BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
2682 (Block)
Hearing Date: 08/02/2010 Amended: 07/15/2010
Consultant: Dan Troy Policy Vote: ED 8-0
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 2682 would require the Board of Governors of
the California Community Colleges (CCCs) to establish a pilot
program to develop a centrally delivered student assessment
system, as one of multiple measures, for purposes of community
college placement and advisement, as specified.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
Pilot $500, potentially offset by
grants Private
Statewide implementation Likely millions, potentially
offset by General*
assessment/placement
efficiencies
*Counts toward meeting the Proposition 98 minimum funding
guarantee
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Current law requires the CCCs to offer specified matriculation
services to students, including assessment and counseling upon
enrollment. Various assessment tools have been approved for use
by the Chancellor's Office, and each CCC district may choose an
assessment from that list. Assessments are used to determine
competency in computational and language skill, to identify
aptitudes, interests and educational objectives, but may not be
used to deny admission.
Current law also establishes the Early Assistance Program (EAP).
Implemented by the California State University (CSU) and CCC,
the EAP is a collaborative effort between the CSU, the CCC, the
California Department of Education (CDE), and the State Board of
Education to determine a high school student's readiness to do
college-level work and to provide students opportunities to
improve skills during their senior year. Under the EAP, 11th
graders taking the California Standards Test are encouraged to
take an enhanced version of the test that includes additional
English and math questions and an essay. The results of this
test are used to determine a student's readiness for
college-level English and math. Those whose scores indicate
they are not ready are encouraged to take classes during their
senior year to improve and strengthen their skills. The goal of
the EAP is to have high school graduates enter the CSU and the
CCCs fully prepared to do college-level work.
This bill would establish a pilot program to create a centrally
delivered system of student assessment relating to placement and
advisement. Objectives of the pilot would include:
Page 2
AB 2682 (Block)
Development of a centrally delivered assessment system
that provides a single assessment instrument for use by the
CCCs in areas of English, math, and English as a second
language.
Creation of a secure test data warehouse that will
collect a students CCC assessment data and K-12 assessment
data and transcripts.
Creation of an internet web portal that can be accessed
by CCC personnel and students that would provide an
assessment profile, an pretest practice application, and an
advisement tool that details success rates of remedial
courses at various levels of academic remediation.
The Board of Governors would convene an advisory committee for
the pilot and would be required to provide a progress report on
or before February 28, 2011.
This bill is sponsored by the Chancellor's Office (CO).
According to the CO, colleges have cut back on assessments due
to budget constraints. Also, because colleges use a variety of
test instruments, students who take courses from multiple
colleges within a region are compelled to take a new assessment
test at each college attended. In a report issued in 2008, the
Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) recommended, among other
things, that a statewide CCC placement test derived from K-12's
math and English standards tests be made available. The LAO
also noted that most studies agree that incoming community
college students should be assessed prior to enrolling in class.
This pilot would be consistent with those recommendations.
The CO indicates that it has received grants of $500,000 that
would cover the cost of the pilot. Ultimately, costs for the
statewide utilization would be in the millions, and could
potentially result on Proposition 98 mandate costs to the extent
CCC districts are required to participate. These costs will be
considered through the progress report. It is also possible
that the long-term statewide costs would be offset by the
increased efficiency of student assessment and placement, should
the pilot prove successful.