BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 247
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 14, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 247 (Liu) - As Amended: May 24, 2013
Policy Committee: Education Vote:7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill repeals the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR)
program sunset date and eliminates second grade assessments in
English language arts (ELA) and mathematics. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Requires the State Department of Education (SDE), by November
1, 2014, to identify and make available to school districts
information regarding existing assessments in ELA and
mathematics that are aligned to the common core (CC) standards
in ELA and mathematics and are appropriate for pupils in grade
two for diagnostic use by classroom teachers, as specified.
2)Requires the savings realized from the elimination of the
second grade assessments to be used by local education
agencies (LEAs) to administer diagnostic assessments
identified by SDE.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Loss of GF/98 savings of approximately $2 million by
eliminating second grade testing in the STAR program and
redirecting this expenditure for the administration of second
grade diagnostic assessments, as proposed in this measure. Of
this cost, approximately $800,000 is for test development and
$1.2 million GF/98 is annual apportionment savings.
Currently, the state provides $2.52 per pupil for the
administration of each STAR assessment.
This bill requires the entire $2 million GF/98 in savings to be
used by LEAs for the administration of second grade diagnostic
assessments. The entire amount may not be used, however,
SB 247
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given the fact that only $1.2 million is currently used to pay
for administration. As such, the state may still realize
$800,000 in GF/98 savings.
2)GF/98 costs of at least $100,000, to SDE to contract for the
evaluation of existing second grade diagnostic assessments.
This information would be made available to school districts,
as specified.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . 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.
The U.S. Department of Education, using Race To The Top grant
funding, issued a competitive grant for the development of a
comprehensive assessment system based on the Common Core (CC)
Standards in ELA and mathematics that would adhere to the
testing requirements of the federal Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA). ESEA requires testing in ELA and
mathematics in grades three through eight and once in grades
10 through 12.
Two assessment consortia were funded through this process: the
Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and
Careers and the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium. Each
consortium was awarded grant funding to develop an assessment
system aligned to the CC Standards in ELA and mathematics and
to help participating states implement the standards and the
common assessments. Both consortia are scheduled to
operationalize assessments 2014-15 and include computer
administered assessments.
In June 2010, California joined the SMARTER Balanced
consortium. Participation in this consortium requires
California to administer and use the assessments developed by
the consortium to meet the ESEA Title I requirements in the
2014-15 school year.
This bill repeals the sunset of the STAR program, which would
allow the system to continue operating, but without the
changes necessary to administer the SMARTER Balanced
consortium assessments. Also, this measure repeals the
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administration of an assessment in ELA and mathematics in
second grade and instead, authorizes LEAs to administer
diagnostic assessments in second grade.
2)Current law establishes STAR as the state's primary K-12
assessment system . This program consists of three elements:
(a) California Standards Tests (CST), including tests in
Spanish for specified grades; (c) the Spanish Assessment of
Basic Education primary language test, and (d) the California
Alternative Performance Assessment for special education
pupils. The STAR program is scheduled to sunset in 2014. This
measure renames the repeals the sunset date of the state's
assessment system and eliminates the second grade assessment
in ELA and mathematics.
3)Related legislation . AB 484 (Bonilla), pending in the Senate
Appropriations Committee, extends authorization for the
state's K-12 assessment system from July 1, 2014 to January 1,
2024 and renames it the California Measurement of Academic
Performance and Progress for the 21st Century (CalMAPP21).
Suspends non-core subject area California Standards
Assessments (CSTs) administered under the STAR program,
beginning in the 2013-14 school year, until new assessments
addressing the CC Standards are developed and implemented.
4)Previous legislation . SB 740 (Hancock) eliminated the second
grade assessment in ELA and mathematics as part of the STAR
program. This bill was held on this committee's Suspense File
in May 2011.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081