BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 928
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Date of Hearing: May 24, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 928 (Olsen) - As Amended: May 14, 2013
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires K-12 state standardized tests to be available
for purchase by a private school or private organization to the
extent the purchase would not violate the terms of any contract
entered into between the state and the publisher. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Requires the private school or organization to be responsible
for all costs associated with the test, including the test,
training, posting the results on the State Department of
Education's (SDE) website, and security costs.
2)Requires a private school or organization to obtain a surety
bond to protect the state's investment. The amount would be
determined by the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI),
not to exceed $1 million.
3)Requires the private school or organization that chooses to
purchase and administer a state standardized test to make the
results available to the public on its Internet website and to
SDE for posting on its internet website.
FISCAL EFFECT
GF administrative costs to SDE, likely less than $100,000, to
process private school and organization requests for access to
state tests, as specified. This cost may increase or decrease
depending on the number of schools and organization that choose
to administer the tests.
COMMENTS
AB 928
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1)Background . The Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR)
program, the state's assessment program, consists of three
elements: (a) California Standards Tests (CST), including
tests in Spanish for specified grades; (c) the Spanish
Assessment of Basic Education primary language test, and (d)
the California Alternative Performance Assessment for special
education pupils. The STAR program is scheduled to sunset in
2014.
2)Purpose . The author argues there is a statewide benefit to
allowing private schools and organizations to assess their
students on the same tests as those being taken by public
school pupils. The author further contends that such
allowance provides the state the opportunity to compare
private school pupil progress with that of public school
pupils.
3)Related legislation .
a) AB 484 (Bonilla), pending in this committee, extends
authorization for the state's K-12 assessment system from
July 1, 2014 to January 1, 2024 and renames it the
California Measurement of Academic Performance and Progress
for the 21st Century (CalMAPP21). Suspends non-core
subject area California Standards Assessments (CSTs)
administered under the Standardized Testing and Reporting
(STAR) program, beginning in the 2013-14 school year, until
new assessments addressing the Common Core (CC) Standards
are developed and implemented.
b) SB 247 (Liu), pending in the Senate Appropriations
Committee, extends the STAR Program by two years from July
1, 2014 to July 1, 2016. This measure also eliminates the
requirement that pupils in grade 2 be assessed in ELA and
mathematics under this program and instead requires SDE,
beginning July 1, 2014, to make available to school
districts information regarding existing diagnostic
assessments that are appropriate for second grade.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
AB 928
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