BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1357|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1357
Author: Steinberg (D)
Amended: 8/20/10
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 8-0, 4/14/10
AYES: Romero, Huff, Alquist, Hancock, Liu, Price,
Simitian, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Maldonado
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 10-0, 5/27/10
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Corbett, Denham, Leno, Price,
Walters, Wolk, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cox
SENATE FLOOR : 35-0, 6/1/10
AYES: Aanestad, Alquist, Ashburn, Calderon, Cedillo,
Cogdill, Corbett, Correa, Cox, Denham, DeSaulnier,
Ducheny, Dutton, Florez, Hancock, Harman, Hollingsworth,
Huff, Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal, Negrete McLeod,
Padilla, Pavley, Price, Romero, Runner, Simitian,
Steinberg, Strickland, Wolk, Wright, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Oropeza, Walters, Wiggins, Vacancy,
Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not available
SUBJECT : California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data
System
SOURCE : Author
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DIGEST : This bill requires the California Department of
Education (CDE) to include pupil attendance data on chronic
absentees in the Annual Report on Dropouts in California
and in the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data
System (CALPADS), and to provide related reports to local
educational agencies on demand.
Assembly Amendments
1.Expand the provisions of preparation that the CDE must
use in preparing CALPADS.
2.Require the periodic reports by CALPADS to local
educational agencies to include district, school, class,
and individual pupil rates of absence and chronic
absentees.
3.Make the implementation of the provisions regarding the
inclusion of pupil attendance data in CALPADS contingent
upon the appropriation of federal funds specifically for
the purposes of those provisions.
4.Made other technical changes.
ANALYSIS :
Existing Law
1.Defines a truant as a pupil who is absent from school
without valid excuse tree full days in one school year or
tardy or absent for more than any 30-minute period during
the school day without a valid excuse on three occasions
in one school year, or any combination thereof.
2.Requires any pupil who has once been report as a truant
and who is again absent or tardy to again be reported as
a truant.
3.Defines a habitual truant as a pupil who has been
reported as a truant three or more times per school year
(at least five days), if an appropriate district officer
or employee has made a conscientious effort to hold at
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least one conference with a parent and the pupil.
4.Requires, beginning August 1, 2011, the Superintendent of
Public Instruction to produce the Annual Report on
Dropouts in California using the California Longitudinal
Achievement Data System (CALPADS).
This bill:
1.Makes legislative findings and declarations about the
relationship between, and the causes and prevention of
dropping out of school and low pupil attendance.
2.States legislative intent regarding efforts to improve
pupil attendance and prevent dropouts.
3.Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI)
to include "chronic absentee rates" in the Annual Report
on Dropouts in California, and defines "chronic absentee"
to mean a pupil who is absent for 10 percent or more of
the schooldays in a school year.
4.Requires the CDE, contingent upon the receipt of federal
funds for this purpose and in consultation with the
Department of Finance and the Legislative Analyst's
Office, to prepare CALPADS to include quarterly rate of
pupil attendance data, to support efforts to identify and
support pupils at risk of dropping out, and to be capable
of issuing local educational agencies (LEAs) periodic
district, school, class and individual pupil reports on
rates of absence and on chronic absences. Requires the
CDE to consult with organizations representing school,
district, and county education administrators, classified
and certificated staff, and parents in this process.
5.Requires early warning systems, that may be developed, to
utilize highly predictive indicators, including
attendance, course grades or completion, pupil
achievements on assessments, suspensions and expulsions,
have predictive reliability of the systems ensures
through thorough validation, and provide periodic early
warning reports that inform principals, teachers, and
parents in a manner that enables timely identification
and support of individual pupils who are at risk of
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academic failure or dropping out.
6.Authorizes a LEA to submit data on pupil attendance and
other indicators as identified by the CDE, when CALPADS
is prepared to accept data on pupil attendance, and to
request early warning reports, which CDE would be
required to provide up to four times each school year.
7.Requires the CDE to notify LEAs that reporting pupil
attendance and chronic absentee data pursuant to this
bill is voluntary. Requires the notification to include
reporting pupil attendance/chronic absentee data and of
developing effective supports and interventions for
at-risk pupils.
8.Prohibits the provisions of this bill from being
implemented unless federal funds are appropriated
specifically for this purpose.
Comments
According to the author, this bill will support California
schools in identifying "students who are most at risk of
academic failure or dropping out, before it's too late."
The bill enables the collection of new data on student
absenteeism and combines that data with other predictive
indicators already collected by our education data system.
These combined indicators will become the foundation of an
'early warning system,' so that critical education, health,
and community supports can be strategically targeted before
students abandon school."
The author also states that, "Chronic absence from school,
even in the primary grades, is one of the most accurate
predictors of later high school dropout. Our education
data system, however, is not equipped to collect data on
absenteeism. California must do more to support districts
and make sure that individual students, and schools, are
identified when they show clear signs of distress. Once
identified, districts, parents, schools and communities can
do a better job of providing the supports needed to address
the problem."
The broad vision of this bill is conceptually sound and
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attractive. Research clearly links in the aggregate,
though not necessarily in every individual pupil, both
attendance and achievement, and lack of attendance and the
probability of dropping out of school. Any policy change
that leads to more and earlier information about pupil
attendance being made available to parents and educators is
good policy in terms of leading to increases in pupil
achievement and decreases in the number of drop outs. It
is not completely clear, however, whether the complete
vision of this bill and its benefits will be realized by
the bill's enactment, since most of those benefits depend
on actions or occurrences that are beyond the requirements
of the bill or outside of the control of the state.
However, this bill does establish a long-term vision and
take steps toward that vision, and the bill generates a
number of clear policy benefits in doing so. Those
benefits include that the bill will make it easier for some
LEAs to focus on the attendance problem and react to the
early warning that they may get from state reports, move
the attention that some LEAs pay to attendance issues
beyond a focus on truancy only, provide a foundation upon
which the complete vision of a comprehensive data system
and pupil attendance early warning systems could be fleshed
out once sufficient federal or state funds are available,
provide benefits in terms of moving the state's educational
data system to be more comprehensive in nature, and provide
a summary of attendance data to receiving LEAs when pupils
transfer from one LEA to another.
Related Legislation
SB 1148 (Alquist) -- 2009-10 Session . Deems as a truant
any pupil who is absent from school without a valid excuse
for at least 10 percent of the school year, and requires
the permanent record of a pupil to reflect if she or she
has been deemed a chronic truant. (Held in Senate
Appropriations on Suspense)
SB 1317 (Leno) -- 2009-10 Session . Creates a new
misdemeanor for parents of a pupil deemed chronically
truant, and establishes a deferred entry of judgment
program specifically designed to address issues of chronic
truancy. (In Assembly awaiting assignment)
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12
2012-13 Fund
CALPADS $300
Federal
Early warning Unknown, potentially
significant General
reports
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/25/10)
Advancement Project
Association of California School Administrators
Bay Area Council
CA Assn for Health, Physical Ed., Recreation and Dance
California Association of School Counselors
CA Assn of Supervisors of Child Welfare and Attendance
California Business Education Coalition
California Family Resource Association
California Federation of Teachers
California Postsecondary Education Commission
California School Health Centers Association
California School Nurses Association
California State PTA
Children Now
The Education Trust-West
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California
Junior Leagues of California
League of Women Voters of California
Los Angeles Unified School District
Office of San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris
Partnership for Children and Youth
PICO California
Public Advocates
San Francisco Unified School District
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
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"chronic absence from school, even in the primary grades,
is one of the most accurate predictors of dropping out of
school. This bill enables the collection of new data on
student absenteeism and combines that data with other
predictive indicators already collected by our education
data system. These combined indicators will become the
foundation of an early warning system so that critical
education, health and community support can be
strategically targeted before students abandon school."
Proponents argue that dropping out of school is the final
step in a process of disengagement, which if often
reflected in poor attendance. However, California is one
of just seven states that does not collect individualized
attendance data, making it far more difficult to identify
potential dropouts or schools that are in danger of high
dropout rates.
CPM:cm 8/25/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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