BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1521|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1521
Author: Brownley (D), et al.
Amended: 8/24/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/13/12
AYES: Lowenthal, Alquist, Hancock, Liu, Price, Simitian
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner, Blakeslee, Huff, Vargas, Vacancy
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/25/12
AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Dutton, Lieu, Price,
Steinberg
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 69-5, 5/3/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Standardized Testing and Reporting Program
SOURCE : Tom Torlakson, State Superintendent of Public
Instruction
DIGEST : This bill authorizes the administration of a
primary language assessment to pupils enrolled in dual
immersion programs who are not limited English proficient
or who have been redesignated as fluent English-proficient,
and eliminates several high school level tests.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/24/12 delete the provisions of
the bill that would have eliminated some end-of-course
assessments.
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ANALYSIS : Existing law requires each school district,
charter school, and county office of education to
administer designated achievement tests to each pupil in
grades 2 through 11 as part of the Standardized Testing and
Reporting (STAR) Program. Existing law authorizes the STAR
program until July 1, 2014.
The STAR Program requires pupils to be tested in English
language arts, mathematics, science and history-social
science at specific grade levels. The STAR Program
includes the California Standards Tests (CSTs), the
California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA) and the
California Modified Assessment (CMA) administered to
certain pupils with disabilities, and a primary language
assessment.
Existing law:
1.Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to
develop and adopt primary language assessments that are
aligned to the state academic content standards for
reading/language arts and mathematics. The primary
language assessments developed pursuant to this statute
are the Standards-Based Tests in Spanish (STS).
2.Requires a pupil who is limited English proficient and
receives instruction in his or her primary language or
has been enrolled in a school in the United States for
less than 12 months to take the primary language
assessment. These pupils must also take the CSTs or the
CMA appropriate to the pupil's grade level.
3.Authorizes school districts to administer the primary
language assessment to pupils with limited English
proficiency (not restricted to pupils who have been in
the United States for less than a year or who receive
instruction in their primary language).
This bill:
1.Authorizes CDE to make a primary language assessment
available to school districts and charter schools to
assess pupils who are enrolled in a dual language
immersion program that includes the primary language of
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the assessment and who:
A. Are not limited English proficient.
B. Have been redesignated fluent English.
1.Requires a school district or charter school that chooses
to administer a primary language assessment to do so at
its own expense and to enter into an agreement with the
state testing contractor subject to the approval of the
CDE.
2.Requires the cost for the assessment to be the same for
all school districts and charter schools and prohibits
the cost from exceeding the marginal cost of the
assessment including any costs the CDE incurs to
implement, as specified.
Comments
According to the Senate Education Committee analysis,
currently, school districts that operate Spanish/English
dual immersion programs are not authorized to administer
the STS to pupils enrolled in a dual immersion program who
are not limited English proficient, essentially because the
intent of the primary language assessment was to provide
English learners a means of demonstrating mastery of the
standards in their primary language. The author contends
that these assessments can be a valuable tool for teachers
to determine how native English speakers enrolled in dual
immersion programs are doing in acquiring academic content
in the Spanish language.
In addition, the author notes that California students can
spend numerous hours taking assessments, which can include
the CSTs, CMA, CAPA, STS, the Early Assessment Program, the
California High School Exit Exam and the California English
Language Development Test. According to the author, this
bill takes a modest step towards streamlining the State's
assessment system by eliminating end-of-course California
Standards Tests that are not required by federal law and
that have had low demand over the past several years.
Elimination of these tests will generate cost savings and
restore instructional time.
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End-of-course exams in math and science courses . The chart
below outlines the end-of-course exams currently available
and administered in high school math and science courses.
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This bill proposes elimination of the integrated math and
science end-of-course exams. Integrated courses incorporate
different disciplines within each subject area. An
integrated science course, for example, could cover
biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science in one
course. According to the CDE, the end-of-course integrated
assessments proposed for elimination by this bill have
experienced a 2/3 decrease in administration over the last
four years.
"Assignment of 200" Policy . Beginning with the 2002 Base
API, the State Board of Education adopted a methodology to
account for students who do not take end-of-course CSTs,
first in mathematics and later in science. The
methodology, the "assignment of 200," assigned the lowest
value (called the performance level weighting factor) of
200 points (Far Below Basic) when calculating a school's
API in instances where the student did not take one of
these tests. This methodology addressed the fact that the
tests are end-of-course exams and not
universally-administered to all students within a grade
level. The policy goal of the SBE was to provide an
incentive for high schools to encourage students to enroll
in rigorous, standards-based mathematics and science
courses and correspondingly to reduce incentives for high
schools to discourage low-performing students from
enrolling in these courses. In 2007, the State Board opted
to maintain the policy of assigning 200 points but to
reduce its impact by lowering the test weights of the
end-of-course CSTs. This bill declares the Legislature's
intent that the elimination of certain end-of-course
assessments by this bill should not result in an
"Assignment of 200" when calculating a school's API.
Prior Legislation
AB 409 (Alejo), 2011, contained provisions identical to
those in this bill authorizing the administration of a
primary language assessment to pupils enrolled in dual
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immersion programs. AB 409 was passed by this committee in
June 2011 by a vote of 9-1, but was ultimately held under
submission in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
SB 930 (Ducheny), 2010, among other things, would have
authorized the administration of the primary language
assessment to pupils who are not English learners. SB 930
was vetoed with the following message:
The State Board of Education recently adopted the
Common Core standards, with additions from
California's existing standards. In anticipation of a
newly realigned assessment and accountability system,
this bill is premature. This bill would require the
inclusion of additional components involving primary
language assessments, in the current, and any future,
assessment and accountability systems. This has the
potential to conflict with any of the anticipated
larger federal or state efforts on assessments and
accountability.
Ultimately, I continue to believe that schools should
remain focused on providing English Learners with the
necessary instruction and support to become English
proficient. As an immigrant myself, I believe
strongly that learning English as quickly as possible
is essential to success in this state and this
country. Therefore, I want to ensure that there are
no disincentives in our school system to achieving
that goal for our English Learner student population.
AB 252 (Coto), 2007, made similar provision for the
administration of primary language assessment to pupils in
dual immersion programs. AB 252 was vetoed with the
following 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
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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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/24/12)
Tom Torlakson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction
(source)
Association of School Administrators
California Association of Bilingual Education
California School Boards Association
Californians Together
San Francisco Unified School District
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Tom Torlakson, State
Superintendent of Public Instruction, states that "AB 1521
proposes to streamline the state's assessment system by
eliminating several high school level assessments that are
not federally mandated. California students spend
countless hours of their classroom experience taking
numerous assessments. Living in a globally competitive
market place, California students needs to have as much
time as possible to receive instruction and thereby learn
the skills that will equip them for college careers, upon
completion of high school. The elimination of some of the
non-federally required assessments will free up some of the
hours students spend taking assessments and allow for more
instruction and hands-on learning. Additionally, this
elimination will streamline the assessment system and
generate cost savings to the state."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 69-5, 5/3/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley,
Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter,
Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Eng,
Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Hayashi,
Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight,
Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell,
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Monning, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V.
Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Solorio,
Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams,
Yamada, John A. Pérez
NOES: Donnelly, Halderman, Logue, Mansoor, Morrell
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bonilla, Fletcher, Furutani, Hall, Roger
Hernández, Smyth
PQ:n 8/24/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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