BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 743
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 743 (Block)
As Amended August 30, 2011
Majority Vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |68-0 |(June 1, 2011) |SENATE: |34-1 |(August 31, |
| | | | | |2011) |
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Original Committee Reference: HIGHER ED.
SUMMARY : Requires the California Community College (CCC) Board
of Governors (BOG) to establish a common assessment system to be
used for the purposes of CCC placement and advisement.
The Senate amendments specify that the CCC Chancellor's Office
(CCCCO) will purchase a currently commercially available common
assessment system.
EXISTING LAW establishes matriculation services required to be
made available by CCCs, including, among other services, the
administration of assessment instruments to determine competency
in math and language skills and student study and learning
skills.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar
to this version passed by the Senate.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee,
potentially significant one-time and ongoing costs to CCC, some
of which would count toward the meeting the Proposition 98
minimum funding guarantee. The CCC has received a grant of
$500,000 from the Hewlett and Gates Foundations to conduct
foundational work on setting up a single, centrally-delivered
common assessment system. Upon development and full
implementation of a standardized assessment system, CCC
districts will likely realize significant workload savings and
students will experience a far more efficient process.
COMMENTS : About 85% of incoming CCC students are not proficient
in college-level math, and about 70% arrive unprepared for
college-level English. These basic skills are fundamental to
student success, and a core mission of CCC is to provide basic
skills education. However, in the absence of appropriate
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assessment, students may seek placement in courses for which
they are unprepared. According to the Legislative Analyst's
Office, most studies recommend that incoming CCC students be
assessed prior to enrolling in classes and link assessment with
improved course completion and graduation rates. While existing
BOG regulations require CCC districts to provide assessment,
many students opt out of this process; in the fall of 2006,
97,000 students failed to participate in assessment. Further,
dozens of different standardized tests are used throughout the
CCC system and many CCCs recognize only their own tests and
require students who were previously tested at other CCCs to be
reassessed. In effect, CCCs can have multiple definitions of
college readiness. This sends a confusing message to current
and prospective students and results in costly duplicative
testing by CCCs.
The author argues that the implementation of a centralized
assessment program will increase the number of students assessed
and decrease assessment costs, save students' time and CCC funds
by allowing students to take their test scores with them to
different CCCs, ensure students understand expectations before
taking the tests through online pre-testing, allow more accurate
placement of students through combining data with K-12 test
data, and save millions of dollars by ensuring CCCs can leverage
purchasing power by purchasing testing instruments centrally
rather than at the CCC district level.
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960
FN: 0002476