BILL ANALYSIS Ķ
SB 1108
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 27, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
SB 1108 (Padilla) - As Amended: May 25, 2012
SENATE VOTE : 39-0
SUBJECT : English learners: reclassification
SUMMARY : Requires by January 1, 2014, the California
Department of Education (CDE) to review and analyze English
learner reclassification criteria, policies, and practices used
by a sample of school districts representing the geographic,
socioeconomic, and demographic diversity of school districts in
the state. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires by January 1, 2014, the California Department of
Education (CDE) to review and analyze English learner
reclassification criteria, policies, and practices used by a
sample of school districts representing the geographic,
socioeconomic, and demographic diversity of school districts
in the state.
2)Requires the CDE to recommend to the Legislature and the State
Board of Education (SBE) any guideline, regulatory or
statutory changes that the CDE determines are necessary to
identify when English learners are prepared for the successful
transition to classrooms and curricula that require English
proficiency.
3)Requires the CDE, for purposes of completing the review and
analysis, to:
a) Consult with parents of English learners, experts with
demonstrated experience in developing and administering
assessments for English learners (ELs), classroom or
resource teachers, or both, and school district
administrators with expertise in curriculum, instruction,
assessment, and accountability; and,
b) Examine and report on the following:
i) The practices and standards used by a sampling of
school districts that represent the geographic,
SB 1108
Page 2
socioeconomic, and demographic diversity of school
districts in the state to meet the four reclassification
criteria specified in current law;
ii) The extent to which school districts are following
the guidelines established by the SBE; and,
iii) The range of reclassification criteria developed by
school districts.
4)Provides that the CDE shall analyze for purposes of the
required examination, all of the following:
a) English language proficiency and academic performance
data;
b) The relationship of the reclassification criteria to
reclassification rates; and,
c) The academic performance of pupils after
reclassification as English proficient.
5)Stipulates that the CDE shall identify in its report any other
pupil outcome measures that indicate an EL is prepared to
successfully transition to a classroom and curricula that
require English proficiency.
6)Requires By January 1, 2017, the CDE to issue an updated
report that reflects any changes in analysis and
recommendations as a result of the adoption of the common core
standards and the revised English language development
standards.
7)Provides that this bill shall be implemented only if state or
federal funds are appropriated or private funds are made
available, as necessary, to fully fund this purpose.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Defines "English learner" or "pupil of limited English
proficiency" to mean a pupil who was not born in the United
States or whose native language is a language other than
English or who comes from an environment where a language
other than English is dominant; and whose difficulties in
speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English
SB 1108
Page 3
language may be sufficient to deny the individual the ability
to meet the state's proficient level of achievement on state
assessments, the ability to successfully achieve in classrooms
where the language of instruction is English, or the
opportunity to participate fully in society.
2)Requires each school district that has one or more pupils who
are ELs to assess the English language development of each of
those pupils within 30 days of initial enrollment in order to
determine the level of proficiency of those pupils, and
annually thereafter to assess each EL pupil until the pupil is
redesignated as fluent English proficient.
3)Requires the CDE, with the approval of the SBE, to establish
procedures for conducting the language proficiency assessment
and for the reclassification of a pupil from English learner
to English proficient.
4)Specifies that the reclassification procedures developed by
the CDE shall utilize multiple criteria in determining whether
to reclassify a pupil as proficient in English, including, but
not limited to, all of the following:
a) Assessment of language proficiency using an objective
assessment instrument, including, but not limited to, the
English language development test;
b) Teacher evaluation, including, but not limited to, a
review of the pupil's curriculum mastery;
c) Parental opinion and consultation; and,
d) Comparison of the performance of the pupil in basic
skills against an empirically established range of
performance in basic skills based upon the performance of
English proficient pupils of the same age that demonstrates
whether the pupil is sufficiently proficient in English to
participate effectively in a curriculum designed for pupils
of the same age whose native language is English.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill, as amended on May 25, 2012, is keyed
non-fiscal; however, the Assembly Appropriations Committee has
requested this bill. If this bill is passed by this Committee,
it will be referred to the Committee on Appropriations to
consider the fiscal implications.
SB 1108
Page 4
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, according to
CDE, the amendments taken in that Committee reduce the workload
associated with completing the required report, and will likely
reduce costs to $200,000-$300,000.
COMMENTS : Nearly 1.4 million of the state's 6.2 million
students were identified as ELs during the 2010-11 school year,
representing 23% of the state's total kindergarten through grade
12 (K-12) public school enrollment. State and federal laws
require that all students whose primary language is other than
English be assessed for English language proficiency until they
are reclassified as English proficient. Current law requires
reclassification procedures to utilize multiple criteria,
including but not limited to an assessment of English
proficiency, teacher evaluation, parental opinion and
consultation, and a comparison of performance in basic skills,
as specified.
This bill seeks to collect information from a sample of school
districts regarding reclassification criteria, policies and
practices used by the sampled districts and requires the CDE to
analyze this information and make recommendations to the
Legislature and the SBE on guidelines, regulations, or statutory
changes that may be necessary to identify when ELs are prepared
for the successful transition to classrooms and curricula that
require English proficiency.
Reclassification of ELs is conducted through a local process
used by school districts to determine if a student has acquired
sufficient English language fluency to perform successfully in
academic subjects without English language development (ELD)
support. The reclassification of ELs to fluent English
proficient is a process that varies widely across districts in
the state. The SBE has adopted minimum guidelines for districts
to use in the reclassification of English learners, consistent
with the current requirement in law that the criteria be based
on specified multiple criteria, but ultimately each district
sets out its own cut scores and reclassification requirements,
including local criteria. The SBE guidelines for
reclassification are as follows:
1)Student scores at the early advanced or higher level overall
on the California English Language Development Test (CELDT)
and scores at intermediate or higher in listening and
SB 1108
Page 5
speaking, reading, and writing.
2)Student scores in the range between the beginning of basic and
midpoint of basic on the English language arts (ELA)
California Standardized Test (CST), but it is up to each
district to set an exact cut point.
3)Students meet the academic performance indicators set by the
school district as determined by the teacher evaluation.
4)Parent is notified of his or her right and encouraged to
participate in the reclassification process, including through
a face-to-face meeting.
The author states, "Current law is not limited to these four
criteria and allows school districts to create any amount of
their own. This has led to inconsistency in the
reclassification system. Every school in California has their
own, unique criteria for reclassifying English Learners.
California cannot hold the English Learner system accountable
when every school is using different measurements of
accountability. SB 1108 would identify, and recommend for
adoption, the best practices for English Learner
reclassification."
The reclassification dilemma : In determining when the
appropriate time is to reclassify ELs, two issues emerge. One
is the potentially premature reclassification of ELs which could
result in the loss of instructional services and supports before
they are ready, and this could eventually lead to greater risk
of educational failure. The second issue is the possibility of
holding ELs back from reclassification longer than necessary,
which may result in ELs experiencing reduced access to courses
needed for postsecondary education.
The report, Effects of the Implementation of Proposition 227 on
the Education of English Learners, K-12 studied the
reclassification policies and practices of nine school districts
in California to identify how local and state policies and
practices contribute to different EL outcomes. The report notes
that current state guidelines on criteria and cut-scores
generate confusion and ambiguity about the meaning of
reclassification. The report notes that there are various
perceptions in the field regarding the significance of
reclassification. Some districts view it as ELs reaching
"minimum competency" to participate in mainstream classrooms
with no further specialized services. For other districts,
reclassification means that there is comparability between ELs
SB 1108
Page 6
and native English speakers' academic performance in the
district. In other instances it is viewed as ELs having
recouped the "academic deficits" that ELs incur while developing
English language skills. Lastly, some believe that
reclassification demonstrates English learners' ability to meet
grade-level standards and to be academically successful. In
consideration of these issues, the report points out, "Virtually
all of our sample districts expressed support for establishing
consistent cut scores statewide on California's two common
criteria. At the same time, these educators also expressed
concern that the state may set these criteria too low, or decide
to eliminate the use of local assessments, which districts
highly value as a source of 'multiple measures' to increase
confidence in their decisions to redesignate."
The concept of reclassification generates many questions and not
a lot of answers or agreement on whether statewide uniform
criteria should be established, and even less agreement on what
the criteria should be. In consideration of the diversity of
California's 1.4 million English learners, it is not clear that
there is one set of reclassification criteria that is optimal
for all ELs, particularly when, as noted above, there are
various interpretations of what reclassification means.
Identifying best practices : This bill was amended in the Senate
Appropriations Committee to narrow the universe of information
that would be collected and analyzed for purposes of identifying
best practices, from virtually all LEAs, to a sampling of school
districts that represent the geographic, socioeconomic and
demographic diversity of the state. It appears that without any
further qualifiers or guidance, the school districts will be
randomly selected from within the geographic and demographic
representation requirements. A question emerges as to whether
true best practices can indeed be identified from a random
sample. This is particularly important in light of the issue
the author points out as the rationale of this bill. To find
what reclassification criteria, practices or policies, actually
make a difference in EL outcomes will potentially necessitate a
more deliberate and thoughtful selection of districts rather
than reliance on a random sample. Staff recommends an amendment
to require the group of experts specified in this bill to
develop a study design that may include a sampling methodology.
The group of experts that the CDE is required to consult with
SB 1108
Page 7
includes parents of ELs, experts with demonstrated experience in
developing and administering assessments for ELs, classroom or
resource teachers, or both, and school district administrators
with expertise in curriculum, instruction, assessment, and
accountability. Given the nature of the work that would be
involved in analyzing data and making policy recommendations, it
may be prudent and necessary to also include researchers with
expertise in EL issues in this group. Staff recommends the bill
be amended on page 2, line 26, to add "researchers with English
learner expertise."
Reclassification criteria and pupil outcomes : This bill
requires the CDE to analyze specified data including the
relationship of the reclassification criteria to
reclassification rates, but does not require analysis of the
relationship of reclassification criteria to academic
performance of pupils after reclassification, which is perhaps
one of the most important questions this report could study.
Evidence that correlates reclassification criteria to positive
student outcomes can provide very valuable information to
policy-makers and school districts. Staff recommends an
amendment to add on page 4, after line 8, "The relationship of
the reclassification criteria to academic performance of pupils
after reclassification."
Clarifying amendments: The bill requires the review and
analysis to be completed by January 1, 2014, but it is unclear
whether the bill intends to require a first report to also be
issued by that date. The bill calls for an updated report by
January 1, 2017, without explicitly requiring a first report by
2014. Should the author wish to have a report issued by January
1, 2014, staff recommends an amendment to more clearly stipulate
that requirement.
Additionally, it is unclear as to what information is to be
included in the report. The bill explicitly calls for some
information to be reported such as the practices and standards
used by the district sample and the range of reclassification
criteria developed by districts, while other information such as
the relationship of the reclassification criteria to
reclassification rates would not necessarily be reported. That
information would be analyzed and reviewed only. However, it
may make sense to have that information in the report as well.
Additionally, the bill requires the CDE to also identify in the
report, any other pupil outcome measures that indicate an EL is
SB 1108
Page 8
prepared to successfully transition to classrooms that require
English proficiency. Staff recommends the bill be amended to
provide further clarity on the desired information that shall be
included in the report.
Lastly, it appears that the last set of amendments did not
include some corresponding amendments to reflect the renumbering
in the bill after the elimination of an entire subdivision, and
therefore various inaccurate cross-references throughout the
bill should be corrected. Staff recommends the bill be amended
to correct the inaccurate cross-references throughout the bill.
While there is still no consensus as to whether one set of
uniform reclassification criteria is desirable, the intent of
this bill is to provide information on best practices and to
provide districts with a menu of options of proven methods for
reclassification of ELs. Districts would still have flexibility
but they would have more guidance on what works in terms of
reclassification criteria.
Arguments in support : Families in Schools writes, "With English
Language Learners having the lowest graduation rates among
students, we need to gather data to better understand and
address why these students' graduation rates are so low. School
districts may be creating too many barriers for reclassification
to occur. The report called for in SB 1108 is necessary for
schools to receive guidance from the Department of Education to
improve the reclassification process."
California School Boards Association writes, "SB 1108 proposes
that the California Department of Education recommend best
practices concerning reclassification to the SBE and the
Legislature based upon information provided by school districts,
county offices and charter schools. In order to begin to
determine how to appropriately reclassify English learners, the
state must determine what school districts are currently doing
and what actually works."
Related legislation : AB 1767 (Norby) requires the CDE to create
a sample notification letter that explains to parents/guardians
the purpose of the home language survey (HLS) and the procedures
for identification and reclassification of English learner (EL)
pupils, and requires local education agencies (LEAs), when
conducting the HLS, to provide the notification letter to the
SB 1108
Page 9
parents/legal guardians of pupils under their jurisdiction. A
previous version of AB 1767 required ELs to be reclassified as
English proficient if they met the specified criteria and
allowed school districts to continue to receive state funding
designated for ELs for up to two years after pupils are
reclassified as English proficient. AB 1767 was held in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SB 1109 (Padilla) requires the Superintendent of Public
Instruction (SPI) to develop the English Learner Master Plan to
expand the support services provided by the CDE in assisting
local educational agencies to establish, implement, and sustain
language instruction educational programs and programs of
English language development for English learner pupils.
Requires the SPI to take into account certain considerations in
developing the plan and requires the SPI to consult with
specified experts and educators. SB 1109 was held in the Senate
Appropriations Committee.
Previous legislation : AB 70 (Duvall) of 2009 requires the CDE,
as part of its duties in administering the English language
development test, to gather from each school district that has
at least one English learner (EL) the criteria that the district
uses for the reclassification of a pupil from EL to proficient
in English. AB 70 was substantially amended in the Senate
Education Committee.
AB 2822 (Duvall) of 2008, requires the CDE, as part of its
duties in administering the English language development test,
to gather from each school district that has at least one
English learner (EL) the criteria that the district uses for the
reclassification of a pupil from EL to proficient in English.
AB 2822 was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Alliance for a Better Community
American Civil Liberties Union
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO
Association of California School Administrators
California Association for Bilingual Education
California Communities United Institute
SB 1108
Page 10
California Immigrant Policy Center
California School Boards Association
California State PTA
California Teachers Association
Californians Together
Central Valley Education Association
Coachella Valley Unified School District
Families in Schools
Fresno Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education Member,
District 6
Public Advocates
Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools, Charles Weis
The Education Trust-West
Youth Policy Institute
One individual
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Aviņa / ED. / (916) 319-2087