BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1668
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1668 (Carter)
As Amended May 16, 2012
Majority vote
EDUCATION 10-0
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|Ayes:|Brownley, Norby, Ammiano, | | |
| |Buchanan, Butler, Carter, | | |
| |Grove, Halderman, Wagner, | | |
| |Williams | | |
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SUMMARY : Revises the definition of "dropout recovery high
school" (DRHS) to include a school offering instruction in any
of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, in which 50% or more of its pupils
are either designated as dropouts, as specified, or were not
otherwise enrolled for a period of at least 180 days and the
school provides instruction in partnership with the specified
programs. Specifically, this bill amends the definition in the
section of the Education Code (EC) relative to the alternative
individual pupil growth model for dropout recovery high schools.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) and
the State Board of Education (SBE) to allow DRHSs, numbering
no more than 10, to report the results of an individual pupil
growth model that the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI) certifies as meeting specified criteria, in lieu of
other indicators under the state's alternative accountability
system. (EC Section 52052.3)
2)Defines a "dropout recovery high school" for this purpose, as
a school offering instruction in any of grades 9-12 in which
50% or more of its pupils are designated as dropouts pursuant
to the exit and withdrawal codes developed by the California
Department of Education (CDE) and the school provides
instruction in partnership with any of the following:
a) The federal Workforce Investment Act;
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b) Federally affiliated Youthbuild programs;
c) Federal job corps training or instruction provided
pursuant to a memorandum of understanding with the federal
provider; or,
d) The California Conservation Corp (CCC) or local
conservation corps certified by the CCC. (EC Section
52052.3)
3)Prohibits graduation rates for pupils in DRHSs from being
included in the Academic Performance Index (API) and defines
DRHS for this purpose, as a high school in which 50% or more
of its pupils have been designated as dropouts pursuant to the
exit/withdrawal codes developed by the CDE. (EC Section
52052)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : Last year the Legislature approved and the Governor
signed AB 180 (Carter), Chapter 669, Statutes of 2011, to allow
up to 10 DRHSs to propose and use, subject to the approval of
the SPI and SBE, an alternative individual pupil growth model.
Passage of AB 180 acknowledged that DRHSs should be able to
measure and report the growth of individual pupils from their
own individual pupil-based accountability model in lieu of other
required indicators so as to more appropriately reflect the
progress that a DRHS is making. AB 180 defines a "dropout
recovery high school" for this purpose, as a school offering
instruction in any of grades 9-12 in which 50% or more of its
pupils are designated as dropouts pursuant to the exit and
withdrawal codes developed by the CDE and the school provides
instruction in partnership with any of the specified federal and
state programs.
This bill revises the definition of DRHS to include a school
offering instruction in any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, in
which 50% or more of its pupils are either designated as
dropouts or were not otherwise enrolled for a period of at least
180 days and the school provides instruction in partnership with
the specified programs.
Need for the bill: According to information provided by the
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author, "The proposed amendment to the AB 180 definition is a
result of ambiguities in some of the exit and withdrawal codes.
As a result of these ambiguities, many SIATech �School for
Integrated Academics & Technologies] students who have
previously dropped out from another high school for a period of
over 90 days would not qualify for inclusion. These data
ambiguities have recently come to light and the definition would
have included them last year had they been known." A prior
version of this bill included schools in which 50% or more of
its pupils were either designated as dropouts or were not
otherwise enrolled for a period of at least 90 days. However,
some school districts do not consider students continuously
enrolled during the summer months and therefore the 90-day
timeframe may have led to a potential over-identification of
schools as DRHSs. This bill was amended in the Assembly
Education Committee to extend this timeframe to 180 days.
Data made available by the CDE shows that only six schools meet
the existing definition of DRHS. SIATech, the sponsor of this
bill and AB 180, does not meet the existing definition of a
dropout recovery high school, because according to the
exit/withdrawal codes used in the California Longitudinal Pupil
Achievement Data System (CALPADS), SIATech does not enroll at
least 50% dropouts. SIATech, however, is a widely known dropout
recovery high school. This bill seeks to capture, within the
DRHS definition, schools that enroll dropouts and/or pupils that
have reenrolled in school after having been out of school for
180 days or more and may have instead been considered transfers
for an extended period of time.
According to information on the CDE's Internet Web site, for
state-level reporting purposes, any pupil that is reported by a
local educational agency (LEA) as transferring to another
California public school district and cannot be found
subsequently enrolled in a California public school district on
or before Information Day (the first Wednesday in October) is
considered a lost transfer and will be counted as a dropout.
However, a pupil can be considered a "lost transfer" for over a
year before he or she is counted as a dropout. While larger
policy questions may emerge regarding the period of time a pupil
can be considered a lost transfer before he or she is considered
a dropout, the focus of this bill is limited to the definition
of DRHS for purposes of implementing AB 180 (Carter).
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CDE workload: The CDE contends that in order to identify
schools that enroll pupils that have not been enrolled for a
specified timeframe will require CDE staff to review each of the
over six million statewide student identifiers (SSID) to
determine whether a pupil was out of school for at least 180
days. There is currently no mechanism in CALPADS to be able to
easily generate this data. Given that existing law only allows
up to 10 schools be identified for purposes of the alternative
growth model, a question could be raised as to whether a more
efficient approach should be explored since only 10 schools or
less will ultimately be identified.
Different definitions of DRHS in the EC: Current law defines
DRHS in two different ways and for different purposes. One
definition of DRHS appears in a section of the EC prohibiting
graduation rates for DRHS from being included in the API and
that section defines DRHS as a high school in which 50% or more
of its pupils have been designated as dropouts pursuant to the
exit/withdrawal codes developed by the CDE. A second definition
appears in the section of the EC amended by this bill for
purposes of the alternative individual pupil growth model. That
definition currently includes a high school for which 50% or
more of its pupils are designated as dropouts pursuant to the
exit and withdrawal codes developed by the CDE and the school
provides instruction in partnership with any of the specified
federal and state job programs. While the intent of this bill
is only to revise the definition for purposes of the section of
the EC relative to the alternative growth model, a future issue
for consideration may be whether the definitions of DRHS should
be consistent throughout the EC.
Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avi�a / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0003648