BILL NUMBER: SB 1632 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 996
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 29, 2000
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 31, 2000
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 31, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 29, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 25, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 7, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 26, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 30, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 3, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 27, 2000
INTRODUCED BY Senators Poochigian, Hayden, and Alpert
(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Lempert and Mazzoni)
(Coauthors: Senators Costa, Haynes, McPherson, and Murray)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Ashburn, Bates, Battin, Briggs,
Dickerson, Firebaugh, Oller, Strickland, Strom-Martin, and Zettel)
FEBRUARY 22, 2000
An act to amend Section 33126 of, and to add Sections 33126.1 and
33126.2 to, the Education Code, relating to education, making an
appropriation therefor, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take
effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1632, Poochigian. Education resources.
(1) Existing law, the Classroom Instructional Improvement and
Accountability Act, requires a school accountability report card to
include certain assessments of school conditions.
This bill would require the State Department of Education to
develop and recommend for adoption a standardized template for the
school accountability report card, as specified, and definitions for
the elements required to be included in the school accountability
report card.
The bill would require the State Department of Education to
annually post the viewable template on the Internet. The bill would
require that the template be designed so that it can be downloaded
and data may be entered electronically by schools or districts.
The bill would also require the Secretary for Education to review
the data elements provided by school districts via the school
accountability report card to determine the extent to which the data
elements may be incorporated into the Academic Performance Index.
The bill would authorize the Superintendent of Public Instruction to
recommend additional data elements for inclusion in the Academic
Performance Index to be included, as specified.
(2) The bill would appropriate $330,000 from the General Fund to
the Superintendent of Public Instruction according to a specified
schedule.
(3) The bill would state that the Legislature finds and declares
that the bill furthers the purposes of the Classroom Instructional
Improvement and Accountability Act.
(4) The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.
Appropriation: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature to make the school
accountability report card a more effective tool for providing public
information by achieving all of the following:
(a) Providing consistent definitions and format for reporting
data.
(b) Providing that the school accountability report card becomes a
meaningful tool to understand the rating of a school by the academic
performance index pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section
52051) of Chapter 6.1 of Part 28 of the Education Code by including
all of the components of measurement employed by the academic
performance index, including subgroup comparisons as defined by the
Public Schools Accountability Act Advisory Committee pursuant to
Section 52052.5 of the Education Code.
(c) Providing that the school accountability report card includes
comparative information that, when possible, enables a reader to
compare a particular school to other schools in the same district and
to schools in other districts in the state, to compare the district
of a particular school to other school districts, and to compare a
particular school or district to a statewide average for the same.
(d) Ease the burden on schools of collecting and reporting data.
(e) Standardize the definitions on the school accountability
report card to be consistent with the definitions already in place or
under development at the state level with definitions pursuant to
the academic performance index superseding conflicting definitions.
(f) Protect the personalized descriptive aspect of the report card
by providing space on the model report card and suggesting its use
to encourage districts to continue to provide descriptive
information.
SEC. 2. Section 33126 of the Education Code is amended to read:
33126. (a) The school accountability report card shall provide
data by which parents can make meaningful comparisons between public
schools enabling them to make informed decisions on which school to
enroll their children.
(b) The school accountability report card shall include, but is
not limited to, assessment of the following school conditions:
(1) (A) Pupil achievement by grade level, as measured by the
standardized testing and reporting programs pursuant to Article 4
(commencing with Section 60640) of Chapter 5 of Part 33.
(B) Pupil achievement in and progress toward meeting reading,
writing, arithmetic, and other academic goals, including results by
grade level from the assessment tool used by the school district
using percentiles when available for the most recent three-year
period.
(C) After the state develops a statewide assessment system
pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 60600) and Chapter 6
(commencing with Section 60800) of Part 33, pupil achievement by
grade level, as measured by the results of the statewide assessment.
(D) Secondary schools with high school seniors shall list both the
average verbal and math Scholastic Assessment Test scores to the
extent provided to the school and the percentage of seniors taking
that exam for the most recent three-year period.
(2) Progress toward reducing dropout rates, including the one-year
dropout rate listed in the California Basic Education Data System or
any successor data system for the schoolsite over the most recent
three-year period, and the graduation rate, as defined by the State
Board of Education, over the most recent three-year period when
available pursuant to Section 52052.
(3) Estimated expenditures per pupil and types of services funded.
(4) Progress toward reducing class sizes and teaching loads,
including the distribution of class sizes at the schoolsite by grade
level, the average class size, and, if applicable, the percentage of
pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive, participating in
the Class Size Reduction Program established pursuant to Chapter
6.10 (commencing with Section 52120) of Part 28, using California
Basic Education Data System or any successor data system information
for the most recent three-year period.
(5) The total number of the school's fully credentialed teachers,
the number of teachers relying upon emergency credentials, the number
of teachers working without credentials, and any assignment of
teachers outside their subject areas of competence for the most
recent three-year period.
(6) Quality and currency of textbooks and other instructional
materials, including whether textbooks and other materials meet state
standards and have been adopted by the State Board of Education for
kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, and adopted by the
governing boards of school districts for grades 9 to 12, inclusive,
and the ratio of textbooks per pupil and the year the textbooks were
adopted.
(7) The availability of qualified personnel to provide counseling
and other pupil support services, including the ratio of academic
counselors per pupil.
(8) Availability of qualified substitute teachers.
(9) Safety, cleanliness, and adequacy of school facilities.
(10) Adequacy of teacher evaluations and opportunities for
professional improvement, including the annual number of schooldays
dedicated to staff development for the most recent three-year period.
(11) Classroom discipline and climate for learning, including
suspension and expulsion rates for the most recent three-year period.
(12) Teacher and staff training, and curriculum improvement
programs.
(13) Quality of school instruction and leadership.
(14) The degree to which pupils are prepared to enter the
workforce.
(15) The total number of instructional minutes offered in the
school year, separately stated for each grade level, as compared to
the total number of the instructional minutes per school year
required by state law, separately stated for each grade level.
(16) The total number of minimum days, as specified in Sections
46112, 46113, 46117, and 46141, in the school year.
(17) The number of advanced placement courses offered, by subject.
(18) The Academic Performance Index, including the disaggregation
of subgroups as set forth in Section 52052 and the decile rankings
and a comparison of schools.
(19) Whether a school qualified for the Immediate Intervention
Underperforming Schools Program pursuant to Section 52053 and whether
the school applied for, and received a grant pursuant to, that
program.
(20) Whether the school qualifies for the Governor's Performance
Award Program.
(21) When available, the percentage of pupils, including the
disaggregation of subgroups as set forth in Section 52052, completing
grade 12 who successfully complete the high school exit examination,
as set forth in Sections 60850 and 60851, as compared to the
percentage of pupils in the district and statewide completing grade
12 who successfully complete the examination.
(22) Contact information pertaining to any organized opportunities
for parental involvement.
(23) For secondary schools, the percentage of graduates who have
passed course requirements for entrance to the University of
California and the California State University pursuant to Section
51225.3 and the percentage of pupils enrolled in those courses, as
reported by the California Basic Education Data System or any
successor data system.
(24) Whether the school has a college admission test preparation
course program.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that schools make a
concerted effort to notify parents of the purpose of the school
accountability report cards, as described in this section, and ensure
that all parents receive a copy of the report card; to ensure that
the report cards are easy to read and understandable by parents; to
ensure that local educational agencies with access to the Internet
make available current copies of the report cards through the
Internet; and to ensure that administrators and teachers are
available to answer any questions regarding the report cards.
SEC. 3. Section 33126.1 is added to the Education Code, to read:
33126.1. (a) The State Department of Education shall develop and
recommend for adoption by the State Board of Education a standardized
template intended to simplify the process for completing the school
accountability report card and make the school accountability report
card more meaningful to the public.
(b) The standardized template shall include fields for the
insertion of data and information by the State Department of
Education and by local educational agencies. When the template for a
school is completed, it should enable parents and guardians to
compare how local schools compare to other schools within that
district as well as other schools in the state.
(c) In conjunction with the development of the standardized
template, the State Department of Education shall furnish standard
definitions for school conditions included in the school
accountability report card. The standard definitions shall comply
with the following:
(1) Definitions shall be consistent with the definitions already
in place or under the development at the state level pursuant to
existing law.
(2) Definitions shall enable schools to furnish contextual or
comparative information to assist the public in understanding the
information in relation to the performance of other schools.
(3) Definitions shall specify the data for which the State
Department of Education will be responsible for providing and the
data and information for which the local educational agencies will be
responsible.
(d) By December 1, 2000, the State Department of Education shall
report to the State Board of Education on the school conditions for
which it already has standard definitions in place or under
development. The report shall include a survey of the conditions for
which the State Department of Education has valid and reliable data
at the state, district, or school level. The report shall provide a
timetable for the inclusion of conditions for which standard
definitions or valid and reliable data do not yet exist through the
State Department of Education.
(e) By December 1, 2000, the Superintendent of Public Instruction
shall recommend and the State Board of Education shall appoint 13
members to serve on a broad-based advisory committee of local
administrators, educators, parents, and other knowledgeable parties
to develop definitions for the school conditions for which standard
definitions do not yet exist. The State Board of Education may
designate outside experts in performance measurements in support of
activities of the advisory board.
(f) By January 1, 2001, the State Board of Education shall approve
available definitions for inclusion in the template as well as a
timetable for the further development of definitions and data
collection procedures. By July 1, 2001, and each year thereafter,
the State Board of Education shall adopt the template for the current
year's school accountability report card. Definitions for all
school conditions shall be included in the template by July 1, 2002.
(g) The State Department of Education shall annually post the
completed and viewable template on the Internet. The template shall
be designed to allow schools or districts to download the template
from the Internet. The template shall further be designed to allow
local educational agencies, including individual schools, to enter
data into the school accountability report card electronically,
individualize the report card, and further describe the data
elements. The State Department of Education shall establish model
guidelines and safeguards that may be used by school districts
secured access only for those school officials authorized to make
modifications.
(i) The State Department of Education shall maintain current
Internet links with the web sites of local educational agencies to
provide parents and the public with easy access to the school
accountability report cards maintained on the Internet. In order to
ensure the currency of these Internet links, local educational
agencies that provide access to school accountability report cards
through the Internet shall furnish current Uniform Resource Locators
for their web sites to the State Department of Education.
(j) A school or school district that chooses not to utilize the
standardized template adopted pursuant to this section shall report
the data for its school accountability report card in a manner that
is consistent with the definitions adopted pursuant to subdivision
(c) of this section.
(k) The State Department of Education shall provide
recommendations for changes to the California Basic Education Data
System, or any successor data system, and other data collection
mechanisms to ensure that the information will be preserved and
available in the future.
(l) Local educational agencies shall make these school
accountability report cards available through the Internet or through
paper copies.
(m) The State Department of Education shall monitor the compliance
of local educational agencies with the requirements to prepare and
to distribute school accountability report cards.
SEC. 4. Section 33126.2 is added to the Education Code, to read:
33126.2. (a) The Secretary for Education, as part of the study
conducted pursuant to Provision 2 of Item 0650-011-0001 of Section
2.00 of the Budget Act of 2000, shall review the data elements
provided by school districts via their school accountability report
cards to determine to what extent these data elements may be
incorporated into the Academic Performance Index, as established by
Section 52052. This review may include, but is not limited to, the
number of computers per pupil, quality and capacity of technology in
the classroom, postsecondary matriculation data, and disaggregation
of required data elements by subgroups. The Superintendent of Public
Instruction may also recommend additional data elements for
inclusion in the Academic Performance Index. Data elements may be
incorporated in the Academic Performance Index only after those
elements have been determined by the State Board of Education to be
valid and reliable for the purpose of measuring school performance,
and only if their inclusion would not be likely to result in a valid
claim against the state for reimbursement pursuant to Section 6 of
Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.
(b) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall additionally
review, and the State Board of Education shall consider, any
empirical research data that becomes available concerning barriers to
equal opportunities to succeed educationally for all California
pupils, regardless of socioeconomic background. Upon obtaining this
information, the board shall evaluate whether there is any need to
revise the school accountability report card.
SEC. 5. The sum of three hundred thirty thousand dollars
($330,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the
Superintendent of Public Instruction for allocation according to the
following schedule:
(a) One hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) to support the
activities of the advisory committee established pursuant to
subdivision (e) of Section 33126.1 of the Education Code. Funds
appropriated for the purposes of this subdivision that have not been
allocated by June 30, 2001, shall be available for allocation and
expenditure for the purposes of this subdivision in the 2001-02
fiscal year.
(b) Two hundred thirty thousand dollars ($230,000) for two
personnel years and associated data processing costs to provide
support services for the implementation of Sections 33126 and 33126.1
of the Education Code, including the monitoring of compliance of
legal education agencies, the monitoring of the contract for the
posting of standardized templates, technical assistance to local
educational agencies, and the preparation of data files.
SEC. 6. The Legislature finds and declares that this act furthers
the purposes of the Classroom Instructional Improvement and
Accountability Act.
SEC. 7. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to make information available to parents as soon as
possible regarding performance of public schools, it is necessary
that this act take effect immediately.