BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 750|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 750
Author: Mendoza (D)
Amended: 9/1/15
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
SENATE FLOOR: 36-0, 5/18/15
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Block, Cannella, De León,
Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill,
Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire,
Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen,
Nielsen, Pan, Roth, Runner, Stone, Vidak, Wieckowski, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill, Hall, Pavley
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 9/3/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: English language education: English learners
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," and expands the notification
requirements of the California Department of Education (CDE)
regarding these students
Assembly Amendments delete provisions relative to the State Seal
of Biliteracy, grant the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI) the authority to determine the appropriate scores for
identifying these categories of English learners on the
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Page 2
successor test to the current English language proficiency and
California English language arts standards tests, and encourages
the SPI to revisit these scores after three years of assessment
data on the successor test.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Defines a "Long-term English learner" as an English learner
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
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and schools. (EC § 313.2)
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, and
authorizes the SPI to determine the appropriate scores on
any successor English language proficiency and English
language arts standards based achievement tests for this
purpose.
c) Makes other technical grade level and testing year
corrections.
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 U.S. school enrollment
from four to five years.
c) Makes other technical grade level and testing year
corrections.
d) Authorizes the SPI to determine the appropriate scores
on any successor English language proficiency and English
language arts standards based achievement tests for the
purpose of identifying of "an English learner at risk of
becoming a long-term English learner."
3)Prohibits the exclusion of students from the report of
"long-term English learners" or "English learners at risk of
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becoming a long-term English learners" based upon an absence
of English language standards test results.
4)Encourages the SPI to revisit the determined successor test
scores for these purposes after three years of assessment data
on the successor test.
5)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" on the
department's Internet website.
Comments
1)Need for the bill. This bill attempts to address several
issues identified by the CDE around the implementation of the
Long-term English Learner statutes. The provisions of this
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 needs, weak language development
program models, inconsistent programs, social and
linguistic isolation, and other things.
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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.
3)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 10
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 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
Unknown with latest amendments.
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SUPPORT: (Verified9/3/15)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified9/3/15)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 9/3/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Jones-Sawyer
Prepared by:Kathleen Chavira / ED. / (916) 651-4105
9/3/15 19:00:52
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