BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
AB 484 (Bonilla) - Pupil Assessments
Amended: July 3, 2013 Policy Vote: Education 7-1
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 12, 2013
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 484 establishes the California Measurement of
Academic Performance and Progress for the 21st Century
(CalMAPP21), and makes numerous changes to statutes related to
pupil assessment, including: (a) suspending all assessments that
are not required by the federal Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA); (b) providing a transition to new
assessments that are aligned to the Common Core standards in
English language arts (ELA) and mathematics; (c) requiring the
development of updated primary language assessments and
alternate assessments for pupils with exceptional needs; and,
(d) requiring the development of plans for updated assessments
in other subject areas. This bill is an urgency measure.
Fiscal Impact: This bill delegates considerable authority to the
California Department of Education (CDE) to develop and
implement new computer-based assessments aligned to the Common
Core standards; this includes giving the CDE statutory authority
to enter into contracts for assessments that do not yet exist.
The actual costs of CalMAPP21 will be determined by CDE
decisions (made in conjunction with other members of the
multi-state Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium [SBAC])
regarding the assessments, and the level of support provided to
local education agencies (LEAs) to implement the new
assessments.
Assessment Suspensions: Approximately $8 million in state
savings in 2013-14, and $1.5 million in state savings in
2014-15 (General Fund).
CalMAPP21 implementation (ESEA-related): Approximately $81
million in 2014-15, and $80 million - $100 million (General
Fund) in 2015-16, and annually thereafter. This would cover
the California share of cost to develop assessments, provide
management services, provide technical assistance to
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schools, administer the computer-based assessments, and to
continue to administer ESEA-requires science tests until new
science tests are available. See staff comments.
Multi-year Evaluation of CalMAPP21: Approximately $200,000
in 2013-14, and $700,000 (General Fund) annually thereafter,
to contract for the independent evaluation required by this
bill.
CALMAPP21 implementation (non-ESEA): The CDE estimates
costs of approximately $2.7 million in 2014-15 and $7
million (General Fund) annually thereafter for assessments,
and related activities, beyond existing ESEA requirements.
The annual cost projections assume both that the ESEA
requirements will remain the same, and that the CDE's plan
for additional assessments beyond federal accountability
will remain the same. This estimate includes, among other
things, the development of new stand-alone language arts
assessments in primary languages other than English.
Background: Existing law establishes the state's assessment
system, which consists of several assessments, including the
Standardized Test and Reporting (STAR) program. Assessments
within the STAR program are the standards-aligned California
Standards Tests, primary language assessments, alternate
assessments and modified assessments. (Education Code § 60640)
Many elements of the STAR program are used by California to meet
the assessment and accountability requirements of the federal
ESEA, which requires states to administer a standards-aligned
achievement test in reading and mathematics to all students in
grades 3-8 and grade 10. Federal law also requires assessment of
science, once in each grade span of 3-6, 7-8, and 10-12.
State law authorizes high school juniors to take "augmented"
grade 11 assessments in ELA and mathematics to learn about their
readiness for college-level English and mathematics. (EC §
99300)
California's primary language assessment, the Standards-based
Tests in Spanish, assesses pupil achievement of California's
content standards for Spanish-speaking English learners. The STS
tests are administered in two content areas: reading/language
arts (in grades 2-11) and mathematics (in grades 2-7). Pupils
who take the STS are required to also take the standards-aligned
assessments in English (the California Standards Tests). Results
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from the assessments administered in English are counted towards
a school's accountability measures, while results from the STS
are not included in a school's accountability measures.
The State Board of Education (SBE) adopted Common Core state
standards in ELA and mathematics on August 2, 2010. Existing law
requires the SBE to adopt revised frameworks that are aligned to
the common core standards in mathematics by November 30, 2013,
and in ELA by May 30, 2014. (EC § 60207)
California joined the SBAC as a governing state in 2011, for the
purpose of developing assessments that are aligned to the Common
Core standards. As a condition of becoming a governing member
state, California committed to administering the SBAC
assessments to pupils beginning in the 2014-15 school year.
State law requires the Academic Performance Index (API) to
consist of a variety of indicators including the results of STAR
tests, the California High School Exit Exam, attendance rates,
and high school graduation rates. The results of the STAR tests
and the high school exit exam constitute at least 60% of the
value of API scores. (To date, the only indicators used to
calculate the API have been test scores). (EC § 52052)
Proposed Law: AB 484, an urgency measure, replaces the STAR
Program with CalMAPP21. It makes numerous changes to CDE and SPI
duties relative to state assessments, and expresses the intent
of the Legislature relative to those changes. With regard to the
suspension of existing assessments and administration of new
assessments, this bill:
1) Suspends all STAR assessments not required by ESEA and
used as part of the Early Assessment Program, and provides
that these assessments are suspended until new assessments
of the Common Core standards are developed and implemented.
2) Requires, beginning with the 2014-15 school year, all
LEAs to administer the SBAC assessments in ELA and
mathematics in grades 3-8, and grade 11.
3) Authorizes the CDE to make available to LEAs the
suspended assessments, and provides LEAs with the option to
administer suspended assessments, but at their own expense.
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4) States legislative intent that, beginning with the
2014-15 school year, the assessments currently used for the
EAP should be replaced with the grade 11 SBAC assessments.
With regard to assessments in subjects other than ELA and math,
this bill:
1) Requires the SPI to make a recommendation to the SBE for
science assessments used to satisfy federal accountability
requirements. This bill requires the recommendation to be
made within six months of the adoption of the Next
Generation Science Standards (expected in November 2013).
2) Requires the SPI to make recommendations, in consultation
with specified stakeholders, regarding the grade level,
content, and type of assessment. This bill requires the SPI
to consider the use of consortium developed assessments,
innovative item types, computer-based testing, and a
timeline for implementation.
3) Requires the plan for assessments in other subject areas to
include cost estimates and a plan to implement
history-social science assessments beginning in the 2018-19
school year.
4) Requires the SPI to consult with stakeholders and subject
matter experts to develop a plan for assessing content
areas for subjects not required by federal law to be
tested. This bill requires the plan to be presented to the
SBE for consideration and approval by August 1, 2015, as
specified.
5) Requires the SPI to develop and administer subject area
assessments not required by federal law upon the
appropriation of funding, and requires the SBE to approve
test blueprints, achievement level descriptors, testing
periods, performance standards, and a reporting plan. It
also requires LEAs to administer those assessments as
determined by the SBE.
With regard to primary language assessments, this bill requires
the SPI to develop and administer a primary language assessment
by the 2016-17 school year, to the extent that funding is
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provided for this purpose, as specified.
With regard to assessment contracts, this bill authorizes the
CDE to enter into contracts to implement the administration of
assessments, as specified, and extends the sunset, by 10 years,
on the STAR program (for the assessments that remain intact)
until July 1, 2024. It also requires the CDE to develop a 3-year
plan of activities supporting the continuous improvement of the
assessment system, and to contract for a multiyear independent
evaluation of the assessments.
Staff Comments: When California became a governing member of
SBAC, in 2011, the SBE and SPI committed to administering the
SBAC assessments to pupils beginning in the 2014-15 school year.
The new assessments have not been finalized, nor has the cost of
administering the SBAC assessments. This bill specifically
requires the SPI to design and implement a new statewide pupil
assessment system, beginning with "a plan for administering the
consortium summative assessments." It functionally gives the CDE
the authority to move forward with those assessments, though
subject to a budget appropriation, regardless of the eventual
cost.
The costs for the new SBAC assessments have been controversial,
as have the costs to implement the Common Core standards in the
curricula. The SBAC assessments are a different type of
assessment than the current STAR program. They are designed to
assess the Common Core standards (which California has been
teaching, while assessing a different set of standards through
the STAR), designed to be online and computer adaptive, and will
include optional initial and formative assessments. This bill
does not commit the state to a specific level of funding, but
rather to a type of test that is necessarily more expensive
because it is more comprehensive in assessment and scoring.
The CDE has developed projections for the cost of the actual
SBAC tests, scoring, consortium and state services, and
technology assistance. The largest of those costs is for the
assessments that fulfill ESEA-required testing. The CDE believes
that these assessments can be administered for approximately $81
million (General Fund) per year, which is substantially more
than the existing STAR program assessments. As the agency
responsible for (1) administering the testing program, (2)
negotiating with the SBAC (as a governing state) regarding
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California's share of the assessment costs, and (3) requesting
from the Legislature and defending the need for the Legislature
the budget/funding for transition to a new assessment system,
the CDE is in the best position to estimate the costs to
implement the SBAC assessments.
It is common, however, for new statewide programs to exceed cost
projections and timelines in the initial years of
implementation. This is especially true for programs involving
technology. If this bill is enacted, the state is putting its
confidence in the CDE to implement a new program within the
fiscal confines it has laid out. Moreover, because this bill
contains significant codified legislative intent language
concerning the SPI and CDE's planning and implementation mindset
and behavior, rather than simply concrete required actions, the
CDE will have to interpret and meet those directives within its
fiscal confines. Staff notes, however, that this bill also
specifically provides that the SPI and SBE will make annual
determinations of the amount of funding to be apportioned to
LEAs for test administration, which appears to grant further
leeway for funding adjustments.
It is unclear what the recourse would be if the CDE were to fail
to implement SBAC assessments on the proposed timeline or within
the projected costs. It is also unclear what the state's role
will be if LEAs are unable to meet the technology requirements
for the SBAC assessments. While this bill would technically
depend on receiving Budget Act funding each year, the stakes are
sufficiently high (especially with regard to federal funding for
education) that it would be very difficult for the Legislature
to change course afterward or to deny a funding augmentation if
the SBAC assessments are more costly than projected.