BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 124
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 124 (Fuentes)
As Amended July 14, 2011
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |63-13|(June 1, 2011) |SENATE: |34-4 |(August 31, |
| | | | | |2011) |
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Original Committee Reference: ED.
SUMMARY : Establishes a process to update, revise, and align the
English language development (ELD) standards to the common core
state standards in English language arts (ELA) and requires the
Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) and the State Board
of Education to present to the Governor and the appropriate
policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature a schedule and
implementation plan for integrating the revised ELD standards
into the education system.
The Senate amendments :
1)Require the SPI, in consultation with the State Board of
Education (SBE) to update, revise, and align the ELD standards
to California's common core academic content standards for
ELA.
2)Delete the requirement of and specifications for appointing an
English Language Development Standards Advisory Committee and
instead require the SPI, in consultation with the SBE to
convene a group of experts in English language instruction,
curriculum, and assessment, including individuals who have a
minimum of three years of demonstrated experience instructing
English learners (ELs) in the classroom at the elementary or
secondary level.
3)Stipulate that the SPI shall ensure that members of the group
include, but are not limited to, specified individuals with EL
expertise.
4)Require, on or before August 31, 2012, the SPI to present the
updated, revised, and aligned ELD standards, based on the work
of the group of experts, and to hold a minimum of two public
meetings before presenting the standards to the SBE in order
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for the public to provide input.
5)Require the SBE, on or before September 30, 2012, to adopt,
reject, or revise the ELD standards presented by the SPI and
stipulate that if the SBE revises the ELD standards presented
by the SPI, the SBE shall, in a public meeting provide written
reasons for its revisions.
6)Prohibit the SBE from adopting the revised ELD standards at
the same meeting it provides its written reasons, and,
instead, require the SBE to adopt these revisions at a
subsequent meeting or no later than November 15, 2012.
7)Specify that the California Department of Education (CDE)
shall use federal carryover funds received pursuant to Title I
of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) to
implement this bill.
8)Repeal the provisions of this bill on July 1, 2013.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Established a 13-member English Language Development Standards
Advisory Committee (ELDSAC) to update, revise, and align the
ELD standards to the common core state standards in ELA.
2) Required the ELDSAC to consist of 13 members that would
have been appointed as follows:
a) Four members appointed by the Governor;
b) Three members appointed by the Senate Rules Committee;
c) Three members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly;
and,
d) Three members appointed by the SPI.
3) Required at least seven of the members appointed to the
ELDSAC to be credentialed classroom teachers possessing
authorized certificates to instruct ELs and a minimum of
three years of demonstrated experience instructing ELs, and
required at least four of the seven teachers to represent
elementary schools. Specified that the remaining members
of the ELDSAC would include specified representatives with
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EL expertise.
4) Specified that the members of the ELDSAC would have
served at the pleasure of the appointing authority and
required meetings or hearings of the ELDSAC to be open and
available to the public.
5) Required the ELDSAC to update, revise, and align the ELD
standards to the common core state standards in ELA by
grade level, and required the standard to be comparable to,
and as rigorous and specific as, the common core ELA
academic content standards.
6) Required, on or before August 31, 2012, the ELDSAC to
present its revised and aligned ELD standards to the SBE,
and required the SBE, on or before September 30, 2012, to
do either of the following:
a) Adopt the ELD standards presented by the ELDSAC; or,
b) Reject the ELD standards presented by the ELDSAC, in
which case, the SBE was required to transmit to the SPI,
the Governor, and the appropriate policy and fiscal
committees of the Legislature a specific written
explanation of the reasons why the standards presented by
the ELDSAC were rejected.
7)Specified legislative intent to use federal funds pursuant to
Title III of the federal NCLB to support the work of the
ELDSAC.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, $200,000 in federal Title I carryover funds for CDE
to implement this bill.
COMMENTS : California adopted ELD standards in 1999 for the
domains of listening, speaking, reading and writing. The ELD
standards represent what EL pupils must know and be able to do
as they move toward full fluency in the English language, and
these standards are the basis for the English language
development test (ELDT). Current law requires the ELD standards
to be comparable in rigor and specificity to the ELA standards
adopted by the SBE.
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On August 2, 2010, the SBE adopted the common core state
standards in ELA and mathematics. School districts use both the
ELA standards and the ELD standards to develop proficiency of
ELs in the English language and in the ELA content, hence there
will be a need to ensure the ELD standards are aligned with the
recently adopted common core state standards, in order to ensure
consistency in the curriculum particularly as plans to implement
the common core state standards are developed. This bill
establishes a process to revise, adopt and align the existing
ELD standards to the common core state standards.
Nearly 1.5 million of the state's 6.2 million students were
identified as ELs during the 2009-10 school year, representing
approximately 24% of the state's total public school enrollment.
ELs are at a considerable disadvantage relative to their native
English speaking peers, as they enter school with different
levels of English fluency and therefore have different
instructional needs to achieve language and academic
proficiency. The Proposition 227 Year 5 evaluation, Effects of
the Implementation of Proposition 227 on the Education of
English learners, K-12, finds that one of the key factors that
leads to EL success includes having systematic, carefully
designed plans for the provision of ELD instructional services.
The ELD standards are an important tool in developing and
delivering instructional services to ELs that differentiate
instruction according to proficiency levels and therefore it is
important that the ELD standards are updated and adequately
aligned to the recently adopted ELA standards.
The author states, "By requiring the state to review the ELD
standards for their alignment to the newly adopted ELA
standards, this bill will save school districts time and money
because each district will not have to do this work
independently. AB 124 requires the state to take the next step
in ensuring quality instruction of the state's ELL pupils."
Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avi�a / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0002338
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