BILL NUMBER: AB 2001 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bonilla
FEBRUARY 23, 2012
An act to add Section 60604.6 to the Education Code, relating to
pupil assessment.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2001, as introduced, Bonilla. Pupil assessment.
The Leroy Greene California Assessment of Academic Achievement Act
states the intent of the Legislature to provide a system of
individual assessment of pupils that has the primary purpose of
assisting teachers, administrators, and pupils and their parents to
improve teaching and learning. Existing law establishes the
Standardized Testing and Reporting Program pursuant to which each
school district, charter school, and county office of education is
required to administer to each of its pupils in grades 2 to 11,
inclusive, the standards-based achievement tests. These provisions
are inoperative on July 1, 2014, and as of January 1, 2015, are
repealed.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature that the
reauthorization of the statewide pupil assessment program include
specified plans to reform that program as it relates to grades 7 to
12, inclusive. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public
Instruction, in consultation with various groups of individuals and
entities, to develop and present to the State Board of Education, by
May 30, 2013, recommendations to effectuate those reforms. The bill
would require the state board to adopt, or modify and adopt, the
recommendations by September 30, 2013. The bill would require
Superintendent and the state board to present to the Governor and the
appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature a
schedule and implementation plan. The bill would authorize the State
Department of Education to use specified federal carryover funds and
any other available state and federal funds to implement these
provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature that the
reauthorization of the statewide pupil assessment program pursuant to
Section 60604.5 of the Education Code include all of the following:
(a) A plan to streamline and reduce state-mandated middle and high
school testing, including, but not limited to, eliminating redundant
assessments, reducing or minimizing testing time for pupils,
teachers, and administrators in order to restore instructional time,
and minimizing assessments that are not directly connected to
teaching and learning in the classroom.
(b) A plan to bring together elementary and secondary school
policy leaders, the community colleges, the California State
University, the University of California, private colleges and
universities, and postsecondary career technical and vocational
programs to develop criteria and create pathways in which assessments
taken by middle and high school pupils are aligned with college and
career readiness and are recognized as one of a number of multiple
measures for entry into college and career training.
(c) A plan for transitioning to a system of high-quality
assessments that has tangible meaning to individual middle and high
school pupils, including, but not limited to, recognition and rewards
for demonstrating mastery of subject matter and progress toward
mastery of subject matter.
SEC. 2. Section 60604.6 is added to the Education Code, to read:
60604.6. (a) For purposes of developing a plan to streamline and
reduce pupil time devoted to pupil testing and to restore
instructional time to pupils, the Superintendent, in consultation
with the state board, school administrators, teachers, members of the
governing board of school districts, and parents, shall develop and
recommend a plan to the state board that accomplishes all of the
following:
(1) Reduces the number of minutes annually devoted to the
administration of state assessments in schools serving pupils in
grades 7 to 12, inclusive, and greater balances the time spent on
assessment across grade levels.
(2) Eliminates redundant or overlapping assessments.
(3) Eliminates assessments used solely for the purpose of federal
or state accountability that do not assess the content learned in
that school year by the pupil.
(4) Eliminates the current state practice of assigning a failing
score to pupils who do not take particular courses and, therefore, do
not take the end-of-course assessment.
(5) Eliminates statewide end-of-course assessments that are
unnecessary for the purposes of state and federal accountability
requirements.
(6) More quickly turns around assessment results so that pupils,
parents, teachers, and schools receive them within the same school
year in which the assessments are administered.
(b) For purposes of developing a plan to strengthen the pupil
relevance of assessments and to strengthen the alignment between
state-mandated middle and high school assessments and the entry
requirements of public and private colleges and universities and
postsecondary career and technical training institutions, the
Superintendent, in consultation with the state board, the segments of
public and private higher education, career technical and training
institutions, administrators of elementary and secondary schools,
teachers, members of the governing board of school districts, and
parents, shall develop and recommend to the state board all of the
following:
(1) Principles among elementary and secondary schools, public and
private colleges and universities, and postsecondary career and
technical training institutions that would strengthen the alignment
of assessments of pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to the
requirements for entry into college or career opportunities.
(2) Options for equating, if practicable, statewide assessments in
grade 11 English language arts, including a strengthened writing
component, algebra I, algebra II, and summative mathematics to
college admission tests.
(3) A plan and timeline to expand and strengthen the Early
Assessment Program to provide information to postsecondary
institutions, secondary schools, and pupils about pupil preparedness
for all California public institutions of postsecondary education,
including the community colleges, the California State University,
the University of California, private colleges and universities, and
postsecondary career training institutions.
(c) For purposes of developing a plan to make statewide
assessments more meaningful to pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive,
the Superintendent, in consultation with the state board,
administrators, teachers, members of the governing board of school
districts, and parents, shall develop multiple methods to provide for
pupil recognition, reward, and incentives that a local educational
agency may adopt. These options may include, but shall not be limited
to, the following:
(1) Assessment performance as one component of a pupil's grade
point average.
(2) Assessment performance as one component of a final course
grade or course passage as determined by the teacher.
(3) Assessment performance as one criterion for eligibility for
merit-based scholarships.
(4) The right of a pupil to be exempted from the requirement to
take and pass the California high school exit examination if he or
she can demonstrate proficiency on other assessments that are found
to be equivalent in terms of content assessed.
(5) The right of a pupil to be exempted from other required
statewide assessments if equivalent or more rigorous exams are taken
and equivalent or sufficiently comparable subject matter proficiency
is shown.
(6) Making the Early Assessment Program available to all pupils at
all schools.
(d) The Superintendent shall present recommendations to the state
board on or before May 30, 2013. After the Superintendent presents
the recommendations, two public hearings shall be held during
regularly scheduled state board meetings to ensure public input and
participation.
(e) On or before September 30, 2013, the state board shall adopt,
or modify and adopt, the recommendations.
(f) The Superintendent and the state board shall present to the
Governor and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the
Legislature a schedule and implementation plan that meets the intent
of this section.
(g) The department may use federal carryover funds received
pursuant to Title I of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
(20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.), available funds received pursuant to
Title VI of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C.
Sec. 6301 et seq.), and any other available state and federal funds
to implement this act.