Amended in Assembly April 7, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2410

Introduced by Assembly Member Bonta

February 19, 2016

An act to amend Section 8203.3 of, begin delete and end delete to add begin delete Sections 8203.6 and 8203.7 to, end delete begin insert Section 8203.6 to, and to add and repeal Section 8203.7 of, end insert the Education Code, relating to early learning.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2410, as amended, Bonta. Early learning: Local Control School Readiness Act of 2016.

Existing law, the Child Care and Development Services Act, among other things, requires the State Department of Education to develop prekindergarten learning development guidelines in accordance with specified criteria. The act also requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to ensure that all contracts for child care and development programs include a requirement that each public or private provider maintain a developmental profile to appropriately identify the emotional, social, physical, and cognitive growth of each child in order to promote the child’s success in the public schools.

This bill would enact the Local Control School Readiness Act of 2016. The bill would require the department to develop prekindergarten learning development guidelines, focused on preparing 4- and 5-year-old children for kindergarten, based on current science that reflects how publicly funded programs can close the school readiness gap. The bill would authorize a local educational agency, as defined, in partnership with community-based organizations, to apply to the State Board of Education for a waiver from the department’s Desired Results Quality Improvement System. The bill would specify material to be submitted with such a waiver request.

The bill would require the begin delete department to end delete begin insert California Committee for Kindergarten Readiness, created by this bill, to convene on or before March 1, 2017, and to end insert submit to the state board, begin delete by July 1, 2018, end delete begin insert on or before January 1, 2018, end insert a kindergarten readiness definition that has clear benchmarks for skills that are predictive of later success in academics and begin delete social-emotional, health, end delete begin insert social-emotional end insert and executive functioning skills as evidenced by current research. begin insert The bill would specify the membership of the committee and would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2019. end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

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

SECTION 1.  

(a) This act shall be known, and may be cited,
as the Local Control School Readiness Act of 2016.

(b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) High-quality, early learning experiences have been shown
to produce substantial short-term gains in children’s early language,
literacy, mathematics, and social skills as well as long-term effects
on a wide range of school, health, and behavioral outcomes that
persist into adulthood, as has been demonstrated in studies
produced by numerous scholars.

(2) California’s investments in early learning should focus on
gains in school and behavioral outcomes that support low-income
California children, English begin delete language end delete learners, and children of
color advancing with their peers.

(3) One feature of high-quality early learning programs is
alignment with the K-3rd grade education that preschoolers will
soon enter. Preschool to 3rd grade alignment is critical in the areas
of standards, curriculum, instructional practice, professional
development, family engagement, and assessments.

(4) For public K-12 education, in determining what pupils
should learn and how they should learn it, the role of the state is
to set standards, curriculum frameworks, and standardized
assessments for select grade levels. Local educational agencies
(LEAs) select curriculum, instructional materials and methods,
provide professional development, and monitor pupil progress
through begin delete diagnostic end delete begin insert formative end insert assessments.

(5) For California’s early learning programs, the role of the state
extends far beyond its role in K-12 education, and it falls short in
one key area. In addition to early learning standards and curriculum
frameworks, the State Department of Education develops, adopts,
and mandates specific begin delete diagnostic end delete begin insert formative end insert assessments to be used
on pupils, specific assessments for classroom environments,
specific professional development for instructional staff, and
specific parent satisfaction surveys. While these are important
components of a high-quality early learning program, LEAs and
other local preschool providers cannot tailor these to meet the
unique needs of their pupils nor to align with begin delete kindergarten-3rd
grade. end delete begin insert K- end insert begin insert 3rd grade education. end insert Nor do these compliance-focused
regulations support an outcome of school readiness for low-income
children in California. The state-mandated assessments and
professional development are often done for compliance purposes
only, do not improve the quality of early learning programs, and
are an undue administrative burden on LEAs and preschool
providers.

(6) Where the state falls short: California does not have a clear
definition for what pupils need to know to be ready for
kindergarten. Without this definition, the impact of California’s
early learning programs on school readiness is unknown. California
invests over $1.6 billion in state preschool and transitional
kindergarten, and there is no information on what percentage of
pupils start school ready for success.

(c) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to accomplish
both of the following:

(1) Empower LEAs and their nonprofit partners or
subcontractors to decide how best to prepare their preschool pupils
for success in school and align their preschool programs with
K-3rd begin delete grade. end delete begin insert grade education. end insert

(2) Begin to shift the role of the state from a compliance-based
early learning system to one that focuses on child outcomes. The
first step in this process is to mandate the State Department of
Education to conduct a study for establishing a kindergarten
readiness definition to be considered for adoption by the State
Board of Education by July 1, 2018.

SEC. 2.  

Section 8203.3 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

8203.3.  

(a) (1) The department shall develop prekindergarten
learning development guidelines. The guidelines shall focus on
preparing four- and five-year-old children for kindergarten, based
on current science that reflects how publicly funded programs can
close the school readiness gap.

(2) The guidelines developed under this section shall identify
appropriate developmental milestones for each age, how to assess
where children are in relation to the milestones, and suggested
methods for achieving the milestones. In addition, the guidelines
shall identify any basic beginning skills needed to prepare children
for kindergarten or first grade, and methods for teaching these
basic skills. The guidelines shall be articulated with the academic
content and performance standards adopted by the state board for
kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive. The department may
contract with an appropriate public or private agency to develop
the guidelines.

(b) In future expenditure plans for quality improvement
activities, the department shall include funding for periodically
updating the guidelines consistent with academic and performance
standards and relevant research, broadly distributing the guidelines,
and providing education, outreach, and training services to
implement the guidelines.

(c) Programs funded by the department under Article 6
(commencing with Section 8230), Article 7 (commencing with
Section 8235), and Article 8 (commencing with Section 8240)
shall use the prekindergarten learning development guidelines
developed pursuant to this section.

SEC. 3.  

Section 8203.6 is added to the Education Code, to
read:

8203.6.  

(a) A local educational agency, including a school
district, charter school, and county office of education, in
partnership with community-based organizations, may apply to
the state board for a waiver from the department’s Desired Results
Quality Improvement System, which includes the developmental
profile. A Local Control Quality Improvement Plan shall be
submitted with the waiver request, and shall include all of the
following:

(1) At least one begin delete diagnostic end delete begin insert formative end insert assessment tool that is
used no less than three times a year to monitor children’s
developmental progress. This assessment shall be valid, reliable,
including inter-rater reliability, and linguistically, begin delete culturally end delete
begin insert culturally, end insert and developmentally appropriate, and include a
benchmark for kindergarten readiness.

(2) A regular process for reviewing the assessment data with
teachers and adult caregivers.

(3) A plan for providing coaching and professional development
to support teachers to meet pupil needs.

(4) A plan for parent engagement and support that includes at
least two parent conferences each year to review children’s
developmental progress and school-home linkages to support
learning, and an annual parent satisfaction survey.

(b) Once a waiver is approved under subdivision (a), the local
educational agency shall submit an annual continuous quality
improvement plan to the begin delete department. end delete begin insert department, and shall
participate in a stakeholder group to share data and findings with
the state. end insert

(c) To enable waiver applicants to continue to participate in the
Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), they may
substitute the developmental profile with their own kindergarten
readiness outcomes or begin delete diagnostic end delete begin insert formative end insert assessment tool.

SEC. 4.  

Section 8203.7 is added to the Education Code, to
read:

8203.7.  

begin delete By July 1, 2018, the department end delete begin insert (a) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert On or before
March 1, 2017, the California Committee for Kindergarten
Readiness, hereby created, shall convene. On or before January
1, 2018, the committee end insert shall submit to the state board a
kindergarten readiness definition that has clear benchmarks for
skills that are predictive of later success in academics and
begin delete social-emotional, health, end delete begin insert social-emotional end insert and executive
functioning skills as evidenced by current research. The begin delete department end delete
begin insert committee end insert may contract with an appropriate public or private

begin delete agency. end delete begin insert agency for purposes of developing a kindergarten
readiness definition. end insert

begin insert

(b) The California Committee for Kindergarten Readiness shall
be composed of the following 10 members:

end insert begin insert

(1) The president of the state board, or his or her designee.

end insert begin insert

(2) The chair of the California Children and Families
Commission, or his or her designee.

end insert begin insert

(3) The Superintendent, or his or her designee.

end insert begin insert

(4) The chair of the State Advisory Council on Early Learning
and Care, or his or her designee.

end insert begin insert

(5) An expert on early childhood brain development, appointed
by the Speaker of the Assembly.

end insert begin insert

(6) An expert on kindergarten readiness standards, appointed
by the Speaker of the Assembly.

end insert begin insert

(7) A preschool or kindergarten teacher, appointed by the
Speaker of the Assembly.

end insert begin insert

(8) An expert on dual language learners, appointed by the
President pro Tempore of the Senate.

end insert begin insert

(9) An expert on family engagement and support, appointed by
the President pro Tempore of the Senate.

end insert begin insert

(10) A preschool or kindergarten teacher, appointed by the
President pro Tempore of the Senate.

end insert begin insert

(c) The members specified in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive,
of subdivision (b) shall be cochairs of the committee.

end insert begin insert

(d) This section is repealed on January 1, 2019.

end insert