BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 490|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 490
Author: Jackson (D)
Amended: 5/15/13
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 8-0, 5/8/13
AYES: Liu, Wyland, Block, Hancock, Hueso, Huff, Jackson,
Monning
NO VOTE RECORDED: Correa
SUBJECT : Early Assessment Program
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill encourages California community college
(CCC) districts that participate in the Early Assessment Program
(EAP) to consult with the Academic Senate of the CCCs to work
toward sequencing their pre-collegiate and transfer level
English and math courses to the common core academic content
standards.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.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
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academic content standards in English language arts and
mathematics on August 2, 2010.
2.Authorizes the Superintendent of Public instruction (SPI), the
SBE, and any other entity or individual designated by the
Governor to participate in the Common Cores State Standards
Initiative (CCSSI) 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.
3.Authorizes the SPI to recommend and the SBE to adopt the
college and career readiness anchor standards developed by the
CCSSI consortium.
4.Establishes the CCC EAP and authorizes the CCCs to use the
results of the California Standards Tests (CST) 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 CCCs to
work toward sequencing their pre-collegiate level courses in
English and math to the academic content standards.
This bill encourages CCC districts that participate in the EAP
to consult with the Academic Senate of the CCCs to work toward
sequencing their pre-collegiate and transfer level courses in
English and math to the common core academic content standards.
Comments
Early Assessment Program . Developed in collaboration with the
California Department of Education (CDE), the SBE, and the
California State University (CSU) and accepted by participating
CCCs, 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 CST may participate in the EAP. According to the
CDE, in spring 2011, approximately 86% of eligible grade eleven
students participated in the EAP in English and 80% of eligible
grade eleven students participated in the EAP in mathematics.
The EAP identifies a student's need for additional preparation
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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
Standardized Testing and Reporting, 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.
Prior Legislation
AB 2001 (Bonilla, 2012), would have 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. This
bill was held in Senate Appropriations.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/15/13)
Association of California School Administrators
California Federation of Teachers
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, this
bill updates the Education Code provisions which authorized
community college participation in the 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.
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PQ:ej 5/15/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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