BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 224 (Bonilla)
Hearing Date: 08/25/2011 Amended: 05/27/2011
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-HernandezPolicy Vote: Education 6-2
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 224 modifies the indicators that contribute to
the Academic Performance Index (API) and requires the
Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), in consultation with
the State Board of Education (SBE) to create a new API for
grades 8-12, as specified.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
API redesign $35-$70
Data collection Potentially
significant ongoing costs General/Local
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE.
Existing law establishes the Public School Performance
Accountability Program under which the SPI, with approval of the
SBE, is required to develop an API to measure the performance of
schools. The API was proposed as a means of combining multiple
indicators of school performance into one easy-to-compare index.
The API is required to consist of a variety of indicators
including, but not limited to, the results of achievement tests,
attendance rates for pupils in elementary schools, middle
schools, and secondary schools, and graduation rates for pupils
in secondary schools (although the SPI has not yet acted on his
authority to include graduation rates as an indicator).
Existing law also requires that the results of the California
Standards Tests and the California High School Exit Exam
constitute at least 60 percent of the API.
This bill would change the indicators that comprise the API and
requires the SPI, beginning in the 2012-13 fiscal year, to
AB 224 (Bonilla)
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create a new API for grades 8-12. With regard to existing API
restrictions, this bill: A) deletes attendance rates as a
component of the API; B) removes the requirement that test
results constitute at least 60% of the value of the API; and C)
deletes the requirement that the SPI determine the extent to
which certain data is already collected and is accurate before
including it in the API.
The costs for redesigning the API would largely be borne by the
Department of Education (CDE) in its role of crafting and
implementing the proposed API changes. Specifically, the Public
School Accountability Act (PSAA) Advisory Committee is the body
the SPI and SBE look to for guidance on the API, and is staffed
by CDE employees. This bill requires the PSAA advisory committee
to provide recommendations for implementing a new API, and
develop recommendations for the inclusion of multiple measures
in the API of middle schools. For example, because this bill
deletes, rather than modifies the 60% weight of standardized
test scores as an API value, the advisory committee would likely
have to determine what the new value would be, and other related
changes it would cause.
The CDE has indicated that each PSAA Advisory Committee meeting
costs $2,000 - $4,000, depending on the number of members who
attend. The advisory committee would likely have to meet at
least monthly in order to have the new API ready to be
implemented by the 2012-13 school year, at a cost of
$10,000-$20,000. CDE estimates that administrative workload
would incur $25,000-$50,000 in costs, depending on the scope of
the API redesign determined by the PSAA advisory committee.
In addition to altering the existing indicators, this bill
requires the SPI, beginning in the 2012-13 fiscal year, to
incorporate the following indicators into the API for schools
serving any of grades 8-12: A) High school graduation rates; B)
rates by which pupils fulfill the University of California and
California State University admissions requirements; and C)
rates by which pupils complete a course of study necessary to
attain entry-level employment upon graduation from high school.
In order to assess the last indicator, this bill requires the
SPI to use one or more of the following to determine this rate:
Satisfactory completion of a designated career and
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technical education course (CTE) or series of courses that
meet the CTE content standards.
The number or percentage of pupils who earn a
certificate, license, or the equivalent in the designated
occupation for which it is issued.
The scores of pupils on valid and reliable assessments,
including portfolio assessments, as specified.
Workforce outcomes for pupils graduating from high
school which may include, but are not limited to,
employment rates and earnings.
Generally, schools do not currently collect data on students who
have already graduated. It is unclear how a school would find
out a student's future workforce outcomes, such as his or her
earnings, and whether or not the student pursued the CTE career
path he or she was trained for. It is also unclear how schools
would be held accountable for this data, or if the SPI would
have to create a system for collection and guidelines for
schools in order to comply with the new API requirements.