BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 959
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Date of Hearing: April 17, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
AB 959 (Bonilla) - As Introduced: February 23, 2013
SUBJECT : Pupil Assessment
SUMMARY : Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI) to consult with specified entities and individuals for the
purpose of developing a recommendation that will be presented to
the State Board of Education (SBE) for adoption and/or
modification. The purpose of the recommendation must be to
strengthen the alignment of assessments for middle and high
school students to college and career readiness and expand and
strengthen early assessment programs. Specifically, this bill :
1)Expresses the intent of the Legislature that the
reauthorization of the statewide pupil assessment program
bring together elementary and secondary school policy leaders,
the California Community Colleges (CCC), the California State
University (CSU), the University of California (UC), private
colleges and universities, and postsecondary career technical
and vocational programs to develop criteria and create
non-punitive pathways in which the assessments taken by middle
and high school pupils may be recognized as one of a number of
multiple measure for entry into college, placement in
college-level courses, and career training.
2)Requires the SPI, in consultation with the state board and
representatives from the public and private colleges and
universities and postsecondary career and technical and
training institutions, administrators of elementary and
secondary schools, teachers, members of the governing board of
school districts, pupil representatives, and parents, to
develop a recommendation.
3)Specifies the recommendation shall include guiding principles
that would strengthen alignment of the grades 7-12 assessments
to any of the following:
a) Requirements for entry into college
b) Placement in college-level courses
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c) Career opportunities
4)Specifies the recommendation shall include a plan and timeline
to expand and strengthen the early assessment program with the
purpose of providing information to postsecondary
institutions, secondary schools, and pupils about pupil
preparedness for college and career.
5)Requires the SPI to present these recommendations to the SBE
no later than July 1.
6)Requires the SBE to adopt or modify and adopt the
recommendation no later than November 15, 2014.
7)Requires the SPI and SBE to present a schedule and
implementation plan that meets the intent of this legislation
to the Governor and the appropriate policy and fiscal
committees of the Legislature.
8)Authorizes the California Department of Education (CDE) to use
Title VI of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 as
well as any other available and appropriate state and federal
funds to carry out this work.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Leroy Greene California Assessment of Academic
Achievement Act (Greene Act), to provide a statewide pupil
assessment program. The Greene Act will become inoperative
July 1, 2014 and as of January 1, 2015 is repealed.
2)Requires the SPI to present a recommendation to the
Legislature for the reauthorization of the pupil assessment
program.
3)Expresses the intent of the legislature that any
reauthorization of the statewide assessment system to do all
of the following:
a) Include a plan for transitioning to a system of high
quality assessments;
b) Align to the Common Core State Standards for
California.
c) Use common assessments aligned to the Common Core
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Assessments.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : According to the author, the ultimate goal of this
bill is to ensure that the grade 11 assessment administered
pursuant to the common assessments aligned to the Common Core
State Standards be used to appropriately place pupils in grade
12 and gauge a pupil's readiness for and placement in
institutions of higher education.
California is currently a governing state for the Smarter
Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) whose assessment would
satisfy the requirement in existing law that a reauthorization
of the pupil assessment system be aligned to the Common Core
State Standards (CCSS) and include common assessments aligned
with the CCSS. The SBAC which is a multistate consortium working
collaboratively to develop a common student assessment system
aligned with the CCSS for English language arts/literacy and
mathematics. As a Smarter Balanced governing state, California
is a decision-making member. Smarter Balanced assessments are
designed to measure student progress toward college and career
readiness. The Smarter Balanced assessments will be available by
the 2014-15 school year. The assessment system includes a
rigorous computer adaptive summative test for grades 3-8 and 11
that provides accurate student performance and growth
information to meet state and federal accountability
requirements.
The CCSS are designed to prepare students for college and career
readiness and in turn, mastery of these standards may be
evidence of such readiness. Therefore, SBAC has encouraged
institutions of higher education to recognize Smarter Balanced
assessment as evidence that students are ready for entry-level,
credit-bearing courses and should be exempted from remediation
in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics.
California's current statewide assessment system, the
Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program, does not
include the use of matriculation or placement exams, but does
contemplate the use of the Grade 11 assessment for use in an
early assessment program as used by the CSU system.
Early Assessment Program
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The CSU describes the Early Assessment Program (EAP) as
"A collaborative effort among the SBE, the CDE and the
CSU. The program was established to provide
opportunities for students to measure their readiness
for college-level English and mathematics by using the
statewide assessment for students in grade 11, and to
facilitate opportunities for these students to improve
their skills during grade 12. The goal of the EAP
program is to have California high school graduates
enter the CSU fully prepared to begin college-level
study. This program is was created to address the
fact that more than 60 percent of the nearly 40,000
first-time freshmen admitted to the CSU require
remedial education in English, mathematics or both.
These 25,000 freshmen all have taken the required
college preparatory curriculum and earned at least a B
grade point average in high school. The cost in time
and money to these students and to the state is
substantial. Moreover, these students are confused by
seemingly having done the right things in high school
only to find out after admission to the CSU that they
need further preparation."
If a student is identified as deficient in mathematics and/or
ELA as indicated by their test score on the EAP, the student who
has been accepted to a CSU will participate in a program
designed to develop proficiency in their area of deficiency
before they enroll as matriculated freshmen. This program is
known as the Early Start Program and was established by
California State University Executive Order No. 1048 (May,
2010).
Related Legislation
AB 484 (Bonilla), pending in this committee, suspends the
assessments required as part of the STAR Program, except for
those assessments in the core subjects necessary to satisfy the
requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 in
grades 3 to 8, inclusive, and grade 10 and those assessments
augmented for use as part of the Early Assessment Program in
grade 11, until new assessments addressing the common core state
standards are developed and implemented
SB 247 (Liu), pending in Senate Appropriations, exclude pupils
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in grade 2 from the STAR Program, extends the inoperative date
of the STAR Program from July 1, 2014 until July 1, 2016.
SB 490 (Jackson), pending in the Senate Education Committee,
encourages CCC districts participating in the EAP to sequence
their pre-collegiate level courses and transfer-level courses in
English and mathematics to the CCSS.
Previous Legislation
AB 2001 (Bonilla) stated the intent of the Legislature that the
reauthorization of the statewide pupil assessment program
include specified plans to reform that program as it relates to
grades 7 to 12, inclusive and required the SPI, in consultation
with various groups of individuals and entities, to develop
recommendations to effectuate those reforms. This measure was
passed out of the Assembly Education Committee 11-0 and
subsequently died in Senate Appropriations.
SB 1 X5 (Steinberg), Chapter 2, Statutes of 2010, Fifth
Extraordinary Session, created the Curriculum Development and
Supplemental Materials Commission to develop and recommend
academic content standards in language arts and mathematics with
at least 85% of those standards consisting of the common core
state standards for each subject. This measure passed out of the
Assembly Education Committee by a vote of 6-5.
AB 250 (Brownley), Chapter 608, Statutes of 2011, renamed the
commission the Instructional Quality Commission and expanded its
role to include recommendations regarding the policies and
activities needed to align the state's curriculum frameworks,
instructional materials, professional development programs,
pupil assessments, and academic accountability systems with the
new standards. This measure passed out of the Assembly
Education Committee by a vote of 7-3. AB 250 also:
1)Extends the expiration date of the Greene Act from July 1,
2013 to July 1, 2014.
2)Requires the SBE to adopt revised curriculum frameworks
aligned to the new standards by May 30, 2013, for mathematics,
and by May 30, 2014, for English language arts.
3)Requires the SPI to develop recommendations and report to the
fiscal and appropriate policy committees of both houses of the
Legislature by November 1, 2012 regarding the reauthorization
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of the statewide pupil assessment program, including a plan
for transitioning to a system of high quality assessments.
In order to facilitate the stated intent of this bill, staff
recommends amending all references to assessments to specify the
common assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards so
that it is clear that the recommendation should not include the
development of new assessments. Additionally staff recommends
identifying the specific entities of the CCC, CSU, and UCs with
whom the SPI and SBE must consult. In order to strengthen pupil
relevance of these assessments and align the assessments with
the entry requirements and course placement decisions of
colleges and universities, staff recommends requiring the
recommendation use data from the assessments in an effort to
better inform the discussion and recommendation. Additionally,
staff recommends deleting the requirement that the plan be
submitted to the SBE and instead places the SBE in a role to
make a joint recommendation to the Governor and appropriate
legislative committees. Finally, staff recommends this
recommendation be presented by January 1, 2018 rather than in
2014 to allow for the use of the assessment data that will be
available at that time.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Association of California School Administrators (Sponsor)
California School Boards Association
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Jill Rice / ED. / (916) 319-2087