Amended in Assembly April 27, 2016

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 to add Section 8203.6 to, end delete 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: begin delete Local Control School Readiness Act of 2016. end delete begin insert school readiness. end insert

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 begin delete bill would enact the Local Control School Readiness Act of 2016. The end delete 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. begin delete 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. end delete

The bill would require the begin insert department, on or before March 1, 2017, to convene the end insert California Committee for Kindergarten begin delete Readiness, created by this bill, to convene on or before March 1, 2017, end delete begin insert Readiness stakeholder group to evaluate and develop recommendations on what constitutes kindergarten readiness end insert and begin insert would require the committee end insert to submit to the state begin delete board, end delete begin insert board and the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature, end insert 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 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:

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

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

(b) The

end delete

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert (a) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert The end insert 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.

begin insert

(2) The Desired Results Developmental Profile was implemented
in 2000 and is a formative assessment instrument developed by
the State Department of Education for young children and their
families to be used to inform instruction and program development.
It is also a requirement for compliance with state preschool
contracts. The Desired Results Developmental Profile for preschool
children currently contains 54 areas of inquiry within eight
domains. Beginning in the 2016-17 fiscal year, the State
Department of Education will require contractors to cover the five
“fundamental” domains the department indicates are
research-based predictors of school readiness and success and
that are consistent with the National Education Goals Panel and
the federal Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge. The
remaining domains may be used by a contractor voluntarily. This
“preschool fundamental view” will reduce the number of
assessment measures from 54 to 29. The State Department of
Education has responded to concerns from the field that the
Desired Results Developmental Profile is time consuming and has
revised the assessment to ensure that it is a more effective formative
assessment for children.

end insert begin delete

(2)

end delete

begin insert (3) end insert  California’s investments in early learning should focus on
gains in school and behavioral outcomes that support low-income
California children, English learners, and children of color
advancing with their peers.

begin delete

(3)

end delete

begin insert (4) end insert  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.

begin delete

(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 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 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 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

end delete

begin insert (5) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert California end insert 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.

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(c)

end delete

begin insert (b) end insert  Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to begin delete accomplish
both of the following: end delete

begin delete

(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 education.

end delete

begin delete (2) end delete begin delete   end delete begin delete Begin end delete begin insert begin end insert 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.

begin delete

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 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, 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, 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 formative assessment tool.

end delete

begin delete SEC. 4. end delete

begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

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

8203.7.  

(a) On or before March 1, 2017, begin insert the department shall
convene end insert the California Committee for Kindergarten begin delete Readiness,
hereby created, shall convene. end delete begin insert Readiness stakeholder group to
evaluate and develop recommendations on what constitutes
kindergarten readiness. end insert On or before January 1, 2018, the
committee shall submit to the state board begin insert and the appropriate
policy committees of the Legislature end insert a kindergarten readiness
definition that has clear benchmarks for skills that are predictive
of later success in academics and social-emotional and executive
functioning skills as evidenced by current research. The begin delete committee end delete
begin insert department end insert may contract with an appropriate public or private
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 begin delete development, appointed
by the Speaker of the Assembly. end delete begin insert development. end insert

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

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

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

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

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

(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.