BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                   AB 124|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 124
          Author:   Fuentes (D), et al.
          Amended:  7/14/11 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE  :  8-1, 6/22/11
          AYES:  Lowenthal, Alquist, Blakeslee, Hancock, Liu, Price, 
            Simitian, Vargas
          NOES:  Huff
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Runner, Vacancy

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  6-3, 8/25/11
          AYES:  Kehoe, Alquist, Lieu, Pavley, Price, Steinberg
          NOES:  Walters, Emmerson, Runner
           
          ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  63-13, 6/1/11 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    English language development standards

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill (1) requires the Superintendent of 
          Public Instruction (SPI), in consultation with the State 
          Board of Education (SBE), to update, revise, and align the 
          English development standards to the SBE-approved academic 
          content standards, and (2) requires the SPI to convene a 
          group of experts to assist in the updating, revising and 
          aligning.

           ANALYSIS  :    Existing law establishes the Academic Content 
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          Standards Commission which was required to develop common 
          core academic content standards in language and 
          mathematics, as specified.  Pursuant to these provisions, 
          the standards were presented to the SBE which adopted the 
          proposed common core academic content standards in English 
          language arts and mathematics on August 2, 2010.  

          Existing law requires the SBE to approve English Language 
          Development (ELD) standards for students whose primary 
          language is other than English.  Existing law also requires 
          that these standards be comparable in rigor and specificity 
          to the standards adopted for English language arts.

          Existing law also requires the development or acquisition 
          of a test or series of tests for assessing the English 
          language development of students whose primary language is 
          other than English.  The resulting assessment, the 
          California English Language Development Test (CELDT) serves 
          three purposes:  (1) identifies pupils as limited English 
          proficient, (2) determines the level of English language 
          proficiency of these students, and (3) annually assesses 
          the progress of these students in acquiring the skills of 
          listening, speaking, reading, and writing in English.  
          Among other things, existing law requires that the test be 
          aligned with the ELD standards and be age and 
          developmentally appropriate for students. 

          This bill:

          1. Requires the advisory committee to update, revise, and 
             align the ELD standards to the English Language Arts 
             (ELA) adopted standards and that they be aligned by 
             grade level and be comparable to and as rigorous as the 
             academic content standards for ELA.

          2. Requires the SPI, in consultation with the SBE, to 
             convene a group of experts in English language 
             instruction, curriculum, and assessment, including 
             individuals who have a minimum of three years of 
             demonstrated experience instructing English learners in 
             the classroom at the elementary or secondary level.

          3. Requires the SPI to ensure that members of the group 
             include, but not be limited to, individuals who are 

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             schoolsite principals, school district or county office 
             of education administrators overseeing programs and 
             support for English learners, personnel of teacher 
             training schools at institutions of higher education, or 
             curriculum and instructional specialists with English 
             learner experience.

          4. Requires the SPI, on or before August 31, 2012, to 
             present the updated, 
             revised, and aligned ELD standards, based on the work of 
             the group of experts, to the SBE.  

          5. Prior to the presentation to the SBE, requires the SPI 
             to hold a minimum of two public meetings, in order for 
             the public to provide input regarding the work of the 
             group of experts to update, revise, and align the ELD 
             standards.

          6. Requires, on or before September 30, 2012, the SBE to 
             adopt, reject, or revise the ELD standards presented by 
             the SPI.

          7. Requires the SBE, if it revises the ELD standards, in a 
             public meeting, to provide written reasons for its 
             revisions.  Provides that the SBE shall not adopt the 
             revised ELD standards at the same meeting it provides it 
             written reasons, but, instead, shall adopt these 
             revisions at a subsequent meeting or no later than 
             November 15, 2012.

          8. Requires the SBE, if it rejects the ELD standards, to 
             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 were rejected.

          9. Declares the Legislature's intent that the California 
             Department of Education (CDE) consider the work of the 
             group of experts when developing any new English 
             language acquisition assessments and carry over funds 
             received by Title I of the federal No Child Left Behind 
             Act of 2001.

          10.Makes other technical and conforming changes.

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           Comments
           
           Need for the bill  .  The SBE recently adopted the common 
          core standards in English language arts and mathematics.   
          Although the common core state standards introductory 
          documents acknowledge the importance of addressing the 
          instructional needs of English learners, the SBE adopted 
          common core standards make no specific provision for this 
          purpose.  According to the author's office, because the ELD 
          standards are a critical tool used in instructing English 
          language learners (ELL) pupils, the next logical step is 
          for the state to review the existing ELD standards for 
          compatibility with the newly adopted ELA academic content 
          standards.  This bill establishes a process and structures 
          an advisory committee similar to the one established for 
          purposes of adopting the common core standards to revise, 
          adopt and align the existing ELD standards to the common 
          core standards. 

           English language learners  .  English learners constitute 
          approximately 24 percent of the total enrollment in 
          California public schools.  A majority of ELLs (68 percent) 
          are enrolled in the elementary grades, kindergarten through 
          grade six, with 31 percent enrolled in the secondary 
          grades, seven through 12.  During 2009-2010, the CDE 
          administered the CELDT, for purposes of initial or annual 
          language proficiency assessment, to 1.6 million students.
           
          Current ELD standards  .  AB 748 (Escutia), Chapter 936, 
          Statutes of 1997, required that the test or tests assessing 
          the progress of English learners toward achieving fluency 
          in English be aligned with state standards for 
          English-language development.  The current ELD standards, 
          approved by the SBE in 1999, were developed by a committee 
          composed of 15 practitioners and experts in ELD and 
          assessment and are designed to assist teachers in moving 
          English learners to fluency in English and proficiency in 
          the ELA content standards.  The current ELD standards were 
          also the basis for the development of the CELDT.  

          In 2006, test developers conducted a study for the CDE 
          evaluating linkage and alignment of the ELD standards and 
          assessments.  Among other things, it found that ELD 

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          standards were generally of lower complexity than content 
          standards, development of CELDT test items that reflect 
          more academic language functions and higher levels of 
          complexity would improve overall alignment of the system, 
          and increased emphasis on academic language functions was 
          necessary to bring ELD standards and CELDT into better 
          compliance with federal requirements. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes   
          Local:  No

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:

                         Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions      2011-12     2012-13     2013-14     Fund  

          ELD standards       $150      $50                 
          Federal*

          * Federal Title I carryover funds

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/30/11)

          American Federation of State, County and Municipal 
          Employees, AFL-CIO
          Association of California School Administrators
          California Association for Bilingual Education
          California Association of Latino Superintendents and 
          Administrators
          California Federation of Teachers
          California Immigrant Policy Center
          California Language Teachers Association
          California Teachers Association
          California Teachers of English to Speakers of Other 
          Languages
          Californians Together
          Los Angeles County Office of Education
          Riverside County School Superintendents' Association
          State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the California 
          Language Teachers Association, "English Language Learners 
          are a group of students that continues to perform below 

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          expected levels and at the same time is increasing in 
          numbers at all levels of our school system.  The Advisory 
          Committee will assist in identifying and disseminating 
          successful models of instruction to address the unique 
          needs of these students in a beneficial manner."

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  63-13, 6/1/11
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, 
            Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, 
            Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, 
            Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, 
            Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, 
            Gatto, Gordon, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, 
            Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jones, Lara, Bonnie 
            Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Nestande, 
            Olsen, Pan, Perea, Portantino, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, 
            Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, 
            Yamada, John A. Pérez
          NOES:  Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, 
            Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller, Morrell, Nielsen, Norby, 
            Silva
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Garrick, Gorell, Jeffries, V. Manuel 
            Pérez

          CPM:mw  8/30/11   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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