BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 409 (De León) - English learners: reclassification.
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|Version: April 9, 2015 |Policy Vote: ED. 7 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: May 18, 2015 |Consultant: Jillian Kissee |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
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 and accountability plan
requirements, and establishes a new due date for the report of
January 1, 2017.
Fiscal
Impact:
The California Department of Education (CDE) indicates
that this bill will require approximately $1.3 million
General Fund over three years. This estimate includes
one-time contract costs of $500,000 for the initial report
due January 1, 2017 and another $500,000 for a contract to
complete the updated report due January 1, 2018. The rest
of the funds would be used to convene a group of experts
and for CDE staff to conduct work related to the contract
SB 409 (De León) Page 1 of
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process and monitoring, travel costs, and coordination of
the reports.
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 CDE, with the approval of the SBE, to
establish procedures for conducting the CELDT and for the
reclassification of a pupil from English learner to English
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 student'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 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
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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)
Proposed Law:
This bill requires that by January 1, 2017, the CDE (1)
contract with an outside organization to review and analyze the
criteria, policies, and practices that a representative sample
of school districts use in the state to reclassify English
learners and to meet the eight state priorities related to
English learners and (2) recommend to the Legislature any policy
changes that the it determines are necessary to identify when
English learners are prepared for the successful transition to
classrooms and curricula that require English proficiency and
how implementation of the eight state priorities support this
transition.
In conducting its review, the CDE is required to consult with a
number of experts in the education of English learners. This
group of experts is required to develop a study design that may
include a sampling methodology for purposes of selecting the
sample of school districts to use in the study.
This bill requires the CDE to examine and report on the
following:
1. The practices and standards used by a sampling of school
districts to meet the four reclassification criteria;
2. The extent to which school districts are following the
guidelines established by the SBE and the regulations for
implementation of the local control and accountability
plans; and
3. The range of reclassification criteria developed by
school districts.
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In addition, CDE is required to analyze the following data:
English language proficiency and academic performance
data;
The relationship of the reclassification criteria to
reclassification rates;
The academic performance of students after
reclassification as English proficient;
The relationship of the reclassification criteria to the
academic performance of
students after reclassification;
Information on English learner achievement as described
in the local control and accountability plan developed by
school districts; and
Any other student outcomes measures that indicate an
English learner is prepared to successfully transition to a
classroom and curricula that require proficiency.
This bill requires that by January 1, 2017, the CDE issue a
report that includes its findings, research, analysis,
recommendations, and best practices. The CDE is required to
issue an updated report by January 1, 2018 that reflects any
changes in analysis and recommendations as a result of the
adoption by the SBE of the common core standards and English
language development standards.
Finally, this bill requires that it be implemented only if state
or federal funds are appropriated to fully fund its activities
or if private funds are made available.
Related
Legislation:1. 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 failed passage of this committee.
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