BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair


          SB 1458 (Steinberg) - School Accountability: Academic 
          Performance Index (API).
          
          Amended: As introduced          Policy Vote: Education 7-0
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: Yes
          Hearing Date: May 24, 2012      Consultant: Jacqueline 
          Wong-Hernandez
          
          SUSPENSE FILE.

          
          Bill Summary: SB 1458 reduces the value of test scores in the 
          constitution of a school's API to no more than 40%, authorizes 
          the incorporation of additional measures, deletes the decile 
          ranking, and authorizes a program of locally convened school 
          school quality review panels. 

          Fiscal Impact: 
              Direct state costs: $200,000 - $250,000 in one-time costs 
              to the state Department of Education (CDE) to research and 
              implement data indicators for career and college readiness, 
              incorporate indicators into the API, and to incorporate the 
              new data collection into CALPADS, as well as additional 
              meetings of the Public School Accountability Act (PSAA) 
              advisory committee.
              Cost pressure: Substantial cost pressure for the 
              Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to develop and 
              implement the school quality review program that is 
              authorized by this bill. Depending on the design of quality 
              reviews, they would likely involve substantial state and 
              local staff time to visit and evaluate schools.
              Impact on schools: Unknown fiscal impact on individual 
              schools. Certain funding is tied to API scores, as is 
              Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), and charter schools are 
              evaluated for renewal and revocation based in part on API 
              scores. Changing the constitution of the API score will 
              impact all schools, but costs or savings at the local level 
              will vary.

          Background: California established the PSAA in 1999 to measure 
          academic performance and growth. The API is a single number, 
          ranging from 200-1,000, that reflects a school's (and its 








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          subgroups') performance on statewide tests. The API is an 
          improvement model that compares school and subgroup API scores 
          from year to year. School ranking are produced by comparing API 
          scores across the state and with 100 other schools with similar 
          demographics. The API is also used for purposes of calculating 
          AYP, as required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

          Existing law requires the API to consist of a variety of 
          indicators including the results of Standardized Testing and 
          Reporting program (STAR) tests, the California High School Exit 
          Exam (CAHSEE), attendance rates, and high school graduation 
          rates. The results of the STAR tests and the CAHSEE are required 
          to constitute at least 60% of the value of API scores. To date, 
          these test scores have constituted 100% of API scores. 

          Proposed Law: This bill reduces the value of test scores in the 
          constitution of a school's API from at least 60% to no more than 
          40%, and authorizes the incorporation of additional measures. 
          Specifically, this bill:

             1)   Authorizes the SPI, with the approval of the State Board 
               of Education (SBE), to incorporate into the API pupil 
               promotion and matriculation rates, as well as measures of 
               pupil preparedness for postsecondary education and career.
             2)   Requires the SPI, in consultation with the PSAA advisory 
               committee, by March 1, 2013, to report to the Legislature 
               and recommend to the SBE for adoption a method for 
               increasing the emphasis on pupil performance in science and 
               social science in the API.   
             3)   Deletes the requirement that schools be ranked into 
               deciles for specified purposes.
             4)   Requires the SPI, in consultation with the PSAA advisory 
               committee, by March 1, 2013, to report to the Legislature a 
               plan to streamline and reduce state-mandated middle and 
               secondary school testing, as well as an alternative method 
               in place of decile rank for determining eligibility or 
               preferences for any program that currently uses decile rank 
               as a determining factor. 
             5)   Authorizes the SPI, with the approval of the SBE, to 
               develop and implement a program of school quality review 
               that features locally convened panels to visit schools, 
               observe teachers, interview students and examine student 
               work.
             6)   Deletes the required SPI annual report on the graduation 








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               and dropout rates.  

          Related Legislation: AB 2001 (Bonilla) requires the SPI, in 
          consultation with other entities, to develop and recommend a 
          plan to reduce the time devoted to administering state 
          assessments, eliminate redundant assessments, and eliminate 
          assessments used solely for the purpose of accountability that 
          do not assess the content learned in that school year. AB 2001 
          is currently in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

          Staff Comments: This bill incurs a variety of state costs to 
          implement the required provisions, and creates substantial cost 
          pressure to fund new activities it authorizes to complement 
          those required activities. By reducing the value of test scores 
          in the constitution of a school's API from the current 100% to 
          no more than 40%, this bill functionally requires that other 
          measures be developed and implemented account for the remaining 
          60% (or more) of the new API score. That de facto requirement 
          will come with new costs, but the exact costs will be determined 
          by the SPI and PSAA advisory committee as they work to determine 
          how the new API will be comprised.
          
          The CDE has indicated that, at a minimum, this bill is likely to 
          require six additional meetings of the PSAA advisory committee, 
          which costs $6,000 in travel expenses for each meeting. Meetings 
          are staffed by existing CDE staff. The CDE also estimates 
          needing two additional staff to establish and  implement data 
          indicators for career and college readiness, incorporate 
          indicators into the API, as required by the bill.

          This bill authorizes the SPI to develop and implement the school 
          quality review program that involves locally convened panels 
          visiting schools, interviewing students, observing teachers, and 
          examining student work, for consideration in evaluating a 
          school's success. These activities would be labor-intensive, and 
          it is not clear who would direct such a program and to what 
          degree the CDE would need to staff the program and the 
          evaluation visits.

          The current API, as the state's indicator of school progress, 
          and as a contributing factor for determining federally-required 
          AYP, is a significant incentive for schools to focus on 
          standardized tests. Changing the API will result in related 
          changes to schools, and to their priorities for resource 








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          allocation and focus of energy. The details of those changes, 
          and their accompanying local costs or savings, will depend upon 
          the additional factors decided upon by the SPI and SBE, and the 
          manner in which they are implemented.