BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
SB 1458 (Steinberg) - School Accountability: Academic
Performance Index (API).
Amended: As introduced Policy Vote: Education 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: May 24, 2012 Consultant: Jacqueline
Wong-Hernandez
SUSPENSE FILE.
Bill Summary: SB 1458 reduces the value of test scores in the
constitution of a school's API to no more than 40%, authorizes
the incorporation of additional measures, deletes the decile
ranking, and authorizes a program of locally convened school
school quality review panels.
Fiscal Impact:
Direct state costs: $200,000 - $250,000 in one-time costs
to the state Department of Education (CDE) to research and
implement data indicators for career and college readiness,
incorporate indicators into the API, and to incorporate the
new data collection into CALPADS, as well as additional
meetings of the Public School Accountability Act (PSAA)
advisory committee.
Cost pressure: Substantial cost pressure for the
Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to develop and
implement the school quality review program that is
authorized by this bill. Depending on the design of quality
reviews, they would likely involve substantial state and
local staff time to visit and evaluate schools.
Impact on schools: Unknown fiscal impact on individual
schools. Certain funding is tied to API scores, as is
Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), and charter schools are
evaluated for renewal and revocation based in part on API
scores. Changing the constitution of the API score will
impact all schools, but costs or savings at the local level
will vary.
Background: California established the PSAA in 1999 to measure
academic performance and growth. The API is a single number,
ranging from 200-1,000, that reflects a school's (and its
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subgroups') performance on statewide tests. The API is an
improvement model that compares school and subgroup API scores
from year to year. School ranking are produced by comparing API
scores across the state and with 100 other schools with similar
demographics. The API is also used for purposes of calculating
AYP, as required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Existing law requires the API to consist of a variety of
indicators including the results of Standardized Testing and
Reporting program (STAR) tests, the California High School Exit
Exam (CAHSEE), attendance rates, and high school graduation
rates. The results of the STAR tests and the CAHSEE are required
to constitute at least 60% of the value of API scores. To date,
these test scores have constituted 100% of API scores.
Proposed Law: This bill reduces the value of test scores in the
constitution of a school's API from at least 60% to no more than
40%, and authorizes the incorporation of additional measures.
Specifically, this bill:
1) Authorizes the SPI, with the approval of the State Board
of Education (SBE), to incorporate into the API pupil
promotion and matriculation rates, as well as measures of
pupil preparedness for postsecondary education and career.
2) Requires the SPI, in consultation with the PSAA advisory
committee, by March 1, 2013, to report to the Legislature
and recommend to the SBE for adoption a method for
increasing the emphasis on pupil performance in science and
social science in the API.
3) Deletes the requirement that schools be ranked into
deciles for specified purposes.
4) Requires the SPI, in consultation with the PSAA advisory
committee, by March 1, 2013, to report to the Legislature a
plan to streamline and reduce state-mandated middle and
secondary school testing, as well as an alternative method
in place of decile rank for determining eligibility or
preferences for any program that currently uses decile rank
as a determining factor.
5) Authorizes the SPI, with the approval of the SBE, to
develop and implement a program of school quality review
that features locally convened panels to visit schools,
observe teachers, interview students and examine student
work.
6) Deletes the required SPI annual report on the graduation
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and dropout rates.
Related Legislation: AB 2001 (Bonilla) requires the SPI, in
consultation with other entities, to develop and recommend a
plan to reduce the time devoted to administering state
assessments, eliminate redundant assessments, and eliminate
assessments used solely for the purpose of accountability that
do not assess the content learned in that school year. AB 2001
is currently in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Staff Comments: This bill incurs a variety of state costs to
implement the required provisions, and creates substantial cost
pressure to fund new activities it authorizes to complement
those required activities. By reducing the value of test scores
in the constitution of a school's API from the current 100% to
no more than 40%, this bill functionally requires that other
measures be developed and implemented account for the remaining
60% (or more) of the new API score. That de facto requirement
will come with new costs, but the exact costs will be determined
by the SPI and PSAA advisory committee as they work to determine
how the new API will be comprised.
The CDE has indicated that, at a minimum, this bill is likely to
require six additional meetings of the PSAA advisory committee,
which costs $6,000 in travel expenses for each meeting. Meetings
are staffed by existing CDE staff. The CDE also estimates
needing two additional staff to establish and implement data
indicators for career and college readiness, incorporate
indicators into the API, as required by the bill.
This bill authorizes the SPI to develop and implement the school
quality review program that involves locally convened panels
visiting schools, interviewing students, observing teachers, and
examining student work, for consideration in evaluating a
school's success. These activities would be labor-intensive, and
it is not clear who would direct such a program and to what
degree the CDE would need to staff the program and the
evaluation visits.
The current API, as the state's indicator of school progress,
and as a contributing factor for determining federally-required
AYP, is a significant incentive for schools to focus on
standardized tests. Changing the API will result in related
changes to schools, and to their priorities for resource
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allocation and focus of energy. The details of those changes,
and their accompanying local costs or savings, will depend upon
the additional factors decided upon by the SPI and SBE, and the
manner in which they are implemented.