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 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Education |Vote:|5 - 0 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 AB 2548 Page 2 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. AB 2548 Page 3 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 AB 2548 Page 4 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 AB 2548 Page 5 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, AB 2548 Page 6 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 AB 2548 Page 7 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