BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1521
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Date of Hearing: April 18, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1521 (Brownley) - As Amended: April 9, 2012
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:7-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill makes the following changes to the K-12 assessment
system (i.e., the Standardized Testing and Reporting Program):
1)Eliminates end-of-course assessments in math 1-3 and
integrated/coordinated assessments in science 1-4.
2)Authorizes the State Department of Education (SDE) to make a
standards-aligned primary language assessment available to
school districts to assess pupils (including English language
learners (ELLs) who are enrolled in a dual language immersion
(DLI) program and requires a district that chooses this option
to administer the assessment at its own expense.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)GF/98 savings of approximately $660,000 to SDE by eliminating
the integrated assessments, as specified. This savings is
attributed to reduced STAR program contracts costs. According
to SDE, 77,774 pupils took integrated assessments in math and
science in 2011. Likewise, there will likely be minimal STAR
apportionment costs savings, likely less than $75,000.
2)Minor GF/98 cost pressure, likely less than $75,000, to
authorize school districts to assess their non-ELL pupils who
are enrolled in DLI programs, as specified. This bill requires
school districts to pay for the administration of this
assessment at their own expense. According to SDE, it
allocated approximately $101,000 GF/98 to school districts for
the administration of the primary language assessment to ELL
pupils in 2010.
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3)The 2011 Budget Act allocated a total of $53.6 million for the
STAR program, which includes the standards-aligned primary
language assessment. Of this amount, $42.2 million are GF/98
funds and $11.4 are federal Title VI funds, which can be used
for purpose related to implementing standards and assessments.
COMMENTS
1)Background . Current law establishes the Standardized Testing
and Reporting Program (STAR) as the state's primary K-12
assessment system. This program consists of three elements:
(a) California Standards Tests (CST), including tests in
Spanish for specified grades; (c) the Spanish Assessment of
Basic Education primary language test, and (d) the California
Alternative Performance Assessment for special education
pupils. Under the STAR program, the state requires schools to
test all students in grades 2 to 11 in ELA and mathematics
using a CST, regardless of their language status.
The STAR program also includes end-of-course and integrated
assessments. End-of-course assessments are administered to
pupils in specific grade levels and subject areas, including
math and science. Integrated assessments are administered to
pupils enrolled in integrated math and/or science courses.
For example, integrated science covers biology, chemistry,
physics, and earth science in one course.
Current law only authorizes ELL pupils enrolled in school less
than 12 months or who receive primary language instruction, as
specified, to take the standards-aligned primary language
assessment. However, there are approximately 50,000 California
students enrolled in dual language immersion programs. A DLI
program integrates ELL and native English speaking students to
develop bilingualism and biliteracy in English and another
language.
This bill would allow all pupils enrolled in DLI programs to
take the standards-aligned primary language assessment, which
would provide districts, the state, and parents information
regarding the effectiveness of DLI programs.
2)Purpose . In his state of the state address in January 2012,
the governor called for a reduction in the number of tests the
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state requires K-12 pupils to take. The governor said, "I
believe it is time to reduce the number of tests and get the
results to teachers, principals and superintendents in weeks,
not months." For a number of years, several education groups
and legislators have been working to reduce the amount of time
pupils spend taking tests.
As required by AB 250 (Brownley), Chapter 608, Statutes of
2011, the Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson
is currently developing recommendations for reauthorization of
the state's assessment system. An integral part of this
review is to determine assessments that are not valuable to
pupils, administrators, and teachers and therefore, should be
eliminated. Several educators argue state assessments not
required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act should be
eliminated, including second grade testing, end-of-course
tests, and integrated assessments.
According to the author, "AB 1521 takes a modest step towards
streamlining the State's assessment system by eliminating a
number of end-of-course exams that are not required by federal
law and have in recent years had low student demand. The
elimination of various non-essential assessments will
streamline the assessment system, generate cost savings, and
restore valuable instructional time."
3)Committee amendment . Previous bills allowing pupils enrolled
in DLI programs to take the standards-aligned primary language
assessment have provided this authorization to charter schools
as well as school districts. The committee recommends charter
schools be given this authorization.
4)SB 1448 (Alpert), Chapter 233, Statutes of 2004, and SB 755
(Poochigian), Chapter 676, Statutes of 2005 , authorized the
SDE to develop and adopt a standards-aligned primary language
assessment in reading language arts and mathematics for ELL
pupils to replace the existing primary language assessment
(Aprenda 3) on a grade by grade basis until July 1, 2011. For
example, if a reading language arts standards-aligned primary
language test is developed for grade 2, Aprenda 3 would be
eliminated only for grade 2 in that subject.
The Spanish California Standards Test (SCST) was developed for
this purpose. To date, there are Spanish CSTs available for
ELL pupils enrolled in grades 2-11 in ELA and for ELL pupils
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enrolled in grades 2-7 in mathematics. Also, Spanish CSTs are
available for ELL pupils enrolled in algebra I and geometry.
Statute authorizes an ELL pupil to take a primary language
CST. The pupil, however, is required to take this assessment
in addition to all CSTs in English for specified subjects
(i.e., ELA, mathematics, history/social science, and science).
According to SDE, 40,386 took SCST in reading/language arts
and 37,778 ELL pupils took the SCST for mathematics in 2011.
5)Previous related legislation . AB 409 (Alejo), similar to this
measure regarding the primary language assessment, was held in
the Senate Appropriations Committee in August 2011.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081