BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 409
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 409 (Alejo)
As Amended May 19, 2011
Majority vote
EDUCATION 7-3 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Brownley, Ammiano, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Buchanan, Butler, Carter, | |Bradford, Charles |
| |Eng, Williams | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| | | |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| | | |Mitchell, Solorio |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Norby, Halderman, Wagner |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, |
| | | |Nielsen, Smyth, Wagner |
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SUMMARY : Authorizes the administration of a primary language
assessment to nonlimited-English-proficient and redesignated
fluent-English-proficient (RFEP) pupils enrolled in dual
immersion programs. Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes the California Department of Education (CDE) to
make a primary language assessment available to school
districts and charter schools to assess their
nonlimited-English-proficient and RFEP pupils, who are
enrolled in a dual language immersion program that includes
the primary language of the assessment.
2)Requires a school district or charter school that chooses to
administer a primary language assessment as authorized by this
bill to do so at its own expense and to enter into an
agreement for that purpose with the state testing contractor
subject to the approval of the CDE.
3)Specifies that the cost for the assessment shall be the same
for all school districts and charter schools and shall not
exceed the marginal cost of the assessment.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, minor General Fund/Proposition 98 (GF/98) cost
pressure, likely less than $75,000, to authorize school
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districts to assess their non-English learner (EL) pupils who
are enrolled in dual immersion programs, as specified. This
bill requires school districts to pay for the administration of
this assessment at their own expense. According to CDE, it
allocated approximately $101,000 GF/98 to school districts for
the administration of the primary language assessment to EL
pupils in 2010.
COMMENTS : SB 1448 (Alpert), Chapter 233, Statutes of 2004,
required the development of standards-aligned primary language
assessments for English learner pupils. The CDE began the
development of the Standards-based Tests in Spanish (STS) in
reading/language arts and mathematics in 2006 and started
administering the test in 2007 in grades 2-4, inclusive. In
2008, the STS was administered in grades 2-7, inclusive and
beginning in 2009, the STS was administered in grades 2-11,
inclusive. Additionally, algebra 1 and geometry end-of-course
exams are also available in Spanish. According to CDE's
Standardized Testing and Reporting Program: Annual Report to the
Legislature, Spanish is the only language for which a primary
language test has been designated because no tests for languages
other than Spanish have been submitted by bidders to the State
Board of Education (SBE) for consideration in response to
requests for submission. The STS is currently administered to
ELs who either receive instruction in their primary language or
have been enrolled in a school in the United States (U.S.) for
less than 12 months. These tests are administered in addition
to the English California Standards Test (CST) in
reading/language arts and mathematics, and the STS results are
not used for state or federal accountability purposes. At the
option of a school district, the STS can be administered to an
EL pupil who has been enrolled in the U.S. for 12 months or more
and who is not receiving instruction in his or her primary
language.
Dual language education programs integrate native English
speakers and native speakers of the target language to provide
instruction presented through two languages. Currently, school
districts that operate Spanish/English dual immersion programs
are not authorized to administer the STS to native English
speakers nor to RFEP pupils enrolled in these programs. The STS
can be an additional tool for teachers and administrators to
gather achievement data of native English speakers and RFEP
pupils enrolled in dual immersion programs, as well as to
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evaluate the effectiveness of such programs.
The author states, "Current law requires that Dual Immersion
schools use standardized testing to assess their students'
academic performance. Yet, the schools are prohibited by law
from using the Standards-based Test in Spanish (STS) on the
non-English Learner subset of the student population. Dual
Immersion schools are therefore unable accurately measure the
proficiency of their English Only or Fluent English Proficient
students. This puts these schools at a disadvantage because
they cannot compare the data between English Learners and
non-English Learners. As a result, they lack the information
needed to accurately measure student progress in grade level
content standards and make academic improvements in instruction.
"
Related legislation: AB 250 (Brownley) amongst its various
curriculum and assessment provisions authorizes the
administration of a primary language assessment to
nonlimited-English proficient pupils and RFEP pupils enrolled in
dual immersion programs. AB 250 is pending in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
Previous legislation: AB 252 (Coto) of 2007, a substantially
similar measure, authorizes the CDE, subject to approval by the
SBE and the Department of Finance, to make a primary language
assessment available to public schools for use in assessing
nonlimited-English-proficient pupils enrolled in a dual language
immersion program that includes the primary language of the
assessment. AB 252 was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger with
the following veto message:
"English-speaking pupils who have voluntarily enrolled in dual
language immersion programs are currently required to take the
California Standards Test in English. Therefore, another
assessment is not needed to measure their mastery of
state-adopted academic content standards in another language.
Furthermore, I am concerned that this bill creates significant
General Fund cost pressures for the state to develop
standards-aligned primary language tests in other languages.
Given the state's current fiscal climate it is not prudent for
me to enact this measure."
AB 409
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Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avina / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0000781