BILL NUMBER: AB 532 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 27, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 26, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member V. Manuel Pérez
FEBRUARY 15, 2011
An act to add Section 52052.7 to the Education Code, relating to
pupil assessments.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 532, as amended, V. Manuel Pérez. Pupil assessments.
Existing law, the Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999,
provides a state assessment program for schools, an intervention
program for low-performing schools, and a reward system for
high-achieving schools, as specified.
This bill would require California's assessments to be valid,
reliable, and comparable for pupils who are
limited-English-proficient and for pupils with developmental
disabilities. The bill would require any primary language assessment
developed by the State Department of Education and administered to
limited-English-proficient pupils, as identified pursuant to existing
law, to be included in the state's assessment system, or in any
successor system, and in any measure or index developed or used for
the state's federal and state accountability system and any successor
system. The bill would also require any successor system to the
state's assessment system adopted on or after the effective date of
this act to include modifications and accommodations for
limited-English-proficient pupils , as specified.
determined by the Superintendent of Public
Instruction. The bill would require, if California joins a national
testing consortium as a governing state, that the Superintendent
recommend to the consortium that a state assessment system include
modifications to achievement tests in order to eliminate linguistic
complexity. The
The bill would require any advisory committee, work
group, task force, and technical assistance group that provides
recommendations to the Superintendent of Public Instruction
and the State Board of Education on future state and
federal assessment and accountability systems to make specified
determinations. The bill would require the testing contractor chosen
for the purpose of developing the primary language assessments to
report to the state board in writing as to how certain requirements
regarding validity, reliability, and comparability were met.
The bill would make these provisions operative on July 1, 2012.
This bill would also make various findings and declarations.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec.
6301 et seq.) requires states to test all pupils in a valid and
reliable manner and requires, to the extent practicable, that pupils
with limited English proficiency be tested in the language and form
most likely to yield accurate data on their academic subject area
knowledge.
(2) Approximately one of every four pupils enrolled in California'
s public schools is identified as a pupil with limited English
proficiency.
(3) The current academic assessment system does not allow pupils
with limited English proficiency to accurately demonstrate their
abilities in academic subject areas.
(4) Exclusive reliance on academic assessments designed for native
English speakers to gauge the academic progress of pupils with
limited English proficiency violates standards for educational
testing established by recognized national educational institutions,
including the American Educational Research Association, the American
Psychological Association, and the National Council on Measurement
in Education.
(5) Valid and reliable academic assessment data is critical to the
education accountability system.
(6) An accountability system that would yield more accurate data
on the academic ability of pupils with limited English proficiency is
needed for instructional use and to meet federal requirements.
(7) Local educational agencies should not experience negative
consequences solely based on the scores of recent immigrant pupils on
tests that do not provide valid and reliable diagnostic information
about what these pupils know and can do in academic subject areas.
(b) California's current assessment and accountability system will
sunset in 2013 and the development of a new generation of
assessments aligned to the recently approved common core academic
content standards is occurring at the federal level. Thus, now is the
time to comprehensively address the issue of valid and reliable
assessments for limited-English-proficient pupils.
(c) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature to bring the
system of assessing the academic progress of pupils with limited
English proficiency into alignment with the requirements of the
federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et
seq.), including the requirement that states test all pupils in a
valid and reliable manner and, to the extent practicable, in the
language and form most likely to yield accurate data on academic
ability in academic subject areas.
SEC. 2. Section 52052.7 is added to the Education Code, to read:
52052.7. (a) California's state assessments shall be valid,
reliable, and comparable for pupils who are
limited-English-proficient and for pupils with developmental
disabilities, and the provision of accommodations shall enable their
participation in these state assessments pursuant to the core
assurances of the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009 (Public Law 111-5).
(b) Any successor system to the state's assessment system adopted
on or after the effective date of this section shall include
modifications to the achievement test administered pursuant to
Section 60642.5 in order to eliminate linguistic complexity, to the
(b) If California joins a national
testing consortium as a governing state, the Superintendent shall
recommend to the consortium that a state assessment system include
modifications to achieveme nts tests in order to eliminate
linguistic complexity, to the extent practicable. The
proposed modifications shall be based upon research and be
designed to maintain the rigor of the test.
(c) Any successor system to the state assessment system adopted on
or after the effective date of this section shall include
accommodations and modifications for limited-English-proficient
pupils that will allow for meaningful participation in the English
language assessments and that address the unique linguistic and
sociocultural needs of the limited-English-proficient pupil without
altering the test construct. The accommodations and
modifications shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
following: The Superintendent, in consultation with
persons with demonstrated experience in developing academic
assessments specific to English learners, shall determine the
accommodations and modifications used in any successor system.
(1) A word-to-word glossary, without definitions, in English and
in the top five primary languages spoken by pupils who are English
learners as determined by the language census taken pursuant to
Section 52164 and submitted to the department by the local
educational agencies. The glossary shall include frequently used
general academic words as well as discipline-specific words used in
the assessments.
(2) The repetition of test directions if requested by a pupil.
(3) Translations of the test directions in the five most
frequently occurring primary languages spoken by pupils who are
English learners as determined by the language census taken pursuant
to Section 52164 and submitted to the department by the local
educational agencies.
(d) The department shall provide to the districts the bilingual
glossaries prepared pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) and
the translations of test directions prepared pursuant to paragraph
(3) of subdivision (c). The department shall use appropriate federal
funds for this purpose.
(e)
(d) (1) Any primary language assessment developed by
the department and administered to pupils identified as
limited-English-proficient, pursuant to subdivision (m) of Section
52163 and Sections 52164.1 and 60810, shall be included in the state'
s assessment system, or in any successor system, and shall be
included in any measure or index that is developed or used for the
purposes of the state's federal and state accountability system or
any successor system.
(2) In addition to being identified as limited-English-proficient
pursuant to subdivision (m) of Section 52163 and Sections 52164.1 and
60810, limited-English-proficient pupils who either receive
instruction in their primary language or are literate in
their primary language as determined by the results of the first
administration of the primary language assessment pursuant to Section
52164.1, and have been enrolled in a school in the United
States for less than three consecutive years
12 months , shall be authorized to take the primary language
assessment.
(3) Pupils who are not limited-English-proficient and who are
enrolled in public schools providing dual language immersion programs
shall be authorized to take the primary language assessment.
(f)
(e) (1) Any advisory committee, work group, task force,
or technical assistance group required by the Legislature or the
Governor, or established by the Superintendent or state board for the
purpose of providing recommendations to the Superintendent and the
state board on the future state assessment and accountability systems
and federal accountability system, shall determine all of the
following:
(A) How to include primary language assessments and their scores
in the state's assessment system and any successor assessment system
and in the state and federal accountability system and any successor
accountability system.
(B) How to modify the state's successor assessment system as
specified in subdivision (b).
(C) How to include the accommodations and modifications in the
state's successor assessment system as specified in subdivision (c).
(D) How to provide data on pupils who are English learners, their
program of instruction, and their English proficiency level as
determined by the California English Language Development Test
and how to include this data in the California Longitudinal
Pupil Achievement Data System developed pursuant to Section 60900
.
(E) How to provide disaggregated scores, based on
limited-English-proficient status, English language proficiency
levels, English-only pupils, fluent-English-proficient pupils, and
limited-English-proficient pupils who have been redesignated as
fluent-English-proficient.
(2) Any group identified in paragraph (1) shall include persons
with demonstrated expertise in developing academic assessments
specific to English learners and persons with demonstrated experience
in research and data specific to English learners.
(g)
(f) The primary language assessments developed pursuant
to this section shall meet the requirements regarding validity,
reliability, and comparability as specified by the testing standards
jointly developed by the American Psychological Association, the
American Educational Research Association, and the National Council
on Measurement in Education. The testing contractor chosen for the
purpose of developing the primary language assessments shall report
to the state board in writing as to how these requirements have been
met.
(h)
(g) This section shall become operative on July 1,
2012.