BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 490
AUTHOR: Jackson
INTRODUCED: February 21, 2013
FISCAL COMM: No HEARING DATE: May 8, 2013
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Kathleen Chavira
SUBJECT : Early Assessment Program.
SUMMARY
This bill encourages community college districts that
participate in the Early Assessment Program to consult with
the academic senate of the community colleges to work
toward sequencing their pre-collegiate and transfer level
English and math courses to the common core academic
content standards.
BACKGROUND
Current law establishes the Academic Content Standards
Commission which was required to develop common core
academic content standards in language and mathematics, as
specified. Pursuant to these provisions, the standards
were presented to the State Board of Education (SBE) which
adopted the proposed common core academic content standards
in English language arts and mathematics on August 2, 2010.
(Education Code � 60605.8)
Current law authorizes the SPI, the state board, and any
other entity or individual designated by the Governor to
participate in the Common Cores State Standards Initiative
consortium sponsored by specified entities or any
associated or related interstate collaboration to jointly
develop common high-quality standards or assessments
aligned with the common set of standards. (EC � 60605.7)
Current law also authorizes the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to recommend and the state board to adopt the
college and career readiness anchor standards developed by
the Common Core State Standards Initiative consortium. (EC
� 60605.10)
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Current law establishes the Community College Early
Assessment Program and authorizes the California Community
Colleges to use the results of the California Standards
Tests for diagnostic or placement purpose of prospective
students who participate. Districts that choose to
participate in the program are encouraged to consult with
the Academic Senate of the California Community Colleges to
work toward sequencing their precollegiate level courses in
English and math to the academic content standards. (EC �
99301)
ANALYSIS
This bill encourages community college districts that
participate in the Early Assessment Program to consult with
the academic senate of the community colleges to work
toward sequencing their pre-collegiate and transfer level
courses in English and math to the common core academic
content standards.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Intent of the bill . According to the author, this
bill updates the Education Code provisions which
authorized community college participation in the
Early Assessment Program (EAP) to reflect the need to
sequence pre-collegiate and transfer course to the
newly adopted common core standards, as the current
academic content standards are set to expire July
2013.
2) Early Assessment Program . Developed in collaboration
with the California Department of Education, the State
Board of Education, and the California State
University (CSU) and accepted by participating
California Community Colleges (CCC), the EAP is a
voluntary program designed to provide students, their
families, and high schools with early signals about
students' readiness for college-level English and
mathematics courses. Grade eleven students who are
eligible to take the English or the Algebra II or
Summative High School Mathematics California Standards
Test (CST) may participate in the EAP. According to
the California Department of Education, in spring
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2011, approximately 86 percent of eligible grade
eleven students participated in the EAP in English and
80 percent of eligible grade eleven students
participated in the EAP in mathematics.
The EAP identifies a student's need for additional
preparation in these areas while still enrolled in
high school. Students have an opportunity to enroll in
English and/or mathematics classes that include
additional instruction during their senior year to
prepare for placement exams necessary at CSUs and
CCCs. Students who demonstrate proficiency for
college-level coursework, based on their EAP results,
are exempt from taking CSU and participating CCC
placement tests in English and mathematics and move
directly into college-level classes upon enrollment.
Students who participate in the EAP must complete the
specified CSTs and an additional 15 questions on the
English and mathematics portions of the CSTs
("augmented CST"). Students are also required to
complete an essay for the English portion of the EAP.
The EAP results are incorporated into the STAR Student
Report. Students who seek or intend to enroll in a CSU
or CCC have the opportunity to indicate that they want
the scores released to the institution at the time
they take the exams.
3) Common Core State Standards and College Readiness . As
noted in the background, the common core standards
were adopted by California in 2010. Other actions
related to college readiness include:
a) In June 2011 California joined the Smarter
Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC), a national
consortium of 25 states that have been working
collaboratively to develop a student assessment
system aligned to the Common Core State Standards
(CCSS). California is one of 21 governing
states, which allows decision-making
participation.
The SBAC has encouraged institutions of higher
education to recognize Smarter Balanced
assessment as evidence that students are ready
for entry-level, credit-bearing courses and
should be exempted from remediation in English
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language arts and mathematics. According to the
SBAC, representatives from higher education are
involved in key design decisions, with the goal
that colleges and universities across the Smarter
Balanced member states will accept the assessment
as evidence that high school students are ready
for entry level credit-bearing coursework.
b) In March 2013, the State Board of Education
approved College and Career Readiness anchor
standards for English-language arts and literacy
in history/social studies, science, and technical
subjects (English Language Arts and Literacy).
According to the California Department of
Education (CDE), the College and Career Readiness
Anchor Standards for English Language Arts (EAP)
and Literacy define the literacy expectations for
students entering college and careers, and
provide the foundation for the kindergarten
through grade twelve English-language arts
standards.
4) Higher Education perspective . According to the
California State University (CSU), adoption of the
Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and implementation
in 2014 of a new system of student assessment designed
by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC)
will require modification of the EAP basis for
assessment. The CSU plans to work closely with CDE
and SBAC to ensure that the new assessment for 11th
grade students is even more closely aligned with CSU
placement standards. If tighter alignment is
achieved, it is possible that students will no longer
need to volunteer to complete supplemental items.
Instead, CSU will be able to determine the level of
college readiness by consideration of scores on the
SBAC assessment without augmented items.
5) Related CDE report . In January 2013, the CDE released
its Recommendations for Transitioning California to a
Future Assessment System. One recommendation in the
report was that the grade eleven SBAC English language
arts and mathematics assessments serve as the
indicator of college readiness for entry into college
credit-bearing courses, a task that is currently
fulfilled through the CST/EAP assessment. The
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Superintendent of Public Instruction has sponsored
legislation to implement this, among others of its
recommendations for transitioning California to an
assessment system aligned with the common core state
standards.
6) More changes necessary . This bill updates current law
to ensure that sequencing of pre-collegiate and
transfer courses is based upon newly adopted common
core standards. Current law should also be updated to
anticipate that the California Standards Test (CST)
assessments will change as the common core is
implemented and new standards aligned assessments are
developed. In order to ensure coordination with/to
the adoption of new assessments, as well as to allow
the flexibility to adopt or reject as yet undeveloped
and unreviewed assessments, staff recommends the bill
be amended to insert, "or a standards-aligned
successor assessment" where current law refers to the
CST and the augmented CST.
7) Similar legislation .
AB 484 (Bonilla), among other things, makes
legislative findings and declarations that, commencing
with the 2014-15 school year and for purposes of the
Community College Early Assessment Program, the CSTs
and the augmented CST in English language arts and
mathematics should be replaced with the grade 11
consortium assessments in English language and
mathematics. Legislative counsel has notified a
conflict between the provisions of this bill and AB
484 (Bonilla).
AB 959 (Bonilla) requires the SPI and the State Board
of Education to consult with various entities and
individuals to recommend specific uses of the common
core assessments by the higher education segments
including requirements for college entry, placement in
college-level courses, career opportunities and early
assessment programs, and to present a schedule and
plan that meets these requirement to the Governor and
the appropriate legislative committees by January 1,
2018.
8) Prior legislation . AB 2001 (Bonilla, 2012) would have
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required plans relative to early assessments and
making standardized assessments more meaningful to
pupils to be developed as part of the process for
reauthorization of the state's K-12 assessment system.
AB 2001 was heard and passed by this committee in
June 2012 by a vote of 8-0 but was subsequently held
in Senate Appropriations.
SUPPORT
Association of California School Administrators
California Federation of Teachers
OPPOSITION
None received.