BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 750
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|Author: |Mendoza |
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|Version: |February 27, 2015 Hearing Date: |
| | April 8, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Kathleen Chavira |
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Subject: English language education: English learners:
State Seal of Biliteracy
SUMMARY
This bill modifies the definitions of a "long-term English
learner" and "an English learner at risk of becoming a
long-term English learner," expands the notification
requirements of the California Department of Education (CDE)
regarding these students, and authorizes the use of alternate
assessments for the purpose of the State Seal of Biliteracy
(SSB), as specified.
BACKGROUND
Existing law defines a "Long-term English learner" as an
English learner who meets all of the following:
1. Is enrolled in any of grades 6 to 12, inclusive.
2. Has been enrolled in schools in the United States for
more than six years.
3. Remains at the same English language proficiency level
for two or more consecutive years.
4. Scores far below basic or below basic on the adopted
SB 750 (Mendoza) Page 2 of ?
English language arts standards-based achievement test.
Existing law defines an "English learner at risk of becoming a
long-term English learner" as an English learner who meets all
of the following:
1. Is enrolled in any of grades 5-11 inclusive.
2. Has been enrolled in schools in the United States for
4 years.
3. Scores at the intermediate level or below on the state
adopted English language proficiency test.
4. Scores at the far below basic or below basic on the
adopted English language arts standards-based achievement
test. (Education Code § 313.1)
Existing law requires that the CDE annually ascertain and
report the number of students who are, or are at risk of
becoming, long-term English learners and to provide this
information to districts and schools. (EC § 313.2)
Existing law establishes the State Seal of Biliteracy which
provides recognition to high school students who have
demonstrated proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing in
one or more languages in addition to English. Each school
district, county office of education (COE), or direct-funded
charter school that confers the SSB is required to maintain
appropriate records in order to identify students who have met
the established criteria for the award and to affix the SSB
insignia to the diploma or transcript of each qualifying
student. (EC § 51460)
Current law requires high school graduates to meet all of the
following criteria to be eligible for the SSB:
1. Complete all English language arts requirements for
graduation with an overall grade point average of 2.0 or
above in those classes.
2. Pass the California Standards Test in English language
arts administered in grade 11 at the proficient level or
above.
SB 750 (Mendoza) Page 3 of ?
3. Demonstrate proficiency in one or more languages in
addition to English, through one of the following
methods:
A. Pass a foreign language Advanced Placement
(AP) examination with a score of 3 or higher or an
International Baccalaureate examination with a score
or 4 or higher.
B. Successfully complete a four-year high
school course of study in a foreign (world)
language, and attain an overall grade point average
of 3.0 or above in that course of study.
C. Pass a school district language examination
that, at a minimum, assesses speaking, reading, and
writing in a language other than English at the
proficient level or higher, if no AP examination or
off-the-shelf language test exists, and the school
district can certify to the State Superintendent of
Public Instruction (SSPI) that the test meets the
rigor of a four-year high school course of study in
that foreign (world) language. If a school district
offers an examination in a language in which an AP
examination or off-the-shelf language test does
exist, the school district language examination must
be approved by the SSPI for the purpose of
determining proficiency in a language other than
English.
D. Passing the Scholastic Assessment Test II
foreign language examination with a score of 600 or
higher. (EC § 51461)
If the primary language of a pupil in any of grades 9-12
inclusive is other than English, the student is also required
to attain the early advanced proficiency level on the
California English Language Development Test (CELDT) as well
as meet criteria listed above in 1, 2, and 3.
ANALYSIS
This bill:
SB 750 (Mendoza) Page 4 of ?
1. Expands the definition of a "long term English learner."
More specifically it:
A. Includes students who have been
enrolled in school for six years or more (rather
than more than six years).
B. Includes students who have regressed
to a lower English language proficiency level, if
these students also score far below basic or below
basic on the state adopted English language arts
standards-based achievement test.
2. Expands the definition of "an English learner at risk of
becoming a long-term English learner." More specifically
it:
A. Expands the grade level of students
who could be so classified from grades 5-11 to
grades 3-12.
B. Expands the number of years of US
school enrollment from 4 to 5 years.
3. Expands the California Department of Education (CDE)
notice requirements to include the posting of the
statewide number of "long term English learners" and
"English learners at risk of becoming long-term."
4. Authorizes the use of alternate criteria for the purpose
of the State Seal of Biliteracy. More specifically it:
A. Requires the Superintednet of Public
Instruction (SPI) to designate alternative
equivalent criteria for eligibility for the State
Seal of Biliteracy in the event that scores from the
California Standards Test in English language arts
or its successor are not available.
B. Requires the use of the alternative
criteria only while the assessment scores are
unavailable.
SB 750 (Mendoza) Page 5 of ?
STAFF COMMENTS
1. Need for the bill. According to the author this bill
attempts to address several issues identified by the
California Department of Education around the
implementation of the State Seal of Biliteracy and Long
term English Learner statutes. Respectively, the
provisions of the bill are intended to update testing
requirements to reflect newly adopted state standards and
assessments and align the statute with data reporting
timelines.
2. Long-term English Learners. A 2010 report by
Californians Together, Reparable Harm: Fulfilling the
Unkept Promise of Educational Opportunity for
California's Long-Term English Learners, presented survey
data collected from 40 school districts. Major findings
of the survey included the following:
A. The majority (59%) of secondary school English
learners are "Long Term English Learners" (defined
as being in US schools for more than six years
without sufficient English proficiency to be
reclassified).
B. California school districts that do not have a
shared definition of "Long-term English learners."
C. Several contributing factors include; no
receipt of language development programs, being
given elementary school curricula and materials that
were not designed to meet English Learner (EL)
needs, weak language development program models,
inconsistent programs, social and linguistic
isolation and other things.
D. Few districts have designated programs or
formal approaches designed for "Long Term English
Learners."
In 2012 the Legislature enacted statute to begin the
process of identifying "long-term English learners to
ensure that they do not become "invisible" and do no fall
through the cracks regarding instruction.
SB 750 (Mendoza) Page 6 of ?
3. State Seal of Biliteracy. The State Seal of Biliteracy
(SSB), established by AB 815 (Brownley, Chapter 618,
Statutes of 2011) became effective January 1, 2012.
According to the author, in June of 2014, 217 local
educational agencies provided 24,655 awards, more than
double the number of seals awarded in the first year of
implementation (2012).
In 2011, California joined the Smarter Balanced
Assessment Consortium (SBAC) as a governing state for the
purpose of developing assessments that are aligned to the
common core standards, which were adopted by the State
Board on August 2010. As a condition of becoming a
governing member state, California committed to
administering the SBAC assessments to pupils beginning in
the 2014-15 school year. Current law requires districts,
charter schools and county offices of education to
administer field tests and pilot tests of the SBAC
assessments only in the 2013-14 school year. (Education
Code § 60640)
As noted in the background of this analysis, one of the
requirements to receive the SSB is that a student pass
the California Standards Test in English language arts
(ELA) administered in grade 11 at the proficient level or
above. This bill is attempting to ensure that any new
state adopted standards aligned English language arts
test can be used for the purposes of the State Seal of
Biliteracy.
As drafted, the bill could be interpreted to allow for
the use of any criteria deemed to be equivalent for this
purpose. In addition to potentially diluting the value
of the State Seal of Biliteracy by use of an inconsistent
and potentially, non-objective assessment of English
proficiency, pursuant to Education Code 60640, the CDE
reports that it has already identified both the new
assessment and the equivalent level of proficiency.
Staff recommends the bill be amended on Page 4 to delete
lines 15-20 and to insert, "Scoring a level 3 or higher
on the California Assessment of Student Performance and
Progress in English language arts administered in grade
SB 750 (Mendoza) Page 7 of ?
11 pursuant to Section 60640, or an equivalent score on
any successor test."
4. Technical amendments. In order to accommodate data
reporting timelines, the California Department of
Education (CDE) has requested technical amendments to
ensure a more accurate report of the number of long-term
English learners students. Staff recommends the bill be
amended to reflect the technical clarifications requested
by the CDE by inserting "Students for which the required
testing results are not available will not have that
criteria applied and the student will not be excluded
based upon that criteria."
5. English learners. The CDE provides the following
information on English learners in California's public
schools:
A. 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.
B. 73 percent of English learners are enrolled
in the elementary grades (K-6) with the remaining 27
percent enrolled in grades 7-12.
C. 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.
D. During 2013-14 the CDE administered the
California English Language Development Test (CELDT)
to 1.4million students, 1.15 million of whom were
tested under the annual assessment window.
E. 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
SB 750 (Mendoza) Page 8 of ?
2011-12, 16.3 percent were reclassified.
1. Related and prior Legislation. AB 2303 (Bloom, 2014),
among other things, authorized the use of alternate
assessments for the purpose of the State Seal of
Biliteracy. AB 2303 passed this Committee by a vote of
5-1 but was subsequently held under submission in the
Senate Appropriations Committee.
SUPPORT
California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE)
California Language Teachers Association
Californians Together
Public Advocates
Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson
OPPOSITION
None received.
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