BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 959
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Date of Hearing: May 8, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 959 (Bonilla) - As Amended: April 25, 2013
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:6-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI) and the State Board of Education (SBE), in consultation
with the University of California (UC), the California State
University (CSU), the California Community Colleges (CCCs), and
other specified groups, to recommend specific use of the
summative results of middle and high school Common Core (CC)
assessments by UC, CSU, and CCCs for entry into college, course
placement, career opportunities, and assessment programs at the
college level. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the SPI and SBE, on or before January 1, 2018, to
present to the governor and the appropriate policy and fiscal
committees of the Legislature, a schedule and plan that meets
the intent of this measure.
2)Requires the State Department of Education (SDE) to use
federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Title VI: Flexibility and
Accountability funding or any other available and appropriate
state and federal funds, to implement this section.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)GF administrative costs to the SDE, likely between $125,000
and $175,000, to gather input from specified groups to make
recommendations regarding middle and high school assessments,
as specified. This bill requires federal Title IV funding to
be used for this purpose; however, with the recently adopted
federal sequestration reductions, it is unclear if any
carryover funds are available.
AB 959
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2)GF/98 cost pressure, likely in the hundreds of thousands to
low millions, to develop and administer modified middle and
high school assessments.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . The Early Assessment Program (EAP) is a
collaborative effort between CSU, CCCs, SDE, and the SBE to
determine students' readiness for college credit-bearing
courses. The EAP assessments are offered to grade 11 students
only and are included in the CST booklets of ELA, High School
Summative Mathematics, and Algebra II. Although the CSTs are
mandatory, the EAP assessments are voluntary. In addition to
selected CST items, the EAP assessments each include 15
additional multiple-choice items and a 45-minute essay.
According to SDE, "The EAP collaborative is recognized across
the country for its innovative approach to using California's
statewide assessment system to measure readiness for
institutions of higher education. It is the model to which
both of the national assessment consortia subscribe."
According to the author, "With the imminent adoption of
California's future generation of statewide assessments, the
state must also identify a visionary plan that utilizes
assessments effectively, not only for school accountability
but to ensure these assessments have real meaning to
individual secondary students."
This bill, sponsored by the Association of California School
Administrators, requires the SPI and SBE to make
recommendations regarding the use of the EAP by higher
education segments, as specified.
2)Background . Current law establishes the Standardized Testing
and Reporting Program (STAR) as the state's primary K-12
assessment system. This 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 also includes the voluntary EAP,
which utilizes certain CSTs in eleventh grade to determine a
student's readiness for college. The STAR program is
scheduled to sunset in 2014.
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The U.S. Department of Education, using Race To The Top grant
funding, issued a competitive grant for the development of a
comprehensive assessment system based on the Common Core (CC)
Standards in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics that
would adhere to the testing requirements of the federal
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). ESEA requires
testing in ELA and mathematics in grades three through eight
and once in grades 10 through 12.
Two assessment consortia were funded through this process: the
Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and
Careers and the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium. Each
consortium was awarded grant funding to develop an assessment
system aligned to the CC Standards in ELA and mathematics and
to help participating states implement the standards and the
common assessments. Both consortia are scheduled to
operationalize assessments in 2014-15 and include computer
administered assessments.
In June 2010, California joined the SMARTER Balanced
consortium. Participation in this consortium requires
California to administer and use the assessments developed by
the consortium to meet the ESEA Title I requirements in the
2014-15 school year.
3)Previous legislation . AB 2001 (Bonilla), similar to this
measure, was held on the Senate Appropriation's Suspense File
in August 2012.
4)Related legislation .
a) AB 484 (Bonilla), pending in this committee, suspends a
number of assessments required under the STAR Program until
new assessments addressing the CC Standards are developed
and implemented by the SMARTER Balanced Assessment
Consortium. It does not, however, suspend 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 and grade 10 or 11.
b) SB 247 (Liu), pending in the Senate Appropriations
Committee, exclude pupils in grade 2 from the STAR Program,
and extends the sunset date of the STAR Program from July
1, 2014 until July 1, 2016.
AB 959
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Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081