BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-12 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1919
AUTHOR: Brownley
AMENDED: June 13, 2012
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 20, 2012
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Beth Graybill
SUBJECT : Charter schools: achievement data.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the California Department of Education to
provide a secondary Academic Performance Index that includes
the scores of the charter schools for which a school district
is the chartering authority; and, provide other data as
specified in accordance with the Family Educational Rights
and Privacy Act.
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 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 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
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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.
Existing law requires a charter school to meet at least one
of the following performance standards in order to be
renewed: (1) attainment of the school's Academic Performance
Index (API) growth target in two of the last three years or
in the aggregate last three years; (2) an API decile ranking
of four or better in the prior year or in two of the last
three years; (3) a Similar Schools API ranking of four or
better in two of the last three years; (4) academic
performance that is at least equal to the academic
performance of the public schools that the charter school
pupils would otherwise been required to attend; or (5)
qualification for participation in the Alternative School
Accountability Model (ASAM). (EC � 47607)
ANALYSIS
This bill :
1) Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to
calculate and provide a secondary Academic Performance
Index (API) that includes the scores of the charter
schools for which a school district is the chartering
authority.
2) Requires a school district's secondary API score to be
used only for school district purposes and requires a
school district's API score for statewide accountability
purposes to continue to be calculated as required by
current law.
3) Requires the CDE to provide to a school district
individual pupil demographic data, program data, and
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achievement data, including but not limited to, the
results of the standards-based achievement tests that
are part of the STAR Program, the English Language
Development Test, and the California High School Exit
Exam, relating to pupils who attend a charter school for
which the school district is the chartering authority.
Requires the CDE to provide the data, to the extent it
has the data, along with the unique pupil identification
number of each of those pupils to the school district in
accordance with FERPA.
4) Requires the CDE to provide a school district individual
pupil results for pupils attending a charter school for
which the school district is the chartering authority.
Requires the CDE to provide the data, to the extent it
has it, along with unique pupil identification number of
each of those pupils to the school district in
accordance with FERPA.
5) Requires the CDE to provide a school district access to
view and download the individual pupil records in the
California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System
for pupils who attend a charter school for which the
school district is the chartering authority, in
accordance with FERPA.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill : Although charter schools are exempt
from most laws governing school districts and schools,
they are required to participate in the STAR program and
report the results of tests in that program to the CDE.
Some charter schools report the information through the
school district that authorized the school, while others
report the information directly to CDE. When a charter
school reports the data directly to CDE, the information
is not available to the school district. A school
district that wishes to obtain student-level achievement
data for students who attend a direct-reporting charter
school must make individual requests from each school,
costing time and resources that the school district
cannot afford. According to the author's office, the
purpose of AB 1919 is to provide school districts with
more information about the performance of all students
within their jurisdiction, including those who attend
charter schools.
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2) Record privacy . Although current law allows a school
district access to aggregate school-level data, existing
law deems a pupil's individual assessment data,
including STAR results to be private and precludes the
release of those data to anyone other than specified
individuals. In 2010, the Los Angeles Unified School
District (LAUSD) requested student-level assessment data
for pupils attending charter schools that it authorized.
In October 2012, the Superintendent of Public
Instruction denied the request stating "Because of the
legal restrictions imposed on the release of
student-level assessment data, CDE is unable to fulfill
your current request."
According to the LAUSD, sponsor of this bill, "Access to
individual student demographic and achievement data is
important to assess how our students are faring." The
LAUSD states that "Given that school districts are
responsible for renewing school charter agreements,
access to pupil data for a district's charters is
necessary to properly evaluate the performance of
students at the charter school. Without this
information, it is difficult for districts to know if
the charter is meeting the needs of certain groups of
students." The sponsor maintains that this bill will
enable districts to maintain better oversight of the
charter schools they authorize.
3) Academic Performance Index . The Academic Performance
Index (API) is single number on a scale of 200 to 1,000
that is an annual measure of test score performance in
schools. The API is used to summarize the performance
of students and a school, and is based on results of the
Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program and
the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE).
The system is based on a two-year cycle that gives a
"base" score for the first year and a "growth" score in
the second year. The Base API is released in the spring
and is derived from the previous spring's test scores.
The Growth API, which is released in the fall, comes
from the previous spring's test scores. The SBE has
established a statewide target of 800 for the API.
Schools with API scores below 800 are expected to
improve and are given a "growth target" that is 5
percent of the difference between their API score and
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800, with a minimum target of 5 points. (Schools with
an API above the statewide target are expected to stay
above 800.) A school's Base API score plus its growth
target becomes that
school's goal for its next Growth API. For example, a
school with a Base API of 320 would be expected to
improve its performance by 24 points in the next cycle,
or attain an API of 344.
4) Special charter schools . The School for Integrated
Academics and Technologies (SIATech) is a network of
dropout recovery charter schools that work in
partnership with Workforce Investment Act programs.
These special charter schools have a single authorizer,
Vista Unified School District, and are located at each
of the Federal Job Corps facilities in California.
SIATech serves students who have previously dropped out
of high school. They are among the most at risk
California students, many are over 18 years of age, and
the vast majority does not take tests included in the
STAR program. Given the unique nature of these
students, SIATech has expressed concern about the
privacy of pupil records that could be provided by CDE
to Vista USD. Further, SIATech has noted that since so
few of its students generate STAR testing data, it does
not make sense to require the CDE to provide these data.
Given the school's unique population, its participation
in the state's Alternative School Accountability Model,
and its relationship to federal job programs, staff
recommends the bill be amended to exempt these schools
from the data required to be provided.
SUPPORT
Los Angeles Unified School District
California Charter Schools Association Advocates
OPPOSITION
None received.