BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
SB 740 (Hancock)
Hearing Date: 05/26/2011 Amended: 05/10/2011
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-HernandezPolicy Vote: Education 6-3
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 740 excludes pupils in grade 2 from the
standards-based achievement test requirement, beginning July 1,
2012. This bill would require the Department of Education (CDE)
by July 1, 2014, to develop at least 3 assessments in language
arts and mathematics for pupils in grade 2 for diagnostic use by
classroom teachers. The bill would authorize the CDE to select
those assessments instead of developing them if it determines
that suitable diagnostic assessments exist. The bill would
require these provisions to be implemented from the savings
realized from the elimination of the grade 2 standards-based
achievement testing.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13
2013-14 Fund
Eliminate 2nd grade test <$1,700-$2,000>
<$1,700 - $2,000> General
Diagnostic assessments Potentially significant costs
beginning in 2013-14 General
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
Federal law requires standards based testing of pupils, as
specified, beginning in the 3rd grade. States may test students
at earlier grade levels, and California opts to begin
standardized testing in the 2nd grade. The existing 2nd grade
English Language Arts California Standards Test (CST) includes
71 multiple choice questions, as does Mathematics CST also
includes 71 multiple choice questions. 2nd grade tests are
available in English and in Spanish. Students who are instructed
in Spanish or who have been in the United States for fewer than
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12 months may take a standards based test in Spanish in addition
to the CST. Special Education students in 2nd grade with serious
disabilities take the California Alternative Performance
Assessment.
This bill would exclude all pupils in 2nd grade from
standardized testing, and eliminate 2nd grade CSTs and other
achievement tests. The Department of Education (CDE) estimates
that the cost savings from eliminating 2nd grade testing would
be approximately $5.3 million for each 36-month testing cycle;
some of these costs are related to annual apportionments, and
others are test contract costs. The costs reflected above have
been annualized for display.
This bill also requires CDE develop at least three assessments
in language arts and mathematics that are appropriate for pupils
in the 2nd grade for diagnostic use by classroom teachers, by
July 1, 2014, and to make those assessments available to school
districts. This bill provides that if the CDE determines that
suitable diagnostic assessments exist, it may select those
assessments instead of developing its own assessments.
The CDE will incur significant costs to develop or select
diagnostic tests, and make them available to all districts that
provide 2nd grade instruction. The costs are unknown, and will
be affected by whether the tests are developed or selected from
existing assessments, and the form in which the tests are made
available to school districts.
This bill specifies that funding for diagnostic tests will be
from the savings realized by eliminating 2nd grade
standards-based achievement testing. While the savings
identified is likely to exceed the cost of diagnostic tests, the
savings will happen independent of the requirement to spend
money in another area. Developing and making available
diagnostic tests will be a new cost to the state in 2013-14 (and
ongoing), independent of savings achieved in 2012-13 by
eliminating 2nd grade standards based testing.
Staff notes that it is common practice in California schools to
use CST scores, in conjunction with the California English
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Language Development Test (CELDT) as tools for determining the
reclassification of pupils who are English learners. While
schools may use other evaluations of performance in basic
skills, determined at the local level, there may be transition
costs for schools to determine a new process for English learner
reclassification at the 2nd grade level.
Amend per author to require the CDE to select existing tests to
use as 2nd grade diagnostic tests, rather than developing tests
for this purpose.