BILL NUMBER: AB 1521	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 19, 2012
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 9, 2012
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 14, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Brownley
   (Coauthor: Assembly Member Alejo)

                        JANUARY 18, 2012

   An act to amend Section 60642.5 of, and to add Section 60640.2 to,
the Education Code, relating to pupil assessment.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1521, as amended, Brownley. Standardized Testing and Reporting
Program: academic achievement: assessment instrument.
   The Leroy Greene California Assessment of Academic Achievement Act
requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to design and
implement a statewide pupil assessment program, known as the
Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program. Existing law
requires the State Department of Education to develop and adopt
primary language assessments that are aligned to the state academic
content standards, as specified. Existing law requires the
Superintendent of Public Instruction, with approval of the State
Board of Education, to provide for the development of an assessment
instrument that measures the degree to which pupils are achieving the
academically rigorous content standards and performance standards,
to the extent standards have been adopted by the State Board of
Education. Existing law requires these standards-based achievement
tests to include certain subject areas, as specified, and requires,
at a minimum, a direct writing assessment once in elementary school
and once in middle or junior high school and other items of applied
academic skills if deemed valid and reliable, and if resources are
made available for their use.
   This bill would authorize the State Department of Education,
subject to the approval of the State Board of Education, to make
available to school districts  and charter schools  a
primary language assessment, as specified, that allows school
districts  and charter schools  to assess pupils enrolled in
a dual language immersion program, as specified, who are either
nonlimited English proficient or redesignated fluent English
proficient. The bill would require that a school district  or
charter school  that chooses to administer the primary language
assessment do so at its own expense, and enter into an agreement,
subject to the approval of the department, with the state testing
contractor, as specified.
    The bill also would delete the requirements of the
standards-based achievement tests, and would instead require the
standards-based achievement tests to include California Standards
Tests, modified assessments, alternate performance assessments, and
primary language assessments, as specified, that assess identified
subject areas in specified grades.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 60640.2 is added to the Education Code, to
read:
   60640.2.  (a) Subject to the approval of the state board, the
department may make available to school districts  and charter
schools  a primary language assessment developed pursuant to
subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (f) of Section 60640
for assessing pupils enrolled in a dual language immersion program
that includes the primary language of the assessment who are either
nonlimited English proficient or redesignated fluent English
proficient. The cost for the assessment shall be the same for all
school  districts,   districts and charter
schools,  and shall not exceed the marginal cost of the
assessment.
   (b) A school district  or charter school  that chooses to
administer a primary language assessment pursuant to this section
shall do so at its own expense, and shall enter into an agreement for
that purpose with the state testing contractor, as described in
subparagraph (C) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (f) of Section
60640, subject to the approval of the department.
  SEC. 2.  Section 60642.5 of the Education Code is amended to read:
   60642.5.  (a) The Superintendent, with approval of the state
board, shall provide for the development of an assessment instrument
under the Standardized Testing and Reporting Program that measures
the degree to which pupils are achieving the academically rigorous
content standards and performance standards, to the extent standards
have been adopted by the state board. These standards-based
achievement tests shall include all of the following assessments:
   (1) California Standards Tests that assess:
   (A) English language arts in grades 2 to 11, inclusive.
   (B) Mathematics in grades 2 to 8, inclusive.
   (C) End-of-course mathematics assessments for algebra I, geometry,
algebra II, and summative high school mathematics.
   (D) Science in grades 5, 8, and 10.
   (E) End-of-course science assessments for biology, chemistry,
earth science, and physics.
   (F) History-social science in grades 8 and 11.
   (G) End-of-course assessments for world history.
   (2) Modified assessments that assess:
   (A) English language arts in grades 3 to 11, inclusive.
   (B) Mathematics in grades 3 to 7, inclusive.
   (C) End-of-course mathematics assessments for algebra I and
geometry.
   (D) Science in grades 5, 8, and 10.
   (3) Alternate performance assessments that assess:
   (A) English language arts in grades 2 to 11, inclusive.
   (B) Mathematics in grades 2 to 8, inclusive, and in grades 10 and
11.
   (C) Science in grades 5, 8, and 10.
   (4) Primary language assessments, if available, pursuant to
paragraph (3) of subdivision (f) of Section 60640 that assess:
   (A) Reading/language arts in grades 2 to 11, inclusive.
   (B) Mathematics in grades 2 to 8, inclusive.
   (C) End-of-course mathematics assessments for algebra I and
geometry.
   (b) This section, as amended during the 2011-12 Regular Session,
does not require the department to develop or administer new
assessments.
   (c) In approving a contract for the development or administration
of the California Standards Tests, the state board shall consider
each of the following:
   (1) The ability of the contractor to produce valid, reliable
individual pupil scores.
   (2) The ability of the contractor to report results pursuant to
subdivision (a) of Section 60643 by August 8.
   (3) The ability of the contractor to ensure alignment between the
standards-based achievement test and the academically rigorous
content and performance standards as those standards are adopted by
the state board. This criterion shall include the ability of the
contractor to implement a process to establish and maintain alignment
between the test items and the standards.
   (4) The per pupil cost estimates of developing and, if
appropriate, administering the proposed assessment with a system to
facilitate the determination of future per pupil cost determinations.

   (5) The procedures of the contractor to ensure the security and
integrity of test questions and materials.
   (6) The experience of the contractor in successfully conducting
testing programs adopted and administered by other states. For
experience to be considered, the number of grades and pupils tested
shall be provided.
   (d) The standards-based achievement tests may use items from other
tests.