Amended
IN
Assembly
March 11, 1999 |
Introduced by
Assembly Member
Rod Pacheco |
January 19, 1999 |
(2)
(c)(1)Commencing in the 2000–01 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, and from funds made 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, before October 15, the entry-level achievement test designated by the State Board of Education pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 60642.
(2)The publisher and the school district shall provide two make-up days for the testing of previously absent pupils no later than October 25.
The State Department of Education shall ensure that school districts comply with each of the following requirements:
(a)The achievement test designated pursuant to Section 60642 is scheduled to be administered to all pupils during the period prescribed in subdivision (b) of Section 60640.
(b)The individual results of each pupil test administered pursuant to Section 60640 shall be reported, in writing, to the pupil’s parent or guardian. The written report shall include a clear explanation of the purpose of the test, the pupil’s score, and its intended use by the school district. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to require teachers to prepare individualized explanations of each pupil’s test score.
(c)The individual results of each pupil test administered pursuant to Section 60640 shall also be reported to the pupil’s school and teachers. The school district shall include the pupil’s test results in his or her pupil records. A teacher shall use the results in considering the pupil’s progress. The school district shall ensure that a pupil’s results are forwarded to each subsequent teacher upon the pupil’s assignment to a class taught by that teacher. However, except as provided in this section, individual pupil test results may only be released with the permission of the pupil’s parent or guardian.
(d)The districtwide, school-level, grade-level, and classroom-level results of the STAR Program in each of the grades designated pursuant to Section 60640, but not the score or relative position of any individually ascertainable pupil, shall be reported to the governing board of the school district at a regularly scheduled meeting, and the countywide, school-level, grade-level, and classroom-level results for classes and programs under the jurisdiction of the county office of education shall be similarly reported to the county board of education at a regularly scheduled meeting. These results shall be reported at the same meeting at which the results of the assessments of applied academic skills are reported pursuant to Section 60609, when those assessments are implemented.
(e)The State Department of Education and publisher designated pursuant to Section 60642 shall make the classroom, grade, school, school district, and state results available on the Internet by June 30 of each year in which the achievement test is administered.
(a)To be eligible for consideration under Section 60642 by the State Board of Education, test publishers shall agree in writing each year to meet the following requirements, if selected:
(1)Post a performance bond in an amount to be determined by the State Board of Education.
(2)Enter into a standard agreement with all school districts in the state that includes a payment schedule and conditions prescribed by the State Board of Education.
(3)Align the achievement test to the academically rigorous content and performance standards adopted by the State Board of Education.
(4)Comply with subdivisions (c) and (d) of Section 60645.
(5)Provide individual pupil scores to parents or guardians, teachers, and school administrators.
(6)Provide aggregate scores to teachers, administrators, governing boards of school districts, county boards of education, and the State Department of Education in all of the following forms and formats:
(A)Classroom level.
(B)Grade level.
(C)School level.
(D)District level.
(E)Countywide.
(F)Statewide.
(G)Comparison of statewide scores relative to other states.
(7)Provide disaggregated scores, based on limited-English-proficient status and non-limited-English-proficient status. For purposes of this section, pupils with “non-limited-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 teachers, administrators, governing boards of school districts, county boards of education, and the State Department of Education in the same form and formats listed in paragraph (6).
(8)Provide disaggregated scores by pupil gender and provide disaggregated scores based on whether pupils are economically disadvantaged or not. These disaggregated scores shall be in the same form and formats as listed in paragraph (6). In any one year, the disaggregation shall entail information already being collected by school districts, county offices of education, or charter schools.
(9)Provide information listed in paragraphs (6), (7), and (8) to the State Board of Education and to the recipients listed in paragraph (6), in hard copy and in an electronic medium compatible for access through the Internet.
(b)It is the intent of the Legislature that the publisher work with the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education in developing a methodology to disaggregate statewide scores as required in paragraphs (7) and (8) 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 (8).
(c)Access to any 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. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to abridge or deny rights to confidentiality contained in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g) or other applicable provisions of state and federal law that protect the confidentiality of information collected by educational institutions.
(d)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the publisher of the achievement test designated pursuant to Section 60642 shall comply with all of the conditions and requirements enumerated in subdivision (a) to the satisfaction of the State Board of Education.
(e)(1)The State Department of Education is hereby authorized to develop a standard agreement, subject to the approval of the State Board of Education, that all school districts and the test publisher shall be required to use. The agreement shall contain provisions for withholding full or partial payments for individual components of test administration, including, but not limited to, test development, publication, administration, scoring, test security, data aggregation, analysis, reporting, or electronic transmission. The standard agreement shall specify the exact reports and data files that are to be provided to the district by the publisher, and the number of copies of each report or file to be provided. The State Department of Education shall also specify in the standard agreement that all reports and files must be certified by the district as complete and accurate before final payment to the publisher from the district. The State Department of Education shall specify in the standard agreement that final payments or portions thereof by school districts or any agent of the State of California shall be withheld until the Superintendent of Public Instruction notifies all school districts that the test administration is completed for the academic year and the State Board of Education has made a determination pursuant to paragraph (2) or (3). The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall notify school districts as required by this subdivision within seven work days after receiving instruction from the State Board of Education.
(2)If satisfied that the publisher has met the requirements of subdivision (a), and that the State Department of Education and the State Board of Education have received complete statewide data, to the satisfaction of the board, reported in the manner prescribed by this section, the State Board of Education shall determine that all school districts may make final payments to the publisher.
(3)If the State Board of Education is not satisfied that the publisher has met all of the requirements of subdivision (a) or any of the individual components of test administration, the board may authorize partial payment. The State Board of Education may adopt regulations establishing a process for partial payments to the test publisher by school districts.
(f)The State Board of Education shall consider the performance of publishers no later than July 31 following the test administration for purposes of making appropriate determinations pursuant to the standard agreement authorized pursuant to this section. Any failure of the test publisher to meet the terms of the standard agreement or other requirements of this section that is caused by a school district’s failure to fulfill its obligations shall not be deemed cause for a determination adverse to the test publisher under this subdivision.
Notwithstanding Section 17580 of the Government Code, unless otherwise specified, the provisions of this act shall become operative on the same date that the act takes effect pursuant to the California Constitution.