BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 250
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Date of Hearing: May 18, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 250 (Brownley) - As Amended: April 27, 2011
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:7-3
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill establishes the Curriculum Support and Reform Act of
2011 for the purpose of implementing and integrating the Common
Core (CC) Standards in English language arts (ELA) and
mathematics into the K-12 school system. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) and
school districts to recommend instructional materials (IM) to
the State Board of Education (SBE) for adoption and use in
grades K-8, as specified. Repeals the Curriculum Development
and Supplemental Materials Commission (CDSM) authority to
evaluate and recommend IM for adoption by the SBE.
2)Requires the CDSM, as part of recommending curriculum
frameworks to the SBE, to include directions to publishers to
align IM, as appropriate, with English language development
(ELD) standards and incorporate instructional strategies for
pupils with disabilities, as specified.
3)Requires the SBE to adopt revised K-12 curriculum frameworks
and evaluation criteria that are aligned to the CC standards
in ELA (by May 30, 2013) and mathematics (by May 30, 2014).
Further requires the SBE to ensure the frameworks include
strategies to address the needs of English language learner
pupils and pupils with disabilities, as specified.
4)Expresses legislative intent to ensure school districts are
provided with as many high-quality, standards-aligned IM
options as possible. Also, expresses intent for the SPI to:
(a) develop professional development modules on the CC
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Standards for schoolsite staff and (b) ensure professional
development opportunities are available to schoolsite staff
through multiple methods, including the Internet.
5)Extends the sunset date of the STAR program from July 2013 to
July 2014. Also, requires the SPI to develop recommendations,
by November 1, 2012, for the reauthorization of the state's
assessment program to integrate the CC Standards, including
developing a transition system (before the CC Standards are
fully integrated into the assessment system); developing
formative assessments; and ensuring assessment results can be
used to make comparisons over time.
6)Authorizes the SDE to make a primary language assessment
available to school districts to assess their non- ELL pupils
who are enrolled in a dual language immersion (DLI) program
and redesignated fluent-English proficient pupils, as
specified.
7)Repeals the requirement to test second graders in ELA and
mathematics. This bill also repeals the requirement for the
test publisher to make a grade-level reading list publically
available to provide assistance to pupils on the ELA
assessments.
8)Specifies the subject areas and grade levels of
standards-based assessments administered as part of the STAR
program. This bill proposes to exclude 11 end-of-course
assessments in various subject areas and grade levels
currently implemented as part of this program.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Until 2015, annual GF administrative costs, likely between
$200,000 and $500,000, to the State Department of Education's
(SDE) CDSMC to develop curriculum frameworks aligned to the CC
Standards in ELA and mathematics, as specified. This assumes a
portion of the Commission's funding is restored to complete
the development of two curriculum frameworks, as specified.
The governor vetoed $700,000 GF funding for the CDSMC in 2009,
which eliminated the CDSMC. To date, this funding has not
been restored.
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2)One-time GF administrative costs, likely between $150,000 and
$200,000, to SDE to develop recommendations, by November 1,
2012, for the reauthorization of the state's assessment
program to integrate the CC Standards, as specified.
3)GF/98 costs, of at least $35 million, to extend the sunset of
the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program. The
2010 Budget Act allocated a total of $53.6 million for the
STAR program, which includes second grade testing and
standards-aligned primary language assessments. Of this
amount, $42.2 million is GF/98, and $11.4 is federal Title VI,
which can be used for purpose related to implementing
standards and assessments.
This bill repeals specified state assessments with the STAR
program that are not required to be administered under federal
law, including second grade testing. This leads to between $2
million and $4 million in GF/98 and federal fund savings.
This savings is reflected in the cost estimated above for
reauthorizing the STAR program.
4)Minor GF/98 cost pressure, likely less than $90,000, to
authorize school districts to assess their non-ELL pupils who
are enrolled in Dual Language Immersion (DLI) programs and
redesignated fluent-English proficient pupils, as specified.
This bill requires school districts to pay for the
administration of this assessment at their own expense.
According to SDE, it allocated approximately $100,000 GF/98 to
school districts for the administration of the primary
language assessment to ELL pupils in 2010.
5)GF/98 cost pressure, likely in the low millions, to provide
professional development funding to school districts to
implement the CC standards, as specified. The bill expresses
legislative intent for the SPI to develop professional
development modules and ensure professional development
opportunities are available to schoolsite staff through
multiple methods, including the Internet.
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6)GF/98 cost pressure, in the tens to hundreds of millions, to
school districts to purchase IM aligned to the CC Standards.
The 2010 Budget Act allocated $333.8 million for the IM
program, however, school districts may use this funding for
any educational purpose it deems fit until 2015 (pursuant to
categorical flexibility under current law). Presumably the
state could use all or a portion of this funding to
reestablish the IM program, which would require districts to
purchase standards-aligned IM.
COMMENTS
1)Background . As a condition of applying for the federal Race
to the Top (RTT) grant program, states were required to adopt
the CC Standards in ELA 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 CC Standards in ELA and
mathematics. In 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
in August 2010.
The U.S. Department of Education, using RTT grant funding,
issued a competitive grant for the development of a
comprehensive assessment system based on the CC Standards in
ELA and mathematics that would adhere to the testing
requirements of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education
Act (ESEA). ESEA requires testing in ELA and mathematics in
grades three through eight and once in grades ten through 12.
Two assessment consortia were funded through this process: the
Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and
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Careers (PARCC) and the SMARTER Balanced Assessment
Consortium. Each consortium was awarded grant funding to
develop an assessment system aligned to the CC Standards in
ELA and mathematics and to help participating states
transition implementing the standards and the common
assessments. Both consortia are scheduled to operationalize
assessments 2014-15 and include use computer administered
assessments.
In June 2010, California joined the PARCC consortium.
Participation in this consortium requires California to
administer and use the assessments developed by the consortium
to meet the ESEA Title I requirements in the 2014-15 school
year.
2)Purpose . Since the adoption of the CC Standards in August
2010, local education agencies (LEAs) have been anxious to
know how and when the state plans to integrate the use of
these standards into the classroom, including when they will
be held accountable via the assessment system for teaching the
standards. Given the state's severe fiscal crisis, the SPI,
the SBE, the governor, and the Legislature have been hesitant
to make decisions regarding the implementation of these
standards.
According to the author, "The common core state standards
establish clear goals for learning that will prepare pupils
for success in college and careers. The adoption of the
common core state standards will only have an impact on the
achievement of California's pupils if the state starts a
process to bring the curriculum, instruction and assessment
system into alignment with the common core state standards."
This bill establishes the Curriculum Support and Reform Act of
2011 for the purpose of implementing and integrating the CC
Standards in ELA and mathematics into the K-12 school system.
3)Existing law requires the SBE to adopt statewide academically
rigorous content standards in the core curriculum areas. These
content standards are implemented through the curriculum
frameworks, as adopted by SBE. The adopted IM must be
consistent with the criteria and standards of quality
prescribed in the adopted curriculum frameworks. The
development of curriculum frameworks is a multi-year process.
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AB 2 X4 (Evans), Chapter 2, Statutes of 2009, specified that
LEAs are not required to purchase IM through the 2012-13 FY.
Consistent with the non-purchasing requirement, Chapter 2 also
suspended the requirement for SBE to adopt IM or conduct other
procedures associated with adoption (i.e., adopting curriculum
frameworks) until the 2013-14 school year. SB 70 (Committee on
Budget and Fiscal Review), Chapter 7, Statutes of 2011,
extended this suspension until the 2014-15 FY. This bill does
not require LEAs to purchase IM, however, it does require the
SBE to adopt curriculum frameworks, as specified.
4)Related legislation .
a) AB 124 (Fuentes), pending in this committee, establishes
the English Language Development Standards (ELD) Advisory
Committee for the purpose of aligning the ELD standards to
the CC ELA standards adopted by the SBE in August 2010.
b) AB 409 (Alejo), pending in this committee, authorizes
the SDE to make a standards-aligned primary language
assessment available to school districts and charter
schools to assess their non- ELL pupils who are enrolled in
a dual language immersion program, as specified.
c) 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 CC 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
AB 250
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