BILL ANALYSIS �
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 547
Author: Steinberg (D)
Amended: 8/31/11
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 7-3, 4/27/11
AYES: Lowenthal, Alquist, Hancock, Liu, Price, Simitian,
Vargas
NOES: Runner, Blakeslee, Huff
NO VOTE RECORDED: Vacancy
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-2, 5/26/11
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Lieu, Pavley, Price, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Runner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Emmerson
SENATE FLOOR : 25-14, 6/1/11
AYES: Alquist, Calderon, Corbett, Correa, De Le�n,
DeSaulnier, Evans, Hancock, Hernandez, Kehoe, Leno, Lieu,
Liu, Lowenthal, Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Pavley, Price,
Rubio, Simitian, Steinberg, Vargas, Wolk, Wright, Yee
NOES: Anderson, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Cannella, Dutton,
Fuller, Gaines, Harman, Huff, La Malfa, Runner,
Strickland, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Emmerson
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not available
SUBJECT : Academic Performance Index
SOURCE : State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom
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Torlakson
DIGEST : This bill sunsets the Academic Performance
Index, the states accountability system for schools and
districts, on July 1, 2014, and replaces it with the
Education Quality Index (EQI), which is comprised of
multiple newly established indices to reflect the overall
performance of the state's public schools, districts, and
pupils. Further requires the State Board of Education to
adopt the EQI not later than August 1, 2014.
Assembly Amendments delete the Senate version of the bill
which would have revised the Academic Performance Index and
instead sunsets the Index on July 1, 2014, and replaces it
with the Education Quality Index.
ANALYSIS : Existing 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 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 pupils in
elementary schools, middle schools, and secondary schools,
and the graduation rates for pupils in secondary schools.
Existing 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.
Existing 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). SB 1X5
(Steinberg), Chapter 2, Statutes of 2009-10, Fifth
Extraordinary Session, in addition required the SPI and
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 API:
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1. An increased emphasis on math and science.
2. 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.
3. Measures of the degree to which pupils graduate from
high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to
succeed in postsecondary education.
This bill:
1. Makes findings and declarations as to the challenges
faced by and the needs of California's pupils, and
regarding the state's current accountability system and
the opportunity presented to transition to a new
approach; also, states Legislative intent that the API
evolve to encompass other valuable metrics in addition
to test scores, graduation rates and dropout rates, and
that a more comprehensive set of expectations and
aspirations for California's public schools be reflected
in the state's school accountability system.
2. Makes current law implementing the API inoperative on
July 1, 2014, and repealed as of January 1, 2015.
3. Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI),
in consultation with the Public School Accountability
Act (PSAA) advisory committee, to develop the EQI system
for schools and school districts, and requires the State
Board of Education (SBE) to adopt the EQI no later than
August 1, 2014, after providing for public input; also,
requires, commencing with the 2014-15 school year, all
schools and school districts to be evaluated using the
EQI.
4. Requires the PSAA advisory committee to:
A. Seek input on its work on the EQI through
subcommittees or other methods from persons with
expertise in various specified educational issues and
programs.
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B. Hold public meetings subject to the Bagley-Keene
Open Meeting Act at least once per quarter from
January 1, 2012, through July 1, 2016.
5. States legislative intent that the EQI provide a
comprehensive and transparent measurement of pupil
performance and school quality to better inform parents,
pupils, teachers, school administrators, policymakers,
and the public about public school performance using
multiple indicators of pupil, school, and school
district quality and performance.
6. Requires the EQI to be to be developed for each school
type and school district, and to include, but not be
limited to, the following:
A. For schools and districts maintaining any of
grades 9 through 12, the State Assessment Index
(SAI), Graduation Rate Index (GRI), College
Preparedness Index (CPI), and Career Readiness Index
(CRI).
B. For schools and districts maintaining grade 8, the
SAI and GRI, and a valid and reliable measure or
measures of pupil access to and performance in
college and career preparatory and exploratory
experiences is to be considered, if maintained in
that school.
C. For schools and districts maintaining kindergarten
or grades 1 to 7, inclusive, the SAI.
7. Requires the SPI, in consultation with the PSAA advisory
committee, to develop and recommend to the SBE for
adoption:
A. The component indices listed in #6A above for
school districts and for each school type, including
alternative schools, as specified.
B. An alternative accountability system.
C. The relative weights of the component indices, and
a total value for the EQI, consistent with the
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following requirements:
(1) For schools and school districts maintaining
kindergarten and any of grades 1 through 8, the
SAI is required to comprise no less than 40
percent of the value of the EQI.
(2) For schools and school districts maintaining
any of grades 9 through 12, the SAI is required to
comprise no more than 40 percent of the value of
the EQI.
(3) Within the EQI, the weights assigned to the
CPI and CRI are required to be equal.
D. No less than one additional component index for
schools maintaining kindergarten or any of grades 1
through 7.
E. An annual school and district score or other
evaluation system for the EQI.
F. An annual growth target for the SAI and the GRI,
including targets for numerically significant pupil
subgroups, as defined.
G. A method for measuring English learner progress.
H. Whether a growth target or an annual measurement
of the narrowing of the achievement gap should be
established for each additional component index,
including targets for numerically significant pupil
subgroups.
I. The relevant indices and indicators necessary to
meet and comply with federal law.
8. Requires the SPI and the PSAA advisory committee, in
developing the EQI, to consult with the state's three
higher education segments, the Employment Development
Department, and other appropriate entities.
9. Requires the SPI to annually release results and
supporting information on the EQI and its component
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indices, and authorizes the SPI to develop and recommend
to the SBE for adoption, any regulations necessary to
implement these provisions.
10.Requires the SPI, in consultation with the PSAA advisory
committee and when additional valid and reliable data
become available, to develop and recommend to the SBE
additional indices, as specified, and to take into
account the appropriateness of particular indices and
indicators to grade spans and school types; also,
prohibits any additional component index from being
included in the EQI until one full school year after its
adoption by the SBE.
11.Requires the SPI, commencing no later than July 1, 2013,
to annually report to the Governor and the Legislature
on the development, implementation and impacts of the
EQI and its component indices; also, requires the SPI,
in consultation with the PSAA advisory committee and
subject to an appropriation for this purpose, to
contract for an independent evaluation of the EQI, and
to submit the evaluation and any recommendations no
later than July 1, 2018, to the Governor and the
Legislature.
12.Requires the SPI to report to the Governor and
Legislature by July 1, 2013, on any additional data
required to be reported by local educational agencies
for purposes of the EQI.
13.Requires the SAI to be comprised of pupil scores from
the state's current standards-based achievement tests or
any valid and reliable successor assessments adopted by
the SBE, and the high school exit examination; also,
specifies inclusion and exclusion rules, disaggregation
requirements, and reporting requirements and
authorities.
14.Requires the GRI to be comprised, as appropriate to the
grade configuration of the school or school district,
of:
A. Four-year, five-year, and six-year graduation
rates, that are appropriate to school types and where
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schools and districts are required to be granted full
value for graduating, in five or more years, pupils
with disabilities.
B. Appropriate rates at which pupils successfully
promote from one grade to the next.
15.Requires the CPI to:
A. Be comprised of multiple valid, reliable, and
stable measures of pupil preparedness for
postsecondary education that may include, but is not
limited to district, school and subgroup rates
reflecting completion of local and state assessments,
course enrollment and completion, academic and
extracurricular programs, and advanced or additional
learning opportunities, for pupils in any of grades 9
to 12.
B. Include an adopted method for providing additional
weight in the index for schools and school districts
that demonstrate that pupil subgroups, including
economically disadvantaged pupils, pupils with
disabilities, and English learners, are
proportionately represented among pupils who are
prepared and eligible for enrollment in four-year
colleges and universities.
16.Requires the CRI to be comprised of multiple valid,
reliable, and stable measures of pupil readiness for
career, including, but not limited to course enrollment
and completion of career pathway and standards-aligned
career technical education programs, industry-validated
courses and certifications, intersegmental articulation
with institutions of higher education, and local and
state assessments, and portfolio assessments for pupils
in any of grades 9 to 12.
Comments
Currently, California's public school accountability system
has no mechanism for measuring success in terms of outcomes
or opportunities beyond performance on core academic
assessments, including civic and community responsibility,
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career or college readiness and acquisition of life skills;
the current accountability system also has no way of
identifying or rewarding those schools that educate the
whole pupil in any way other than is measured by testing
skills and knowledge in mathematics, language arts, history
and science. The indices proposed in this bill are
intended to replace and augment the information composited
in the current API, thus including information on student
opportunities and student success so as to provide broader
and more comprehensive information on school performance
than is available from the API focus on achievement test
scores alone. The proposed EQI would aggregate information
from at least four sub-indices, related to different
dimensions of student performance and opportunity,
including academic performance, advancement and graduation
rates, preparation for career or post-secondary education,
and enhanced student learning opportunities.
This comprehensive expansion of the accountability measures
that are used to provide public information on and make
state-level accountability judgments about the state's K-12
public schools, provides the clear benefit of basing that
information and judgments about schools on a broader base
of multiple measures of the characteristics that define
school success or failure. However, this proposal is not
without its problems, including lack of data, technical
issues with the creation and interpretation of
multi-dimensional indices, lack of comparability and
continuity from the API to the EQI, uncertainty concerning
the design of the indices, and the extensive code clean-up
that would necessarily follow.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, annual
General Fund (GF) administrative costs to the California
Department of Education (CDE) of at least $470,000 to
implement the requirements of this bill. These costs are
associated with staff for the development and
implementation of the EQI. A portion of this funding,
approximately $250,000 GF, will likely only be required for
a limited time period because much of the work is
associated with the development of the indices. Also
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GF/Proposition 98 (98) costs, likely between $750,000 and
$1 million, to CDE to hire an independent contractor to
complete the reporting requirements of this bill. The
evaluation is contingent upon an appropriation for this
purpose. In addition, potential GF/98 cost pressure, in
the low millions, to school districts to collect data
required for the EQI. This bill requires the SPI, to
report to the Legislature any additional data elements
added to the EQI.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/2/11)
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson
(source)
America's Edge
Association of California School Administrators
Association of Independent California Colleges and
Universities
California Alliance for Arts Education
California Association of Leaders of Career Prep
California Association of School Counselors
California Business Educators Association
California Catholic Conference
California Charter Schools Association
California Homebuilders Association
California Manufacturers and Technology Association
California School Boards Association
Campaign for College Opportunity
Children Now
EdVoice
Fight Crime Invest in Kids California
Genentech
Hispanas Organized for Political Equality
K-12, Inc.
LEED: Linking Education and Economic Development
Long Beach Unified School District
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Los Angeles Unified School District
Metropolitan Education District
North State Building Industry Association
Policy Link
Public Advocates
Riverside County Superintendents Association
Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce State Building and
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Construction Trades of California
University of California
University of Phoenix
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "The API
has performed an important role, but has been limited by
its sole reliance on standardized test scores
as indicators of school performance. Dropout and
graduation rates are required by statute to be included,
but are not yet part of the API. It is time for the API to
evolve to what it was originally intended to be: an index
that encompasses other valuable indicators in addition to
student test scores."
CPM/DLW:mw 9/7/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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