BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2548
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 4, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2548 (Weber) - As Amended April 11, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill requires the State Board of Education (SBE) to adopt a
statewide accountability system aligned to California's local
framework and that satisfies the federal accountability system
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requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the SBE, with regard to developing the statewide
accountability system, to rely upon data from key indicators
established pursuant to the evaluation rubrics adopted by the
SBE. Requires, at a minimum, the key indicators to include all
of the following:
a) For elementary and middles schools, a measure of: pupil
achievement in at least English language arts, mathematics,
and science; academic growth; progress toward English
proficiency; chronic absenteeism; school climate.
b) For high schools, a measure of: pupil achievement in at
least English language arts, mathematics, and science;
graduation rates; progress toward English proficiency;
college and career readiness; chronic absenteeism; and
school climate.
c) Requires substantial weight and, in aggregate, much
greater weight, to be given to the measure of: pupil
achievement in ELA, math and science; academic growth and
progress towards English proficiency.
2)Requires, in identifying appropriate assistance for a school
or LEA, the CCEE and the county superintendents of schools to
analyze data aligned with all the state priorities in order to
align the level of support, collaboration, and intervention to
the needs of the LEA or individual school or schools.
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3)Requires the accountability system to ensure the creation of a
data and reporting system that provides meaningful and
accessible information on school and school district
performance that is displayed through an electronic platform.
Parents and the public must have the ability to easily access,
compare, analyze, and summarize school reports, pupil
performance results, and the progress made by schools and
school districts in reaching all of the state's priority areas
for purposes of local control and accountability plans and the
local control funding formula.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Unknown General Fund costs, potentially in the hundreds of
thousands of dollars, for CDE to comply with the data
components of this bill. This bill requires data to be
provided to parents and the public that is "meaningful and
accessible" and displayed through an electronic platform. The
bill requires parents and the public to have the ability to
easily access, compare, analyze, and summarize school reports,
pupil performance results, and the progress made by schools
and school districts in reaching all of the state's priority
areas. The current school data systems, CALPADs and
DataQuest, do not present data in this format. It is not
clear if CDE would be able to adapt existing systems or if a
new data system would need to be developed. Either way,
significant resources would be needed to present data in this
manner.
2)Unknown Proposition 98/GF cost pressures, in the millions of
dollars, to the extent this expanded accountability system
identifies more school districts or school sites in need of
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state intervention and assistance.
3)The CDE estimates ongoing General Fund costs of $320,000 for
two positions to support the development, implementation, and
maintenance of a new state/federal aligned accountability
system. These positions are needed irrespective of this bill.
The CDE has submitted a budget request for this staffing
support and the request is still being considered by the
Legislature.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to co-sponsors of this bill, Children Now
and Education Trust West, this bill will align the state and
federal accountability requirements, avoiding the confusing
and sometimes conflicting systems of the past, and bringing
together the strengths of both systems to promote high levels
of achievement and equity. Specifically, according to the
sponsors, the bill proposes to establish common "key
indicators" that apply to both districts and schools and also
align with the state's values. The bill also sets forth
criteria for identifying districts and schools in need of
support and improvement and clarifies that the CCEE and county
superintendents shall analyze data aligned with all of the
state priorities in order to align the level of support,
collaboration, and intervention to the needs of the local
education agency or individual school or schools. The bill
also requires the development of a data dashboard, showing
student outcomes from multiple measures.
2)Background. The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) was
enacted to provide a more equitable distribution of education
dollars-especially among districts with populations of low
income pupils, English learners, and pupils in foster care-and
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to provide more local discretion over the use of those
dollars. Accountability for the use of those dollars is
achieved though the requirement for local education agencies
to adopt and annually revise their local control
accountability plans (LCAPs). Each LCAP must address eight
state priorities that include a mix of inputs (such as
appropriate teacher assignment and level of parental
involvement) and outputs (such as performance on academic
assessments or English learner reclassification rates). The
law also provides that schools and school districts may be
identified by county superintendents of schools and the SPI as
needing intervention and support. The state created the CCEE
to assist the state with these supports and interventions.
While much of the structure for these new requirements is set
in statute, the law also gave significant authority to the
State Board of Education (SBE) to develop regulations
governing the expenditure of funds and to develop a system of
continuous improvement for all schools. As the state was in
the middle of redesigning its accountability system, the
federal government adopted the Every Student Succeeds Act
(ESSA) in December 2015. This has presented California with
the opportunity to craft one single, coherent state-federal
system of accountability.
The SPI established the Accountability and Continuous
Improvement Task Force to advise the state in the development
of the new accountability system. The Task Force, which began
meeting in September 2015, consists of 30 members representing
a broad cross section of the education and academic
communities, as well as organizations representing parents and
other stakeholders. Children Now, the sponsor of this bill,
is represented on the Task Force.
The Task Force is in the process of preparing a final report,
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which will be presented to the SBE in May.
3)Debate over key indicators. Since January, the SBE has been
discussing how the enactment of the federal Every Student
Succeeds Act (ESSA) presents an opportunity to develop a
single coherent local, state and federal accountability and
continuous improvement system grounded on LCFF. Because the
current LCFF evaluation rubrics propose using the key
indicators to analyze performance of LEAs and schools, the SBE
has determined that the availability, reliability and
comparability of quantitative data statewide is an essential
characteristic for potential key indicators. It is not
possible to analyze performance on a statewide basis if the
underlying data is either not available at the state level or
is defined or collected inconsistently.
Some of the key indicators proposed to be added by this bill
(school climate and college and career readiness) have been
considered and denied by the SBE at this stage in the process.
The SBE found, while these indicators are important for
informed local decision making, they are not appropriate for
the current LCFF evaluation rubrics because data are not
currently collected and/or reported statewide.
According to the SBE Agenda for May 16, 2016, the SBE staff
recommendation is to adopt the following key indictors:
student test scores; progress of English learners toward
English language proficiency; high school graduation rate;
pupil achievement in grade 3 ELA and Grade 8 Math using the
state CAASPP scores; and suspension rates by grade span. Staff
also recommends the SBE develop an annual process to consider
key indicators as valid and reliable data becomes available in
the future, for example, issues such as chronic absenteeism
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and performance on science assessments. These are indicators
also included in this bill.
4)Opposition. The California Teachers Association is opposed to
this bill. The CTA states this bill is premature in its
assertion of key indicators for determination of intervention
and technical support for districts and COEs for each of the
state priority areas. They note the SBE is still in the
process of identifying key indicators and other metrics for
implementation of the LCAP rubrics. Establishing additional
requirements in legislation hinders adjustments and changes
that may be needed as the state continues to implement the
components of the statewide accountability system and align
the system to new federal policies that are also still under
development. CTA believes the process for developing an
accountability program requires time and should be deliberate
and sequential. They believe this bill would impede the
current process.
Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081