BILL NUMBER: SB 753 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 26, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 15, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 13, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 31, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 26, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Padilla
(Coauthors: Senators Steinberg and De León)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Blumenfield)
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to amend Sections 313 and 60810 of the Education Code,
relating to pupils.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 753, as amended, Padilla. Pupils: English learners: assessment.
Existing law requires each school district that has one or more
pupils who are English learners to assess the English language
development of each of those pupils in order to determine the level
of proficiency of those pupils. The assessment primarily consists of
the administration of the California English Language Development
Test (CELDT) that assesses pupils in grades 2 to 12, inclusive, in
English listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills, and pupils
in kindergarten and grade 1 in English listening and speaking.
Existing law requires that the assessment be conducted upon initial
enrollment, and annually thereafter during a period of time
determined by the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State
Board of Education, until the pupil is redesignated as English
proficient.
This bill, commencing with the 2013-14 school year, would require
a school district to annually conduct the assessment during a period
that commences on the day upon which 55% of the instructional year is
completed through July 1 of that calender year ,
and would require the assessment to be conducted upon the initial
enrollment of a pupil in order to provide information to be used to
determine if the pupil is an English learner. The bill would apply
these provisions, to the extent required by federal law, to a county
office of education and a charter school, thereby imposing a
state-mandated local program.
This bill would prohibit a pupil in any of grades 3 to 12,
inclusive, to the extent permitted by federal law,
from being required to retake those portions of the CELDT that
measure English language skills for which he or she has previously
tested as advanced within the appropriate grade span, as determined
by the State Department of Education in accordance with specified
law. Notwithstanding the above prohibition, and to the
extent permitted by federal law, the bill also
would also prohibit a pupil in any of grades 10 to
12, inclusive, from being required to retake those portions of the
CELDT that measure English language skills for which he or she has
previously tested as early advanced or advanced. These prohibitions
would not become effective until the CELDT publisher's contract that
is in effect on January 1, 2012, expires and would not be
implemented unless and until the department receives written
documentatio n from the United States Department of
Education that implementation is permitted by federal law
.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 313 of the Education Code is amended to read:
313. (a) Each school district that has one or more pupils who are
English learners and, to the extent required by federal law, each
county office of education and each charter school shall assess the
English language development of each pupil in order to determine the
level of proficiency for purposes of this chapter.
(b) The department, with the approval of the state board, shall
establish procedures for conducting the assessment required pursuant
to subdivision (a) and for the reclassification of a pupil from
English learner to English proficient.
(c) Commencing with the 2000-01 school year to the 2012-13 school
year, inclusive, the assessment shall be conducted upon initial
enrollment, and annually, thereafter, during a period of time
determined by the Superintendent and the state board. The annual
assessments shall continue until the pupil is redesignated as English
proficient. The assessment shall primarily utilize the English
language development test identified or developed by the
Superintendent pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 60810)
of Part 33 of Division 4 of Title 2.
(d) (1) Commencing with the 2013-14 school year, the assessment
shall be conducted annually during a period that commences on the day
upon which 55 percent of the instructional year is completed through
July 1 of that calendar year. Annual assessments shall continue
until the pupil is redesignated as English proficient. The annual
assessment shall primarily utilize the English language development
test identified or developed by the Superintendent pursuant to
Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 60810) of Part 33 of Division 4 of
Title 2.
(2) Commencing with the 2013-14 school year, the assessment shall
be conducted upon the initial enrollment of a pupil in order to
provide information to be used to determine if the pupil is an
English learner.
(A) If the initial enrollment of a pupil occurs on a date outside
of the testing period identified pursuant to paragraph (1), the prior
year's annual assessment for the grade in which the pupil is
enrolling shall be used for this purpose.
(B) If the initial enrollment of a pupil occurs on a date within
the testing period identified pursuant to paragraph (1), the initial
assessment of the pupil shall be conducted as part of the annual
assessment conducted pursuant to paragraph (1).
(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a school district shall assess
the English language development of a pupil pursuant to this section
no more than one time per school year.
(e) The assessments conducted pursuant to subdivision (d) shall be
conducted in a manner consistent with federal statutes and
regulations.
(f) The reclassification procedures developed by the department
shall utilize multiple criteria in determining whether to reclassify
a pupil as proficient in English, including, but not limited to, all
of the following:
(1) Assessment of language proficiency using an objective
assessment instrument, including, but not limited to, the English
language development test that is developed or acquired pursuant to
Section 60810.
(2) Teacher evaluation, including, but not limited to, a review of
the pupil's curriculum mastery.
(3) Parental opinion and consultation.
(4) Comparison of the performance of the pupil in basic skills
against an empirically established range of performance in basic
skills based upon the performance of English proficient pupils of the
same age, that demonstrates whether the pupil is sufficiently
proficient in English to participate effectively in a curriculum
designed for pupils of the same age whose native language is English.
(g) This section does not preclude a school district or county
office of education from testing English learners more than once in a
school year if the school district or county office of education
chooses to do so.
SEC. 2. Section 60810 of the Education Code is amended to read:
60810. (a) (1) The Superintendent shall review existing tests
that assess the English language development of pupils whose primary
language is a language other than English. The tests shall include,
but not be limited to, an assessment of achievement of these pupils
in English reading, speaking, and written skills. The Superintendent
shall determine which tests, if any, meet the requirements of
subdivisions (b) and (c). If any existing test or series of tests
meets these criteria, the Superintendent, with approval of the state
board, shall report to the Legislature on its findings and
recommendations.
(2) If no suitable test exists, the Superintendent shall explore
the option of a collaborative effort with other states to develop a
test or series of tests and share test development costs. If no
suitable test exists, the Superintendent, with approval of the state
board, may contract to develop a test or series of tests that meets
the criteria of subdivisions (b) and (c) or may contract to modify an
existing test or series of tests so that it will meet the
requirements of subdivisions (b) and (c).
(3) The Superintendent and the state board shall release a request
for proposals for the development of the test or series of tests
required by this subdivision. The state board shall select a
contractor or contractors for the development of the test or series
of tests required by this subdivision, to be available for
administration during the 2000-01 school year.
(4) The Superintendent shall apportion funds appropriated to
enable school districts to meet the requirements of subdivision (d).
The state board shall establish the amount of funding to be
apportioned per test administered, based on a review of the cost per
test.
(5) An adjustment to the amount of funding to be apportioned per
test is not valid without the approval of the Director of Finance. A
request for approval of an adjustment to the amount of funding to be
apportioned per test shall be submitted in writing to the Director of
Finance and the chairpersons of the fiscal committees of both houses
of the Legislature with accompanying material justifying the
proposed adjustment. The Director of Finance is authorized to approve
only those adjustments related to activities required by statute.
The Director of Finance shall approve or disapprove the amount within
30 days of receipt of the request and shall notify the chairpersons
of the fiscal committees of both houses of the Legislature of the
decision.
(b) (1) The test or series of tests developed or acquired pursuant
to subdivision (a) shall have sufficient range to assess pupils in
grades 2 to 12, inclusive, in English listening, speaking, reading,
and writing skills. Pupils in kindergarten and grade 1 shall be
assessed in English listening and speaking, and, once an assessment
is developed, early literacy skills. The early literacy assessment
shall be administered for a period of three years beginning after the
initial administration of the assessment or until July 1, 2012,
whichever occurs first. Six months after the results of the last
administered assessment are collected, but no later than January 1,
2013, the department shall report to the Legislature on the
administration of the kindergarten and grade 1 early literacy
assessment results, as well as on the administrative process, in
order to determine whether reauthorization of the early literacy
assessment is appropriate.
(2) In the development and administration of the assessment for
pupils in kindergarten and grade 1, the department shall minimize any
additional assessment time, to the extent possible. To the extent
that it is technically possible, items that are used to assess
listening and speaking shall be used to measure early literacy
skills. The department shall ensure that the test and procedures for
its administration are age and developmentally appropriate. Age and
developmentally appropriate procedures for administration may
include, but are not limited to, one-on-one administration, a small
group setting, and orally responding or circling a response to a
question.
(c) The test or series of tests shall meet all of the following
requirements:
(1) Provide sufficient information about pupils at each grade
level to determine levels of proficiency ranging from no English
proficiency to fluent English proficiency with at least two
intermediate levels.
(2) Have psychometric properties of reliability and validity
deemed adequate by technical experts.
(3) Be capable of administration to pupils with any primary
language other than English.
(4) Be capable of administration by classroom teachers.
(5) Yield scores that allow comparison of the growth of a pupil
over time, can be tied to readiness for various instructional
options, and can be aggregated for use in the evaluation of program
effectiveness.
(6) Not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, or gender.
(7) Be aligned with the standards for English language development
adopted by the state board pursuant to Section 60811.
(8) Be age and developmentally appropriate for pupils.
(d) The test shall be used for the following purposes:
(1) To identify pupils who are limited English proficient.
(2) To determine the level of English language proficiency of
pupils who are limited English proficient.
(3) To assess the progress of limited-English-proficient pupils in
acquiring the skills of listening, reading, speaking, and writing in
English.
(e) (1) To the extent permitted by federal law, a
A pupil in any of grades 3 to 12,
inclusive, shall not be required to retake those portions of the test
that measure English language skills for which he or she has
previously tested as advanced within each appropriate grade span, as
determined by the department in accordance with paragraph (8) of
subdivision (c).
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), and to the extent
permitted by federal law, a pupil in any of grades 10 to 12,
inclusive, shall not be required to retake those portions of the
test that measure English language skills for which he or she has
previously tested as early advanced or advanced.
(3) This subdivision shall not become effective until the test
publisher's contract that is in effect on January 1, 2012, expires.
(4) This subdivision shall not be implemented unless and until the
department receives written documentation from the United States
Department of Education that implementation is permitted by federal
law.
SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
this act implements a federal law or regulation and results only in
costs mandated by the federal government, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code.