BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1705
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 16, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                    AB 1705 (Silva) - As Amended:  April 26, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                              Education 
          Vote:9-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill delays implementation of the California High School 
          Exit Exam (CAHSSE) alternative assessment for pupils with 
          disabilities from 2011 to 2015.  Further authorizes the State 
          Board of Education (SBE) to extend this date by one year via the 
          regulatory process.    

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          No additional GF/98 costs to school districts to comply with 
          this measure.  Since 2009, school districts have implemented the 
          CAHSEE exemption process for eligible pupils with disabilities.  
             

           COMMENTS  

           1)Background  .  AB 2040 (Nunez), Chapter 666, Statutes of 2008, 
            required the SBE to explore alternative means for eligible 
            pupils with disabilities who have fulfilled all of the 
            requirements for a high school diploma except passage of 
            CAHSEE.  Specifically, Chapter 666 specified these pupils have 
            the opportunity to demonstrate through alternative means they 
            have achieved the same level of academic achievement required 
            for passage of the CAHSEE.  

            Chapter 666 defined "eligible pupil with a disability" as a 
            pupil who meets all of the following criteria: 

             a)   The pupil has an operative individualized education 
               program (IEP) pursuant to the federal Individuals with 
               Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or a Section 504 plan 








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               adopted pursuant to the federal Rehabilitation Act that 
               indicates the pupil has an anticipated graduation date and 
               is scheduled to receive a high diploma on or after July 1, 
               2015.  
             b)   The pupil has not passed the CAHSEE. 
             c)   The school district or state special school certifies 
               the pupil has satisfied or will satisfy all other state and 
               local requirements for the receipt of a high school diploma 
               on or after July 1, 2011.  
             d)   The pupil has attempted to pass those sections not yet 
               passed of the CAHSEE at least twice after grade 10, 
               including at least once in grade 12, as specified.  

            AB 2040 also required the SBE, by October 1, 2010, to adopt 
            regulations for the alternative means assessment.  Likewise, 
            this bill required an eligible pupil with a disability, 
            beginning January 1, 2011, to demonstrate his or her academic 
            content knowledge via the alternative means as described by 
            SBE's regulations.   

            AB 2 X4 (Evans), Chapter 2, Fourth Extraordinary Session, 
            Statutes of 2009, exempts eligible pupils with disabilities 
            from the CAHSEE graduation requirement until the SBE makes a 
            determination that an alternative means assessment is not 
            feasible or the alternative assessment is implemented.  Pupils 
            with disabilities are still required to take the CAHSEE in 
            tenth grade to satisfy state and federal requirements; the 
            test, however, is not used for accountability or graduation 
            purposes.    

           2)Purpose  .  Chapter 666 authorized the SBE to extend the 
            operative date (January 1, 2011) of the alternative means 
            assessment for eligible pupils with disabilities by up to two 
            years, if it determines that an extension is necessary for the 
            implementation of the regulations.  

            Through regulation, the SBE established July 1, 2012 as the 
            implementation date of the alternative means assessment.  
            Essentially this means eligible pupils with disabilities will 
            be required to take the alternative means assessment in order 
            to receive a high school diploma beginning with the 2013-14 
            school year.  

            The State Department of Education (SDE) contends the July 1, 
            2012 implementation date of the alternative means assessment 








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            is not feasible.  Specifically, it reports few districts 
            participated in the alternative means assessment pilot and as 
            such, not enough information was gathered to properly evaluate 
            this option.  SDE also argues implementing a second pilot 
            would be too costly.  

            Without a true implementation of an alternative means 
            assessment, eligible pupils with disabilities are left with 
            having to pass the CAHSEE in order to receive a high school 
            diploma because the SBE established an implementation date for 
            this alternative assessment via regulations.  Specifically, 
            the Superintendent of Public Instruction, sponsor of this 
            bill, argues: "To implement alternative means aligned to the 
            content standards currently assessed by the CAHSEE could be 
            costly and would likely be for a relatively small number of 
            students potentially for a short period of time."  

            The author further states: "While the state has determined 
            that is it feasible to create alternative means for eligible 
            pupils to satisfy the CAHSEE Ýgraduation] requirement, it 
            would be unlikely to complete its studies and fully implement 
            it by the dates set forth in AB 2040 and it would be 
            inefficient to do so while also implementing a different set 
            of Ýacademic content] standards in the coming years."  

            This bill extends the implementation date of the alternative 
            means assessment for eligible pupils with disabilities until 
            2015.  

           3)Pupils with disabilities high school diploma data  .  According 
            to SDE, the overall rate of pupils with disabilities aged 17, 
            18 and 19 years old leaving high school with a diploma has 
            increased over the past three years, from 62% in 2009, to 77% 
            in 2010, and 81% in 2011.  Likewise, the percentage of pupils 
            with disabilities receiving diplomas without waivers or the 
            CAHSEE exemption has also increased from 56% in 2009 to 60% in 
            2010 and 2011. 

            The number of pupils with disabilities receiving a diploma 
            with a CAHSEE exemption has increased in direct proportion to 
            the decrease in the number of pupils with disabilities 
            receiving a certificate of completion. In 2010 (first year of 
            the CAHSEE exemption), 11% of pupils with disabilities 
            received a high school diploma using an exemption and 8% 
            received certificates of completion. In 2011, 15% of pupils 








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            with disabilities received a high school diploma using an 
            exemption and 7% received certificates of completion.   


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916) 
          319-2081