BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2341
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Date of Hearing: April 23, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
AB 2341 (Quirk-Silva) - As Amended: April 10, 2014
SUBJECT : California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data
System: pupils of military families
SUMMARY : Adds an indicator to the California Longitudinal
Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) to identify pupils of
military families. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to add
a reporting process within CALPADS requiring local education
agencies (LEAs) to report the enrollment of pupils of military
families by July 1, 2015.
2)Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to
include an indicator for pupils of military families in
CALPADS.
3)Provides that the data collection pursuant to this requirement
shall not be used to compile reports required by the federal
No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), including, but not limited
to, dropout and graduation rates.
4)Defines "pupils of military families" to mean pupils whose
parent or legal guardian is an active duty member of the Armed
Forces of the United States.
5)Provides for the reimbursement of mandated local costs through
the existing reimbursement process, if the Commission on State
Mandates determine that this bill contains mandates costs.
EXISTING LAW establishes CALPADS to accomplish all of the
following goals:
1)Provide school districts and the CDE access to data necessary
to comply with NCLB reporting requirements.
2)Provide a better means of evaluating educational progress and
investments over time.
3)Provide local educational agencies information that can be
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used to improve pupil achievement.
4)Provide an efficient, flexible, and secure means of
maintaining longitudinal statewide pupil level data.
5)Facilitate the ability of the state to publicly report data
required by federal law.
6)Ensure compliance with the federal Family Educational Rights
and Privacy Act (FERPA).
FISCAL EFFECT : State mandated local program
COMMENTS : The California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data
System (CALPADS) was created to enable California to meet
federal requirements delineated in the No Child Left Behind
(NCLB) Act of 2001, which increases accountability for student
achievement. CALPADS has been operational since 2009 and
contains information on student demographics, program
participation, grade level, enrollment, course enrollment and
completion, discipline, and statewide assessment data. The
student-level, longitudinal data in CALPADS enables the
facilitation of program evaluation, the assessment of student
achievement over time, the calculation of more accurate dropout
and graduation rates, the efficient creation of reports to meet
state and federal reporting requirements, and the ability to
create ad hoc reports and responses to relevant questions.
CALPADS provides local educational agencies (LEAs) with access
to longitudinal data and reports on their own students, and it
gives LEAs immediate access to information on new students,
enabling the LEAs to place students appropriately and to
determine whether any assessments are necessary.
Impact on CALPADS. The CDE indicates that the change required
by this bill is relatively simple and could probably be achieved
in approximately one year. The process involves adding a new
field to CALPADS and testing and de-bugging the software change.
LEAs would need to change the online user interface, which they
use to report data to CALPADS, and add the military status of
parents/guardians to the information they collect from families.
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However, budget language prohibits the CDE from adding
additional data elements to CALPADS. Specifically, provision
22 of budget item 6110-001-0890 provides, in part, "As a further
condition of receiving these [federal] funds, the SDE shall not
add additional data elements to CALPADS, require local
educational agencies to use the data collected through the
CALPADS for any purpose, or otherwise expand or enhance the
system beyond the data elements and functionalities that are
identified in the most current approved Feasibility Study and
Special Project Reports and the CALPADS Data guide v4.1."
Budget language is applicable only to the fiscal year of the
budget. It is not known whether this language will be adopted
in the 2014-15 budget.
Arguments in support. Supporters argue that children in
military families experience events that affect their education,
such as moving frequently and having a parent deployed away from
the family. Currently, there is no method of tracking their
attendance and progress to evaluate programs and identify best
practices. Including an indicator in CALPADS for the children
of military families would permit such tracking over time.
Supporters argue that collecting this information would build
awareness at the school and classroom level of students that may
be affected by the deployment of a parent and facilitate
data-driven decision making to improve the distribution of
Department of Defense and local resources to offer appropriate
support.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Department of Defense
National Association of Social Workers
An individual
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by : Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087