BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 359
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 19, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
SB 359
(Mitchell) - As Amended August 17, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill creates the California Mathematics Placement Act of
2015 to require school boards or governing bodies of local
education agencies (LEAs) serving pupils entering grade 9, and
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that have not adopted a fair, objective, and transparent
mathematics placement policy as of January 1, 2016, to develop
and adopt a math placement policy. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires new math placement policies for pupils entering 9th
grade to be adopted in a regularly scheduled public meeting
and requires the policy to be a fair, objective, and
transparent.
2)Requires placement policies adopted pursuant to this bill to
do the following:
a) Systematically take multiple objective academic measures
of pupil performance into consideration. For purposes of
this paragraph, "objective academic measures" means
measures, such as statewide mathematics assessments,
including interim and summative assessments, placement
tests that are aligned to state-adopted content standards
in mathematics, classroom assignment and grades, and report
cards.
b) Include at least one placement checkpoint within the
first month of the school year to ensure accurate placement
and permit reevaluation of individual pupil progress.
c) Require examination of aggregate pupil placement data
annually to ensure that pupils who are qualified to
progress in mathematics courses based on their performance
on objective academic are not held back in a
disproportionate manner on the basis of their race,
ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic background. The LEA's
required to report the aggregate results of this
examination to the governing board or body of the LEA.
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d) Offer clear and timely recourse for each pupil and his
or her parent or legal guardian who questions the pupil's
placement.
e) For nonunified school districts, addresses the
consistency of mathematics placement policies between
elementary and high school districts.
3)Authorizes governing boards serving pupils who are
transitioning between elementary and middle school or
elementary and junior high school to develop and implement a
mathematics placement policy.
4)Requires each governing board to ensure the LEAs mathematics
placement policy is posted on its Internet Web site.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Unknown Proposition 98/GF state mandated costs, likely in the
low millions, for LEAs without a mathematics placement policy to
develop and implement one in accordance with the requirements of
this bill. Costs to the state would depend on the number of
LEAs that would be required to develop a placement policy. For
illustration, assuming roughly half of all school districts,
COEs, and charter schools serving students entering 9th grade
were required to implement a policy, statewide costs would range
from $2.8 million to $5.8 million. This assumes average LEA
administrative costs in the range of $4,000 to $8,000 per LEA.
COMMENTS:
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1)Purpose. This bill is in part a response to a 2010 study by
the Noyce Foundation which examined the math placement
practices of nine school districts and their effect on 1,700
students. The study found:
Nearly 65% of students who were placed in Algebra in 8th
grade were placed in Algebra again in 9th grade.
46% of 8th grade Algebra students who earned a grade of
B- or better were placed in Algebra again in 9th grade, or
dropped to a less advanced course.
45% of 8th grade Algebra students who met or exceeded
standards on standardized assessments (California Standards
Test or the formative Mathematics Assessment Resource
Service assessments) were placed in Algebra again in 9th
grade.
Nearly half of the students who were successful in
Algebra in the eighth grade and who were placed again in
Algebra in ninth grade were no more successful in their
second experience.
Current law is silent with regard to mathematics placement
policies and practices. The state's Mathematics Framework
states: "Most districts typically rely on teacher
recommendations and course grades to determine course
placement, with standardized mathematics test scores,
student/parent preferences, and counselor recommendations also
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factoring into the decision. Teacher and counselor placement
recommendations include subjective judgments about students'
personalities, behavior and motivation in addition to test
score performance."
This bill seeks to ensure LEAs have fair, objective, and
transparent mathematics placement policy so that students are
promoted to the next mathematics class based on an unbiased
decision process.
1)Timing of policy adoption. This bill requires governing boards
serving pupils entering grade 9 that have not adopted a fair,
objective, and transparent mathematics placement policy as of
January 1, 2016, to develop and adopt a policy. The bill does
not, however, state when the policy shall be adopted. The
committee may wish to consider amending the bill to require
policies to be adopted within a certain timeline.
Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081