BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1931
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Date of Hearing: April 9, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1931 (Morrell) - As Amended: April 3, 2014
Policy Committee: EducationVote:6-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill adds a summative assessment in history-social science
as adopted by the State Board of Education (SBE), in accordance
with recommendations from the Superintendent of Public
Instruction (SPI), to the subjects assessed by the California
Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP),
beginning in the 2018-19 school year.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)One-time GF/P98 costs, ranging from $1 million to $5 million
for initial test development, including, but not limited to:
blueprint development, test item development, field-testing,
and standard setting. Costs vary depending on type of
assessment developed (paper/pencil or computer-based
assessment). Unknown, but substantially less, ongoing costs
for item development to refresh test forms.
2)$120,000 to $240,000 GF for state operations for the
California Department of Education to develop and review new
items assuming computer-based assessment development.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . Existing law requires the SPI to consider additional
assessments in history-social science, technology, visual and
performing arts, and other subjects as appropriate; and to
consider English language arts, mathematics, and science
assessments to augment the currently-required assessments in
those areas. This bill deletes the "history-social science"
from the list of assessments that the SPI must consider and
instead makes the summative history-social science assessment
AB 1931
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a requirement by 2018-19, no longer dependent on the
recommendation of the SPI.
According to the author's office, our current standards are 15
years old and out of step with what our students need. By
ensuring a balanced liberal arts education, this bill will
help give students the knowledge and skills they need for
active civic engagement.
2)Background. The CAASPP (established under the name MAPP by AB
484 (Bonilla, Chapter 489, Statutes of 2013) replaced the
former Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program to
assess pupil performance. The transition to the CAASPP is part
of the larger transition to the Common Core State Standards
(CCSS) and the Smarter Balanced assessment, which will be
aligned to the CCSS.
3)Opposition . The California Teachers Association opposes this
bill stating concerns over the sole focus of improving
measurement without the improvement of curriculum or updating
the standards. They state that civic engagement includes
community norms such as jury duty, voting, and activism and
contend that adding a subject matter assessment will not
improve the modeling that students witness outside of the
classroom.
Analysis Prepared by : Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081