BILL NUMBER: AB 2548 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 24, 2016
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 30, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 19, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 2, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 27, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 11, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Weber
(Coauthor: Assembly Member McCarty)
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to add Article 3 (commencing with Section 52053) to Chapter
6.1 of Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code,
relating to school accountability.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2548, Weber. School accountability: statewide accountability
system.
(1) Existing law required, on or before July 1, 2014, the
governing boards of school districts and county boards of education
to adopt a local control and accountability plan using a state
template adopted by the State Board of Education. Existing law
requires the local control and accountability plan to include, among
other things, a description of annual goals for all pupils and
specified subgroups of pupils to be achieved for each state priority,
as specified, and a description of the specific actions the school
district or county superintendent of schools will take to achieve
those goals. Existing law requires the charter petition for a charter
school to include those same elements. Existing law provides that an
adopted local control and accountability plan is effective for 3
years and shall be updated annually on or before July 1. Existing law
requires the state board, on or before October 1, 2016, to adopt
evaluation rubrics to, among other things, assist a school district,
county office of education, or charter school in evaluating its
strengths, weaknesses, and areas that require improvement. Existing
law establishes the California Collaborative for Educational
Excellence for purposes of advising and assisting school districts,
county superintendents of schools, and charter schools in achieving
the goals set forth in a local control and accountability plan.
This bill would, for purposes of a statewide accountability system
and to ensure alignment and fidelity with the state priorities and
federal law, require the state board to adopt a statewide
accountability system that, among other things, is a single
integrated system that aligns local, state, and federal
accountability requirements. In identifying appropriate assistance
for a school or local educational agency, the bill would require the
California Collaborative for Educational Excellence and county
superintendents of schools to analyze data aligned with all the state
priorities in order to align the level of support, collaboration,
and intervention to the needs of the local educational agency or
individual school or schools. By imposing additional duties on county
superintendents of schools, and to the extent this bill would impose
additional duties on local educational agency officials, the bill
would impose 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.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 3 (commencing with Section 52053) is added to
Chapter 6.1 of Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education
Code, to read:
Article 3. Statewide Accountability System
52053. (a) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature and purpose of
this article to do all of the following:
(A) Establish a coherent, aligned local-state-federal
accountability system that addresses state, local, parent, community,
and public needs, as well as federal requirements.
(B) Ensure ambitious, statewide standards for performance and
expectations for improvement that encourage continuous improvement
and the closure of opportunity and achievement gaps.
(C) Establish a mechanism using multiple measures that
meaningfully differentiates the performance of schools and identifies
schools and local educational agencies in need of technical
assistance, support, and intervention.
(2) It is further the intent of the Legislature that the
accountability system continues to support and advance the framework
established by the local control funding formula and California's
emphasis on continuous improvement, technical assistance, and
support.
(b) For purposes of a statewide accountability system and to
ensure alignment and fidelity with the state priorities established
pursuant to Sections 52060 and 52066 and with federal law, the state
board shall adopt a statewide accountability system that meets all of
the following requirements:
(1) Is a single, integrated system that aligns local, state, and
federal accountability requirements.
(2) Satisfies the accountability system requirements of the
federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
Sec. 6301 et seq.), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act
(Public Law 114-95).
(3) Aligns California's local control framework, which is focused
on identifying and supporting local educational agencies with the
additional need to identify, support, and improve California's
highest need schools. In doing so, the state board shall do all of
the following:
(A) Set clear, ambitious, statewide standards for performance and
expectations for improvement toward each of the key indicators
described in paragraph (4) for pupils overall and for each
numerically significant subgroup, as identified in Section 52052. To
comply with federal law, these improvement standards shall be
differentiated by subgroup so that subgroups that start off at lower
performance levels make greater growth to achieve the statewide
standards.
(B) Establish a mechanism to meaningfully differentiate the
performance of all public schools, to identify local educational
agencies for purposes of Sections 52071, 52071.5, 52072, and 52072.5
on an annual basis based on outcomes for all pupils and for each
subgroup of pupils using the multiple measures identified in
paragraph (4), and to do all of the following:
(i) Distinguish multiple levels of performance for purposes of
continuous improvement, transparency, meaningful stakeholder
engagement, recognition, and support, including the identification of
the following:
(I) Not less than the lowest-performing 5 percent of all schools
receiving federal Title I funds and all public high schools in the
state failing to graduate one-third or more of their pupils.
(II) All schools in which any subgroup of pupils is consistently
underperforming, as determined by the state board, based on all of
the indicators identified in paragraph (4) and the system established
pursuant this section.
(III) All schools where any one subgroup of pupils, on its own,
would lead that school to be in the lowest 5 percent of schools for
pupils overall.
(ii) Support parents and guardians in making informed school
decisions on behalf of their children.
(iii) Enable school districts, county offices of education, the
department, and the California Collaborative for Educational
Excellence to identify schools for recognition, support, and
assistance and ensure that support and assistance is provided to at
least those schools identified pursuant to clause (i).
(C) Comply with all notification, stakeholder engagement, school
support, and improvement activities required by Section 1111(d) of
the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (Public Law 114-95), and, to
the extent required by state and federal law, ensure notifications of
stakeholder engagement, school support, and improvement activities
are translated in the top five languages as identified by the
department.
(4) (A) Relies upon data from key indicators established pursuant
to the evaluation rubrics adopted by the state board pursuant to
Section 52064.5. At a minimum, for purposes of paragraph (3), those
key indicators shall include, if not already included by the state
board pursuant to Section 52064.5, all of the following:
(i) For elementary and middle schools:
(I) A measure of pupil achievement in at least English language
arts, mathematics, and science.
(II) A measure of academic growth.
(III) A measure of progress toward English proficiency, including,
but not limited to, data on the reclassification rates of English
learners and long-term English learners when available.
(IV) A measure of chronic absenteeism.
(V) A measure of school climate.
(ii) For high schools:
(I) A measure of pupil achievement in at least English language
arts, mathematics, and science.
(II) A measure of graduation rates.
(III) A measure of progress toward English proficiency, including,
but not limited to, data on the reclassification rates of English
learners and long-term English learners when available.
(IV) A measure of college and career readiness.
(V) A measure of chronic absenteeism.
(VI) A measure of school climate.
(B) This paragraph shall not be construed as to preclude the state
board from including additional statewide measures that can be
disaggregated by subgroup in the accountability system for purposes
of meaningful differentiation of all schools or from grouping the
measures into common clusters. Furthermore, it is the intent of the
Legislature that the state will continue to use the evaluation
rubrics established pursuant to Section 52064.5 and all indicators
identified as state priorities established pursuant to Sections 52060
and 52066 and the subgroups identified pursuant to Section 52052 for
purposes of continuous improvement and to guide the provision of
technical assistance, support, and intervention.
(C) In order to comply with federal law, the academic indicators
specified in subclauses (I) to (III), inclusive, of clauses (i) and
(ii) of subparagraph (A) shall receive substantial weight and, in
aggregate, much greater weight than is afforded to all other
indicators.
(D) For purposes of paragraph (3), performance of subgroups shall
receive substantial weight.
(5) Provides the California Collaborative for Educational
Excellence established pursuant to Section 52074, county
superintendents of schools, and the public with data to be used in a
multitiered system of review and assistance. Notwithstanding the key
indicators used for purposes of paragraph (3), in identifying
appropriate assistance for a school or local educational agency, the
California Collaborative for Educational Excellence and the county
superintendents of schools shall analyze data aligned with all the
state priorities established pursuant to Sections 52060 and 52066 in
order to align the level of support, collaboration, and intervention
to the needs of the local educational agency or individual school or
schools.
(6) Ensures the creation of a data and reporting system that
provides meaningful and accessible information on school and school
district performance that is displayed through an electronic
platform. Parents and the public shall have the ability to easily
access, compare, analyze, and summarize school reports, pupil
performance results, and the progress made by schools and school
districts in reaching all of the state's priority areas for purposes
of local control and accountability plans and the local control
funding formula. It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that
any Web-based data and analysis tools should enable all stakeholders
to readily identify strengths and weaknesses, identify inequities
between schools and subgroups of pupils across multiple measures,
monitor academic achievement and improvement, provide for meaningful
differentiation, as required by Section 1111(c)(4)(C) of the federal
Every Student Succeeds Act (Public Law 114-95), and enable users to
download data and reports in machine-readable formats. It is further
the intent of the Legislature to ensure that, to the extent required
by state and federal law, the information on school, school district,
and subgroup performance be made available in the top five languages
as identified by the department.
SEC. 2. 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.