BILL ANALYSIS
AB 476
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Date of Hearing: April 22, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 476 (Torlakson) - As Amended: April 14, 2009
Policy Committee: EducationVote:8-3
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill eliminates the administration of the Standardized
Testing and Reporting (STAR) program to pupils in grade 2 and
requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), on or
before April 1, 2010, to contract with an independent contractor
to evaluate the STAR program. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the evaluation to include, but not be limited to, the
following: (a) alignment of federal and state accountability;
(b) alignment of the STAR assessments and the state academic
content standards; (c) pupil performance; (d) alignment with
the STAR program and professional teaching standards; (d)
usefulness of the STAR program for diagnostic purposes; (e)
feasibility and cost of the development of a diagnostic
assessment for all grade levels and content areas; and (f)
separate analysis of test results for significant subgroups
(i.e., English learners, pupils with special needs, and
economically disadvantaged pupils).
2)Requires the report submitted by the independent contractor to
include the findings of the different analyses and evaluations
as described above and recommendations for
improvements/revisions to the STAR program, as specified.
This measure further requires the report to be submitted to
the Legislature, Governor, and State Board of Education on or
before November 1, 2010.
3)Requires the State Department of Education (SDE) to use funds,
not to exceed $150,000, made available by the elimination of
the STAR program for grade 2 for the purpose of contracting
for the evaluation.
AB 476
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FISCAL EFFECT
1)GF/98 savings, of approximately $2 million, to eliminate the
STAR program assessments for pupils in grade 2. The 2009
Budget Act allocates $55.4 million for the support of the STAR
program. Of this amount, $50 million is GF/98 and $5.4
million are federal assessment funds. Local education
agencies will receive $2.52 per pupil to administer the STAR
assessments in the 2009-10 fiscal year.
2)Reallocation of GF/98 savings, of at least $150,000, to
contract with an independent evaluator, as required in this
measure. This bill requires SDE to use the savings from the
elimination of the STAR program for grade 2 to fund the
evaluation, which may not exceed $150,000. This provision
eliminates the discretion of the Legislature to realize the
full $2 million in GF/98 savings.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . The STAR program, established by Chapter 828,
Statutes of 1997 (SB 376, Alpert), reauthorized by SB 80
(Committee on Budget), Chapter 174, Statute of 2007, consists
of three elements: (a) the California Standards Tests (CST);
(c) the Spanish Assessment of Basic Education primary language
test, and (d) the California Alternative Performance
Assessment for special education pupils. Under the STAR
program, the state requires schools to test all students in
grades 2 to 11 in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics
using a CST. However, only specified grades are assessed in
history/social and science. Likewise, AB 519 (Budget
Committee), Chapter 757, Statutes of 2008, eliminated the
California Achievement Test, the norm-referenced test
administered to pupils in grades 3 and 8. The STAR program
sunsets in 2011.
As a condition of receiving over $1.6 billion in federal
funding, the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB)
requires states to assess pupils, including English language
learners and special education pupils, in ELA and mathematics
in grades 3-8 and grade 10. Also, NCLB also requires states to
assess pupils in grades five, eight, and 10 in science.
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The STAR program fulfills the state's assessment requirements
with respect to federal law. However, the state administers
assessments beyond the requirements of federal law with
respect to academic content and grade level. For example, the
state assesses pupils in history/social science in grades 8-11
and in ELA and math beginning in grade 2 until grade 11. Many
individuals argue that the state spends too much time and
money administering assessments to pupils beyond what is
required by federal law. In particular, individuals argue that
pupils in grade 2 are too young to endure a week of
standardized testing under the STAR program. However, many
school districts, teachers, parents, and the author argue that
there is value to assessing second graders for diagnostic
purposes (i.e., level of reading skills). This bill eliminates
the STAR program in grade 2 and requires a comprehensive
evaluation of the program, including exploring a diagnostic
purpose for the assessments.
2)Similar legislation . SB 800, pending in the Senate Education
Committee, eliminates STAR program assessments for pupils in
grade 2.
3)Previous legislation . AB 1695 (Goldberg) required a school
district, by January 1, 2007, to select a diagnostic reading
test for administration to each pupil in grade 2 in that
district. This bill was held on this committee's suspense
file in May 2005.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081