BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 124
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 124 (Fuentes)
As Amended May 27, 2011
Majority vote
EDUCATION 9-1 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Brownley, Norby, Ammiano, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Buchanan, Butler, Carter, | |Bradford, Charles |
| |Eng, Wagner, Williams | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| | | |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| | | |Mitchell, Solorio |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Halderman |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Establishes a 13-member English Language Development
Standards Advisory Committee (ELDSAC) to update, revise, and
align the English language development (ELD) standards to the
common core state standards in English language arts (ELA).
Specifically, this bill :
1) Requires the ELDSAC to consist of 13 members, to be
appointed as follows:
a) Four members appointed by the Governor;
b) Three members appointed by the Senate Committee on
Rules;
c) Three members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly;
and,
d) Three members appointed by the Superintendent of Public
Instruction (SPI).
2) Requires that at least seven of the members appointed to
the ELDSAC be credentialed classroom teachers possessing
authorized certificates to instruct English learners (ELs)
and a minimum of three years of demonstrated experience
instructing ELs, and requires that at least four of the
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seven teachers represent elementary schools. Specifies
that the remaining members of the ELDSAC shall include
specified representatives with EL expertise.
3) Specifies that the members of the ELDSAC shall serve at
the pleasure of the appointing authority and requires
meetings or hearings of the ELDSAC be open and available to
the public.
4) Stipulates that the ELDSAC shall update, revise, and
align the ELD standards to the common core state standards
in ELA by grade level, and shall be comparable to, and as
rigorous and specific as, the common core ELA academic
content standards.
5) Requires, on or before August 31, 2012, the ELDSAC to
present its revised and aligned ELD standards to the State
Board of Education (SBE), and requires the SBE, on or
before September 30, 2012, to do either of the following:
a) Adopt the ELD standards presented by the ELDSAC; or,
b) Reject the ELD standards presented by the ELDSAC, in
which case, the SBE shall transmit to the SPI, the
Governor, and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees
of the Legislature a specific written explanation of the
reasons why the standards presented by the ELDSAC were
rejected.
6)Requires the SPI and the SBE to present to the Governor and
the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the
Legislature a schedule and implementation plan for integrating
the ELD standards adopted pursuant to this bill into the state
public education system, including but not limited to,
incorporating them into the English language development test.
7)Specifies legislative intent to use federal funds pursuant to
Title III of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 to
support the work of the ELDSAC.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
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Committee:
1)One-time General Fund (GF) administrative costs, likely
between $150,000 and $200,000, to the California Department of
Education (CDE) to provide staff support to the ELDSAC.
2)GF/Proposition 98 cost pressure, likely in the low to tens of
millions, to school districts to provide instructional
materials and professional development on the revised ELD
standards.
3)Requires the SPI and the SBE to provide the Governor and
Legislature with an implementation plan, including costs, to
integrate the revised standards into the education system.
COMMENTS : California adopted ELD standards in 1999, as a result
of AB 748 (Escutia), Chapter 936, Statutes of 1997. The
standards, developed for the domains of listening, speaking,
reading and writing, represent what EL pupils must know and be
able to do as they move toward full fluency in the English
language, and these standards are the basis for the English
language development test (ELDT). Current law requires the ELD
standards to be comparable in rigor and specificity to the ELA
standards adopted by the SBE.
On August 2, 2010, the SBE adopted the common core state
standards in ELA and mathematics. School districts use both the
ELA standards and the ELD standards to develop proficiency of
ELs in the English language and in the ELA content, hence there
will be a need to ensure the ELD standards are aligned with the
recently adopted common core state standards, in order to ensure
consistency in the curriculum particularly as plans to implement
the common core state standards are developed. This bill
establishes a process, similar to the one previously established
to adopt the common core state standards, to revise, adopt and
align the existing ELD standards to the common core state
standards, and creates a 13-member advisory committee to be
appointed by the Governor, the Senate Committee on Rules, the
Speaker of the Assembly and the SPI to recommend revised ELD
standards to the SBE.
Nearly 1.5 million of the state's 6.2 million students were
identified as ELs during the 2009-10 school year, representing
approximately 24% of the state's total public school enrollment.
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ELs are at a considerable disadvantage relative to their native
English speaking peers, as they enter school with different
levels of English fluency and therefore have different
instructional needs to achieve language and academic
proficiency. The Proposition 227 Year 5 evaluation, Effects of
the Implementation of Proposition 227 on the Education of
English learners, K-12, finds that one of the key factors that
leads to EL success includes having systematic, carefully
designed plans for the provision of ELD instructional services.
The ELD standards are an important tool in developing and
delivering instructional services to ELs that differentiate
instruction according to proficiency levels and therefore it is
important that the ELD standards are updated and adequately
aligned to the recently adopted ELA standards.
Federal initiative: The United States Department of Education
(USDOE) issued a notice for proposed grant priorities published
in the Federal Register on January 7, 2011, announcing that it
plans to add the development of English-proficiency tests based
on the common core state standards as a priority to an existing
competitive grant program called the Enhanced Assessment
Instruments Grant program. Consortia of states may apply for a
grant to develop an English proficiency assessment system that
is aligned to ELD standards and the common core standards.
California will be submitting an application, as a lead state,
for this grant.
The author states, "By requiring the state to review the ELD
standards for their alignment to the newly adopted ELA
standards, this bill will save school districts time and money
because each district will not have to do this work
independently. AB 124 requires the state to take the next step
in ensuring quality instruction of the state's ELL pupils."
Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avina / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0000938