BILL NUMBER: SB 1497	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Negrete McLeod

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2012

   An act to amend Section 48070.6 of the Education Code, relating to
pupils.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1497, as introduced, Negrete McLeod. Pupil data: dropouts:
report.
   Existing law establishes the California Longitudinal Pupil
Achievement Data System (CALPADS), and requires a local educational
agency to retain all data necessary to compile reports required by
specified federal laws, including, but not limited to, dropout and
graduation rates. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to annually submit to the Governor, the Legislature, and
the State Board of Education a report on dropouts using the data
produced by CALPADS.
   This bill would prohibit the inclusion of a pupil in the dropout
rates indicated in the report more than one time.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 48070.6 of the Education Code is amended to
read:
   48070.6.  (a) On or before August 1, 2011, and annually
thereafter, utilizing data produced by the California Longitudinal
Pupil Achievement Data System pursuant to Section 60900 and other
available data, the Superintendent shall submit to the Governor, the
Legislature, and the state board  ,  a report that
shall be called the Annual Report on Dropouts in California. The
report shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
   (1) One-year dropout rates for each of grades 7 to 12, inclusive.
   (2) Four-year cohort dropout rates for grades 9 to 12, inclusive.
   (3) Two- or three-year cohort dropout rates, as appropriate, for
middle schools.
   (4) Grade 9 to grade 10 promotion rates.
   (5) Percentage of high school pupils for each of grades 9 to 12,
inclusive, who are on track to earn sufficient credits to graduate.
   (6) The average number of nonpromotional school moves that pupils
make between grades 6 to 12, inclusive.
   (7) "Full-year" dropout rates for alternative schools, including
dropout recovery high schools, calculated using a methodology
developed by the Superintendent to appropriately reflect dropout
rates in each type of alternative school.
   (8) An explanation of the methodology or methodologies used to
calculate "full-year" dropout rates for alternative schools pursuant
to paragraph (7).
   (9) Passage rates on the high school exit examination adopted
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 60850.
   (10) Other available data relating to dropout or graduation rates
or pupil progress toward high school graduation.
   (b) When cohort dropout rates can be calculated accurately using
longitudinal data, the rates described in paragraph (3) of
subdivision (a) shall be replaced by dropout rates for cohorts of
pupils entering middle school.
   (c) When data is available, the report shall also include all of
the following:
   (1) Rates at which pupils graduate in four, five, and six years,
pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of
Section 52052.
   (2) Percentage of high school graduates and dropouts who completed
courses that are certified by the University of California as
meeting admission requirement criteria for the University of
California and California State University systems.
   (3) Percentage of high school graduates and dropouts who completed
two or more classes in career technical education.
   (4) Percentage of high school graduates and dropouts who completed
both course sequences described in paragraphs (2) and (3).
   (5) Behavioral data by school and district, including suspensions
and expulsions.
   (6) Truancy rates.
   (7) GED earning rates.
   (8) Chronic absentee rates, as defined in Section 60901.
   (d) If possible, the data listed in subdivisions (a) and (b) shall
be presented in the report, organized as follows:
   (1) By state.
   (2) By county.
   (3) By district, both including and excluding charter schools.
   (4) By school.
   (e) The report shall include data from alternative middle and high
schools, including continuation high schools, community day schools,
juvenile court schools, special schools, opportunity schools, and
schools attended by wards of the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Justice.
   (f) The report may include relevant data on school climate and
pupil engagement from the California Healthy Kids Survey.
   (g) If possible, the data listed in subdivisions (a) and (b) shall
be presented for the following subgroups, if the subgroup consists
of at least 50 pupils, and the subgroup constitutes at least 15
percent of the total population of pupils at a school:
   (1) Grade level.
   (2) Ethnicity.
   (3) Gender.
   (4) Low socioeconomic status.
   (5) English learners.
   (6) Special education status.
   (h) The first Annual Report on Dropouts in California shall
include data from the most recent year. Subsequent annual reports
shall include data from the most recent year and, at a minimum, the
two prior years, so that comparisons can be made easily.
   (i) The Superintendent or his or her designee shall make an oral
presentation of the contents of the report to the state board at a
regularly scheduled meeting of the board.
   (j) The Superintendent shall make the contents of the report
available on the department's Internet Web site in a format that is
easy for the public to access and understand.
   (k) If inclusion of school-level data would render the written
report unwieldy, the data may be omitted from the written report and
posted on the department's Internet Web site.
   (l) It is the intent of the Legislature that the report prepared
by the Superintendent be usable by schools, districts, policymakers,
researchers, parents, and the public, for purposes of identifying and
understanding trends, causal relations, early warning indicators,
and potential points of intervention to address the high rate of
dropouts in California.
   (m) For purposes of this section, dropouts shall be defined using
the exit/withdrawal codes developed by the department. 
   (n) A pupil shall not be included in the dropout rates indicated
in the report more than one time.  
   (n) 
    (o)  For purposes of this section, "dropout recovery
high school" has the same meaning as defined in subparagraph (C) of
paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 52052.