregate data related to adequate
yearly progress, graduation rates, pupils who drop out of school, and
demographics of pupils and teachers.
This bill would require the Superintendent, on or before August 1,
2011, and annually thereafter, to submit to the Governor, the
Legislature, and the state board, a report called the Annual Report
on Dropouts in California. The bill would require, among other
things, the report contain specified information on dropout rates,
graduation rates, pupil promotion rates, course enrollment patterns,
and behavioral data. The bill would require that the report include
data from the most recent year and, at a minimum, the two prior
years. The bill would also require the Superintendent to make an oral
presentation of the contents of the report to the state board and to
make the contents of the report available on the department's
Internet Web site. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature
that the report be usable by specified groups for analyzing the high
rate of dropouts in California.
Existing law, operative only if local educational agencies receive
a per pupil allocation prior to the 2010-11 fiscal year for
implementation of the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data
System, as specified, requires, beginning July 1, 2011, that the
Academic Performance Index (API) for a school or school district
include test scores and other data from pupils who were referred to
alternative education programs and include school and school district
dropout rates, as specified.
This bill would remove the requirement that local educational
agencies receive the specified allocation in order for these
provisions to become operative.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 48070.6 is added to the Education Code, to
read:
48070.6. (a) On or before August 1, 2011, and annually
thereafter, the Superintendent shall submit to the Governor, the
Legislature, and the state board, a report that shall be called the
Annual Report on Dropouts in California. The report shall include,
but not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) One-year adjusted dropout rates for grades 7 to 12, inclusive.
(2) Four-year derived dropout rates for grades 9 to 12, inclusive.
(3) Two- or three-year derived dropout rates, as appropriate, for
middle schools.
(4) Grade 9 to grade 10 promotion rates.
(5) Percentage of high school pupils at each grade level who are
on track to earn sufficient credits to graduate in four years
.
(6) The average number of nonpromotional school moves that a pupil
makes between grades 6 to 12, inclusive.
(7) "Full-year" dropout rates for alternative schools.
(8) Relevant data on school climate and pupil engagement from the
California Healthy Kids Survey.
(9)
(8) California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE)
passage rates.
(10)
(9) Other available data relating to dropout or
graduation rates or pupil progress toward high school graduation.
(b) When cohort dropout rates can be calculated accurately using
longitudinal data, the rates described in paragraph (2) of
subdivision (a) shall be replaced by dropout rates for cohorts of
pupils entering high school.
(c) When cohort dropout rates can be calculated accurately using
longitudinal data, the rates described in paragraph (3) of
subdivision (a) shall be replaced by dropout rates for cohorts of
pupils entering middle school.
(d) If When data is available, the
report shall also include all of the following:
(1) Rates at which pupils graduate in four, five, and six years
, pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (4) of subdivision
(a) of Section 52052 .
(2) Course enrollment patterns by school and school district,
including college preparatory curriculum and career technical
education.
(3) Behavioral data by school and district, including suspensions
and expulsions.
(4) Truancy rates.
(e) If possible, the data listed in subdivisions (a) and (b) shall
be presented in the report, organized as follows:
(1) By state.
(2) By county.
(3) By district.
(4) By school.
(f) The report shall include data from alternative middle and high
schools, including continuation high schools, community day schools,
juvenile court schools, special schools, opportunity schools, and
schools attended by wards of the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Justice.
(g) The report may include relevant data on school climate and
pupil engagement from the California Healthy Kids Survey.
(g)
(h) If possible, the data listed in subdivisions (a)
and (b) shall be presented for the following subgroups, if the
subgroup consists of at least 50 pupils each of whom has a valid test
score, and the subgroup constitutes at least 15 percent of the total
population of pupils at a school who have valid test scores:
(1) Grade level.
(2) Ethnicity.
(3) Gender.
(4) Socioeconomic status.
(5) Limited English proficiency.
(6) Disability status.
(h)
(i) The report shall include data from the most recent
year and, at a minimum, the two prior years, so that comparisons can
be made easily.
(i)
(j) The Superintendent or his or her designee shall
make an oral presentation of the contents of the report to the state
board at a regularly scheduled meeting of the board.
(j)
(k) The Superintendent shall make the contents of the
report available on the department's Internet Web site in a format
that is easy for the public to access and understand.
(k)
(l) If inclusion of school-level data would render the
written report unwieldy, the data may be omitted from the written
report and posted on the department's Internet Web site.
(l)
(m) It is the intent of the Legislature that the report
prepared by the Superintendent be usable by schools, districts,
policymakers, researchers, parents, and the public, for purposes of
identifying and understanding trends, causal relations, early warning
indicators, and potential points of intervention to address the high
rate of dropouts in California.
SEC. 2. Section 52052.1 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
52052.1. (a) Beginning July 1, 2011, in addition to the test
scores specified in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (4) of subdivision
(a) of Section 52052, the Academic Performance Index (API) for a
school or school district shall do all of the following:
(1) Include the test scores and other accountability data of
enrolled pupils who were referred by the school or school district of
residence to an alternative education program, including community,
community day, and continuation high schools and independent study,
and be calculated by assigning all accountability data on pupils in
alternative education programs, including community, community day,
and continuation high schools and independent study, to the school
and school district of residence to ensure that placement decisions
are in the best interests of affected pupils. If a pupil is referred
to an alternative education program by a juvenile court judge or
other correctional or judicial official, or if the pupil is expelled
pursuant to subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of Section 48915, the test
scores of that pupil shall remain with the alternative education
program and with the school district or county office of education
serving that pupil. This section does not prohibit the alternative
education program from counting the test scores of those pupils
served in their alternative education program. It is the intent of
the Legislature that these alternative education programs remain
accountable to the pupils they serve.
(2) Exclude the test scores or other data of those pupils exempt
pursuant to federal statute or federal regulation.
(3) Include school and school district dropout rates for pupils
who drop out of school while enrolled in grade 8 or 9. If reliable
data is not available by July 1, 2011, the Superintendent, on or
before that date, shall report to the Legislature the reasons for the
delay and date he or she anticipates the specified dropout rates
will be included in the API.
(b) The advisory committee established pursuant to Section 52052.5
shall recommend to the Superintendent and the state board all of the
following:
(1) The length of time for which the accountability data on pupils
in alternative education programs shall be assigned to the school
and school district of residence pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a).
(2) Whether it is appropriate to assign accountability data to the
school or the school district, pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a), if the pupil never attended the school of residence
or has been absent for more than one year from the school district of
residence due to placement in another school or school district or
out of state.
(c) This section shall become operative only if local educational
agencies receive a per pupil allocation prior to the 2010-11 fiscal
year for implementation of the California Longitudinal Pupil
Achievement Data System established pursuant to Section 60900.