BILL ANALYSIS
SB 946
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 3, 2007
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Anthony Portantino, Chair
SB 946 (Scott) - As Amended: June 28, 2007
SENATE VOTE : 30-8
SUBJECT : Community college early assessment pilot program
SUMMARY : Establishes the Community College Early Assessment
Pilot Program (CCEAPP) for five years, beginning with the
2008-09 academic year, for the purpose of providing high school
pupils with an indicator of their readiness for college-level
English and math. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes declarations and findings regarding the more than 50% of
incoming students of the California Community Colleges (CCC)
who require remediation or basic skills development, the need
for greater coordination and course articulation between
community colleges and high schools, the value of early
assessment, and the intent of the Legislature to establish the
CCEAPP to help pupils become better prepared for college.
2)Modifies the provisions of law governing the release and uses
of the California Standards Test (CST) as follows:
a) Adds assessment of college readiness to the purposes for
which a pupil (or his or her parents or guardians) may
release results of the CST to colleges and universities;
and
b) Authorizes the use of the CST for diagnostic advice for
prospective CCC students.
3)Requires the use of the California State University
(CSU)-augmented CST in the CCEAPP and authorizes modification
of scoring to measure "degree-applicable" standards of the
CCC.
4)Requires the Chancellor of the CCC to:
a) Work in coordination with the California Department of
Education (CDE) to implement the CCEAPP as it relates to
the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program;
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b) Select applicant colleges to participate, as specified;
c) Give priority for the pilot program to CCCs from
districts currently working with or utilizing data from the
California Partnership for Achieving Students (Cal-PASS);
d) In coordination with CSU, the academic senates of the
participating CCC and CSU campuses, and participating K-12
teachers, provide appropriate basic skills enrichment
opportunities to students at schools participating in
CCEAPP who require additional academic preparation in grade
12 to become college-ready, relying on the already
completed work by the CSU Early Assessment Program (EAP) to
minimize duplication and the cost of the CCEAPP; and
e) Work with CDE and CSU to develop a CCC student
notification system, which shall ensure that pupils receive
notification regarding their readiness for transfer-level
work, the availability of enrichment opportunities, and
assurance of eligibility to attend a CCC.
f) Contract with an independent entity to evaluate the
effectiveness of CCEAPP and to answer specific questions,
with interim reporting requirements and a final report due
by December 1, 2013, utilizing funds provided in the Budget
Act.
5)Requires participating CCCs to do the following:
a) Consult with the CCC Academic Senate to sequence their
precollegiate-level courses and transfer-level courses in
English and math to the elementary and secondary academic
content standards; and
b) Provide college outreach advisors to participating
feeder high schools to assist students in making decisions
that increase their college-readiness skills and increase
the likelihood of their pursing postsecondary education.
6)Requires the Legislative Analyst's Office to review the final
evaluation report prepared by the Chancellor-contracted entity
and make recommendations by February 1, 2014, regarding the
future of the CCEAPP.
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7)Declares legislative intent to provide sufficient funds for up
to 25 CCCs and their respective feeder high schools to
participate.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the STAR Program that requires school districts,
charter schools, and county offices of education to administer
two standardized tests. The first is a nationally
norm-referenced test of basic skills, selected by the State
Board of Education (SBE), for administration to pupils in
grades 3 and 7. The second test is the CST, which is aligned
to California's adopted academic content standards and is
administered to all pupils in grades 2 to 11 until July 1,
2007, when it will be administered to all pupils in grades 3
through 11.
2)Provides that 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.
3)Authorizes a pupil or his or her parent or guardian to
authorize the release of individual pupil results to a
postsecondary educational institution for the purpose of
credit, placement, or admission.
4)Requires the CDE to ensure that a CST that is augmented for
the purpose of determining credit, placement, or admission of
a pupil in a postsecondary educational institution 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.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, $2.1 million annually through 2012-13 for outreach;
$250,000 annually through 2012-13 for CCC administration; and
$150,000 in 2011-12 for evaluation of the CCEAPP.
COMMENTS : The Assembly Education Committee approved this
measure, 7-3, on June 27.
Background : Recent studies indicate a significant number of
incoming CCC students are unprepared to undertake basic math and
English coursework-in fact, one out of three CCC students
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enrolls in a basic skills class. A recent survey by the CCC
Research and Planning Group indicated that over 70% of students
who took a CCC placement test require remedial math while 42%
require remedial English. These statistics have serious
repercussions on a student's educational path: those who lack
basic skills are less likely to receive a degree or transfer to
a university.
Unlike the CSU and the University of California, the CCC system
does not have a single English or math proficiency exam upon
enrollment at a CCC. Each of the 109 campuses determines for
itself the type of placement tests to use. However, the CCC
Board of Governors recently directed the Chancellor to begin a
consultation process to evaluate implementation of systemwide
student assessment measures.
CSU EAP : This bill is modeled after the CSU EAP, initiated by
the CSU in coordination with the CDE and the SBE in 2004. The
goal of this program is to have high school graduates enter the
CSU fully prepared to do college-level work and reduce the more
than 60% of the nearly 40,000 first-time freshmen admitted to
the CSU who require remedial education in English, math or both.
Under the CSU EAP, 11th graders taking the CST are encouraged to
take an "augmented version" of the test comprised of 15
additional English-language-arts questions and an essay and 15
additional math questions. The results of the augmented tests,
once scored, indicate a student's "readiness" for college-level
English and math. Those considered proficient on the augmented
CSTs will not be required to take the English and/or math
placement tests upon admission to the CSU. Those whose scores
indicate they are not ready are encouraged to take classes
during their senior year to improve and strengthen their skills
and/or work independently on the CSU's English and math success
Web sites. In coordination with the CDE and SBE, the CSU
developed new courses that seniors can take in high school
during their senior year and provides professional development
to K-12 teachers.
According to the CSU, in 2006, 72% of all eligible high school
juniors took the CST augmented math test, with slightly more
than 55% considered proficient or ready for college level math.
Approximately 38% of eligible high school juniors took the
English-augmented CST, with 25% considered ready for
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college-level English.
Purpose of this bill : According to the author, CCCs use a
variety of assessment tools to gauge student preparedness for
college-level courses. However, these tools have little in
common and none reach down into high schools to assess student
readiness. This bill seeks to answer the following questions:
1)Do students who participate in the CCEAPP and who require
additional skill development in English and math, or both,
adjust their grade 12 course schedule to include English or
math, or both, to better prepare for postsecondary education?
2)Is there a decrease in the total number of basic skills
courses that CCEAPP participants must complete before entering
degree-applicable courses and transfer-level courses at CCCs?
3)Are the indicators of readiness for transfer-level courses
utilized in the CCEAPP appropriate and accurate indicators of
readiness for degree-applicable and transfer-level courses?
Is this the right test for CCC students ? The Assembly Education
Committee analysis notes that all CSU campuses use the same
English and math proficiency exams upon a student's admission to
CSU. However, as previously noted, the CCC system does not have
a single English or math proficiency exam upon enrollment.
Therefore, are the test results of the CSU-augmented test
applicable for CCC-bound students who may face different
proficiency requirements at different CCC campuses? A National
Center for Public Policy and Higher Education report found that
the CSU-augmented CST in English language arts shows "sufficient
alignment with the objectives measured by the most prevalent
placement exams in use on California community college
campuses." However, the "math tests showed adequate alignment
values only with respect to depth of knowledge consistency and
balance of representation, falling short in many content areas
in terms of categorical concurrence and range of knowledge
alignment." The report suggests that aligning high school tests
and CCC placement exams may be necessary but should not be the
only strategy to better prepare students for postsecondary
education.
Basic skills assistance to high school seniors : In the CSU EAP
program, the CSU worked with the CDE to develop courses students
can take during their senior year and professional development
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to assist high school teachers in the delivery of these courses.
The CSU also offers Internet Web site programs that students
can take on their own. In response to the Governor's veto of a
nearly identical bill last year (see below), this bill was
recently amended to require the CCC Chancellor's office to work
with CSU, the academic senates of the CCC and CSU campuses, and
participating K-12 teachers to provide basic skills enrichment
opportunities to high school seniors who require additional
academic preparation to become college-ready, utilizing the work
done by the CSU EAP in order to minimize duplication and the
cost of implementing the CCEAPP.
Prior Legislation: This bill is nearly identical to SB 1563
(Escutia), which was vetoed by the Governor in 2006 with the
following veto message:
"I am concerned about the large number of high school graduates
who enter our colleges and universities unprepared to do
college-level work. However, it would be redundant to create a
new pilot program to assess college readiness specifically for
prospective community college students when the California State
University (CSU) already has a system that can be used for that
purpose.
Moreover, there is no need for the California Community
Colleges, in coordination with the CSU, to develop a special
12th grade curriculum when the state has taken years to develop
curriculum frameworks that align with our academic content
standards. A special basic skills curriculum is not what is
needed, instead, the state should focus on developing better
strategies for teaching students the existing curriculum; this
is what students will need to have mastered in order to succeed
in college."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California State University
Chancellor of the California Community Colleges
Community College League of California
Ed Voice
Kern Community College District
Los Angeles Community College District
Los Rios Community College District
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Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Sandra Fried / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960