BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 484
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 1, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
AB 484 (Bonilla) - As Amended: April 24, 2013
SUBJECT : Pupil Assessment
SUMMARY : This bill establishes the California Measurement of
Academic Performance and Progress for the 21st Century
(CalMAPP21) to succeed the Standardized Testing and Reporting
(STAR) Program. Specifically, this bill :
1) Specifies the chapter will become inoperative on July 1,
2024 and is repealed as of January 1, 2025.
2) Establishes a sunset date of July 1, 2014 for the
existing Legislative intent related to the establishment of
the California Standardized Tests (CSTs).
3) Specifies the intent of the Legislature in enacting the
new chapter is to provide a comprehensive assessment system
with the primary purpose of modeling and promoting
high-quality teaching and learning using a variety of
assessment approaches and item types.
4) Specifies the intent of the Legislature in enacting the
new chapter to provide an assessment system that produces
scores that can be aggregated for the purpose of holding
schools and school districts accountable for the
achievement of all pupils in learning the California
academic content standards.
5) Makes finding and declarations of the Legislature that
suggest California should adopt a coordinated and
consolidated testing system that meets specified principles
that will become operative on July 1, 2014.
6) Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI)
to design and implement a statewide pupil assessment system
that includes both the production or adoption of
assessments for the major subject areas and the
administration of consortium summative assessments.
7) Changes the contents of the annual report to be
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submitted by the SPI pursuant to this chapter to require
only an analysis for the summative assessments be presented
to the State Board of Education (SBE).
8) Replaces the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR)
Program with the CalMAPP21 as the system of statewide
assessment to be used by California. The CalMAPP21
specifies all of the following:
a) Eliminates the requirement to administer
assessments to pupils in grade 2, but requires the
California Department of Education (CDE) to identify
existing assessments on or before December 1, 2014
that may be purchased by schools and school districts
that are appropriate for pupils in grade 2 for
diagnostic use by classroom teachers;
b) Requires each school district, charter school,
and county office of education to administer the
achievement tests that are used to satisfy the
requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act (ESEA) and the subject area achievement tests as
specified by the SBE;
c) Requires each school district, charter school,
and county office of education to administer field
tests and pilot tests to support the CalMAPP21;
d) Requires the SPI to develop a three-year plan
of activities to support the continuous improvement of
the assessments under this system and contract for an
independent evaluation of these assessments; and
e) Authorizes the SBE to adopt emergency
regulations to implement this chapter.
9) Requires school districts, charter schools, and county
offices of education to report specified data to the SPI
using the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data
System (CaLPADS).
10) Eliminates the primary language tests and instead
exempts recently arrived English learner pupils, as defined
in federal law, from taking the English language arts (ELA)
assessments. However, the bill also requires the SPI, upon
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the appropriation of funding for this purpose, to determine
whether there is a need to supplement the consortium
assessments with primary language assessments no later than
November 30, 2014.
11) Suspends, effective July 1, 2013, the administration of
assessments required as a part of the STAR Program except
for those assessments in the core subject necessary to
satisfy the adequate yearly progress requirements of ESEA.
12) Specifies school districts and charter schools shall
receive the same STAR Program apportionment in the 2014-15
school year as they received in the 2013-14 school year,
but permits the school districts and charter schools to use
these fund for Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
professional development, technology to implement
CalMAPP21, or other activities to aid in the CCSS
implementation.
13) Requires all local educational agencies (LEAs) and
charter schools, beginning with the 2014-15 school year, to
administer the consortium summative assessments in ELA and
mathematics in grades 3 through 8, and grade 11, and use
these assessments to replace the previously administered
STAR assessments to satisfy the federal accountability
requirements under ESEA.
14) Contemplates the use of the assessments administered
under the CalMAPP21 to be used for the purpose of
determining credit, placement, or readiness for
college-level coursework.
15) Requires the SPI, no later than January 15, 2015, with
the approval of the SBE, to develop or designate
assessments, including alternative assessments for use by
pupils with exception needs as defined in federal law, that
measure the degree to which pupils are achieving the
academic content standards in all of the following areas:
a) Reading
b) Writing
c) Mathematics
d) History/Social Science
e) Science
f) Visual and Performing Arts
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g) Physical Education
h) Foreign Languages
i) Common Core State Standards
j) Next Generation Science Standards
16) Requires the SPI to make a recommendation for science
assessments used for federal accountability purposes within
six months of the date by which the SBE adopts the Next
Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
17) Requires the SPI to develop a plan by January 15, 2015,
to assess the degree to which pupils are achieving the
academic content standards adopted by the SBE but which are
not required for federal accountability purposes under
ESEA.
18) Requires the SPI to make recommendations to the SBE
regarding the suitability and sustainability of the
Academic Performance Index (API) during the transition from
the STAR Program to the CalMAPP21.
19) Deletes many of the technical requirements for inclusion
in a contract between the SBE and test publishers and makes
the SPI a party to a contract for the development or
administration of assessments pursuant to this chapter.
20) Requires the SPI, no later than January 31, 2014, to
produce a report based on a survey of LEAs that identifies
the readiness of LEAs to fully implement a technology-based
assessment system and requires that the survey results be
updated biannually.
21) Makes findings and declarations of the Legislature that
beginning with the 2014-15 school year, the Early
Assessment Program (EAP) should use the grade 11 consortium
assessment in ELA and mathematics rather than the CSTs.
22) Makes funds appropriated for, and unencumbered funds
pursuant to, the CDE under budget item 6110-113-001,
Student Assessment Testing, in the 2012-13 budget be
available to develop CCSS and NGSS aligned assessments for
the purpose of satisfying the accountability requirements
of ESEA.
23) Repeals code sections that requires the SBE to adopt a
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performance standards system, establish the Statewide Pupil
Assessment Review (SPAR) Panel, the development and
administration of a primary language assessment, the
publication by test publishers of reading lists developed
for the purpose of improving pupils' reading skills, and
the requirement that a test publisher reimburse a school
for any unexpected expenses incurred due to late delivery
of the STAR assessments.
24) Defines various terms used in this chapter.
25) Makes technical non-substantive changes to this chapter.
26) Identifies this as an urgency statute with an effective
date of July 1, 2013.
EXISTING LAW
Existing State Law
1)Requires the SPI to design and implement a statewide pupil
assessment program and requires school districts, charter
schools, and county offices of education to administer to each
of its pupils in grades 2 to 11, inclusive, certain
achievement tests, including a standards-based achievement
test pursuant to the STAR Program until July 1, 2014.
2)Requires, a pupil of limited English proficiency, who is
enrolled in grades 2 to 11, inclusive, to take a test in his
or her primary language if a test is available, and if fewer
than 12 months have elapsed after his or her initial
enrollment in any public or nonpublic school in the state or
if the pupil receives instruction in his or her primary
language.
Existing Federal Law
1)ESEA requires schools to demonstrate their success in terms of
the academic achievement of every student.
2)With academic content standards in place, states must test
every student's progress toward those standards by using
assessments that are aligned with the standards. Beginning in
the 2005-06 school year, tests in mathematics and reading had
to be administered every year in grades 3 through 8 and once
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in grades 10 through 12. Beginning in the 2007-08 school year,
science achievement testing was also required.
3)Each state, school, and LEA is expected to make adequate
yearly progress (AYP) toward meeting state standards. Test
results are sorted to measure the progress of all students,
including students who are economically disadvantaged, are
from racial or ethnic subgroups, have disabilities, or have
limited English proficiency.
4)State, school, and LEA performance is publicly reported in the
School Accountability Report Cards (SARC).
5)If a Title I school or LEA fails to make AYP for two or more
consecutive years in specific areas, it is identified for
Program Improvement (PI).
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Background : California's state assessment program is
comprised of three major testing components, the STAR Program,
the English language development test (the California English
Language Development Test, CELDT, is the adopted test), and a
high school exit examination (the California High School Exit
Examination, CAHSEE, is currently the designated test). The
program also includes a number of smaller, more specialized
assessments.
The STAR Program, initially authorized in 1997, requires testing
of students in English language arts, mathematics, science, and
history/social science at specified grade levels. In 2003, the
California Standards Tests (CST) replaced a nationally published
"off the shelf" test as the primary battery of STAR tests; the
CST include only questions written specifically for California's
content standards. Today, the STAR Program includes the CSTs,
the California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA)
administered to students with significant cognitive
disabilities, the California Modified Assessment (CMA)
administered to students whose disabilities preclude them from
achieving grade-level proficiency on an assessment of the
California content standards with or without testing
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accommodations, and a national norm-referenced test in Spanish
that is administered to Spanish speaking English learners who
have been in school in the U.S. less than 12 months or who are
receiving instruction in Spanish. Neither the high school exit
exam nor the English language development test are components of
the STAR Program; each is separately authorized in statute.
Results for STAR tests are reported for the individual pupil,
but no accountability attaches to these individual results; the
state and federal accountability systems are primarily based on
the aggregated STAR test scores from all pupils in a school or
school district.
The SBE adopted common core academic content standards in ELA
and mathematics on August 2, 2010. Subsequently, the
Legislature called for the reauthorization of the statewide
pupil assessment system in 2011 that contemplated based in part
on the SPI's recommendations, alignment to the CCSS and the use
of consortium developed assessments. (AB 250 (Brownley) Chapter
608, Statutes of 2011).
Consortium Assessments
This bill defines consortium assessments as those assessments
developed by a multistate collaborative organized to develop a
comprehensive system of assessments or formative tools. For
California, this means the Summative Multi-state Assessment
Resources for Teachers and Educational Researchers (SMARTER)
Balanced Consortium (SBAC). SBAC is a national consortium of 25
states that have been working collaboratively to develop a
student assessment system aligned with the CCSS. On June 9,
2011, California joined SBAC as a governing state. Out of the 25
states participating in SBAC, California is one of the 21
governing states, which are allowed decision-making
participation. The remaining four states are advisory states.
In time for administration during the 2014-15 school year, SBAC
will develop an assessment system with the following major
deliverables:
1) Online computer adaptive summative assessments that give
a snapshot of student performance without a "one size fits
all approach." This type of assessment can be used to
describe student achievement and growth of student learning
as part of program evaluation and school, district, and
state accountability systems. It will measure ELA and
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mathematics in grades 3 through 8 and grade 11 across the
full range of the CCSS.
2) Optional interim and formative assessments that help
teachers identify the specific needs of each student so
they can help students progress toward being college and
career ready.
3) Teacher involvement at all stages of item and test
development, including item writing, scoring, and design of
reporting systems. This will ensure that the system works
well and that teachers have the opportunity to learn from
national experts and from each other as they evaluate
students' performance.
4) An online tailored reporting system that provide
educators access to information about students' progress
toward college and career readiness as well as students'
specific strengths and weaknesses along the way.
This bill mandates the use of these consortium assessments for
all pupils in grade 3 to 8, inclusive, and grade 11 in ELA and
mathematics beginning in the 2014-15 school year. This bill
also contemplates participation in a similar consortium that may
develop around the assessment of the NGSS which are scheduled to
be considered by the SBE in the Fall of 2013. The committee may
wish to consider whether participation in the consortium
assessments should be legislatively mandated. To this end, the
SPI, as the sponsor of this bill, has indicated that the
sponsor, the need to participate in the SBAC and administer
these summative assessments is driven by two factors. First,
the comprehensive nature of these assessments far exceeds
California's current STAR Program. If California chooses not to
participate it would be left to develop its own assessments
aligned to the CCSS. The cost of developing similar assessments
outside of this collaborative setting would be prohibitive.
Second, this Legislature's commitment to improving instruction
and assessment has been apparent through the series of actions
that contemplated the CCSS. This bill is the final act to fully
implement the CCSS.
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California's schools may struggle to transition to an online
computer adaptive system. In response, the SBAC has ensured it
will make available a paper-and-pencil administration option for
the summative assessment available to states for three years
following the launch of the assessment system (through 2016-17).
The paper-and-pencil option is designed to help bridge the
transition to online assessments for states where access to
computers for test administration remains a challenge in
2014-15. But this brings a host of concerns this committee may
wish to consider, namely the comparability of scores. According
to the sponsor, many states have used paper-and-pencil and
online assessments side by side with little difference in the
scaling of scores. The paper-and-pencil and computer adaptive
test assessments both will adhere to the same blueprint, and
SBAC will verify the validity and comparability of the two tests
during standard setting. While it is true that the computer
adaptive test will assess a broader range of skills than the
paper-and-pencil test, SBAC fully expects that the overall
scores will be comparable.
Primary Language Assessments
Standards-based Tests in Spanish (STS), assess a student's
achievement of California's content standards for
Spanish-speaking English learners. The STS is administered as
the STAR Program's designated primary language test. The STS
tests are administered in two content areas: reading/language
arts (RLA) and mathematics. The RLA tests are administered to
students in grades 2 through 11 and the STS grade-level
mathematics tests are administered to students in grades 2
through 7.
Students who take the STS are required to also take the CSTs
and/or alternative assessment appropriate to their grade level.
Only a student's performance on the assessments administered in
English are counted towards a school's accountability data.
While a student's performance on the STS assessments are not
included in a school's accountability data, they may be used by
the school to inform decisions about student placement,
promotion, retention, or other considerations related to student
achievement.
This bill would eliminate these primary language assessments.
According to the SPI, because the STS is a translated exam,
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there may not be an equivalent assessment available under the
SBAC assessment. SBAC would have to approve a translated
assessment, likely at significant cost to the consortium.
Therefore, this bill reverts to the existing flexibility
provided under the ESEA which permits a student receiving
instruction in Spanish or a student who has attended school in
the United States for less than 12 months, to be exempted from
the assessment requirement. The committee may wish to consider
the arguments presented when the primary language assessment was
first created in 2007: "[a] standards-aligned primary language
test would allow parents, students, teachers, and the state to
accurately measure a student's achievement in conjunction with
their primary language instruction. Therefore, the state would
hold these programs accountable for their instruction." While
the SPI is required to determine whether supplemental summative
assessments are needed, there is no interim plan in place for
those LEAs that use the primary language assessment to inform
their educational decisions regarding these pupils. Therefore,
the committee recommends and the author has committed to
addressing the void of a primary language assessment prior the
adoption of a replacement assessment.
Elimination of Grade 2 Testing
While ESEA does not require testing of grade 2 pupils,
California's STAR Program includes assessments administered to
pupils in grade 2 in ELA and mathematics. This decision stemmed
from the concern that without grade 2 testing, parents and
teachers will not have this data early in a pupil's educational
career which is important for making adjustments to that
student's instruction. The committee may wish to consider
whether requiring LEAs to purchase diagnostic assessments
adequately addresses the concerns of those who rely on grade 2
assessments as an indicator of the need for adjustments to a
pupil's educational program.
Suspension of STAR Program
This bill suspends, effective July 1, 2013, the administration
of assessments required as a part of the STAR Program except for
those assessments in the core subject necessary to satisfy the
AYP requirements of ESEA. ESEA requires assessments in ELA and
mathematics to all students in grades 3 to 8, inclusive and
grade 10 and science assessments in grades 5, 8, and 10. In the
2014-15 school year with the requirement to use the consortium
assessments for ELA and mathematics, this will require the STAR
Program only for science testing in grade 5, 8, and 10.
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The committee may wish to consider the potential consequences of
suspending the STAR Program. For example, there are already
numerous complaints of a narrowed curriculum; would this
narrowing be intensified in the absence of assessments that
include only ELA, mathematics, and science? This bill
identifies the intent of the CalMAPP21 to be an assessment
system that models and promotes high quality teaching of the
full breadth and depth of the curriculum. The committee
recommends and the author has committed to a holistic approach
to this new generation of assessments that remains consistent
with the stated purpose of this system. This should include the
use of assessments as one performance measure of many, without
using assessments to drive instruction.
Requirement to Develop Assessments for All Academic Content
Standard Areas
While the bill calls for a temporary suspension of all
assessments not required for the purpose of federal
accountability, it also calls for the development of assessments
in content areas that are currently not included in the
statewide assessment program. Specifically, this bill requires
the SPI, with the approval of the SBE, to develop or designate
assessments, including alternative assessments for use by pupils
with exception needs as defined in federal law, that measure the
degree to which pupils are achieving the academic content
standards in visual and performing arts, foreign languages,
physical education, and history/social science. The bill does
not specify the grade levels or frequency of the assessments to
be developed, but does suggests a significant expansion of the
existing assessment system. The committee may wish to consider
whether it supports such a drastic expansion and whether such an
expansion is consistent with its priorities for instructional
time and educational resources. Therefore, the committee
recommends and the author has committed to developing a
timetable by which the SPI must either report back to the
Legislature on the development of these additional assessments
or include a date certain by which the SPI must develop each of
the identified assessments. This would ensure that the
development of the assessments remains consistent with the
intent of the Legislature that this new generation of
assessments as identified in this bill.
Other Areas of Consideration
This bill makes an almost cursory mention of the requirement
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that the SPI make recommendations to the SBE, by no specified
date, regarding the sustainability and suitability of the API
during California's transition from the STAR Program to the
consortium assessments aligned to the CCSS. This language fails
to consider the enormity of the task at hand which is to not
only reconcile the accountability system with new assessments,
but also to take a broader look of what should be included in
the accountability system, the purpose of the California's
system of accountability, and whether there is room for relief
from current punitive measures as LEAs navigate a new world of
standards, instructional materials, assessments, and potentially
funding. Therefore the committee recommends and the author has
committed to amending this bill to instead require the SPI to
recommend to the SBE, taking into account any suspended
assessments to ensure stability within the measure, a
transitional API for use as California transitions from the STAR
Program to CalMAPP21.
This committee may also wish to consider the fact that this bill
contains language that is in conflict with AB 959 (Bonilla)
which was passed by this committee on April 17 by a vote of 6-0.
Both bills speak to the use of consortium assessments for use
by high school students to in meeting the requirements for
placement, and use by the California State Universities (CSU) in
the EAP. AB 959 requires the SPI to develop a recommendation
for the use of these consortium assessments for use in the EAP
as well as entry requirements and course placement decisions of
colleges and universities no later than January 1, 2018, to
allow for the use of the assessment data that will be available
at that time. This bill instead recommends that the CSUs use
the grade 11 consortium assessments in ELA and mathematics
commencing with the 2014-15 school year. Therefore the
committee recommends and the author has committed to reconciling
the language and content of these two bills.
Related Legislation
SB 247 (Liu), passed by Senate Appropriations and held in its
suspense file, eliminates the requirement that assessments be
administered to pupils in grade 2 pursuant to the STAR Program,
beginning July 1, 2014, requires the CDE to make available to
school districts existing diagnostic assessments that are
appropriate for grade 2, and extends the STAR Program by two
years to July 1, 2016.
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SB 490 (Jackson), pending in the Senate Education Committee,
encourages CSUs participating in the EAP to sequence their
pre-collegiate level courses and transfer-level courses in
English and mathematics to CCSS.
Previous Legislation
AB 1458 (Steinberg), Chapter 577, Statutes of 2012, makes
changes to the API, and in part specifies achievement test
results shall constitute no more than 60% of the value of the
API for secondary schools.
AB 250 (Brownley), Chapter 608, Statutes of 2011, extends the
operative date of the state's assessment system by one year, and
streamlines the assessment system so as to give the state
flexibility to adapt to changes in federal law and transition to
high-quality assessments that are aligned to the common core
state standards.
SB 1 5X (Steinberg) Chapter 2, Statutes of 2009-10, Fifth
Extraordinary Session, in relevant part, establishes the
Standards Commission to develop academic content standards in
RLA and mathematics and present recommended academic content
standards to the SBE by July 15, 2010 and requires the SBE to
adopt or reject the recommended standards by August 2, 2010.
AB 1485 (Firebaugh), Chapter 773, Statutes of 2003, in relevant
part requires the CDE to use specified federal funds to develop
academic assessments, as specified, in the primary languages of
limited English proficient pupils.
SB 376 (Alpert), Chapter 828, Statutes of 1997, created the STAR
Program and authorized assessments in grades 2-11 until January
1, 2002.
SB 233 (Alpert), Chapter 722, Statutes of 2001, reauthorized the
STAR Program until January 1, 2005.
SB 1448 (Alpert), Chapter 233, Statutes of 2004, reauthorized
the STAR Program until January 1, 2011, with the exception of
second grade testing which was to be phased out over a three
year period (until July 1, 2007).
AB 356 (Hancock, 2004), among other things, would have provided
for a diagnostic assessment, rather than standardized testing,
in grade 2 as part of the STAR program. AB 356 was held on the
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Senate Floor (no vote was taken).
SB 740 (Hancock, 2011) eliminated the requirement for grade 2
STAR tests and required the CDE to make available to school
districts existing diagnostic assessments that are appropriate
for grade 2. This bill was held on the Assembly Appropriations
Committee's suspense file.
SB 800 (Hancock, 2009) was nearly identical to SB 740 (Hancock,
2011). SB 800 failed passage in the Senate Education Committee
on a 4-5 vote on April 15, 2009.
AB 476 (Torlakson, 2009) at one time would have eliminated STAR
testing in the second grade. At the time of enrollment, AB 476
required the Superintendent of Public Instruction to contract
for an independent evaluation of the STAR Program. AB 476 was
vetoed by the Governor, whose veto message read:
The objectives of this bill are duplicative of
work already being done by a variety of sources.
Not only have there been reviews of California's
standards and assessment system by the United
States Department of Education's peer review
process, the California Department of Education
has a process which has included an independent
alignment study and review of test items by
various content and test development experts.
Finally, this bill circumvents the State Board
of Education in the selection of the independent
evaluator and approving the evaluation and its
recommendations.
AB 1353 (Huff, 2007) would have extended second grade
assessments to January 1, 2011, but was not heard. Later in
2007, SB 80 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Ch. 174)
extended second grade testing until July 1, 2011.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson (Sponsor)
California Federation of Teachers
California Teachers Association
Individual County Superintendents
Individual District Superintendents
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Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Opposition
Association of California School Administrators (oppose unless
amended)
California Council for the Social Studies (oppose unless
amended)
California Geographic Alliance (oppose unless amended)
California Office to Reform Education (CORE)
Californians Together (oppose unless amended)
EdVoice
Individuals
Analysis Prepared by : Jill Rice / ED. / (916) 319-2087