BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 945
AUTHOR: Morrell
AMENDED: April 8, 2014
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 30, 2014
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lynn Lorber
SUBJECT : History-social science assessment.
SUMMARY
This bill adds a summative assessment in history-social
science to the State's assessment system beginning with the
2018-19 school year.
BACKGROUND
Current law:
1) Provides that the State's assessment system includes:
a) A consortium summative assessment in English
language arts and mathematics in grades 3-8 and
grade 11.
b) Science grade level assessments in grades 5,
8 and 10.
c) The California Alternate Performance
Assessment in grades 2-11.
d) The Early Assessment Program.
e) A primary language assessment. (Education
Code � 60640)
2) Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to
submit to the State Board of Education (SBE), by March
1, 2016, recommendations on expanding the State's
assessment system to include additional assessments,
including history-social science, among other
subjects.
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(EC � 60640)
3) Required the SBE to adopt history-social science
content standards by November 1, 1998. The current
history social-science content standards were adopted
by the SBE on October 9, 1998. The SBE does not have
the authority to revise this standard. (EC � 60605)
The history-social science framework was last adopted in
2005. A review of this framework was underway and nearly
complete when the state suspended the process due to budget
constraints. The process for reviewing frameworks has been
suspended since July 28, 2009. The SBE is authorized to
revise the history-social science framework but only upon
completion of work related to the development of frameworks
for the common core standards in English language arts and
mathematics, which is expected to be complete in July 2014.
(EC � 60200.7 and � 60200.8)
ANALYSIS
This bill adds a summative assessment in history-social
science to the State's assessment system beginning with the
2018-19 school year. Specifically, this bill:
1) Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to
include a plan to implement a summative assessment in
history-social science beginning with the 2018-19
school year in the currently-required recommendations
for expanding the State's assessment system, which is
to be submitted to the State Board of Education by
March 1, 2016.
2) Adds a summative assessment in history-social science
to the State's assessment system, beginning with the
2018-19 school year.
3) Changes the name of the State's assessment system from
the Measurement of Academic Performance and Progress,
to the California Assessment of Student Performance
and Progress.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) New assessments in the queue . The Superintendent of
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Public Instruction is required to develop, issue a
request for proposals for the development of, or make
recommendations regarding new assessments for science,
a primary language assessment, the California English
Language Development Test, and the California
Alternate Performance Assessment. New assessments are
needed to ensure alignment with the common core
standards in English language arts and mathematics,
updated English language development standards, and
the revised standards in science. Presumably, all of
these updated assessments would be developed and
adopted prior to the initiation of work on an updated
history-social science assessment.
2) Timing . Current law requires the Superintendent of
Public Instruction (SPI) to submit to the State Board
of Education, by March 1, 2016, recommendations on
expanding the State's assessment system to include
additional assessments, including history-social
science, among other subjects. When heard by this
Committee, AB 484 (Bonilla, Chapter 489, 2013)
required the SPI's recommendations for expansion of
the State's assessment system to include a timeline
for the development beginning July 2015 of an
assessment in history-social science, with a plan to
administer the history-social science assessments
beginning in the 2018-19 school year. This Committee
was concerned about proceeding with additional
assessments and related activities prior to the
completion of the transition to the consortium
assessments (in English language arts and
mathematics), the development of a new primary
language assessment and an alternate assessment, and
therefore amended that provision to
remove reference to a specific timeline for a new
assessment in history-social science.
Is this bill premature? Should the SPI's March 2016,
recommendations on expanding the State's assessment
system be completed before changes are made to the
assessment system?
Should the revisions to the history-social science
framework be completed prior to the development of a
new assessment (see Background)? If SB 1057 (see
Comment #4) becomes law, should the history-social
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science standards be revised prior to the development
of a new assessment?
3) Fiscal impact . According to the Assembly
Appropriations Committee analysis of identical
legislation, this bill would impose the following
costs:
a) One-time General Fund (Prop 98) costs,
ranging from $1 million to $5 million for initial
test development, including, but not limited to:
blueprint development, test item development,
field-testing, and standard setting. Costs vary
depending on type of assessment developed
(paper/pencil or computer-based assessment).
Unknown, but substantially less, ongoing costs
for item development to refresh test forms.
b) $120,000 to $240,000 General Fund for state
operations for the California Department of
Education to develop and review new items
assuming computer-based assessment development.
4) Related legislation specific to assessments . AB 1931
(Morrell) is identical to this bill, and was placed on
the Assembly Appropriations Committee's suspense file.
AB 2057 (Bonilla) authorizes school districts, subject to
approval from the United States Department of
Education, to administer either the pilot tests of the
consortium alternate performance assessment in English
language arts and mathematics or the California
Alternative Performance Assessment in the 2013-14
school year, thereby avoiding double-testing of
students who have significant cognitive disabilities.
AB 2057 is pending on the Assembly Floor.
AB 2600 (Bonilla) changes the name of the State's
assessment system from the Measurement of Academic
Performance and Progress, to the California Assessment
of Student Performance and Progress. AB 2600 is
scheduled to be heard by the Assembly Education
Committee on May 7.
5) Related legislation specific to history-social
science . SB 1057 (Corbett) requires the
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Superintendent of Public Instruction to convene a
diversity advisory group to revise the history-social
science standards by March 30, 2016, and requires the
State Board of Education to adopt, reject or modify
the revised standards by July 30, 2016. SB 1057 is
pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
SB 1380 (Wyland), among other things, requires the
Instructional Quality Commission to consider including
the Armenian Genocide in the next revision of the
history-social science framework. SB 1380 is pending
in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
AB 659 (Nazarian) encourages the California Department of
Education (CDE) to include the Armenian Genocide in
its published curriculum resources, encourages the
incorporation of oral testimony when teaching specific
instances of genocide (including the genocides in
Armenia, Cambodia, Darfur, and Rwanda) into existing
curriculum, encourages including the Armenian Genocide
into state and local professional development
activities and in the next revision of the
history/social science curriculum framework, and makes
technical/non-substantive revisions to these sections.
AB 659 is pending referral in the Senate.
AB 1915 (Nazarian), among other things, requires the
Instructional Quality Commission to consider including
the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides
in the next revision of the history-social science
framework. AB 1915 is pending in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
AB 1912 (Holden) requires the SBE to consider including
instruction on the election of President Barack Obama
and the significance of the United States electing its
first African American President, in the
History-Social Science Framework, as appropriate, in
the next adoption cycle. AB 1912 is pending on the
Assembly Floor.
SB 521 (Wyland) requires the CDE and SBE to request the
Instructional Quality Commission to revise the
history-social science frameworks to include the
comparative differences between the rights of citizens
in America and those in other countries, and the
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connection of civics and American government to
western civilizations. SB 521 was never heard.
SB 1419 (Wyland) encourages instruction in social sciences
to include instruction on the American military
conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and include a
component drawn from personal testimony. SB 1419 was
withdrawn from this Committee and returned to the
Senate Rules Committee.
SB 897 (Steinberg), among other things, requires the
Instructional Quality Commission to consider for
whether and how to incorporate the College, Career,
and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State
Standards into the history-social science framework.
SB 897 is scheduled to be heard by the Senate
Appropriations Committee on April 28, 2014.
AB 2110 (Ting) requires the Instructional Quality
Commission to consider incorporating computer science
curriculum content into the mathematics, science,
history-social science, and language arts curriculum
frameworks, as it deems appropriate. AB 2110 is
pending in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SUPPORT
California Council for the Social Studies
OPPOSITION
None on file.