BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-2012 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 547
AUTHOR: Steinberg
AMENDED: March 24, 2011
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 27, 2011
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Kathleen Chavira
SUBJECT : Academic Performance Index
SUMMARY
This bill:
1) Reduces the proportion of the Academic Performance
Index (API) value
that relies on the results of the California Standards
Tests and the California High School Exit Exam.
2) Requires the State Board of Education, in consultation
with the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI),
to develop an API that measures the preparedness of a
school's pupils for success in postsecondary education
and career by January 1, 2014, as specified.
3) Expands the information to be reported and
improvements to be demonstrated by school districts to
include preparedness of its pupils for success in
postsecondary education and career, as measured by the
API.
BACKGROUND
Current law establishes the Public School Performance
Accountability Program under which the Superintendent of
Public Instruction (SPI), with approval of the State Board
of Education (SBE), is required to develop an Academic
Performance Index (API) to measure the performance of
schools. The API was proposed as a means of combining
multiple indicators of school performance into one
easy-to-compare index. The API is required to consist of a
variety of indicators including, but not limited to, the
results of the achievement test, attendance rates for
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pupils in elementary schools, middle schools, and secondary
schools, and the graduation rates for pupils in secondary
schools.
Current law also requires that the results of the
California Standards Tests and the California High School
Exit Exam constitute at least 60 percent of the API.
(Education Code � 52052)
Current law also requires the SPI to establish a broadly
representative committee (the Public School Accountability
Advisory Committee) to advise the SPI and the SBE on the
creation of the Academic Performance Index (API). SBX5 1
(Steinberg, Chapter 2, Statutes of 2010) in addition
required the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) and
State Board of Education (SBE), in consultation with the
advisory committee to recommend to the Legislature and
Governor by January 1, 2011, methods and approaches for
incorporating into the calculation of the Academic
Performance Index (API):
An increased emphasis on math and science.
Measures of the degree to which pupils graduate from
high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to
attain entry-level employment in business or industry.
Measures of the degree to which pupils graduate from
high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to
succeed in postsecondary education. (Education Code �
52052.5)
ANALYSIS
This bill :
1) Expands the current requirements that schools must
meet under the API to include the demonstration of
comparable improvement in preparedness of its pupils
for success in postsecondary education and career as
measured by the API for all numerically significant
subgroups at the school.
2) Expands the indicators to be reported by schools to
the department for purposes of the API to include
postsecondary education and career preparedness of
pupils in secondary schools.
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3) Changes the proportion of the API value that relies on
the results of the California Standards Tests and the
California High School Exit Exam. Specifically it:
a) Reduces the proportion from at
least 60% to a minimum of 40% for schools serving
students in grades K-8.
b) Establishes a maximum proportion
of 40% for schools serving students in grades
9-12.
4) Requires that the SBE, in consultation with the SPI
and the Public School Advisory Accountability
committee, incorporate into API, and other aspects of
the state's accountability system as appropriate, a
measure or measures of high school graduates'
preparedness for success in college and career by
January 1, 2014.
5) Requires that measures considered for incorporation in
the API be valid, reliable, and stable, and include,
but not be limited to:
a) Rates of completion of a course of
study at an achievement level that fulfills
California's 4-year public postsecondary
institution's requirements and pre-requisites for
admission.
b) Rates of administration of college
preparedness assessments and rates at which
assessed students demonstrate they do not need
remedial coursework.
c) Rates of enrollment and
satisfactory performance in Advanced Placement,
International Baccalaureate, or concurrent
enrollment programs.
d) Pupil GPAs in the first year of
full-time postsecondary enrollment.
e) Rates of enrollment in a community
college transfer curriculum.
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f) Rates of enrollment in a community
college course of technical study leading to a
professional certificate.
g) Rates of satisfactory completion of career
pathways or series of
courses that meet career technical content
standards adopted by
the State Board of Education (SBE).
h) Rates at which students earn
certificates, licenses, or the equivalent in
designated occupations for which they are issued
while in high school.
i) Performance of students on valid
and reliable assessments including portfolio
assessments designed to assess skills and
knowledge acquired to be successful in a
specified occupation or in the general workforce.
j) Rates of employment of graduates
in occupations with a career ladder, as defined.
aa) Rates of employment of graduates
in an apprenticeship program leading to full-time
employment.
bb) Earnings of graduates.
cc) Rates at which graduates secure
employment that offers paid sick leave, vacation
and employer provided health benefits.
dd) Other measures such as enlistment
in the Armed Forces, California Conservation
Corps or other volunteer service organizations.
6) Requires the SBE to devise methods to significantly
reward schools and districts that can demonstrate
pupil subgroups are proportionately represented among
students prepared and eligible to attend four-year
colleges and universities.
7) Requires the State Board of Education (SBE) to
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consider the appropriateness of including in the
Academic Performance Index (API) or other aspects of
the state's accountability system, a measure or
measures of pupil satisfaction with and engagement in
their secondary school education including, but not
limited to attendance rates and surveys of pupil,
staff and parent attitudes, as specified.
8) Requires that any changes allow for disaggregation of
component parts of the API so that measures and their
relative weight are distinguishable to parents, the
public, and policymakers.
9) Requires that the SBE not be limited in its redesign
of the API by the scope of the California Longitudinal
Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) or other
relevant data systems.
10) Requires the SPI and the SBE to consult with the UC,
CSU, CCC, EDD, and to report to the Governor and
Legislature additional data items and connections
between data systems that are necessary to optimize
the state's capacity, and to better enable the ability
to evaluate the effectiveness of pupil preparedness
for college and career and pupil's engagement in
school by Mach 15, 2012.
11) Makes various related findings and declarations.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author, the API
has performed an important function, but has been
limited by its sole reliance on standardized test
scores as indicators of school performance and has
encouraged schools/districts to focus on test scores
and deemphasize other important aspects of education.
Although dropout and graduation rates are statutorily
required to be incorporated into the API, that has not
yet occurred. The author contends that it is time to
reduce the proportion of the API which may rely on
test scores and require revision of the API to include
measures of student preparedness for college and
career.
2) Clarification of author's intent . According to the
author, this bill is not intended to dictate what
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measures should be used for assessing college and
career preparedness. Rather, it is the intent to
suggest an array of indicators for the SBE's
consideration. In order to more clearly accomplish
the author's intent staff recommends the bill be
amended on page 9, line 35 to delete "shall" and
insert "may".
3) Status of current efforts . As noted in the background
of this analysis, SBX5 1 (Steinberg, 2010) required
the SPI, SBE, and the Public School Accountability Act
(PSAA) Advisory Committee to make recommendations for
incorporating measures of college and career
preparedness into the API by January 2011. Staff was
unable to obtain any official communication from the
CDE summarizing the review and recommendations by the
PSAA Advisory Committee on this topic. However, in a
program update on Accountability presented by the CDE
in September 2010, presentation documents note that
the PSAA Advisory Committee recommended that the
current API be maintained, that there be stakeholder
review of measures, and noted a need for additional
resources. Clarification of these general findings by
the CDE would be helpful in assessing whether/what
additional statutory action is necessary in order to
develop and incorporate college and career
preparedness measures into the API.
4) Appropriate measures ? Among the array of indicators
which this bill authorizes the State Board of
Education (SBE) to consider for inclusion in the API
are pupils GPAs in college, rates of enrollment in
specified postsecondary education programs, rates of
employment, rates of employment with specified
benefits, and rates of enlistment in the Armed Forces,
California Conservation Corps. Are these reasonable
measures for accountability purposes? Do school
districts have the ability to control the choices
students make once they leave high school, employment
opportunities that they may be extended, or the
student's ability to enroll in specified courses of
study at the postsecondary education institutions? Is
it helpful to assess where a school is today by
measuring activities of students who may have attended
five years prior or more? Would it be more meaningful
for parents and policymakers to focus API measures on
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what opportunities a high school currently extends to
its students?
5) Mandate . Legislative Counsel has noted that, to the
extent school districts would be required to formulate
and report additional data for purposes of inclusion
in the API this bill may create potentially
reimbursable state-mandated costs. Although the actual
costs are unknown and would depend upon the metrics
developed, a Senate Appropriations Committee analysis
of a similar bill, AB 400 (Nunez, 2007) noted that, to
the extent that local education agencies did not
already collect this data, that bill created
significant costs, unknown but potentially in the
millions, for districts to compile this information
and report it to the CDE. AB 400 was ultimately vetoed
by the Governor.
This bill requires that the SBE not be limited in its
redesign of the API by the scope of the California
Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS)
or other relevant data systems and that these new
measures be incorporated by 2014. Is it the intent
that schools be required to collect new information?
If the goal is to expand data collection, would it be
better to allow more time for the state's economic
condition to improve and for CALPADS to be more fully
funded and implemented? If the intent is to
incorporate these measures by 2014, should these
efforts rely on currently available data, to the
extent possible?
6) Similar legislation . AB 224 (Bonilla) requires the
Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), in
consultation with the SBE, to incorporate additional
measures of performance in the areas of college
preparedness and workforce preparation into the API
using the best available data and commencing in fiscal
year 2012-13. AB 224 passed out of the Assembly
Education Committee on April 6 by a vote of 7-3 and is
currently awaiting action in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
SUPPORT
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California Business Education Association
California Manufacturers & Technology Association
Children Now
Genentech
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Los Angeles Unified School District
OPPOSITION
None received.