BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1573
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Date of Hearing: May 14, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1573 (Jones-Sawyer) - As Amended: May 1, 2014
Policy Committee: EducationVote:7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI), with the approval of the state board of education (SBE),
to develop, by July 1, 2016, the Student Achievement via
Excellence (SAVE) accountability system for the schools under
the jurisdiction of a county board of education or a county
superintendent of schools, community day schools, specified
charter schools, nonpublic/nonsectarian schools providing
special education, continuation high school, opportunity
schools, and other alternative schools. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Requires a school's SAVE score to be based on three
categories: learning readiness (10% of the total), save rate
(30% of the total), and academic achievement (60% of the
total). Authorizes the SPI, with the approval of the SBE, to
incorporate additional indicators into a SAVE score category
consistent with the purposes of the SAVE accountability
system.
2)Authorizes the CDE to adopt regulations necessary to implement
these provisions.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)One-time General Fund/Proposition 98 start-up costs to CDE of
approximately $700,000 to create the new system. This
includes a contract of approximately $600,000 related to
research and development.
2)Ongoing General Fund costs of approximately $350,000 to CDE to
monitor data collection and reporting and maintain system
AB 1573
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functionality.
COMMENTS :
Purpose . The current accountability model for alternative
schools, ASAM, was developed under the Public Schools
Accountability Act (PSAA) of 1999. Participation in the ASAM is
voluntary. ASAM schools include community day schools,
continuation schools, county community schools, county court
schools, Division of Juvenile Justice schools, opportunity
schools, and alternative schools of choice and charter schools
that meet SBE criteria.
According to the author's office alternative schools have not
had a fair and robust accountability system for the past 15
years, and existing accountability models are not sufficient to
determine whether students are making progress. This bill is
based on the framework adopted by the SBE in 2008 and requires
an alternative accountably system to be comprised of three
categories: learning readiness (10% of the total), academic
achievement (60% of the total), and save rate (30% of the
total), which is comparable to the transition category adopted
by the board.
Background . As noted, the SBE approved a conceptual framework
for redesigning ASAM in 2008. A goal was to develop a more
rigorous system and require all schools to use the same
indicators, instead of selecting three from a list of 15, in
order to create consistency across schools and allow for
inter-school comparisons.
In 2010 Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed the Budget Act
appropriation for ASAM-related data collection and reporting and
for identifying and disseminating best practices of alternative
schools. As a result, work on the revised ASAM ceased. Since
then, ASAM schools have been held accountable under the Academic
Performance Index (API) and receive growth targets as all other
schools. Under federal requirements, ASAM schools must meet the
same Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) criteria as all other
schools.
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Analysis Prepared by : Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081