BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 1548
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 21, 2014

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                    AB 1548 (Mullin) - As Amended:  May 12, 2014 

          Policy Committee:                              Higher  
          EducationVote:9-2

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill, until January 1, 2017,  requires any agency that  
          administers standardized college admission tests to report  
          annually to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the  
          Legislature regarding the number of test scores for each type of  
          standardized test that were canceled or invalidated, and the  
          associated reasons for cancellation or invalidation. The report  
          is not to include identifiable information on the test subjects.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Negligible fiscal impact.

           COMMENTS  

           Background and Purpose  . In May 2013, 259 Mills High School  
          students had 641 of their Advanced Placement (AP) test scores  
          cancelled by the College Board and Educational Testing Service  
          (ETS) because of seating irregularities - some students were  
          seated at round tables and not facing the same direction - in  
          violation of testing protocols.  (The author notes that no  
          evidence of student misconduct was identified.) In August 2013,  
          the US District Court for Northern California denied an  
          application for a temporary restraining order and a motion for a  
          preliminary injunction seeking the reinstatement of the  
          invalidated AP test scores.

          Prior to the most recent amendments, this bill would have  
          required test agencies to release test scores invalidated for  
          irregular test administration, irregular statistical data, or  
          any reason unrelated to misconduct by students. Due to concerns  








                                                                  AB 1548
                                                                  Page  2

          that releasing invalidated test scores would (1) undermine the  
          reliability of testing, and (2) inappropriately places college  
          personnel in a position to determine whether an invalidated test  
          is reliable, the bill was amended to simply require the  
          reporting described above.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081