BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 247|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 247
Author: Liu (D)
Amended: 9/3/13
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 6-1, 4/10/13
AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Hueso, Jackson, Monning
NOES: Huff
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wyland, Correa
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 5/23/13
AYES: De Le�n, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Gaines
SENATE FLOOR : 27-11, 5/28/13
AYES: Beall, Block, Calderon, Corbett, Correa, De Le�n,
DeSaulnier, Evans, Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso,
Jackson, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Monning, Pavley, Price, Roth,
Steinberg, Torres, Wolk, Wright, Yee
NOES: Anderson, Berryhill, Cannella, Emmerson, Fuller, Gaines,
Huff, Knight, Nielsen, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Padilla, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 58-17, 9/9/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Student assessment: grade 2
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill addresses the use of grade 2 diagnostic
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assessments for use by classroom teachers in the absence of
state-required testing of grade 2 pupils.
Assembly Amendments (1) delete language commencing July 1, 2014,
that excludes pupils in grade 2 from the Standardized Testing
and Reporting (STAR) Program; (2) add language that requires the
California Department of Education (CDE) to ensure that the
selected grade 2 diagnostic assessments are valid for purposes
of identifying particular knowledge or skills a pupil has or has
not acquired, but the assessments would not be valid measures
for purposes of pupil, personnel, or local educational agency
(LEA) accountability; and (3) add language that this bill
becomes operative only if AB 484 of the 2013-14 Regular Session
is also enacted and takes effect on or before January 1, 2014.
ANALYSIS : Existing law, the Leroy Greene California
Assessment of Academic Achievement Act, requires the
Superintendent of Public Instruction to design and implement a
statewide pupil assessment program that includes numerous
elements, including, among other things, a plan for producing
valid, reliable, and comparable individual pupil scores in
grades 2 to 11, inclusive. The Act also requires school
districts, charter schools, and county offices of education to
administer to each of its pupils in grades 2 to 11, inclusive,
certain achievement tests, including a standards-based
achievement test pursuant to the STAR Program.
This bill addresses the use of grade 2 diagnostic assessments
for use by classroom teachers in the absence of state-required
testing of grade 2 pupils. Specifically, this bill:
1. Requires the 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 grade 2.
2. Specifies that the savings from the elimination of the grade
2 achievement assessments be used by LEAs should they choose
to administer the grade 2 diagnostic assessment.
3. Requires the CDE to ensure that the diagnostic grade 2
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
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educational decisions.
4. Specifies that the diagnostic assessments identified
pursuant 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 : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
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 grade 2 testing in the STAR Program
and redirecting this expenditure for the administration of
grade 2 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 grade 2
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 CDE to
contract for the evaluation of existing grade 2 diagnostic
assessments. This information would be made available to
school districts, as specified.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 58-17, 9/9/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Bocanegra,
Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon,
Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Cooley, Daly, Dickinson,
Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Hall, Roger Hern�ndez, Holden, Jones-Sawyer,
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Levine, Linder, Lowenthal, Medina, Mitchell, Mullin,
Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel
P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone,
Ting, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NOES: Allen, Bigelow, Dahle, Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Gorell,
Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Jones, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor,
Melendez, Morrell, Wagner,
Waldron
NO VOTE RECORDED: Conway, Patterson, Wilk, Vacancy, Vacancy
PQ:k: 9/9/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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