BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1435
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1435 (V. Manuel Perez)
As Amended April 29, 2009
Majority vote
EDUCATION 10-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Brownley, Nestande, |Ayes:|De Leon, Nielsen, |
| |Ammiano, Arambula, | |Ammiano, |
| |Carter, Eng, Garrick, | |Charles Calderon, Davis, |
| |Miller, Solorio, | |Duvall, Fuentes, Hall, |
| |Torlakson | |Harkey, Miller, |
| | | |John A. Perez, Price, |
| | | |Skinner, Solorio, Audra |
| | | |Strickland, Torlakson, |
| | | |Krekorian |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the advisory committee, advising the
Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) on matters related to
the Academic Performance Index (API), to make recommendations to
the SPI by July 1, 2010, regarding the inclusion of English
language development test results and English learner (EL)
proficiency as part of the API; also requires the SPI, with the
approval of the State Board of Education (SBE), to include these
test results and EL proficiency levels and growth in the API.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the SPI, with the approval of the SBE, to develop and
implement the API to measure the performance of schools, and
to include a variety of indicators, including achievement test
results, attendance rates, and graduation rates in that
measure.
2)Requires the SPI to establish an advisory committee to provide
advice on all appropriate matters relative to the creation of
the API, and directs the advisory committee by July 1, 2005,
to make recommendations to the SPI on the appropriateness and
feasibility of a methodology for generating a measurement of
academic performance by using unique pupil identifiers and
annual academic achievement growth to provide a more accurate
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measure of a school's growth over time.
3)Establishes the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR)
Program to test academic skills in grades 2-11, and to report
individual and aggregate results.
4)Requires, under both state and federal law, that school
districts administer a test of English language proficiency,
adopted for the state, to each newly enrolled student in the
state's public schools, if the primary language of those
students is other than English; also requires an annual
re-administration of that test to all EL students; also
establishes the English language development test to assess
English language proficiency by testing listening and speaking
for EL students in grades K-1, and listening, speaking,
reading and writing for EL students in grades 2-12; the
California English Language Development Test (CELDT) is the
test adopted to meet the state and federal requirements
specified above.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, General Fund Proposition 98 costs of approximately
$200,000 to the California Department of Education (CDE) to
include the CELDT results in the API.
COMMENTS : The SPI established, pursuant to SB 1 X1 (Alpert),
Chapter 3, Statutes of 1999-2000 First Extraordinary Session, an
advisory committee to advise the SPI and the SBE on all
appropriate matters relative to the creation of the API. SB 1
X1 also requires the SPI, with the approval of the SBE, to
develop the API to measure the performance of schools, and to
include a variety of indicators in that measure, including, but
not limited to, achievement test results, attendance rates, and
graduation rates. Currently only achievement test results are
incorporated into the API, and the API is configured to produce
scores measuring a school's static performance at each grade
level, in each content area, in each year, at one point in time.
In addition, the SPI produces a comparison of static (API)
performance from one year to the next.
According to the author, "AB 1435 would create a process and
mechanism by which to include the CELDT result in the API;
providing English learners and their parents, teachers, schools
and school districts a real opportunity to demonstrate
achievements in English language acquisition and proficiency."
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The CDE reports that nearly 25% or 1.6 million of the state's
public school pupils in grades K-12 are EL students.
Current law requires schools to assess the English proficiency
of all pupils whose primary language is not English. The CELDT
is the required state test for English language proficiency; the
CELDT must be administered to pupils whose primary language is
not English. The CELDT is used for three purposes: (1) to
identify new students who are English learners in kindergarten
through grade twelve; (2) to determine the level of
English-language proficiency; and (3) to annually assess EL
students' progress in learning English until they are
reclassified. English learners in grades 2-12 are administered
the CELDT in the four domains of speaking, listening, reading
and writing. English learners in grades K - 1 are currently
assessed in English listening and speaking; there are plans to
also assess early literacy skills in the near future.
SB 1 X1 (Alpert), Chapter 3, Statutes of 1999-2000 First
Extraordinary Session, established the states accountability
system by mandating that the SPI, with the approval of the SBE
"develop an Academic Performance Index, to be used to measure
performance of schools?" According to the author, "our public
schools are working hard to ensure that our 1.5 million English
learners statewide receive the appropriate assessments, tools,
resources and services to achieve English language proficiency;
thereby allowing them to participate fully in the American Dream
of economic and social advancement." To the extent that public
schools are working to provide English language skills to EL
students and this work fits into the purpose of a public school
in California, then the performance of those schools, as
reflected in the API, should in part be measured by how well
those English skills are acquired. English language acquisition
in California is measured by the CELDT.
Related and previous legislation: This bill is one of four
bills that propose changes to the state's accountability system,
specifically to the API measure, and that have been introduced
in the Assembly in 2009. Those four bills are AB 173 (Price),
AB 429 (Brownley), AB 1130 (Solorio), and AB 1435 (V. Manuel
Perez). AB 2776 (Mullin), held in the Senate Appropriations
Committee in 2008, would have required examination of the
collection of individual student data, the state's emerging data
systems, the possibility of making real comparisons of student
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performance over time, and the long-term availability of
assessment data related to the acquisition of English language
by English learners with respect to making potential
improvements in the API. SB 219 (Steinberg), Chapter 731,
Statutes of 2007, made changes in the calculation of and in the
process for revising the API. AB 2167 (Arambula), Chapter 743,
Statutes of 2006, established a specific methodology for
including graduation rates, as previously required, in the API;
also required the SPI to report annually to the Legislature on
graduation and dropout rates in the state. SB 1 X1 (Alpert),
Chapter 3, Statutes of 1999-2000 First Extraordinary Session,
known as the Public Schools Accountability Act (PSAA),
authorized the state's current accountability program, including
establishment of the PSAA Advisory Committee and development of
the API. AB 748 (Escutia), Chapter 936, Statutes of 1997,
required the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop an
English language development test by January 1, 1999.
Analysis Prepared by : Gerald Shelton / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0001147