BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1368
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 27, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 1368 (Pan) - As Amended: April 14, 2011
SUBJECT : California Healthy Kids Survey
SUMMARY : Establishes the California Healthy Kids Survey
(CHKS). Specifically, this bill :
1)Specifies that the CHKS is intended to collect data on pupil
perceptions of school climate, school safety, and pupil
health.
2)Requires, to the extent that funding is made available, a
school district to administer the CHKS on a biannual basis to
pupils in grades 5, 7, 9, and 11.
3)Requires a school district to, prior to administering the
CHKS, comply with parent and guardian notification and consent
provisions required in existing law.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Specifies that no test, questionnaire, survey, or examination
containing any questions about the pupil's personal beliefs or
practices in sex, family life, morality, and religion, or any
questions about the pupil's parents' or guardians' beliefs and
practices in sex, family life, morality, and religion, shall
be administered to any pupil in kindergarten or grades 1 to
12, inclusive, unless the parent or guardian of the pupil is
notified in writing that this test, questionnaire, survey, or
examination is to be administered and the parent or guardian
of the pupil gives written permission for the pupil to take
this test, questionnaire, survey, or examination. (Education
Code (EC) Section 51513)
2)Specifies that anonymous, voluntary, and confidential research
and evaluation tools to measure pupils' health behaviors and
risks, including tests, questionnaires, and surveys containing
age-appropriate questions about the pupil's attitudes
concerning or practices relating to sex may be administered to
any pupil in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, if the parent or
guardian is notified in writing that this test, questionnaire,
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or survey is to be administered and the pupil's parent or
guardian is given the opportunity to review the test,
questionnaire, or survey and to request in writing that his or
her child not participate. (EC Section 51938(b))
3)Specifies that the Annual Report on Dropouts in California
report may include, among others, relevant data on school
climate and pupil engagement from the CHKS. (EC 48070.6)
4)Authorizes, to the extent consistent with federal and state
privacy laws, local educational agencies that receive after
school program funds to provide specified data to an operator
of an after school program, including CHKS results in
aggregate form. (EC Section 8484.1)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : This bill codifies the CHKS, which was developed in
1998 and administered on a voluntary basis until 2003, when the
federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act required states that
receive Title IV funds (Safe and Drug-Free Schools and
Communities Program) to establish a uniform management
information and reporting system that includes, among others,
the "incidence and prevalence, age of onset, perception of
health risk, and perception of social disapproval of drug use
and violence by youth in schools and communities". Title IV
also requires compilation of statistics that includes "incident
reports by school officials, anonymous student surveys, and
anonymous teacher surveys." California received $28 million
annually from Title IV funds, the majority of which were
allocated to districts to implement programs to address school
safety and alcohol and drug use. The CHKS was developed to
measure progress and collect data and to comply with the NCLB
requirements. According to the Superintendent of Public
Instruction (SPI) Tom Torlakson, the sponsor of the bill, the
CHKS is an exemplary program, recognized by President Barack
Obama's administration as a model survey for the nation.
The CHKS is one component of the California School Climate,
Health, and Learning Survey System. The other two surveys that
make up the system are the California School Climate Survey for
staff and the California School Parent Survey for parents.
The CHKS is administered biennially to pupils in grades 5, 7, 9,
and 11. The voluntary survey is anonymous and confidential,
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with three versions available for elementary, middle, and high
school kids. The survey assesses health risks, with specific
focus on alcohol, tobacco, and drug use; school violence;
physical health; resilience and youth development; and school
climate. Schools can add questions as appropriate for the age
group; for example, the high school survey can be supplemented
with questions relating to sex education, suicide, gang
involvement and issues related to the achievement gap.
In accordance with existing law, prior to the administration of
the survey, districts are required to inform parents and legal
guardians of the survey and allow them to either opt their
children in or out of taking the survey. The California
Department of Education contracts with WestEd, a nonprofit
research organization, to collect, compile and report the data.
The SPI has the following message on the CHKS Web site, "We all
know that children can only learn to their full potential when
they feel safe and secure at school and in their classroom. The
California School Climate Survey, and its companion the
California Healthy Kids Survey, provide a venue for students to
express how they really feel about their school experience and
their classroom environment. These surveys provide teachers and
administrators the critical data needed to create positive
learning environments in our schools. I strongly encourage all
school districts to participate in these important surveys."
The survey results may help schools identify issues faced by
students and develop strategies to address the issues and
improve youth development and school climate. A couple of
provisions in the Education Code and additional bills that have
been introduced in the current and prior session have referenced
the CHKS, even though the survey is not in law, as a way of
garnering information regarding student perceptions. Title IV
funds that triggered the survey requirement and that were used
to administer the CHKS expired last year and may be restored
with the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act. The SPI states that "it is necessary to codify
the CHKS in the Education Code to ensure that, when funding is
available, the survey is administered properly and with the
proper intent."
AB 1368
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Arguments in Support . The author states, "The CHKS aims to 1)
reduce the persistent achievement gap among minority and
economic groups, 2) improve school climate by evaluating the
link between school success and a caring, supportive, safe,
challenging, and participatory school environment, 3) assess
school and community support systems, 4) identify health related
barriers to learning and 5) address specific local needs. This
bill would require the CHKS to be administered in California
Schools once funding is available so that schools can evaluate
and improve school climate and student success."
Committee amendment .
1)The sponsor states that due to a drafting error, the bill
requires the survey to be conducted biannually instead of
biennially . Staff recommends changing, on page two, line 12,
"biannual" to "biennial".
2)Consistent with current practice, staff recommends specifying
that the survey shall be anonymous and voluntary.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Civil Liberties Union
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids
Gay-Straight Alliance Network
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087