BILL NUMBER: SB 946 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 12, 2008
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 28, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 21, 2007
INTRODUCED BY Senator Scott
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Brownley and Karnette)
FEBRUARY 23, 2007
An act to amend Section 60641 of, and to add Sections
78213.5 and 78213.8 to, Chapter 6 (commencing with
Section 99300) to Part 65 of Division 14 of Title 3 of, the
Education Code, relating to community colleges
postsecondary education .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 946, as amended, Scott. Community College Early Assessment
Pilot Program.
Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under
the administration of the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges, as one of the segments of postsecondary education
in this state. Existing law establishes community college districts
throughout the state, and authorizes those districts to provide
instruction to students at community college campuses.
This bill would express legislative findings and declarations
relating to the Early Assessment Program (EAP), a collaborative
effort established by the California State University to enable
pupils to learn about their readiness for college-level English and
mathematics before their senior year of high school. The bill would
express legislative intent that the existing EAP be modified by
expanding it to include the California Community Colleges. The bill
would also express legislative intent that the existing EAP student
notification system, as currently operated by agreement between CSU
and the State Department of Education, be modified to include
specified requirements.
This bill would authorize community college districts to use the
California Standards Test (CST) to provide diagnostic advice to
prospective community college students participating in the EAP. As
authorized by specified law, the individual results of the CST would
be provided to the office of the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges, which would coordinate with community college
districts that choose to voluntarily participate in the EAP. The bill
would specify that certain provisions apply to those community
college districts that choose to work directly with high school
pupils who took the CST and choose to offer assistance to these
pupils in strengthening their college readiness skills.
The bill would require that the individual results of the CST be
released to, and may be used by, CSU to provide diagnostic advice to
prospective CSU students participating in the EAP. The bill would
prohibit CSU from using the individual results of the CST as a
criterion for admission.
This bill would express legislative findings and declarations
relating to, among other things, the rates at which students who
enroll in community colleges as freshmen return for a 2nd year of
college. The bill would express legislative intent that the Community
College Early Assessment Pilot Program, enacted by the bill, provide
high school pupils with an indicator of their readiness for
transfer-level English and mathematics at the end of grade 11 and
allow high schools to work with pupils in grade 12 to elevate the
skills of these pupils to a level commensurate with transfer-level
English and mathematics.
The bill would establish the Community College Early Assessment
Pilot Program for 5 years, for the purpose of providing high school
pupils with an indicator of their readiness for transfer-level
English and mathematics at the end of grade 11 and allowing high
schools to work with pupils in grade 12 to elevate their skills to a
level expected of first-time community college freshman students. The
bill would require the program to be administered by the Board of
Governors of the California Community Colleges.
The bill would provide that community colleges, along with their
feeder high schools, shall be eligible to participate in the
Community College Early Assessment Pilot Program. The bill would
require the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to select
the participating community colleges from districts applying to the
program and agreeing to meet the requirements established for
participation in the program. The bill would require the chancellor,
in making these selections, to give priority to colleges from
districts that are currently working with, or utilizing, Cal-PASS
data. The bill would require the Chancellor's Office of the
California Community Colleges, in coordination with specified
stakeholders in the pilot program, to provide appropriate basic
skills enrichment opportunities to students at schools participating
in this pilot program who require additional academic preparation in
grade 12 to become college ready. The bill would require the
community colleges, to the extent possible, to rely on the work
already completed by the California State University Early Assessment
Program to minimize duplication and the cost of implementing the
program. The bill would specify requirements to be met by
participating community colleges.
The bill would require the board of governors, to the extent that
funding is provided specifically for this purpose in the annual
Budget Act or another statute, to provide a stipend to each
participating community college. The bill would express the intent of
the Legislature that this stipend, in conjunction with base funding
received by the participating institutions, shall be adequate to
cover all costs incurred by up to 25 community colleges and their
respective feeder high schools under the program.
The bill would require the Chancellor of the California Community
Colleges, from funds provided in the annual Budget Act for this
purpose, to contract with an entity deemed by the chancellor to be
reputable, independent, and competent to evaluate the effectiveness
of the program. The bill would require this entity to submit a final
evaluation report, including answers to specified questions, to the
Legislature, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the
Governor on or before December 1, 2013. The bill would require the
Office of the Legislative Analyst to review the final report, and, on
or before February 1, 2014, to make recommendations regarding
whether the Community College Early Assessment Pilot Program should
be continued, modified, expanded, or discontinued.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 60641 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
60641. (a) The department shall ensure that school districts
comply with each of the following requirements:
(1) The achievement test designated pursuant to Section 60642 and
the standards-based achievement test provided for in Section 60642.5
are scheduled to be administered to all pupils during the period
prescribed in subdivision (b) of Section 60640.
(2) The individual results of each pupil test administered
pursuant to Section 60640 shall be reported, in writing, to the pupil'
s parent or guardian. The written report shall include a clear
explanation of the purpose of the test, the pupil's score, and its
intended use by the school district. This subdivision does not
require teachers or other school district personnel to prepare
individualized explanations of each pupil's test score.
(3) (A) The individual results of each pupil test administered
pursuant to Section 60640 shall also be reported to the pupil's
school and teachers. The school district shall include the pupil's
test results in his or her pupil records. However, except as provided
in this section, individual pupil test results may only be released
with the permission of either the pupil's parent or guardian if the
pupil is a minor, or the pupil if the pupil has reached the age of
majority or is emancipated.
(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a pupil or his or her parent
or guardian may authorize the release of individual pupil results to
a postsecondary educational institution for the purpose of credit,
placement, determination of readiness for college-level
coursework, or admission.
(4) The districtwide, school-level, and grade-level results of the
STAR Program in each of the grades designated pursuant to Section
60640, but not the score or relative position of any individually
ascertainable pupil, shall be reported to the governing board of the
school district at a regularly scheduled meeting, and the countywide,
school-level, and grade-level results for classes and programs under
the jurisdiction of the county office of education shall be
similarly reported to the county board of education at a regularly
scheduled meeting.
(b) The publisher designated pursuant to Section 60642 and the
publisher of the standards-based achievement tests provided for in
Section 60642.5 shall make the individual pupil, grade, school,
school district, and state results available to the department
pursuant to paragraph (9) of subdivision (a) of Section 60643 by
August 8 of each year in which the achievement test is administered
for those schools for which the last day of test administration,
including makeup days, is on or before June 25. The department shall
make the grade, school, school district, and state results available
on the Internet by August 15 of each year in which the achievement
test is administered for those schools for which the last day of test
administration, including makeup days, is on or before June 25.
(c) The department shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that
the results of the test for all pupils who take the test by June 25
are made available on the Internet by August 15, as set forth in
subdivision (b).
(d) The department shall ensure that a California Standards Test
that is augmented for the purpose of determining
credit, placement, or admission readiness for
college-level coursework of a pupil in a postsecondary
educational institution and shall inform a pupil in grade
11 that he or she may request that the results from that assessment
be released to a postsecondary educational institution.
SEC. 2. Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 99300)
is added to Part 65 of Division 14 of Title 3 of the
Education Code , to read:
CHAPTER 6. THE EARLY ASSESSMENT PROGRAM
99300. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that in 2004, the
California State University (CSU) established the Early Assessment
Program (EAP), a collaborative effort among the State Board of
Education, the State Department of Education, and CSU, to enable
pupils to learn about their readiness for college-level English and
mathematics before their senior year of high school. It is the intent
of the Legislature that the office of the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges, the office of the Chancellor of the
California State University, the State Board of Education, and the
State Department of Education work together to modify the existing
EAP to expand it to include the California Community Colleges (CCC)
so that, beginning in the 2009-10 school year, high school juniors
who are considering attending either system can take the EAP and
receive information in the summer before their senior year concerning
their preparation for college-level work at both CSU and CCC.
(1) It is also the intent of the Legislature that the existing EAP
student notification system, as currently operated by agreement
between CSU and the State Department of Education, be modified to do
both of the following:
(A) Reassure pupils that they are eligible to attend a community
college and that taking the EAP test has no bearing on their
eligibility to attend a community college.
(B) Inform pupils of their readiness for college-level coursework
in English or mathematics, or both, and recommend the next
appropriate steps as they pertain to achieving success at a community
college, similar to how CSU communicates with pupils who take the
EAP test and are prospective CSU students.
(2) It is also the intent of the Legislature that the EAP be
modified to include all of the following requirements:
(A) That the participating community college districts utilize the
existing EAP secure data repository and clearinghouse for test score
distribution of the California Standards Test (CST) and the CST as
augmented pursuant to Section 60641.
(B) That the modified EAP not affect the statutory reporting
requirements of the STAR Program, or increase the costs of either the
STAR program or the State Department of Education.
(C) That the modified EAP be titled the "Early Assessment Program."
99301. (a) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 78213, the
individual results of the California Standards Test (CST) and the CST
as augmented pursuant to Section 60641 may be used by community
college districts to provide diagnostic advice to prospective
community college students participating in the EAP.
(b) (1) As authorized pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph
(3) of subdivision (a) of Section 60641, the individual results of
the CST and the CST as augmented pursuant to Section 60641 shall be
provided to the office of the Chancellor of the California Community
Colleges.
(2) The office of the Chancellor of the California Community
Colleges shall coordinate with community college districts that
choose to voluntarily participate in the EAP as follows, and, to the
extent possible, shall accomplish all of the following activities
using existing resources:
(A) Encourage community college districts to choose to voluntarily
participate in the EAP and notify them of the requirements of
subdivision (c), including the requirements that the standards
utilized by CSU to assess readiness for college-level English and
mathematics courses, as expressed in the CST as augmented by CSU,
shall also be used for the purposes of the EAP.
(B) Coordinate the progress of the program, provide technical
assistance to participating community college districts pursuant to
subdivision (c) as needed, identify additional reporting and program
criteria as needed, and provide a report to the Legislature and
Governor on or before February 15, 2015, on the implementation and
results of the EAP for community college students.
(C) Provide access to the individual test results of the CST and
the CST as augmented pursuant to Section 60641 to participating
community college districts.
(c) For those community college districts that choose to work
directly with high school pupils within their respective district
boundaries who took the CST as augmented pursuant to Section 60641,
and choose to offer assistance to these pupils in strengthening their
college readiness skills, all of the following provisions apply:
(1) The individual results of the CST and the CST as augmented
pursuant to Section 60641 shall be released by the office of the
Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, as authorized
pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of
Section 60641, to participating community college districts upon
their request for this information and may be used to provide
diagnostic advice to prospective community college students
participating in the EAP.
(2) Pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) of subdivision
(b), the same standards utilized by CSU to assess readiness shall
also be used for purposes of this section.
(3) The augmented CST as developed pursuant to Section 60641, and
currently utilized by CSU for purposes of early assessment, shall be
used to assess the college readiness of pupils in the EAP.
(4) Participating community college districts are encouraged to
consult with the Academic Senate for the California Community
Colleges to work toward sequencing their precollegiate level courses
and transfer-level courses in English and mathematics to the
elementary and secondary education academic content standards adopted
pursuant to Section 60605.
(5) Participating community college districts shall identify an
EAP coordinator and shall coordinate with CSU campuses and schools
offering instruction in kindergarten and any of grades 1 to 12,
inclusive, in their respective district boundaries on EAP-related
activities that assist pupils in making decisions that increase their
college readiness skills and likelihood of pursuing a postsecondary
education.
(6) In order to provide high school pupils with an indicator of
their college readiness, a community college district participating
in the EAP shall use individual test results provided to that college
pursuant to paragraph (1) of, and subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2)
of, subdivision (b) to provide diagnostic advice to prospective
community college students participating in the EAP.
(7) The individual results of the CST, as augmented by Section
60641 for purposes of the EAP, shall not be used by a community
college as a criterion for admission.
(8) Participating community college districts shall utilize the
existing infrastructure of academic opportunities, as developed by
CSU, to provide additional preparation in grade 12 for prospective
community college students participating in the EAP.
(d) Both of the following provisions apply to CSU:
(1) The individual results of the CST and the CST as augmented
pursuant to Section 60641, as authorized pursuant to subparagraph (B)
of paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 60641, shall be
released to, and may be used by, CSU to provide diagnostic advice to
prospective CSU students participating in the EAP.
(2) The individual results of the CST, as augmented by Section
60641 for purposes of the EAP, shall not be used by CSU as a
criterion for admission. All matter deleted in this version of
the bill appears in the bill as amended in the Assembly, June 28,
2007 (JR11)