BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



           SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                              Senator Carol Liu, Chair
                                2015 - 2016  Regular 

           Bill No:             SB 369              
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           |Author:    |Block                                                |
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           |Version:   |February 24, 2015                      Hearing Date: |
           |           |    April 8, 2015                                    |
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           |Urgency:   |No                     |Fiscal:     |Yes             |
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           |Consultant:|Olgalilia Ramirez                                    |
           |           |                                                     |
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           Subject:  California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data  
           System:  pupils of military ????  families

             SUMMARY
           
           This bill requires that the Superintendent of Public  
           Instruction (SPI) add an indicator to the California  
           Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) to  
           identify pupils of military families. 

             BACKGROUND
           
           Existing law establishes the CALPADS to accomplish all of the  
           following goals: 

              1.   Provide school districts and the California Department  
                of Education (CDE) access to data necessary to comply  
                with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) reporting  
                requirements. 

              2.   Provide a better means of evaluating educational  
                progress and investments over time. 

              3.   Provide local educational agencies information that  
                can be used to improve pupil achievement. 

              4.   Provide an efficient, flexible, and secure means of  









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                maintaining longitudinal statewide pupil level data. 

              5.   Facilitate the ability of the state to publicly report  
                data required by federal law.

              6.   Ensure compliance with the federal Family Educational  
                Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).  (Education Code § 60900  
                et. seq.)

             ANALYSIS
           
           1.   This bill adds an indicator to the California  
                Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) to  
                identify pupils of military families.  More specifically,  
                this bill:

                     A.             Requires the Superintendent of Public  
                     Instruction (SPI) to add a reporting process within  
                     CALPADS requiring local education agencies (LEAs) to  
                     report the enrollment of pupils of military families  
                     on or before July 1, 2016.

                B.        Requires the California Department of Education  
                (CDE) to include an 
                     indicator for pupils of military families in  
                California Longitudinal Pupil 
                     Achievement Data System (CALPADS).             

                     C.             Provides that the data collection  
                     pursuant to this requirement shall be used to  
                     compile reports required by the federal No Child  
                     Left Behind Act (NCLB), including, but not limited  
                     to, dropout and graduation rates. 

                     D.             Provides that upon implementation of  
                     this bill, the CDE is not subject to the penalty  
                     contained in provision 16 of Item 6110-001-0890 of  
                     the 2015 Budget Act.

                     E.             Defines "pupils of military families"  
                     to mean pupils whose parent or legal guardian is an  
                     active duty member of the Armed Forces of the United  
                     States. 









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                     F.             Identifies the bill as potentially  
                     creating unfunded state reimbursable mandated costs.  

            
           STAFF COMMENTS

              1.   Need for this bill. More than 60,000 school-aged  
                children of active duty service members attend California  
                schools.  However, there is no method for identify this  
                student group or tracking their academic progress in  
                school.  According to the author, creating an indicator  
                will help determine school attendance and educational  
                outcomes, as well as assist districts in identifying the  
                needs of military children including additional  
                counseling and academic services relative to the  
                deployment or relocation of a parent.
           
              2.   What currently exists?  According to the Marine Corps  
                Installations West, 
           there are approximately 13 school districts currently  
           identifying military students within their local data systems.  
            These districts include: Travis Unified, San Diego Unified,  
           South Bay Unified, Murrieta Valley Unified, Coronado Unified,  
           Lakeside Union, Santee, La Mesa/Spring Valley, Lemon Grove,  
           Chula Vista Elementary, Poway Unified, Los Angeles Unified,  
           and Sweetwater Union High.  It is unclear if any of the  
           remaining school districts identify military children using  
           internal resources. 
           
              3.   California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System  
                (CALPADS).  The CALPADS was created to enable California  
                to meet federal requirements delineated in the NCLB Act  
                2001, which increases accountability for student  
                achievement.  CALPADs has been operational since 2009 and  
                contains information on student demographics, program  
                participation, grade level, enrollment, course enrollment  
                and completion, discipline, and statewide assessment  
                data. 
                
                The student level, longitudinal data in California  
                Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS)  
                enables the facilitation of program evaluation, the  
                assessment of student achievement over time, the  
                calculation of more accurate dropout and graduation  








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                rates, the efficient creation of reports to meet state  
                and federal reporting requirements, and the ability to  
                create ad hoc reports and responses to relevant  
                questions.  CALPADS provides local educational agencies  
                (LEAs) with access to longitudinal data and reports on  
                their own students, and it gives LEAs immediate access to  
                information on new students, enabling the LEAs to place  
                students appropriately and to determine whether an  
                assessment is necessary.

              4.   Budget prohibits additional data elements.  A  
                provision in the 2015 Budget Act, as a condition of  
                receiving funds, prohibits CDE from adding data elements  
                to California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System  
                (CALPADS), as specified. This bill includes a provision  
                to preclude California Department of Education (CDE) from  
                being subject to this penalty. 

              5.   Prior legislation. 
                
                AB 2341 (Quirk-Silva, 2014) identical to SB 369, would  
                have added an indicator to CALPADS to identify pupils of  
                military families. The bill was held in Senate  
                Appropriations Committee Suspense file. 
           
             SUPPORT
           
           American Legion - Department of California
           AMVETS - Department of California
           Department of Defense, Military Community and Family Policy 
           Military Officers Association of America, California Council  
           of Chapters
           United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps Installations West
           United States Navy, Navy Region Southwest 
           Vietnam Veterans of America - California State Council
             
           OPPOSITION
            
            None received. 

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