BILL NUMBER: AB 743	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  615
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  OCTOBER 8, 2011
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  OCTOBER 8, 2011
	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 31, 2011
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 6, 2011
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 30, 2011
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 27, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Block

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2011

   An act to add Section 78219 to the Education Code, relating to
community colleges.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 743, Block. California Community Colleges: common assessment
system.
   Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under
the administration of the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary
education in this state.
   The Seymour-Campbell Matriculation Act of 1986 requires,
contingent on the appropriation of funds for the purposes of the act,
matriculation services to be made available by the colleges. The act
requires those services to include assessment and counseling upon
enrollment, including administration of assessment instruments to
determine student competency in computational and language skills.
   This bill would require the board to establish a common assessment
system with specified objectives, including selection of an existing
commercially available and centrally delivered system of student
assessment, to be used as one of multiple measures, consistent with
specified law, for the purposes of community college placement and
advisement.
   The bill would require the Office of the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges to work in collaboration with the State
Department of Education and the California State University when
developing a common college-readiness standard that will be reflected
in the creation of assessment instruments.
   The bill would require the Office of the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges to submit a report to the Legislature
and the Governor on the progress of implementation of the common
assessment system by December 31, 2012, and would require the above
provisions to become operative upon the receipt of state, federal, or
philanthropic funds to cover the costs of the common assessment
system.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 78219 is added to the Education Code, to read:
   78219.  (a) The Board of Governors of the California Community
Colleges shall establish a common assessment system to be used as one
of multiple measures, consistent with existing regulations, for the
purposes of community college placement and advisement. The system
shall include all of the following objectives:
   (1) Selection of an existing commercially available and centrally
delivered system of student assessment that provides a single common
assessment instrument for use by community colleges in the curriculum
areas of English, mathematics, and English as a second language.
   (2) Creation of a secure, centrally housed assessment test data
warehouse that shall collect all of the following:
   (A) All available assessment scores generated by assessed students
at all community colleges.
   (B) All available K-12 assessment data for students at all
community colleges. The use of this data shall be limited to placing
and advising community college students to enhance their success with
and completion of their postsecondary education objectives.
   (C) Other data or student transcript information that is used for
the purpose of student placement.
   (3) Creation of an Internet Web portal that can be accessed by
community college personnel and students and that provides all of the
following:
   (A) An assessment profile, generated for each student upon
request, that includes all assessment information available in the
data warehouse created pursuant to paragraph (2). This profile shall
be accessible for counseling, matriculation, and course placement
purposes.
   (B) A pretest application that emulates the structure of the
student assessment created pursuant to paragraph (1) that students
can practice on and familiarize themselves with before taking future
assessments.
   (C) An advisement tool that provides students with information
about the importance of taking the common assessment to be placed in
college-level courses in English, mathematics, or English as a second
language and the historical success rates of students who place in
various levels of remedial coursework.
   (b) In developing the common assessment, the Office of the
Chancellor of the California Community Colleges shall work in
collaboration with the State Department of Education and the
California State University when developing a common
college-readiness standard that will be reflected in the creation of
assessment instruments.
   (c) The Office of the Chancellor of the California Community
Colleges shall submit a report to the Legislature and the Governor on
the progress of the implementation of the common assessment system
by December 31, 2012.
   (d) The provisions of this section shall be operative upon the
receipt of state, federal, or philanthropic funds sufficient to cover
the costs of the common assessment system.