BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 899
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 15, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 899 (Weber) - As Amended: May 6, 2013
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI), on or before January 1, 2015, to recommend modifications
to the English language development (ELD) Standards to align
with the Common Core (CC) Standards in mathematics and the Next
Generation Science (NGS) Standards. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the SBE, if it modifies the ELD Standards, to explain
in writing to the governor and the Legislature the reasons for
the modification.
2)Requires the SPI, before the presentation to the SBE, to hold
a minimum of two public meetings to receive public input on
the advisory committee's work.
3)Requires the SBE, on or before August 1, 2015, to adopt or
reject the SPI's recommendations.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)One-time GF administrative cost pressure to SDE, likely
between $125,000 and $175,000, to complete the requirements of
this measure.
2)GF/98 cost pressure, likely in the low to tens of millions, to
school districts to provide instructional materials and
professional development on the revised ELD standards. This
bill requires the SPI and the SBE to provide the governor and
Legislature with an implementation plan, including costs, to
integrate the revised standards into the education system.
COMMENTS
1)Background . Since 1999, California schools have instructed
AB 899
Page 2
English language learner (ELL) pupils using both the ELA
standards and ELD standards. The purpose of the ELD standards
is "to assist teachers in moving ELL pupils to fluency in
English and proficiency on the California ELA Content
Standards." Specifically, the ELD standards are designed to
specify the English literacy skills ELLs need to acquire to
become proficient in the ELA academic content standards. The
ELD standards are also the basis for the California English
Language Development Test (CELDT). The CELDT is used to
identify, reclassify and assess the proficiency of ELL pupils.
As a condition of applying for the federal Race to the Top
(RTT) grant program, states were required to adopt the CC
Standards in ELA and mathematics by the fall of 2010. In
August 2010, the SBE adopted these standards.
In 2011 and 2012, the Legislature approved and the governor
signed the following bills with the purpose of aligning and
integrating the newly adopted CC Standards to instruct
students, including ELLs.
a) AB 124 (Fuentes), Chapter 605, Statutes of 2011,
established the ELD Advisory Committee for the purpose of
aligning the ELD Standards to the CC Standards in ELA. The
SBE adopted the newly aligned standards in November 2012.
b) AB 1719 (Fuentes), Chapter 636, Statues of 2012,
established a process for SDE to conduct a review of
supplemental instructional materials aligned to the CC
Standards in ELA and the revised ELD Standards. In March
2013, the SBE approved evaluation criteria by which to
review submitted instructional materials. The SBE is
expected to adopt a list of approve supplemental materials
by the end of 2013.
c) SB 300 (Hancock), Chapter 624, Statutes of 2012,
required the SPI to convene a group of experts in science
for the purpose of adopting new science academic content
standards utilizing the national Next Generation Science
Standards. This measure further requires the SBE to adopt
these standards by July 30, 2013.
2)Purpose . There are 1.4 million ELL pupils enrolled in
California schools. This represents 22.3% of all children
enrolled in school. According to SDE, 35% of ELLs are
enrolled in kindergarten. According to the Superintendent of
AB 899
Page 3
Public Instruction (SPI), sponsor of this bill, "By aligning
the CC Standards for Mathematics and the Next Generation
Science Standards to the ELD standards, the state will ensure
that all [ELL pupils] are meeting academic content standards
and complying with federal law. In addition, by requiring the
state to review the ELD standards for their alignment to the
newly adopted mathematics and science standards, this bill
will save school districts time and money because each
district will not have to do this work independently."
3)Will the SPI seek input from EL experts, classroom teachers,
and administrators in revising the ELD Standards ? In its
current form, the bill does not require the SPI to seek input
from EL and subject area experts in making recommendations to
modify the ELD Standards for mathematics and science, as
specified. In revising the ELD Standards for alignment to the
CC Standards in ELA, pursuant to AB 124, the SPI was required
to consult with EL experts, classroom teachers, and
administrators. The committee recommends a similar
requirement be added to this bill.
4)Clarify timing of two public meetings . The bill does require
the SPI to hold two public meeting to receive input on
revisions to the ELD Standards. This measure, however, does
not include a requirement for these meeting occur before any
recommendations are made to the SBE. The committee recommends
this language be added to the bill.
5)Should this bill have a sunset date ? The proposed revisions to
the ELD Standards are a one-time task and AB 124 included a
sunset as well. As such, the committee recommends a sunset
date of July 1, 2016 be established.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081