BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 124
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Date of Hearing: April 13, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 124 (Fuentes) - As Amended: April 6, 2011
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:9-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill establishes the English Language Development Standards
(ELD) Advisory Committee for the purpose of aligning the ELD
standards to the Common Core English language arts (CCELA)
standards adopted by the State Board of Education (SBE) in
August 2010. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the advisory committee to consist of 13 members
appointed by the governor (4), the Senate Committee on Rules
(3), the Speaker of the Assembly (3), and the Superintendent
of Public Instruction (3). This measure also requires at
least seven members to be classroom teachers with a minimum of
three years experienced instructing English language learner
(ELL) pupils, as specified.
2)Requires the advisory committee, on or before August 31, 2012,
to present its revised and aligned ELD standards to the SBE.
3)Requires the SBE, on or before September 30, 2012, to either
adopt the ELD standards as presented by the advisory committee
or reject the ELD standards. If the SBE rejects the revised
standards, this bill requires the SBE to provide the
Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), the governor, and
the Legislature with a specific written explanation of the
reasons for rejection.
4)Requires the SPI and the SBE to present to the governor and
the Legislature a schedule and implementation plan for
integrating the revised ELD standards into the education
system, including revising the California English Language
Development Test (CELDT).
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FISCAL EFFECT
1)One-time GF administrative costs, likely between $150,000 and
$200,000, to the SDE to provide staff support to the ELD
advisory committee. The committee notes that foundation
support was provided to the Academic Content Standards
Commission to complete their work on the Common Core Content
Standards in English language arts and mathematics.
2)GF/98 cost pressure, likely in the low to tens of millions, to
school districts to provide instructional materials and
professional development on the revised ELD standards. This
bill requires the SPI and the SBE to provide the governor and
Legislature with an implementation plan, including costs, to
integrate the revised standards into the education system.
COMMENTS
1)Background . Since 1999, California schools have instructed
ELL pupils using both the ELA standards and ELD standards.
The purpose of the ELD standards is "to assist teachers in
moving ELL pupils to fluency in English and proficiency on the
California ELA Content Standards." Specifically, the ELD
standards are designed to specify the English literacy skills
ELLs need to acquire to become proficient in the ELA academic
content standards. The ELD standards are also the basis for
the CELDT. The CELDT is used to identify, reclassify and
assess the proficiency of ELL pupils.
As a condition of applying for the federal Race to the Top
(RTT) grant program, states were required to adopt the Common
Core Standards in English language arts (CCELA) and
mathematics by the fall of 2010. As part of California's RTT
application, SB 1 X5 (Steinberg), Chapter 2, Fifth
Extraordinary Session, Statutes of 2010,was enacted to
establish the Academic Content Standards Commission (ACSC),
consisting of 21 members appointed by the governor (11), the
Senate Committee on Rules (5), and the Speaker of the Assembly
(5), to develop academic content standards in language arts
and mathematics.
In July and August 2010, the ACSC held several meetings to
analyze the state's current ELA and mathematics content
standards in comparison to the CCELA and mathematics. In
AB 124
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August 2010, the ACSC completed its work and submitted its
recommendations to the SBE for their approval. The SBE
approved the revised standards submitted by the ACSC.
2)Rationale . There were 1.5 million ELL pupils enrolled in
California public schools in 2009-10. Of these pupils, 1.2
million speak Spanish and 69% are enrolled in grades K-6. The
author states: "Since the SBE adopted revised ELA academic
content standards in August 2010 and the ELD standards are a
critical tool used in instructing ELL pupils, the next step is
for the state to review the ELD standards for compatibility to
the newly adopted ELA academic content standards."
This bill, sponsored by the Association of California School
Administrators, the SPI, and the Californians Together
Coalition, establishes the ELD Advisory Committee for the
purpose of aligning the ELD standards to CCELA standards.
3)Related legislation .
a) AB 250 (Brownley), pending in the Assembly Education
Committee, establishes a process for the implementation of
the Common Core Academic Content standards, as specified.
b) SB 140 (Lowenthal), pending in the Senate Appropriations
Committee, establishes a streamlined process for the
state-level adoption of instructional materials that are
aligned with the Common Core Academic Content standards,
and expands the authority of local school boards to adopt
instructional materials to include K-8 schools.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081