BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 180 (Carter)
Hearing Date: 06/27/2011 Amended: 06/14/2011
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-HernandezPolicy Vote: Education 10-0
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 180 requires the Superintendent of Public
Instruction (SPI) and State Board of Education (SBE) to allow a
dropout recovery high school to use, as part of the alternative
accountability system, an individual pupil growth model that is
proposed by the school and certified by the SPI.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
CDE review, certification Potentially significant start up,
and ongoing costs General
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
This bill requires the SPI and the SBE to allow a dropout
recovery high school, as defined in the bill, to report, in lieu
of other indicators, the results of an individual pupil growth
model that is proposed by the school and certified by the SPI.
These provisions would, in effect, require the Department of
Education (CDE) to review any proposal from a dropout recovery
high school to use an individual pupil growth model, evaluate
the model, and certify (or deny) its use as an alternative
accountability measure.
Pursuant to authorization provided through the Public Schools
Accountability Act (SB 1x of the Statutes of 1999, Alpert), the
SBE developed the Alternative Schools Accountability Model
(ASAM) for schools under the jurisdiction of a county board of
education or a county superintendent of schools, community day
schools, and alternative schools, including continuation high
schools and opportunity schools. The ASAM uses 15 indicators of
accountability, and schools that choose to participate in the
AB 180 (Carter)
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ASAM select three indicators that are then approved by the
district superintendent and governing board. In 2008, the SBE
approved a conceptual framework for redesigning the existing
ASAM to make it more rigorous. However, funding for redesigning
the ASAM was vetoed, and the related work ceased. Eligible
schools still have the opportunity to participate in the
existing ASAM.
The SPI and the SBE are currently tasked with making
recommendations to the Legislature and the Governor, on
establishing a methodology for generating a measurement of group
and individual academic performance growth by using the
California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS).
Those recommendations are due by July 1, 2013, after this bill
would take effect. This bill specifically sets up a system
outside the ASAM for evaluating certain dropout recovery high
schools.
AB 180 would define dropout recovery high schools as high
schools in which 50 percent or more of its pupils are designated
as dropouts pursuant to existing law and the school provides
instruction in partnership with the federal Workforce Investment
Act (WIA), the federally affiliated Youthbuild programs, the
federal job corps training or instruction provided pursuant to a
memorandum of understanding with the federal provider, or the
California Conservation Corps (CCC) or local conservation corps
certified by the CCC.
The cost of this bill will depend upon the number of schools
that propose individual pupil growth models they have developed,
which must be reviewed by the CDE. While it is likely that only
a few existing dropout recovery schools meet the criteria
outlines in this bill, an exact number is not known, and the
bill would apply to future dropout recovery schools that could
meet the criteria. If the CDE is required to review individual
growth models proposed by only a few schools, the ongoing fiscal
effect could be a relatively minor increase in workload.
However, the CDE would also likely have to provide technical
assistance to dropout recovery high schools that are developing,
or considering the development of individual growth models.
Regardless of the number, however, there will be upfront costs
to establish review criteria, and a process for certification by
the SPI. This bill would specifically require the SPI and the
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SBE to certify the individual growth model, if the SPI
determines that the growth model proposed by the school meets
the following criteria:
Measures learning based on valid and reliable nationally
normed or criterion-referenced reading and mathematics
tests.
Measures skills and knowledge aligned with state
standards.
Measures the extent to which a pupil scored above an
expected amount of growth based on the individual pupil's
initial achievement score.
Demonstrates the extent to which a school is able to
accelerate learning on an annual basis.
The CDE and SBE would have to establish a process and policies
for evaluating whether a proposed model meets the criteria, and
for certifying the individual growth models. Those models would
be used in lieu of other alternative accountability tools on an
ongoing basis for each dropout recovery high school that has
been certified to use its own model. It is also likely that the
SPI would have to conduct periodic reviews of any certified
individual growth models, especially to the extent that they
interact with any future revision of the ASAM.