Bill Text: CA AB532 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Pupil assessments.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Vetoed) 2011-10-08 - Vetoed by Governor. [AB532 Detail]
Download: California-2011-AB532-Enrolled.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 532 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 1, 2011
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 7, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 30, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 15, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 27, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 26, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member V. Manuel P�rez
FEBRUARY 15, 2011
An act to add Section 52052.7 to the Education Code, relating to
pupil assessments.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 532, V. Manuel P�rez. Pupil assessments.
Existing law, the Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999,
provides a state assessment program for schools, an intervention
program for low-performing schools, and a reward system for
high-achieving schools, as specified.
This bill would require California's assessments to be valid,
reliable, and comparable for pupils who are limited English
proficient and for pupils with developmental disabilities. The bill
would require any primary language assessment developed by the State
Department of Education and administered to
limited-English-proficient pupils, as identified pursuant to existing
law, to be considered for inclusion in the state's assessment
system, or in any successor system, and in any measure or index
developed or used for the state's federal and state accountability
system and any successor system. The bill would also require any
successor system to the state's assessment system adopted on or after
the effective date of this act to include accommodations and
variations for limited-English-proficient pupils, as determined by
the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
The bill would require any existing advisory committee, work
group, task force, or technical assistance group that is operating on
or after July 1, 2012, and that is either required by the
Legislature or the Governor, or established by the Superintendent or
the State Board of Education, to provide recommendations to the
Superintendent and the state board on state or federal assessment or
accountability systems, to provide to the Superintendent and the
state board additional recommendations relating to systems of
assessment and accountability.
The bill would make these provisions operative on July 1, 2012.
This bill would also make various findings and declarations.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec.
6301 et seq.) requires states to test all pupils in a valid and
reliable manner and requires, to the extent practicable, that pupils
with limited English proficiency be tested in the language and form
most likely to yield accurate data on their academic subject area
knowledge.
(2) Approximately one of every four pupils enrolled in California'
s public schools is identified as a pupil with limited English
proficiency.
(3) The current academic assessment system does not allow pupils
with limited English proficiency to accurately demonstrate their
abilities in academic subject areas.
(4) Exclusive reliance on academic assessments designed for native
English speakers to gauge the academic progress of pupils with
limited English proficiency violates standards for educational
testing established by recognized national educational institutions,
including the American Educational Research Association, the American
Psychological Association, and the National Council on Measurement
in Education.
(5) Valid and reliable academic assessment data is critical to the
education accountability system.
(6) An accountability system that would yield more accurate data
on the academic ability of pupils with limited English proficiency is
needed for instructional use and to meet federal requirements.
(7) Local educational agencies should not experience negative
consequences solely based on the scores of recent immigrant pupils on
tests that do not provide valid and reliable information about what
these pupils know and can do in academic subject areas.
(b) California's current assessment and accountability system will
sunset in 2013 and the development of a new generation of
assessments aligned to the recently approved common core academic
content standards is occurring at the national level.
(c) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature to bring the
system of assessing the academic progress of pupils with limited
English proficiency into alignment with the requirements of the
federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et
seq.), including the requirement that states test all pupils in a
valid and reliable manner and, to the extent practicable, in the
language and form most likely to yield accurate data on academic
ability in academic subject areas.
SEC. 2. Section 52052.7 is added to the Education Code, to read:
52052.7. (a) California's state assessments shall be valid,
reliable, and comparable for pupils who are limited English
proficient and for pupils with developmental disabilities, and the
provision of accommodations shall enable their participation in these
state assessments pursuant to the core assurances of the federal
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
(b) Any successor system to the state assessment system adopted on
or after the effective date of this section shall include
accommodations and variations for limited-English-proficient pupils
that will allow for meaningful participation in the English language
assessments and that address the unique linguistic and sociocultural
needs of the limited-English-proficient pupil without altering the
test construct. The Superintendent, in consultation with persons with
demonstrated experience in developing academic assessments specific
to English learners, shall determine the accommodations and
variations used in any successor system.
(c) (1) Any primary language assessment developed by the
department and administered to pupils identified as limited English
proficient, pursuant to subdivision (m) of Section 52163 and Sections
52164.1 and 60810, shall be considered for inclusion in the state's
assessment system, or in any successor system, and shall be
considered for inclusion in any measure or index that is developed or
used for the purposes of the state's federal and state
accountability system or any successor system.
(2) The primary language assessment developed pursuant to this
section shall meet the requirements regarding validity, reliability,
and comparability as specified by the testing standards jointly
developed by the American Educational Research Association, the
American Psychological Association, and the National Council on
Measurement in Education.
(3) Pupils identified as limited English proficient pursuant to
subdivision (m) of Section 52163 and Sections 52164.1 and 60810 and
who either receive instruction in their primary language or have been
enrolled in a school in the United States for less than 12 months,
shall be authorized to take the primary language assessment.
(d) (1) Any existing advisory committee, work group, task force,
or technical assistance group that is operating on or after July 1,
2012, and that is either required by the Legislature or the Governor,
or established by the Superintendent or the state board, to provide
recommendations to the Superintendent and the state board on state or
federal assessment or accountability systems, shall provide
recommendations to the Superintendent and the state board on all of
the following:
(A) Whether to include primary language assessments and their
scores in the state's systems of assessment and in any successor
state or federal systems of assessment and accountability.
(B) How to include the accommodations and variations in the state'
s successor assessment system as specified in subdivision (b).
(C) How to include data on pupils who are English learners, their
program of instruction, and their English proficiency level as
determined by the California English Language Development Test in the
current state system of public school accountability, or any
successor system.
(D) Whether to include disaggregated scores, based on
limited-English-proficient status, English language proficiency
levels, English-only pupils, fluent-English-proficient pupils, and
limited-English-proficient pupils who have been redesignated as
fluent-English-proficient in the current state system of public
school accountability, or any successor system.
(2) Any group identified in paragraph (1) shall include persons
with demonstrated expertise in developing academic assessments
specific to English learners and persons with demonstrated experience
in research and data specific to English learners.
(e) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2012.
