BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 409 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 409 (Alejo) As Amended May 19, 2011 Majority vote EDUCATION 7-3 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Brownley, Ammiano, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, | | |Buchanan, Butler, Carter, | |Bradford, Charles | | |Eng, Williams | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, | | | | |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, | | | | |Mitchell, Solorio | | | | | | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| |Nays:|Norby, Halderman, Wagner |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, | | | | |Nielsen, Smyth, Wagner | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Authorizes the administration of a primary language assessment to nonlimited-English-proficient and redesignated fluent-English-proficient (RFEP) pupils enrolled in dual immersion programs. Specifically, this bill : 1)Authorizes the California Department of Education (CDE) to make a primary language assessment available to school districts and charter schools to assess their nonlimited-English-proficient and RFEP pupils, who are enrolled in a dual language immersion program that includes the primary language of the assessment. 2)Requires a school district or charter school that chooses to administer a primary language assessment as authorized by this bill to do so at its own expense and to enter into an agreement for that purpose with the state testing contractor subject to the approval of the CDE. 3)Specifies that the cost for the assessment shall be the same for all school districts and charter schools and shall not exceed the marginal cost of the assessment. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, minor General Fund/Proposition 98 (GF/98) cost pressure, likely less than $75,000, to authorize school AB 409 Page 2 districts to assess their non-English learner (EL) pupils who are enrolled in dual immersion programs, as specified. This bill requires school districts to pay for the administration of this assessment at their own expense. According to CDE, it allocated approximately $101,000 GF/98 to school districts for the administration of the primary language assessment to EL pupils in 2010. COMMENTS : SB 1448 (Alpert), Chapter 233, Statutes of 2004, required the development of standards-aligned primary language assessments for English learner pupils. The CDE began the development of the Standards-based Tests in Spanish (STS) in reading/language arts and mathematics in 2006 and started administering the test in 2007 in grades 2-4, inclusive. In 2008, the STS was administered in grades 2-7, inclusive and beginning in 2009, the STS was administered in grades 2-11, inclusive. Additionally, algebra 1 and geometry end-of-course exams are also available in Spanish. According to CDE's Standardized Testing and Reporting Program: Annual Report to the Legislature, Spanish is the only language for which a primary language test has been designated because no tests for languages other than Spanish have been submitted by bidders to the State Board of Education (SBE) for consideration in response to requests for submission. The STS is currently administered to ELs who either receive instruction in their primary language or have been enrolled in a school in the United States (U.S.) for less than 12 months. These tests are administered in addition to the English California Standards Test (CST) in reading/language arts and mathematics, and the STS results are not used for state or federal accountability purposes. At the option of a school district, the STS can be administered to an EL pupil who has been enrolled in the U.S. for 12 months or more and who is not receiving instruction in his or her primary language. Dual language education programs integrate native English speakers and native speakers of the target language to provide instruction presented through two languages. Currently, school districts that operate Spanish/English dual immersion programs are not authorized to administer the STS to native English speakers nor to RFEP pupils enrolled in these programs. The STS can be an additional tool for teachers and administrators to gather achievement data of native English speakers and RFEP pupils enrolled in dual immersion programs, as well as to AB 409 Page 3 evaluate the effectiveness of such programs. The author states, "Current law requires that Dual Immersion schools use standardized testing to assess their students' academic performance. Yet, the schools are prohibited by law from using the Standards-based Test in Spanish (STS) on the non-English Learner subset of the student population. Dual Immersion schools are therefore unable accurately measure the proficiency of their English Only or Fluent English Proficient students. This puts these schools at a disadvantage because they cannot compare the data between English Learners and non-English Learners. As a result, they lack the information needed to accurately measure student progress in grade level content standards and make academic improvements in instruction. " Related legislation: AB 250 (Brownley) amongst its various curriculum and assessment provisions authorizes the administration of a primary language assessment to nonlimited-English proficient pupils and RFEP pupils enrolled in dual immersion programs. AB 250 is pending in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Previous legislation: AB 252 (Coto) of 2007, a substantially similar measure, authorizes the CDE, subject to approval by the SBE and the Department of Finance, to make a primary language assessment available to public schools for use in assessing nonlimited-English-proficient pupils enrolled in a dual language immersion program that includes the primary language of the assessment. AB 252 was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger with the following veto message: "English-speaking pupils who have voluntarily enrolled in dual language immersion programs are currently required to take the California Standards Test in English. Therefore, another assessment is not needed to measure their mastery of state-adopted academic content standards in another language. Furthermore, I am concerned that this bill creates significant General Fund cost pressures for the state to develop standards-aligned primary language tests in other languages. Given the state's current fiscal climate it is not prudent for me to enact this measure." AB 409 Page 4 Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avina / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0000781