BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1166
Page 1
Date of Hearing: January 11, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 1166 (Solorio) - As Amended: January 4, 2012
SUBJECT : Pupils: privacy of pupil records: standardized test
scores and grades
SUMMARY : Prohibits school districts from including any
information about a pupil's scores on standardized tests or
course grades on that pupil's school identification (ID) card or
any other object that the pupil is required or encouraged by
school officials to carry on his or her person while present at
school. Defines "information" to include, but not necessarily be
limited to, a pupil's actual test scores or grades, the
percentile or range into which those test scores or grades fall,
or any symbol, color, logo, or other device or emblem used to
represent or convey any information about those test scores or
grades.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Specifies that any pupil results or a record of accomplishment
shall be private and may not be released to any person, other
than the pupil's parent or guardian and a teacher, counselor
or administrator directly involved with the pupil, without the
express written consent of either the parent or guardian of
the pupil if the pupil is a minor, or the pupil if the pupil
has reached the age of majority or is emancipated. (Education
Code (EC) Section 60607)
2)Specifies that individual pupil test results from the
Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program may only be
released with the permission of either the pupil's parent or
guardian if the pupil is a minor, or the pupil if the pupil
has reached the age of majority or is emancipated. (EC 60641)
3)Specifies that a district may provide, at its discretion,
statistical data from which no pupil may be identified, to any
public agency or entity or private nonprofit college,
university or educational research and development
organization when such actions would be in the best
educational interest of pupils. (EC 49074)
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4)Protects, under the federal Family Education Rights and
Privacy Act, the privacy of pupil records by requiring written
permission from the parent or eligible student, with specified
exceptions, in order for a local education agency to release
any information from a student's education record. (20 U.S.C.
Section 1232g)
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal.
COMMENTS : Background: According to the author, this bill stems
from the issues raised by two incentive programs attempting to
increase achievement on STAR tests at Kennedy High School and
Cypress High School in the Anaheim Union High School District.
Across the state, many schools have incentive programs intended
to push pupils towards strong academic achievement. Few have
received as much publicity as the programs at Kennedy High
School and Cypress High School.
At the start of the 2010-2011 school year, the schools
implemented the new incentive program that required pupils to
carry different colored ID cards based on achievement on the
previous year's STAR tests. If a student scored "advanced" or
"proficient" in all subjects on the previous year's California
Standards Test (CST), they received a gold ID card. All other
students received white ID cards.
In 2011-2012, the schools modified their systems so that if a
student scored advanced on all of the previous year's CSTs, they
were given a black/platinum ID card; if a student scored
proficient or advanced in all of the previous year's CSTs or
improved their scores by at least one level on two or more CSTs,
they were given a gold ID card; and, if a student scored
anywhere below proficient or advanced in any subject or did not
improve by one level on two or more CSTs, they were given a
white ID card. Additionally, the modified program began giving
pupils planners whose colors matched the colors of their ID
cards.
In both years, based on the color of a pupil's ID card, pupils
received various benefits and rewards. Pupils with
black/platinum or gold ID cards could enter a shorter lunch line
specifically reserved for black/platinum or gold card holders,
receive free admission to certain afterschool activities and pay
a lower fee for football game entrance fees. Pupils with white
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ID cards could obtain these benefits only if they improved their
score results in that year's CSTs, which would then move them up
to the gold or black/platinum levels for the following school
year.
In response to media and community pressure, the school district
discontinued the ID cards and planners at both schools and
provided all students with uniform ID cards and uniform
planners. Currently, a district task force has been developed to
craft a district wide incentive program to be implemented in the
2012-2013 school year.
This bill prohibits the inclusion of any pupil's standardized
test score or course grade information on a school ID card or
any other object that pupil is required or encouraged to carry
with them at school. It defines the term "information" as a
pupil's actual test scores or grades, the percentile or range
into which those test scores or grades fall, or any symbol,
color, logo or other device or emblem, used to represent or
convey any information about those test scores or grades. It
expands existing law to ensure that incentive programs using
test scores, such as the programs that were in place at Kennedy
High School and Cypress High School, are not permitted. It
clarifies that a pupil's actual test scores, percentile or range
into which those test scores fall, or course grades cannot be
displayed on ID cards or any other item that a student is
required or encouraged to carry while at school.
Student Privacy Rights: Existing law specifies that a school
district is not authorized to permit access to pupil records to
any person without the permission of either the pupil's parent
or guardian if the pupil is a minor or the pupil if the pupil
reached the age of majority or is emancipated. This leads to two
fundamental questions in response to these incentive programs:
1)Is the scoring range (e.g. "advanced," "proficient," etc.)
into which a pupil falls on the STAR test considered a part of
pupil records? Supporters of the incentive programs argue that
identifying scoring ranges rather than exact pupil scores does
not violate existing law. Pupil records are defined by EC
Section 49061 as "any item of information directly related to
an identifiable pupil." A score range achieved on the CST by
an individual pupil is an item of information that is directly
related to a given pupil. Such score ranges are the result of
a pupil's performance on a standardized test and are based
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solely on the responses provided by that individual. While
score ranges are not explicitly included in the definition of
pupil records in the EC, it seems clear that they do fall
within the general definition provided. It can be argued that
existing law already prohibits the programs. This bill is
intended to eliminate any confusion by clarifying specific
actions that are prohibited in the EC.
2)Is putting information reflective of test scores on a pupil's
ID card and planner a violation of student privacy? According
to existing law, school districts are not allowed to share
pupil records with anyone but certain specified individuals
and groups working in the best educational interest of the
pupil without the express written consent of a parent or
guardian. By putting test score information on a pupil's own
ID card or planner, is that information being shared with
other individuals? Given the nature of both items - their
frequency of use in public situations like the lunch line -
and the fact that both are color coded to match with student
test results, it would seem that this information is being
released publicly. This does not allow pupils or their
families the right to choose to share a pupil's personal
information. According to media reports, the exposure of test
score ranges at these schools led to bullying in at least
several documented instances.
Existing programs at other schools . In addition to the programs
at Kennedy High School and Cypress High School, the language of
the proposed legislation may impact academic incentive programs
used at other schools throughout the state. For example, the
Panther Pride Program at Ida Price Middle School of the Cambrian
School District uses grade point average (GPA) information on
pupil ID cards. At Ida Price Middle School, pupil ID cards are
color coded gold if a pupil receives a 3.67 to a 4.0 GPA, silver
if a pupil receives a 3.33 to a 3.66 GPA and bronze if a pupil
receives a 2.5 to a 3.32 GPA. The program is intended "to
celebrate academic achievement." Other schools may also include
information about course grades on pupil ID cards for honors
programs like the Panther Pride Program.
The impact of this legislation on programs like the Panther
Pride Program raises an important question: is it acceptable to
recognize high achievers, such as those recognized through
honors programs, by placing information about an exemplary GPA
on pupil ID cards? Under this bill, the practice of including
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pupil GPA information on ID cards would be prohibited, but other
components of programs recognizing exemplary students would not
be affected.
Requiring or encouraging students? There is a substantive
difference between requiring a pupil to have an item (such as an
ID card) with them at all times on campus and encouraging them
to have such an item (such as a planner). By definition, a rule
that school officials encourage pupils to follow involves a
level of choice for the pupil and their family. The issues
arising from the incentive programs at Kennedy High School and
Cypress High School seemed to center on the fact that pupils
were required to comply with rules about bringing ID cards to
school. The current language of the bill also includes items
that school officials encourage students to carry. This
language, while responding to the issue surrounding planners,
will likely cause interpretation problems about what items are
"encouraged" by a school. Staff recommends striking "or
encouraged" from page 2, line 5 of this bill.
Arguments in Support: The author states "AB 1166 would clarify
that a school cannot include any information on a student
identification card or any object that a student is required to
carry at school that reflects their performance on standardized
tests or course grades."
Arguments in Opposition: Opponents of this legislation would
argue that incentive programs are effective in raising Academic
Performance Index (API) scores and should not be discontinued.
The API scores for Kennedy High School and Cypress High School
increased from 821 to 847 and from 880 to 895, respectively,
between the 2009-2010 school year and the 2010-2011 school year.
Prior Related Legislation . SB 29 (Simitian) requires any local
educational agency that chooses to issue a pupil a device that
uses radio frequency identification (RFID) for purposes of
recording attendance or tracking pupil location to notify and
obtain written consent from the pupil's parents or guardian
before the RFID device may be issued to the pupil. This bill was
vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger in 2008.
SB 1298 (Simitian), Chapter 561, Statutes of 2008, establishes
processes by which local education agencies and public
institutions of higher education issue, maintain, and report
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information using unique state wide student identifiers required
under law.
SB 1078 (Simitian) prohibits the use of student-issued radio
frequency identification (RFID) devices to monitor students or
record student attendance in public schools. This bill was
placed on the Assembly inactive file on August 30, 2006.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Mark Murphy and Sophia Kwong Kim / ED.
/ (916) 319-2087