BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 409
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|Author: |De León |
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|Version: |April 9, 2015 Hearing |
| |Date: April 29, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Kathleen Chavira |
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Subject: English learners: reclassification
SUMMARY
This bill modifies the reporting requirements established by SB
1108 (Padilla, Chapter 434, Statues of 2012) regarding the
reclassification of English learners to align them with the
newly adopted Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), the eight
state priorities and Local Control Accountability Plan
requirements and establishes a new due date for the report of
January 1, 2017.
BACKGROUND
Existing federal and State law require that each school district
with English language learners annually assess these students'
English language development until they are redesignated as
English proficient. The assessment, the California English
Language Development Test (CELDT), must be administered to all
students whose primary language is not English within 30
calendar days after they are enrolled in a California public
school for the first time, and annually thereafter during a
period of time determined by the Superintendent of Public
Instruction and the State Board of Education (SBE) until they
are reclassified as fluent English proficient.
Existing law requires the California Department of Education
(CDE), with the approval of the State Board of Education (SBE),
to establish procedures for conducting the CELDT and for the
reclassification of a pupil from English learner to English
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proficient. Current law requires the reclassification
procedures developed by the CDE to use multiple criteria,
including, but not limited to, all of the following:
1. An assessment of language proficiency.
2. Teacher evaluation, including, but not limited to, a
review of the pupil's curriculum mastery.
3. Parental opinion and consultation.
4. Comparison of the student's performance in basic skills
against an empirically established range of performance in
basic skills based upon the performance of English
proficient pupils of the same age that demonstrates whether
the pupil is sufficiently proficient in English to
participate effectively in a curriculum designed for pupils
of the same age whose native language is English.
(Education Code § 313)
Existing law, enacted by SB 1108 (Padilla, Chapter 434, Statues
of 2012), requires the California Department of Education (CDE),
if state federal or private funds are provided for this purpose,
to review and analyze the criteria, policies and practices that
school districts use to reclassify English learners and to
recommend any policy changes necessary to identify when English
learners are prepared for reclassification. The CDE was
required to issue a report of its findings, research, analysis,
recommendations, and best practices by January 1, 2014, and by
January 1, 2017, to issue an updated report that reflects
changes in the analysis and recommendations as the result of the
adoption of the common core standards and in the adoption of a
common core standards aligned English language development test.
(Education Code § 313.5)
ANALYSIS
This bill modifies the reporting requirements established by SB
1108 (Padilla, Chapter 434, Statues of 2012). Specifically it:
1. Changes the due date of the report from January 1, 2014 to
January 1, 2017.
2. Expands the reporting requirements to additionally require
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the review and analysis of the reclassification activities
used by a sampling of districts to meet the eight state
priorities in their local control accountability plans
(LCAPS) in relation to the education of English learners.
3. Deletes the requirement that the CDE report to the State
Board of Education regarding guidelines, regulatory or
statutory changes necessary to identify when English
learners are ready to be reclassified and instead requires
the CDE to recommend any policy changes regarding
reclassification of English learners to the Legislature.
4. Updates reporting requirements to include a reference to
the newly adopted common core aligned English language
development standards.
5. Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to
additionally:
A. Report on how implementation of the
eight state priorities in the districts' LCAPs
supports the transition of English learners to
classrooms and curricula that require English
proficiency.
B. Examine and report on the extent to
which school districts are following the guidelines
and regulations established by the State Board of
Education for implementation of their LCAPs.
C. Identify pupil outcome measures related
to meeting the eight state priorities, as related to
the education of English language learners that
indicate an English learner is prepared to
successfully transition in classes and curricula that
require English proficiency.
STAFF COMMENTS
1. Need for the bill. As of April 23, 2015, the California
Department of Education (CDE) has failed to issue the
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report required as a result of the enactment of SB 1108
(Padilla, Chapter 434, Statues of 2012). This bill
proposes to establish a new due date and align the
requirements of the report on best practices regarding the
instruction of English learner (EL) pupils in California
schools with the newly adopted funding model, state
priorities and local control accountability plans (LCAPS)
requirements.
With the passage of Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF),
school districts are required to meet eight state
priorities for all students, with particular emphasis on
English learner and low-income pupils. Under the LCFF,
local educational agencies will receive between $1400 and
$1700 in supplemental grant funding per English learner
pupil, which is four times the amount received previously,
making it important to understand how school districts are
meeting the state priorities for these students.
The author is concerned that the longer an English learner
remains in English language development-only classes, the
greater the limits to their ability to access a full
curriculum and A-G coursework, both predictors of college
readiness. The author cites recent data that indicates that
25 percent of English learners drop out of school and only
60 percent graduate from high school within four years.
According to the author, given the significant number of
English learners in California's public schools, their
academic performance directly impacts the future economic
success of the state.
2. Recent related report. In January 2014, the Public Policy
Institute of California (PPIC) issued a report,
Reclassification of English Learners in California Schools,
which provided a longitudinal analysis of the transition
from English learner to Reclassified Fluent English
Proficient (RFEP) in California school districts.
According to the report:
A. Reclassified Fluent English Proficient (RFEP)
students not only outperform English learner students,
but also often do as well as native English speakers
when it comes to measures of academic outcomes, such
as standardized tests and on-time grade progression.
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B. A survey of school districts indicates that more
than 90 percent of responding districts report using
more demanding reclassification criteria than are
suggested by the State Board of Education (SBE)
guidelines.
C. Districts using more stringent reclassification
criteria have lower reclassification rates. However,
using stricter criteria is also associated with
slightly better outcomes (in terms of ongoing language
proficiency, for example) for RFEP students. Stricter
criteria are also associated with a greater likelihood
of on-time grade progress among students reclassified
in the 8th grade.
1. California Department of Education (CDE) compliance. In
response to the requirements of SB 1108 (2012), the CDE
entered a memorandum of understanding with the Public
Policy Institute of California (PPIC) to provide data from
the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System
for purposes of their analysis of reclassification
practices in California school districts. While the CDE
anticipated that the PPIC report noted in staff comment #2
might assist in meeting the requirements of the
legislation, the CDE believes that the scope of the report
did not fulfill the statutory requirements outlined in SB
1108 and the research and analysis were not aligned with
the information necessary for the CDE to make
recommendations or identify best practices regarding the
reclassification of English learners. According to the
CDE, conducting the comprehensive study envisioned by the
bill requires additional resources. Staff notes that
although the CDE requested funding through the budget
process to conduct the more extensive research and analysis
envisioned by SB 1108 (2012), no such funding was proposed
in the 2014-15 Budget.
In addition, SB 1108 (Padilla, 2014) proposed an extension of
the deadline for the CDE to issue its report and added
Reclassified Fluent English Proficient (RFEPs) as a numerically
significant pupil subgroup for the purposes of the Academic
Performance Index (API). SB 1108 was heard and passed by this
Committee in March 2014 by a vote of 9-0, but was subsequently
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held under submission in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
2. English learners and reclassification. According to the
CDE, in the 2013-14 school year there were approximately
1.4 million English learners in California public schools,
constituting 22.7 percent of the total enrollment. In
2012-13 and 2013-14, approximately 12 percent of English
learners were reclassified as English proficient. Prior to
that approximately 11 percent of English learners were
annually reclassified, with the notable exception that in
2011-12, 16.3 percent were reclassified.
Although English learner data is collected for 60 language
groups, 95 percent speak one of the top ten languages in the
state, which include Spanish (84.24 percent), Vietnamese,
Pilipino (Filipino or Tagalog), Cantonese, Mandarin, Arabic,
Hmong, Korean, Punjabi, and Russian. Research shows that
reclassification rates are lower among Spanish-speaking and
low-income students. In 2004, the proportion of Spanish-speaking
students reclassified by 4th grade in California was roughly
two-thirds that of non-Spanish speaking English learners.
California does not have a uniform standard for
reclassifying English learner pupils. Instead, the State
Board of Education has issued guidelines to school
districts recommending the metrics/information a district
uses when making this decision. No comprehensive
information is available on what criteria are currently
utilized by school districts, whether districts follow the
guidelines issued by the State Board, or whether the
reclassification criteria utilized have any relationship to
the successful transition of English learners into
classrooms and curricula that require English proficiency.
It appears that districts use a variety of criteria for
determining whether or not to reclassify a student.
SUPPORT
California Teachers Association
Californians Together
Public Advocates
OPPOSITION
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None received.
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