BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 750|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 750
Author: Mendoza (D)
Amended: 5/12/15
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 8-0, 4/8/15
AYES: Liu, Huff, Block, Hancock, Leyva, Mendoza, Pan, Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT: English language education: English learners:
State Seal of Biliteracy
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: 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 the
California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress in
English language arts for the purpose of the State Seal of
Biliteracy (SSB), as specified.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Defines a "Long-term English learner" as an English learner
SB 750
Page 2
who meets all of the following:
a) Is enrolled in any of grades 6 to 12, inclusive.
b) Has been enrolled in schools in the United States for
more than six years.
c) Remains at the same English language proficiency level
for two or more consecutive years.
d) Scores far below basic or below basic on the adopted
English language arts standards-based achievement test.
2)Defines an "English learner at risk of becoming a long-term
English learner" as an English learner who meets all of the
following:
a) Is enrolled in any of grades 5-11 inclusive.
b) Has been enrolled in schools in the United States for
four years.
c) Scores at the intermediate level or below on the state
adopted English language proficiency test.
d) Scores at the far below basic or below basic on the
adopted English language arts standards-based achievement
test. (Education Code § 313.1)
3)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)
4)Establishes the SSB 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)
SB 750
Page 3
5)Requires high school graduates to meet all of the following
criteria to be eligible for the SSB:
a) Complete all English language arts requirements for
graduation with an overall grade point average of 2.0 or
above in those classes.
b) Pass the California Standards Test in English language
arts (ELA) administered in grade 11 at the proficient level
or above.
c) Demonstrate proficiency in one or more languages in
addition to English, through one of the following methods:
i) 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.
ii) 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.
iii) 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.
iv) Passing the Scholastic Assessment Test II foreign
language examination with a score of 600 or higher. (EC §
51461)
6)Provides that if the primary language of a pupil in any of
grades 9-12 inclusive is other than English, the student is
SB 750
Page 4
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 5a, b, and c.
This bill:
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.
c) Makes other technical grade level and testing year
corrections.
1)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 U.S. school enrollment
from four to five years.
c) Makes other technical grade level and testing year
corrections.
3)Prohibits the exclusion of students from the report of
"long-term English learners" or "English learners at risk of
becoming a long-term English learners" based upon an absence
of English language standards test results.
4)Expands the 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."
5)Authorizes the use of alternate examinations for the purpose
of the SSB. More specifically, it authorizes the use of any
of the following:
SB 750
Page 5
a) The California Standards Test in ELA administered in
grade 11 at the proficient level or above.
b) The California Assessment of Student Performance and
Progress in English language arts administered in grade 11
at a score of level 3 or higher.
c) Any equivalent score on any successor test.
Comments
1)Need for the bill. This bill attempts to address several
issues identified by the CDE around the implementation of the
SSB 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 U.S. 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
SB 750
Page 6
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.
3)State Seal of Biliteracy. The 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 of Education
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.
Existing law requires districts, charter schools and COEs to
administer field tests and pilot tests of the SBAC assessments
only in the 2013-14 school year. (Education Code § 60640)
Under existing law, one of the requirements to receive the SSB
is that a student pass the California Standards Test in 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 SSB.
4)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
SB 750
Page 7
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 CELDT to 1.4
million 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 2011-12, 16.3 percent were reclassified.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified5/12/15)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified5/12/15)
None received
Prepared by:Kathleen Chavira / ED. / (916) 651-4105
5/13/15 17:26:16
**** END ****
SB 750
Page 8