BILL NUMBER: AB 2410 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 27, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 7, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bonta
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to amend Section 8203.3 of, to add 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. school readiness.
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, on or before March 1,
2017, to convene the California Committee for Kindergarten
Readiness, created by this bill, to convene on or before
March 1, 2017, Readiness stakeholder group to evaluate
and develop recommendations on what constitutes kindergarten
readiness and would require the committee to submit
to the state board, board and the appropriate
policy committees of the Legislature, 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:
SECTION 1. (a) This act shall be known, and may
be cited, as the Local Control School Readiness Act of 2016.
(b) The
SECTION 1. (a) 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) 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.
(2)
(3) 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.
(3)
(4) 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 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
(5) 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)
(b) 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 education.
(2) Begin
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 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.
SEC. 4. SEC. 3. Section 8203.7 is
added to the Education Code, to read:
8203.7. (a) On or before March 1, 2017, the department shall
convene the California Committee for Kindergarten
Readiness, hereby created, shall convene. Readiness
stakeholder group to evaluate and develop recommendations on what
constitutes kindergarten readiness. On or before January 1,
2018, the committee shall submit to the state board and the
appropriate policy committees of the Legislature 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
committee department 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 development,
appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly. development.
(6) An expert on kindergarten readiness standards,
appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly. standards.
(7) A preschool or kindergarten teacher, appointed by the
Speaker of the Assembly. teacher.
(8) An expert on dual language learners, appointed by the
President pro Tempore of the Senate. learners.
(9) An expert on family engagement and support, appointed
by the President pro Tempore of the Senate. support.
(10) A preschool or kindergarten
teacher, appointed by the President pro Tempore of the Senate.
teacher.
(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.