Bill Text: CA SB930 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Pupil assessments.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2010-09-30 - In Senate. To unfinished business. (Veto) [SB930 Detail]

Download: California-2009-SB930-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 930	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Ducheny

                        FEBRUARY 2, 2010

   An act to amend Sections 60640 and 60643 of the Education Code,
relating to pupil assessments.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 930, as introduced, Ducheny. Pupil assessments.
   (1) Existing law establishes the Standardized Testing and
Reporting Program, known as the STAR Program. Existing law requires
each school district, charter school, and county office of education
to administer a standards-based achievement test, known as the
California Standards Tests, to all pupils in grades 2 to 11,
inclusive. Existing law authorizes a school district to administer a
2nd test in the pupil's primary language to pupils with limited
English proficiency who receive instruction in their primary language
or have been enrolled in a school in the United States for less than
12 months. Existing law makes these provisions inoperative on July
1, 2011.
   This bill would instead require pupils with limited English
proficiency who receive instruction in their primary language or have
been enrolled in a school in the United States for less than 12
months to take a 2nd achievement test in their primary language,
thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would
extend the operative date of these provisions to July 1, 2015. The
bill would require the State Department of Education, by January 1,
2011, to identify and develop effective accommodations for English
learners that will allow meaningful participation in the assessments
and that address the unique linguistic and sociocultural needs of the
English learner without altering the test construct. The bill would
require school districts to provide specified accommodations to
pupils who are English learners while taking these tests, thereby
imposing a state-mandated local program.
   (2) Existing law requires test publishers who wish to be
considered for eligibility for the development of the California
Standards Tests to adhere to specified requirements, including that
the test publisher provide valid and reliable aggregate scores to
school districts and county boards of education in specified forms
and formats. Existing law makes these provisions inoperative on July
1, 2011.
   This bill would additionally require these test publishers to
provide valid and reliable aggregate scores to school districts and
county boards of education in a format that would show, for pupils
who are English learners, their program of instruction, time in the
program of instruction, and their English proficiency level as
determined by the California English Language Development Test. The
bill would extend the operative date of these provisions to July 1,
2015.
   (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


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 academic subject areas.
   (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 show academic ability 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.
   (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 diagnostic information
about what these pupils know and can do in academic subject areas.
   (b) 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. It is also the intent of the
Legislature that California's state assessments be valid and reliable
assessments for pupils who are English learners and for pupils with
developmental disabilities and that the provision of accommodations
enable their participation in these state assessments pursuant to the
core assurances of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009 (Public Law 111-5).
  SEC. 2.  Section 60640 of the Education Code is amended to read:
   60640.  (a) There is hereby established the Standardized Testing
and Reporting Program, to be known as the STAR Program.
   (b) From the funds available for that purpose, each school
district, charter school, and county office of education shall
administer to each of its pupils in grades 2 to 11, inclusive, the
standards-based achievement test provided for in Section 60642.5. The
state board shall establish a testing period to provide that all
schools administer these tests to pupils at approximately the same
time during the instructional year, except as necessary to ensure
test security and to meet the final filing date.
   (c) The publisher and the school district shall provide two makeup
days for the testing of previously absent pupils within the testing
period established by the state board in subdivision (b).
   (d) The governing board of the school district may administer
achievement tests in grades other than those required by subdivision
(b) as it deems appropriate.
   (e) Pursuant to Section 1412(a)(17) of Title 20 of the United
States Code, individuals with exceptional needs, as defined in
Section 56026, shall be included in the testing requirement of
subdivision (b) with appropriate accommodations in administration,
where necessary, and those individuals with exceptional needs who are
unable to participate in the testing, even with accommodations,
shall be given an alternate assessment.
   (f) (1)  At the option of the school district, pupils
  Pupils    with limited English
proficiency who are enrolled in any of grades 2 to 11, inclusive,
 may   shall  take a second achievement
test in their primary language. Primary language tests administered
pursuant to this subdivision and subdivision (g) shall be subject to
the requirements of subdivision (a) of Section 60641. These primary
language tests shall produce individual pupil scores that are valid
and reliable.
   (2) Notwithstanding any other law, the state board shall designate
for use, as part of this program, a single primary language test in
each language for which a test is available for grades 2 to 11,
inclusive, pursuant to the process used for designation of the
assessment chosen in the 1997-98 fiscal year, as specified in Section
60643, as applicable. 
   (3) The primary language assessments developed pursuant to this
section shall be developed to satisfy all the requirements of the
federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et
seq.), including the requirements regarding validity, reliability,
and comparability. The testing contractor chosen for the purpose of
developing the primary language assessments shall report to the state
board as to how these requirements have been met.  
   (4) The primary language assessments administered pursuant to this
subdivision and subdivision (g) are subject to the requirements of
subdivision (a) of Section 60641.  
   (5) The department, by January 1, 2011, shall modify the
achievement test administered pursuant to Section 60642.5 in order to
eliminate linguistic complexity, to the extent practicable. The
modifications shall be based upon research designed to maintain the
rigor of the test.  
   (6) The department, by January 1, 2011, shall identify and develop
effective accommodations for English learners that will allow
meaningful participation in the assessments and that address the
unique linguistic and sociocultural needs of the English learner
without altering the test construct. The accommodations shall
include:  
   (A) A word-to-word glossary, without definitions, in English and
in the top 10 languages indicated by the Language Census submitted to
the department by the districts. The glossary shall include
high-frequency general academic words as well as discipline-specific
words used in the assessments.  
   (B) The explanation of test questions and repetition of test
directions at the request of a pupil.  
   (C) Additional time to complete the test.  
   (D) Translations of the test directions in the top 10 languages
indicated by the Language Census submitted to the department by the
districts.  
   (E) The department shall provide to the districts the bilingual
glossaries prepared pursuant to subparagraph (A) and the translations
of test directions prepared pursuant to subparagraph (D). 

   (3) 
    (7)  (A) The department shall use funds made available
pursuant to Title VI of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
(20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.) and appropriated by the annual Budget
Act for the purpose of developing and adopting primary language
assessments that are aligned to the state academic content standards.
Subject to the availability of funds, primary language assessments
shall be developed and adopted for reading/language arts and
mathematics in the dominant primary language of
limited-English-proficient pupils. The dominant primary language
shall be determined by the count in the annual language census of the
primary language of each limited-English-proficient pupil enrolled
in the California public schools.
   (B) Once a dominant primary language assessment is available for
use for a specific grade level, it shall be administered in place of
the assessment designated pursuant to paragraph (1) for that grade
level.
   (C) In choosing a contractor to develop a primary language
assessment the state board shall consider the criteria for choosing a
contractor or test publisher as specified by Section 60643, and as
specified by Section 60642.5, as applicable.  The contractor
shall have expertise and experience in developing primary language
test items. 
   (D) Subject to the availability of funds, the assessments shall be
developed in grade order starting with the lowest grade subject to
the STAR Program.
   (E) If the state board contracts for the development of primary
language assessments or test items to augment an existing assessment,
the state shall retain ownership rights to the assessment and the
test items. With the approval of the state board, the department may
license the test for use in other states subject to a compensation
agreement approved by the Department of Finance. 
   (F) On or before January 1, 2006, the department shall submit to
the Legislature a report on the development and implementation of the
initial primary language assessments and recommendations on the
development and implementation of future assessments and funding
requirements. 
   (g) A pupil identified as limited English proficient pursuant to
the administration of a test made available pursuant to Section 60810
who is enrolled in any of grades 2 to 11, inclusive, and who either
receives instruction in his or her primary language or has been
enrolled in a school in the United States for less than 
three consecutive years   12 months  shall be
required to take a test in his or her primary language if a test is
available. 
   (h) Public schools providing dual immersion programs may use the
primary language assessments pursuant to this section for the purpose
of assessing pupils who are enrolled in dual immersion programs and
who are nonlimited English proficient, as described in Section 60643.
This assessment shall be administered at the school district's
expense, and only if the school district enters into an agreement for
that purpose with the state testing contractor.  
   (i) The results of a primary language assessment shall be used to
determine adequate yearly progress pursuant to the federal No Child
Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.). However, for
pupils to whom the high school exit examination is administered, the
high school exit examination shall be used to determine adequate
yearly progress rather than as an achievement test administered
pursuant to this section.  
   (j) The results of a primary language assessment shall also be
used for purposes of the Academic Performance Index. The Public
Schools Accountability Act Advisory Committee shall perform an
analysis in order to determine how to use the results of the primary
language assessment in calculating API score growth from the previous
year. In the years after the first year of administration of a test
pursuant to this section, growth in API score shall be determined
using the year-to-year results of the test administered pursuant to
this section.  
   (h) 
    (k)  (1) The Superintendent shall apportion funds to
school districts to enable school districts to meet the requirements
of subdivisions (b), (e), (f), and (g).
   (2) The state board annually shall establish the amount of funding
to be apportioned to school districts for each test administered and
annually shall establish the amount that each publisher shall be
paid for each test administered under the agreements required
pursuant to Section 60643. The amounts to be paid to the publishers
shall be determined by considering the cost estimates submitted by
each publisher each September and the amount included in the annual
Budget Act, and by making allowance for the estimated costs to school
districts for compliance with the requirements of subdivisions (b),
(e), (f), and (g).
   (3) An adjustment to the amount of funding to be apportioned per
test shall not be valid without the approval of the Director of
Finance. A request for approval of an adjustment to the amount of
funding to be apportioned per test shall be submitted in writing to
the Director of Finance and the chairpersons of the fiscal committees
of both houses of the Legislature with accompanying material
justifying the proposed adjustment. The Director of Finance is
authorized to approve only those adjustments related to activities
required by statute. The Director of Finance shall approve or
disapprove the amount within 30 days of receipt of the request and
shall notify the chairpersons of the fiscal committees of both houses
of the Legislature of the decision. 
   (i) 
    (l)  For purposes of making the computations required by
Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution, the
appropriation for the apportionments made pursuant to paragraph (1)
of subdivision (h), and the payments made to the publishers under the
contracts required pursuant to Section 60643 or subparagraph (C) of
paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 60605 between the
department and the contractor, are "General Fund revenues
appropriated for school districts," as defined in subdivision (c) of
Section 41202, for the applicable fiscal year, and included within
the "total allocations to school districts and community college
districts from General Fund proceeds of taxes appropriated pursuant
to Article XIII B," as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 41202,
for that fiscal year. 
   (j) 
    (m)  As a condition  to   for 
receiving an apportionment pursuant to subdivision (h), a school
district shall report to the Superintendent all of the following:
   (1) The number of pupils enrolled in the school district in grades
2 to 11, inclusive.
   (2) The number of pupils to whom an achievement test was
administered in grades 2 to 11, inclusive, in the school district.
   (3) The number of pupils in paragraph (1) who were exempted from
the test at the request of their parents or guardians. 
   (4) The number of pupils to whom a primary language assessment was
administered in grades 2 to 11, inclusive, in the school district.
 
   (k) 
    (n)  The Superintendent and the state board are
authorized and encouraged to assist postsecondary educational
institutions to use the assessment results of the California
Standards Tests, including, but not limited to, the augmented
California Standards Tests, for academic credit, placement, or
admissions processes. 
   (l) 
    (o)  The Superintendent, with the approval of the state
board, annually shall release to the public test items from the
standards-based achievement tests pursuant to Section 60642.5
administered in previous years. The minimum number of test items
released per year shall be equal to 25 percent of the total number of
test items on the test administered in the previous year. 
   (m) 
    (p)  This section shall become inoperative on July, 1,
 2011   2015 .
  SEC. 3.  Section 60643 of the Education Code is amended to read:
   60643.  (a) To be eligible for consideration under Section 60642.5
by the state board, test publishers shall agree in writing each year
to meet the following requirements, as applicable, if selected:
   (1) Enter into an agreement, pursuant to subdivision (e) or (f),
with the department by October 15 of that year.
   (2) Align the standards-based achievement test provided for in
Section 60642.5 to the academically rigorous content and performance
standards adopted by the state board.
   (3) Comply with subdivisions (c) and (d) of Section 60645.
   (4) Provide valid and reliable individual pupil scores to parents
or guardians, teachers, and school administrators.
   (5) Provide valid and reliable aggregate scores to school
districts and county boards of education in all of the following
forms and formats:
   (A) Grade level.
   (B) School level.
   (C) District level.
   (D) Countywide.
   (E) Statewide.
   (F) Comparison of statewide scores relative to other states. 
   (G) For pupils who are English learners, their program of
instruction, time in the program of instruction, and their English
proficiency level as determined by the California English Language
Development Test. 
   (6) Provide disaggregated scores, based on
limited-English-proficient status and nonlimited-English-proficient
status. For purposes of this section, pupils with
"nonlimited-English-proficient status" shall include the total of
those pupils who are English-only pupils, fluent-English-proficient
pupils, and redesignated fluent-English-proficient pupils. These
scores shall be provided to school districts and county boards of
education in the same forms and formats listed in paragraph (5).
   (7) Provide disaggregated scores by pupil gender and ethnicity
 ,  and provide disaggregated scores based on whether pupils
are economically disadvantaged or not. These disaggregated scores
shall be in the same forms and formats as listed in paragraph (5). In
any one year, the disaggregation shall entail information already
being collected by school districts, county offices of education, or
charter schools.
   (8) Provide disaggregated scores for pupils who have
individualized education programs and have enrolled in special
education, to the extent required by federal law. These scores shall
be provided in the same forms and formats listed in paragraph (5).
This section shall not be construed to exclude the scores of special
education pupils from any state or federal accountability system.
   (9) Provide information listed in paragraphs (5), (6), (7), and
(8) to the department and the state board in the medium requested by
each entity, respectively.
   (b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the publisher work
with the Superintendent and the state board in developing a
methodology to disaggregate statewide scores as required in
paragraphs (6) and (7) of subdivision (a), and in determining which
variable indicated on the STAR testing document shall serve as a
proxy for "economically disadvantaged" status pursuant to paragraph
(7) of subdivision (a).
   (c) Access to information about individual pupils or their
families shall be granted to the publisher only for purposes of
correctly associating test results with the pupils who produced those
results or for reporting and disaggregating test results as required
by this section. School districts are prohibited from excluding a
pupil from the test if a parent or parents decline to disclose
income. This chapter does not abridge or deny rights to
confidentiality contained in the federal Family Educational Rights
and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g) or other applicable
state and federal law that protect the confidentiality of information
collected by educational institutions.
   (d) Notwithstanding any other law, the publisher of the
standards-based achievement test provided for in Section 60642.5 or
any contractor under subdivision (f) shall comply with all of the
conditions and requirements enumerated in subdivision (a), as
applicable, to the satisfaction of the state board.
   (e) (1) A publisher shall not provide a test described in Section
60642.5 or 60650 or in subdivision (f) of Section 60640 for use in
California public schools, unless the publisher enters into a written
contract with the department as set forth in this subdivision.
   (2) The department shall develop, and the state board shall
approve, a contract to be entered into with a publisher pursuant to
paragraph (1). The department may develop the contract through
negotiations with the publisher.
   (3) For purposes of the contracts authorized pursuant to this
subdivision, the department is exempt from the requirements of Part 2
(commencing with Section 10100) of Division 2 of the Public Contract
Code and from the requirements of Article 6 (commencing with Section
999) of Chapter 6 of Division 4 of the Military and Veterans Code.
   (4) The contracts shall include provisions for progress payments
to the publisher for work performed or costs incurred in the
performance of the contract. Not less than 10 percent of the amount
budgeted for each separate and distinct component task provided for
in each contract shall be withheld pending final completion of all
component tasks by that publisher. The total amount withheld pending
final completion shall not exceed 10 percent of the total contract
price.
   (5) The contracts shall require liquidated damages to be paid by
the publisher in the amount of up to 10 percent of the total cost of
the contract for any component task that the publisher through its
own fault or that of its subcontractors fails to substantially
perform by the date specified in the agreement.
   (6) The contracts shall establish the process and criteria by
which the successful completion of each component task shall be
recommended by the department and approved by the state board.
   (7) The publishers shall submit, as part of the contract
negotiation process, a proposed budget and invoice schedule, that
includes a detailed listing of the costs for each component task and
the expected date of the invoice for each completed component task.
   (8) The contracts shall specify the following component tasks, as
applicable, that are separate and distinct:
   (A) Development of new tests or test items as required by
paragraph (2) of subdivision (a).
   (B) Test materials production or publication.
   (C) Delivery of test materials to school districts.
   (D) Test processing, scoring, and analyses.
   (E) Reporting of test results to the school districts, including,
but not limited to, all reports specified in this section.
   (F) Reporting of test results to the department, including, but
not limited to, the electronic files required pursuant to this
section.
   (G) All other analyses or reports required by the Superintendent
to meet the requirements of state and federal law and set forth in
the agreement.
   (9) The contracts shall specify the specific reports and data
files, if any, that are to be provided to school districts by the
publisher and the number of copies of each report or file to be
provided.
   (10) The contracts shall specify the means by which any delivery
date for materials to each school district shall be verified by the
publisher and the school district.
   (11) School districts may negotiate a separate agreement with the
publisher for any additional materials or services not within the
contracts specified in this subdivision, including, but not limited
to, the administration of the tests to pupils in grade levels other
than grades 2 to 11, inclusive. Any separate agreement is not within
the scope of the contract specified in this subdivision.
   (f) The department, with approval of the state board, may enter
into a separate contract for the development or administration of a
test authorized pursuant to this part, including, but not limited to,
item development, coordination of tests, assemblage of tests or test
items, scoring, or reporting. The liquidated damages provision set
forth in paragraph (5) of subdivision (e) shall apply to a contract
entered into pursuant to this subdivision.
   (g) This section shall become inoperative on July, 1, 
2011   2015  .
  SEC. 4.  If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.