BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 247
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 247 (Liu)
As Amended September 3, 2013
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :27-11
EDUCATION 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 12-1
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|Ayes:|Buchanan, Olsen, Ch�vez, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra, |
| |Gonzalez, Nazarian, | |Bradford, |
| |Weber, Williams | |Ian Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Eggman, Gomez, Hall, |
| | | |Holden, Pan, Quirk, Weber |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | |Nays:|Donnelly |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Addresses the use of second grade diagnostic
assessments for use by classroom teachers in the absence of
state-required testing of second grade pupils. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Requires the California Department of Education (CDE), by
November 1, 2014, to identify to school districts existing
assessments in English language arts and mathematics that are
aligned to the Common Core State Standards and are appropriate
for diagnostic use by classroom teachers for use in second
grade.
2)Specifies that the savings from the elimination of the second
grade achievement assessments be used by local education
agencies (LEAs) should they choose to administer the second
grade diagnostic assessment.
3)Requires the CDE to ensure that the diagnostic second grade
assessments it identifies are valid for the purpose of
identifying particular knowledge or skills a pupil has or has
not acquired in order to inform instruction and make
educational decisions.
4)Specifies that the diagnostic assessments identified pursuant
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to this bill are not intended to be valid measures of pupil,
personnel, or LEA accountability.
5)Makes this bill operative only if AB 484 (Bonilla) of the
current legislative session is also enacted and takes effect
on or before January 1, 2014.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill has the following fiscal effects:
1)Loss of General Fund (GF)/ Proposition 98 savings of
approximately $2 million by eliminating second grade testing
in the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program and
redirecting this expenditure for the administration of second
grade diagnostic assessments, as proposed in this measure. Of
this cost, approximately $800,000 is for test development and
$1.2 million GF/Proposition 98 is annual apportionment
savings. Currently, the state provides $2.52 per pupil for
the administration of each STAR assessment.
This bill requires the entire $2 million GF/Proposition 98 in
savings to be used by LEAs for the administration of second
grade diagnostic assessments. The entire amount may not be
used, however, given the fact that only $1.2 million is
currently used to pay for administration. As such, the state
may still realize $800,000 in GF/Proposition 98 savings.
2)GF/Proposition 98 costs of at least $100,000, to State
Department of Education (SDE) to contract for the evaluation
of existing second grade diagnostic assessments. This
information would be made available to school districts, as
specified.
COMMENTS: This bill eliminates the requirement for LEAs to
administer achievement assessments in second grade. While The
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) does not require
testing of second grade pupils, California's STAR Program
includes assessments administered to pupils in second grade in
English language arts and mathematics. This decision stemmed
from the concern that without second grade testing, parents and
teachers will not have this data sufficiently early in a pupil's
educational career in order to make adjustments to that
student's instruction. This bill continues to make available
diagnostic assessments for second grade to address the concerns
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of those who rely on these assessments as an indicator of the
need for adjustments to a pupil's educational program. However,
such an assessment would no longer be provided by the state and
LEAs would be required to purchase these assessments at their
own expense.
Analysis Prepared by : Jill Rice / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0002225