BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 432 (Price) - School Accountability: Creativity Index
Amended: May 1, 2013 Policy Vote: Education 7-2
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 23, 2013 Consultant: Jacqueline
Wong-Hernandez
SUSPENSE FILE.
Bill Summary: SB 432 requires the Academic Performance Index
(API) advisory committee to develop a public measurement of
activities in public school classrooms that foster creativity,
innovation, and problem solving, as specified. This bill
requires the committee to make recommendations to the
Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) on the development of
the index by January 1, 2015.
Fiscal Impact:
Index development: The CDE estimates costs of $500,000 -
$750,000 to collect, process, and report data, and
approximately $200,000 for two limited-term consultants to
staff the project.
To the extent that the recommendations include
incorporating the index in school accountability, there
would be cost pressure to do so.
Background: Existing law establishes the API, which summarizes a
school's or a local educational agency's (LEA's) academic
performance and progress on statewide assessments. The API is a
single number ranging from 200 to 1,000 and is required to
include a variety of indicators, including results of the
Standardized Testing and Reporting Program (STAR) tests,
attendance rates, and high school graduation rates. Existing
law requires that achievement test scores constitute at least
60% of the API.
(Education Code � 52052)
Existing law also establishes the API advisory committee to
advise the SPI on all appropriate matters relative to the
creation of the API. (EC � 52052.5)
SB 432 (Price)
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Proposed Law: SB 432 requires the API advisory committee to
develop a public measurement of activities in public school
classrooms that foster creativity, innovation, and problem
solving. This bill requires the measurement, or index, to be
developed in consultation with California employers in
innovative industries and businesses, including, but not limited
to, science, technology, mathematics, engineering, and arts
education. This bill further requires the API advisory committee
to consult with educators and with career technical education
experts to identify best classroom practices and activities to
develop creative skills in pupils, and to report and make
recommendations to the SPI.
Related Legislation: SB 789 (Price) 2012 was similar to this
bill. It required the API advisory committee to consult with
experts in specified fields to develop a voluntary
"Creative and Innovative Education Index". That bill was held on
the Assembly Appropriations Committee's Suspense File.
Staff Comments: Existing law establishes the API advisory
committee, and the committee's duties and functions. This bill
would add extensive year-long duties to that committee. This
bill requires the committee to develop, in consultation with
"California employers in innovative industries and businesses"
including, but not limited to, science, technology, mathematics,
engineering, and arts education, a public measurement of
activities in public school classrooms that foster creativity,
innovation, and problem solving. Coordinating committee
consultation with numerous parties, and staffing the API
advisory committee for this purpose, could drive significant new
workload for the CDE.
The CDE also notes that in order to create a statewide index, or
public measurement, it would need consistent data at every
school site, and those data points would have to be determined
and collected. The department estimates it would incur costs of
$500,000-$750,000 to collect, process, and report the new data.
In addition, the CDE estimates that it would require 2
limited-term consultants to research data elements and run
simulations, at cost of $210,568 for both positions.
The advisory committee does not now, and would not under this
bill, have decision-making authority. However, the advisory
SB 432 (Price)
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committee would make recommendations to the SPI; ostensibly,
these recommendations would include whether and how the index
should be used as part of the accountability system for school
performance measure. To the extent that its recommendations
encouraged the SPI to use the index as an additional
accountability tool, there could be significant cost pressure
for the state to implement the index.