BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-12 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1166
AUTHOR: Solorio
AMENDED: January 23, 2012
FISCAL COMM: No HEARING DATE: May 16, 2012
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Beth Graybill
SUBJECT : Pupils: Privacy of pupil records: standardized test
scores and grades.
SUMMARY
This bill prohibits school districts from including information
about a pupil's scores on standardized tests or course grades on
a school identification card or any other object a pupil may be
required to carry while at school.
BACKGROUND
Existing law specifies that a school district may provide
statistical data to a public agency or entity, private nonprofit
college, university, or educational research and development
organization, as long as no pupil may be identified from the
data. (Education Code � 49076)
Existing law specifies that a pupil record means any item of
information directly related to an identifiable pupil (other
than directory information) that is maintained by a school
district, whether recorded by handwriting, print, tapes, film,
microfilm, or other means. (EC � 49061)
Existing law requires every pupil to have an individual record
of accomplishment by the end of grade 12 that includes the
results of achievement tests administered as part of the
Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program, the results
of end-of-course exams, and any vocational education
certification exams a pupil may have taken. Existing law
specifies that a pupil's record of accomplishment is private and
may not be released to any person other than the pupil's parent
or guardian, or a teacher, counselor, or administrator directly
involved with the pupil, without the express written consent of
either the parent or guardian if the pupil is a minor, or the
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pupil if the pupil has reached the age of majority or is
emancipated. (EC � 60607)
Existing law specifies that individual test results from the
STAR program may only be released with the permission of either
the pupil's parent or guardian, or the pupil if the pupil has
reached the age of majority or is emancipated. (EC � 60641)
Existing federal law, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy
Act (FERPA) generally prohibits the improper disclosure of
personally identifiable information derived from education
records. FERPA applies to all educational agencies and
institutions that receive funding under any program administered
by the U.S. Department of Education. Under FERPA, schools are
required to provide certain privacy protections for the
educational records they maintain.
ANALYSIS
This bill :
1) Prohibits a school district from including on a pupil's ID
card, or any other object a pupil is required to carry on
his or her person while at school, any information about
the pupil's scores on standardized tests or course grades a
pupil has received. Prohibited information includes but is
not limited to the following:
a) A pupil's actual test score or grades.
b) The percentile or range into which those test
scores or grades fall.
c) Any symbol, color, logo, or other device or
emblem used to represent or convey any information
about those test scores or grades.
2) States the intent of the Legislature that the bill should
not be construed to prohibit schools from honoring or
recognizing pupil achievement.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author's office, the
purpose of AB 1166 is to address privacy issues raised by
incentive programs that identify a pupil's level of
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academic achievement on identification (ID) cards or other
objects that students are required to carry while at
school. Although the intent of such programs may be to
encourage improvements in academic achievement, the author
maintains that the programs serve to publicly brand
students, which can embarrass some students and result in
inequitable treatment of students "branded" as lower
achieving.
2) Performance-based incentive programs . Since the California
Standards Tests (CSTs) do not generally affect a student's
academic standing, some high schools have found it
challenging to ensure that students take the annual tests
as seriously as they do the California High School Exit
Exam or end-of-course examinations. Yet because of the
important role the CSTs play in a school's Academic
Performance Index standing, some schools have turned to
incentive programs to encourage higher achievement levels.
At the start of the 2010-2011 school year, Kennedy High School
and Cypress High School in the Anaheim Union High School
District (AUHSD) implemented a new incentive program that
assigned pupils different colored ID cards based on their
performance on the previous year's CSTs in the STAR
program. Students who scored "advanced" or "proficient" in
all subjects on the 2009-10 California Standards Tests
(CSTs) received a gold ID card. All other students
received white ID cards.
The schools modified their programs for the 2011-12 school year
giving students who scored "advanced" on all of the
previous year's CSTs a black/platinum ID card, while
students who scored proficient or advanced on all of the
2010-2011 CSTs or improved their scores by at least one
level on two or more CSTs were given a gold ID card.
Students who scored below proficient or advanced in any
subject or did not meet the improvement criteria were given
a white ID card. The modified program also included
color-coded planners that coordinated with the ID cards.
A student's designation remained in place for the school year,
and students were expected to carry their ID cards with
them. In both years pupils with the premium ID cards
received certain benefits and rewards. Pupils with
black/platinum or gold ID cards were entitled to separate
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(shorter) lunch lines specifically reserved for them,
discounts and/or free admission to certain after school
activities, and lower entry fees for football games. In
effect, these programs penalized the lower performing
students with longer lines and more expensive student
activities for the whole school year regardless of any
improvements in grades or coursework during that time. In
response to media and community pressure, the AUHSD
discontinued the programs in fall 2011 and has since
provided students with uniform ID cards and planners. The
district has formed a task force to develop a new program
to incentivize students.
Although many schools have honors programs for students who want
to demonstrate academic excellence, they are often programs
or courses of study to which the student applies and in
which benefits are related to activities and performance
within the program, such as access to specialized classes,
graduation recognition, or scholarship eligibility. The
bill does not limit the ability of schools to encourage
high achievement through programs that recognize superior
performance. The programs addressed by this bill are
non-voluntary, school-wide programs that have the effect of
publicly identifying students based on academic performance
with benefits/penalties that may not be directly related to
performance.
3) Privacy concerns . Incentive programs that distinguish
between students on the basis of academic performance raise
issues of student privacy if the indicators of academic
achievement are derived from pupil records. Current law
prohibits the disclosure of individual test results without
explicit permission and further states that a pupil record
means any item of information directly related to an
identifiable pupil. Supporters of incentive programs have
argued that identifying score ranges (e.g. "advanced,"
"proficient," etc.) rather than a pupil's individual test
score does not violate existing law. However, since score
ranges are derived from a pupil's score, an argument can be
made that they are an essential part of the test results
and should therefore be protected. Given that students
frequently use ID cards in public places such as the school
library, the lunch line, or student activities, it seems
reasonable that the cards should not contain information
derived from a pupil's private record of achievement.
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SUPPORT
California Teachers Association
OPPOSITION
None received.