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SB-305 Pupil assessment: English learners.(2007-2008)

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SB305:v93#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  July 17, 2007
Amended  IN  Assembly  June 19, 2007
Amended  IN  Senate  June 04, 2007
Amended  IN  Senate  May 24, 2007
Amended  IN  Senate  April 30, 2007
Amended  IN  Senate  March 22, 2007

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2007–2008 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 305

Introduced  by  Senator Ducheny
 (Coauthor(s): Assembly Member Brownley, Coto)

February 16, 2007

An act to amend Section 60640 of the Education Code, relating to pupil assessment.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 305, as amended, Ducheny. Pupil assessment: English learners.
(1) Existing law, the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program, requires each school district, charter school, and county office of education to administer a nationally normed test to each of its pupils in grades 3 and 7, until July 1, 2007, and a standards‑based achievement test to each of its pupils in grades 2 to 11, inclusive, until July 1, 2007, and to each of its pupils in grades 3 to 11, inclusive, after July 1, 2007.
Existing law authorizes a pupil of limited English proficiency enrolled in any of grades 2 to 11, inclusive, until July 1, 2007, and after that date, grades 3 to 11, inclusive, to take a 2nd achievement test in his or her primary language at the option of the school district. Existing law requires a pupil identified as limited English proficient pursuant to a specified test who is enrolled in any of grades 2 to 11, inclusive, until July 1, 2007, and after that date, grades 3 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 12 months, to take a test in his or her primary language if a test is available.
This bill, commencing with the 2008–09 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, instead would require a pupil identified as limited English proficient who either receives instruction in his or her primary language and or has been enrolled in a school in the United States for no more than the maximum time allowable under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 to take the standards-based achievement test in his or her primary language, as soon as the primary language test is available. The results of that primary language test would be required to be used to determine adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 for pupils taking the test who are not administered the high school exit examination. The results of the primary language test would be required to be used for purposes of the Academic Performance Index (API). The State Department of Education would be required to analyze the primary language test, including a comparison of the new test to the test administered in the prior year, to determine how to use the results of the new test in its first year of administration to calculate API score growth from the prior year.
The bill would require the department to use funds appropriated in the annual Budget Act for the purpose of developing and adopting by July 1, 2009, primary language versions of assessments that are aligned to the state academic content standards in the dominant primary language of limited-English-proficient pupils.
To the extent this bill would impose additional duties on school districts, the bill would create a state-mandated local program.
(2) 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   Local Program: YES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 It is the intent of the Legislature by enacting this act 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.), which requires states to 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 60640 of the Education Code, as amended by Section 5 of Chapter 676 of the Statutes of 2005, is amended to read:

60640.
 (a) There is hereby established the Standardized Testing and Reporting Program, to be known as the STAR Program.
(b) Commencing in the 2007–08 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, and 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 3 and 7 the achievement test designated by the state board pursuant to Section 60642 and shall administer to each of its pupils in grades 3 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) The state board shall designate a single primary language test in each language for which a test is available for grades 3 to 11, inclusive, pursuant to the process used for designation of the assessment chosen in the 1997–98 fiscal year, as specified by Sections 60642 and 60643, and as specified by Section 60642.5, as applicable.
(2) The department shall use funds appropriated in the annual Budget Act for the purpose of developing and adopting, by July 1, 2009, primary language versions of assessments required by subdivision (b) that are aligned to the state academic content standards 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.
(3) The primary language versions of 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.) necessary for implementing paragraph (2) of subdivision (g).
(4) Once an academic standards aligned primary language assessment is available for use for a specific grade level, it shall be administered in place of a nationally normed test.
(5) In selecting 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 Sections 60642 and 60643, and as specified by Section 60642.5, as applicable. The contractor shall have expertise and experience in developing primary language test items in order to ensure the items it develops meet legal requirements regarding validity, reliability, and comparability.
(6) Subject to the availability of funds, the assessments shall be developed in grade order starting with the lowest grade subject to the STAR Program.
(7) 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.
(g) (1) Commencing with the 2008–09 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, a pupil enrolled in any of grades 3 to 11, inclusive, who is identified as limited English proficient, and who either receives instruction in his or her primary language, and or has been enrolled in a school in the United States for no more than the maximum time allowable under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.), as set forth in Section 6311(b)(3)(C)(x) of Title 20 of the United States Code, shall take the achievement test required by Section 60642.5 in his or her primary language as soon as the primary language test is available. These primary language tests shall produce individual pupil scores that are valid and reliable. Primary language tests administered pursuant to this subdivision and subdivision (f) are subject to the requirements of subdivision (a) of Section 60641.
(2) (A) The results of an achievement test administered pursuant to this subdivision 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 subdivision.
(B) The results of an achievement test administered pursuant to this subdivision also shall be used for purposes of the Academic Performance Index (API). The department shall perform an analysis of a new test after its first year of administration pursuant to this subdivision, including a comparison of the new test to the test administered in the previous year, to determine how to use the results of the new test in its first year of administration to calculate API score growth from the previous year. In the years after the first year of administration of a test pursuant to this subdivision, growth in API score shall be determined using the year-to-year results of the test administered pursuant to this subdivision.
(h) (1) The Superintendent shall apportion funds to school districts to enable school districts to meet the requirements of subdivision (b), the alternative assessment required by subdivision (e), and subdivisions (f) and (g).
(2) The state board shall annually establish the amount of funding to be apportioned to school districts for each test administered and shall annually 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 subdivision (b), the alternative assessment required by subdivision (e), and subdivisions (f) and (g).
(3) An adjustment to the amount of funding to be apportioned per test may 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) For the 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) As a condition to 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 3 to 11, inclusive.
(2) The number of pupils to whom an achievement test was administered in grades 3 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.
(k) 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) The Superintendent shall, with the approval of the state board, annually release to the public at least 25 percent of test items from the standards-based achievement test provided for in Section 60642.5 from the test administered in the previous year.
(m) This section shall become operative July 1, 2007.

SEC. 3.

 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.