Amended in Assembly March 26, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 812


Introduced by Assembly Member Weber

February 26, 2015


An act tobegin delete amend Section 52051.5 of the Education Code, relating to school accountability.end deletebegin insert add Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 350) to Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, relating to English proficiency.end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 812, as amended, Weber. begin deleteSchool accountability: Academic Performance Index. end deletebegin insertPupils of limited English proficiency: assessments.end insert

begin insert

Existing law requires the State Department of Education, with the approval of the State Board of Education, to establish procedures for conducting an assessment of pupils who are English learners in order to determine the level of proficiency. Existing law requires each school district that has one or more pupils who are English learners, to assess the English language development of each pupil. Existing law requires this assessment to be conducted upon initial enrollment, and annually thereafter, during a period determined by the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the state board.

end insert
begin insert

This bill would, notwithstanding the above provisions, require the department, on or before September 1, 2017, to develop an assessment tool to determine the proficiency level of pupils of limited English proficiency, as defined, and as determined by a survey the bill would require the Superintendent to develop and a local educational agency to administer, creating a state program, as provided. The bill would require the assessment to be conducted upon a pupil’s initial enrollment, in order to provide information to determine if the pupil is a pupil of limited English proficiency, and annually thereafter, during a period of time determined by the Superintendent and the state board. The bill would require the annual assessments to continue until the pupil is designated as English proficient, as provided.

end insert
begin insert

By creating new duties for a local educational agency, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

end insert
begin insert

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

end insert
begin insert

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

end insert
begin delete

Existing law, the Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999, requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with approval of the State Board of Education, to develop an Academic Performance Index to measure the performance of schools and school districts, especially the academic performance of pupils. Existing law, for purposes of the act, requires all references to schools to include charter schools.

end delete
begin delete

This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to the provision requiring all references to schools to include charter schools.

end delete

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: begin deleteno end deletebegin insertyesend insert. State-mandated local program: begin deleteno end deletebegin insertyesend insert.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1begin insert

begin insertSECTION 1.end insert  

end insert

begin insertChapter 4 (commencing with Section 350) is
2added to Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the end insert
begin insertEducation Codeend insertbegin insert, to
3read:end insert

begin insert

4350. For purposes of this chapter, “pupils of limited English
5proficiency” means pupils who do not have the clearly developed
6English language skills of comprehension, speaking, reading, and
7writing necessary to receive instruction in English at a level
8substantially equivalent to pupils of the same age or grade whose
9primary language is English.

end insert
begin insert

10350.1. (a) On or before September 1, 2016, the Superintendent,
11in consultation with the department, shall develop a survey for
P3    1local educational agencies that identifies the number of pupils
2identifiable as pupils of limited English proficiency.

end insert
begin insert

3(b) Local educational agencies shall develop a process to
4annually administer the surveys of pupils at the beginning of each
5school year. At a minimum, local educational agencies shall survey
6the pupils who meet any of the following criteria:

end insert
begin insert

7(1) Scores in the lowest achievement levels on the Smarter
8Balanced Assessment System summative and interim assessments.

end insert
begin insert

9(2) Receives less than a passing grade on one or more
10consecutive progress and report cards in English language arts
11courses.

end insert
begin insert

12(3) Is identified by teachers or faculty members as a candidate
13 who may meet one or more of the criteria in paragraphs (1) or
14(2).

end insert
begin insert

15350.2. (a) On or before January 1, 2017, the department, in
16consultation with local educational agencies, shall develop a study
17on best practices for providing instruction to pupils of limited
18English proficiency, and shall provide this study to members of
19the Legislature, the Office of the Legislative Analyst, and the
20Governor. The study shall include, but not be limited to,
21information relating to all of the following:

end insert
begin insert

22(1) Existing state and local programs.

end insert
begin insert

23(2) Effective pedagogical and instructional methods for pupils
24of limited English proficiency.

end insert
begin insert

25(3) Professional development and training needs for teachers
26who would be likely to provide instruction to pupils of limited
27English proficiency.

end insert
begin insert

28(b) (1) The study required to be submitted to the Legislature
29pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be submitted in compliance with
30Section 9795 of the Government Code.

end insert
begin insert

31(2) This section shall become inoperative on January 1, 2021,
32pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.

end insert
begin insert

33350.3. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, including Article 3.5
34(commencing with Section 313) of Chapter 3, on or before
35September 1, 2017, the department shall develop an assessment
36tool to determine the proficiency level of pupils of limited English
37proficiency identified through the survey process, pursuant to
38Section 350.1, for purposes of identifying an adequate method of
39instruction for these pupils.

end insert
begin insert

P4    1(b) The department, with the approval of the state board, shall
2establish procedures for conducting the assessment required
3pursuant to subdivision (a) and for the designation of a pupil of
4limited English proficiency to English proficient.

end insert
begin insert

5350.4. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, including Article 3.5
6 (commencing with Section 313) of Chapter 3, commencing with
7the 2018-19 school year, the assessment shall be conducted upon
8initial enrollment, in order to provide information to determine if
9the pupil is a pupil of limited English proficiency, and annually
10thereafter during a period of time determined by the Superintendent
11and the state board. The annual assessments shall continue until
12the pupil is designated as English proficient pursuant to Section
13350.5.

end insert
begin insert

14(b) The assessments conducted pursuant to this section shall be
15conducted in a manner consistent with federal statutes and
16regulations.

end insert
begin insert

17350.5. Notwithstanding any other law, including Article 3.5
18(commencing with Section 313) of Chapter 3, the Superintendent
19shall develop a procedure to designate a pupil of limited English
20proficiency as English proficient. The designation procedure
21developed by the Superintendent shall utilize multiple criteria in
22determining whether to designate a pupil as proficient in English,
23 including, but not limited to, all of the following:

end insert
begin insert

24(a) Assessment of language proficiency using an objective
25assessment instrument.

end insert
begin insert

26(b) Teacher evaluation, including, but not limited to, a review
27of the pupil’s curriculum mastery.

end insert
begin insert

28(c) Parental opinion and consultation.

end insert
begin insert

29(d) Comparison of the performance of the pupil in basic skills
30against an empirically established range of performance in basic
31skills based upon the performance of English proficient pupils of
32the same age, that demonstrates whether the pupil is sufficiently
33proficient in English to participate effectively in a curriculum
34designed for pupils of the same age.

end insert
begin insert

35350.6. This chapter does not preclude a school district or county
36office of education from testing pupils of limited English
37proficiency more than once in a school year if the school district
38or county office of education chooses to do so.

end insert
39begin insert

begin insertSEC. 2.end insert  

end insert
begin insert

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
40this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
P5    1local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
2pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
34 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

end insert
begin delete4

SECTION 1.  

Section 52051.5 of the Education Code is
5amended to read:

6

52051.5.  

For purposes of this chapter, all references to schools
7shall also include charter schools.
8

end delete

CORRECTIONS:

Text--Page 2.




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Corrected 4-9-15—See last page.     98