BILL NUMBER: AB 2410 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 7, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bonta
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to amend Section 8203.3 of, and to add
Sections 8203.6 and 8203.7 to, Section 8203.6
to, and to add and repeal Section 8203.7 of, 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 department to
California Committee for Kindergarten Readiness, created by this
bill, to convene on or before March 1, 2017, and to submit to
the state board, by July 1, 2018, on or
before January 1, 2018, a kindergarten readiness definition
that has clear benchmarks for skills that are predictive of later
success in academics and social-emotional, health,
social-emotional and executive functioning skills as
evidenced by current research. The bill would specify the
membership of the committee and would repeal these provisions on
January 1, 2019.
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 language 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 diagnostic
formative 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 diagnostic
formative 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 kindergarten-3rd grade. K-
3rd grade education. 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 grade.
grade education.
(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 diagnostic formative
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, culturally culturally,
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 department.
department, and shall participate in a stakeholder group to share
data and findings with the state.
(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 diagnostic formative assessment
tool.
SEC. 4. Section 8203.7 is added to the Education Code, to read:
8203.7. By July 1, 2018, the department
(a) On or before March 1, 2017, the California
Committee for Kindergarten Readiness, hereby created, shall convene.
On or before January 1, 2018, the committee 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 social-emotional, health,
social-emotional and executive functioning skills as evidenced
by current research. The department co
mmittee may contract with an appropriate public or private
agency. agency for purposes of developing a
kindergarten readiness definition.
(b) The California Committee for Kindergarten Readiness shall be
composed of the following 10 members:
(1) The president of the state board, or his or her designee.
(2) The chair of the California Children and Families Commission,
or his or her designee.
(3) The Superintendent, or his or her designee.
(4) The chair of the State Advisory Council on Early Learning and
Care, or his or her designee.
(5) An expert on early childhood brain development, appointed by
the Speaker of the Assembly.
(6) An expert on kindergarten readiness standards, appointed by
the Speaker of the Assembly.
(7) A preschool or kindergarten teacher, appointed by the Speaker
of the Assembly.
(8) An expert on dual language learners, appointed by the
President pro Tempore of the Senate.
(9) An expert on family engagement and support, appointed by the
President pro Tempore of the Senate.
(10) A preschool or kindergarten teacher, appointed by the
President pro Tempore of the Senate.
(c) The members specified in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, of
subdivision (b) shall be cochairs of the committee.
(d) This section is repealed on January 1, 2019.