BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2001
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 16, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2001 (Bonilla) - As Amended: May 1, 2012
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:11-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires specified plans to be developed as part of
the reauthorization process for the state's K-12 assessment
system. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the reauthorization process to include both of the
following:
a) A plan to bring together elementary and secondary school
policy leaders, public/private higher education
institutions, 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.
b) 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 mastering subject matter, as
specified.
2)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), for
the purposes of developing plans above, to develop and
recommend to the State Board of Education (SBE), all of the
following:
a) Principles among elementary and secondary schools,
public/private higher education institutions, and
postsecondary career and technical training institutions
that would strengthen the alignment of assessments of
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pupils in grades 7-12 to the requirements of entry into
college or career opportunities.
b) Options for using the grade 11 assessments in core
subjects and options for this grade's assessment results in
English language arts (ELA) to be used for effective
placement for grade 12 English learners so they may strive
for full English proficiency before they graduate from high
school.
c) A plan and a timeline to expand and strengthen future
early assessment programs to provide information to
postsecondary institutions, secondary schools, and pupils
about the preparedness of all of the state's postsecondary
institutions.
FISCAL EFFECT
One-time GF/98 costs, likely between $400,000 and $500,000, to
complete the planning requirements of this measure. This bill
authorizes the State Department of Education (SDE) to use
available state and federal No Child Left Behind Act funds to
complete these plans. It is unclear, however, that funds are
available for this purpose.
SUMMARY CONTINUED
3)Requires the SPI to develop multiple methods to provide pupil
recognition, reward, and incentives that local education
agencies may adopt, as specified.
4)Requires the SPI to present recommendations to the SBE on or
before May 30, 2013 and requires two public hearings to be
held during regularly scheduled SBE meetings to ensure public
input on these recommendations.
5)Requires the SBE, on or before September 30, 2013, to adopt,
or modify and adopt, the recommendations. Further requires
the SBE to present to the governor and the appropriate policy
and fiscal committees of the Legislature with a schedule and
implementation plan that meets the intent of this measure.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the author, "With the imminent adoption
of California's future generation of statewide assessments,
the state must also identify a visionary plan that utilizes
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assessments effectively, not only for school accountability
but to ensure these assessments have real meaning to
individual secondary students."
This bill requires specified plans to be developed as part of
the reauthorization process for the state's K-12 assessment
system.
2)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. The STAR program is scheduled to sunset in 2014.
The U.S. Department of Education, using Race To The Top grant
funding, issued a competitive grant for the development of a
comprehensive assessment system based on the Common Core (CC)
Standards in ELA and mathematics that would adhere to the
testing requirements of the federal Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA). ESEA requires testing in ELA and
mathematics in grades three through eight and once in grades
ten through 12.
Two assessment consortia were funded through this process: the
Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and
Careers and the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium. Each
consortium was awarded grant funding to develop an assessment
system aligned to the CC Standards in ELA and mathematics and
to help participating states transition implementing the
standards and the common assessments. Both consortia are
scheduled to operationalize assessments 2014-15 and include
use computer administered assessments.
In June 2010, California joined the SMARTER Balanced
consortium. Participation in this consortium requires
California to administer and use the assessments developed by
the consortium to meet the ESEA Title I requirements in the
2014-15 school year.
3)AB 250 (Brownley), Chapter 608, Statutes of 2011 , required the
SPI to develop recommendations for reauthorization of the
state's assessment system, including a plan for transitioning
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to a system of high quality assessments and determining which
assessments are not valuable to pupils, administrators, and
teachers and therefore, should be eliminated. Chapter 608
requires this plan to be finished by November 1, 2012.
4)Related legislation . AB 1521 (Brownley), pending in the
Senate, makes revisions to the state's assessment system by
making the standards-aligned primary language assessment
available for administration to non-English learners enrolled
in dual immersion programs and eliminating various
non-federally required assessments, as specified.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081