BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
930 (Ducheny)
Hearing Date: 05/27/2010 Amended: 05/11/2010
Consultant: Dan Troy Policy Vote: ED 6-2
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 930 would amend provisions of the K-12
accountability system as they apply to limited English
proficient students (LEPs). Specifically, this bill would
expand the number of LEPs who are required to be tested on their
knowledge of the state standards in their primary language to
those who have been enrolled in schools in the United States for
less than three years rather than the existing 12 month period.
The bill would also require these primary language tests to be
used for purposes of the Academic Performance Index (API) and to
measure Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) pursuant to the federal
No Child Left Behind program, or to any successor systems. The
bill would further require successor assessment and
accountability systems, after July 1, 2013, to include specified
accommodations for LEPs.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
STS extension $1,160 $960 $960 General*
Modifications $135
General**
AYP $1,000 to $2,000
General**
CELDT reporting $120 $120 $120 General
Dual immersion testing $850 General
*Counts toward meeting the Proposition 98 minimum funding
guarantee
**Some costs may potentially be funded with federal funds
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE.
Current law establishes the Standardized Testing and Reporting
program (STAR) to assess how well the state's K-12 pupils are
acquiring knowledge of the adopted state content standards.
Current law authorizes the STAR until July 1, 2013, and
expresses the intent that reauthorization of the statewide pupil
assessment system include specified elements, including a plan
for transitioning to a system of high-quality assessments.
Current law also establishes the California English Language
Development Test (CELDT) for the purposes of assessing the
secondary language proficiency of English language learners.
While the STAR is comprised of multiple tests, the primary
assessment used is the California Standards Tests (CSTs).
Current law also requires Spanish-speaking LEPs who receive
instruction in their primary language or who have been enrolled
in public
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SB 930 (Ducheny)
school in the United States for less than 12 months to take
standards-based tests in their primary language. To meet this
requirement, the Department of Education has developed the
Standards-based Tests in Spanish (STS). Students who take the
STS also take the English language CST.
The bill's intent is expand the number of years in which LEPs
have their knowledge of the state's content standards tested in
their primary language and to provide that any successor
assessment system adopted on or before July 1, 2013, would
include various accommodations for English language learners,
such as a word-to-word glossary (without definitions), the
repetition of directions at pupil request, and translation of
the test directions. The bill would also require the
Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish an advisory
committee to make recommendations to implement these
accommodations and to include the primary language assessments
into the assessment systems. The bill would also require the
inclusion CELDT scores in the aggregate STAR reports provided to
districts. Further, the bill would allow dual immersion
programs to administer the STS to assess nonlimited English
proficient students at the district's expense.
According to the author, these changes would allow the STAR and
any successor system to better reflect the pupil's knowledge of
the content standards.
This bill would drive new costs, some one-time and some ongoing.
This bill would result in administering the STS to
approximately 80,000 more pupils at an ongoing cost of $960,000
for district administration, printing, and distribution and
one-time costs of $200,000 to establish new cut scores.
Utilizing the STS for federal AYP purposes would require an
alignment study to demonstrate the comparability of the primary
language exam to the English language version. This cost would
be in the range of $1 million to $2 million (one-time, unless
the tests are modified). Including the CELDT results in the
STAR reports would cost $120,000, annually. The costs for the
various modifications specified in the bill would be
approximately $135,000. Further, while districts offering dual
immersion programs could administer the STS to nonlimited
English proficient students at their own expense, the Department
of Education notes that this would require a change to their
ordering management systems at a cost of $850,000. Staff notes
that some of these costs may potentially be covered by federal
funds.