BILL NUMBER: SB 651 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 197
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 11, 2009
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 11, 2009
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 8, 2009
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 3, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 15, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 1, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 1, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 6, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senators Romero and Steinberg
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Brownley)
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to amend Section 52052.1 of, and to add Section 48070.6 to,
the Education Code, relating to pupil retention.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 651, Romero. Pupil retention.
Existing law requires the governing board of each school district
and each county superintendent of schools to adopt policies regarding
pupil promotion and retention. Existing law requires the Commission
on Teacher Credentialing, the state board, and the department to
provide to the State Chief Information Officer the individual
nonpersonally identifiable or aggregate data related to adequate
yearly progress, graduation rates, pupils who drop out of school, and
demographics of pupils and teachers.
This bill would require the Superintendent, on or before August 1,
2011, and annually thereafter, to submit to the Governor, the
Legislature, and the state board, a report called the Annual Report
on Dropouts in California. The bill would require, among other
things, that the report contain specified information on dropout
rates, graduation rates, pupil promotion rates, course enrollment
patterns, and behavioral data. The bill would require that the report
include data from the most recent year and, at a minimum, the two
prior years. The bill would also require the Superintendent to make
an oral presentation of the contents of the report to the state board
and to make the contents of the report available on the department's
Internet Web site. The bill would state the intent of the
Legislature that the report be usable by specified groups for
analyzing the high rate of dropouts in California.
Existing law, operative only if local educational agencies receive
a per pupil allocation prior to the 2010-11 fiscal year for
implementation of the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data
System, as specified, requires, beginning July 1, 2011, that the
Academic Performance Index (API) for a school or school district
include test scores and other data from pupils who were referred to
alternative education programs and include school and school district
dropout rates, as specified.
This bill would remove the requirement that local educational
agencies receive the specified allocation in order for these
provisions to become operative.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 48070.6 is added to the Education Code, to
read:
48070.6. (a) On or before August 1, 2011, and annually
thereafter, utilizing data produced by the California Longitudinal
Pupil Achievement Data System pursuant to Section 60900 and other
available data, the Superintendent shall submit to the Governor, the
Legislature, and the state board, a report that shall be called the
Annual Report on Dropouts in California. The report shall include,
but not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) One-year dropout rates for each of grades 7 to 12, inclusive.
(2) Four-year cohort dropout rates for grades 9 to 12, inclusive.
(3) Two- or three-year cohort dropout rates, as appropriate, for
middle schools.
(4) Grade 9 to grade 10 promotion rates.
(5) Percentage of high school pupils for each of grades 9 to 12,
inclusive, who are on track to earn sufficient credits to graduate.
(6) The average number of nonpromotional school moves that pupils
make between grades 6 to 12, inclusive.
(7) "Full-year" dropout rates for alternative schools, including
dropout recovery high schools, calculated using a methodology
developed by the Superintendent to appropriately reflect dropout
rates in each type of alternative school.
(8) An explanation of the methodology or methodologies used to
calculate "full-year" dropout rates for alternative schools pursuant
to paragraph (7).
(9) California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) passage
rates.
(10) Other available data relating to dropout or graduation rates
or pupil progress toward high school graduation.
(b) When cohort dropout rates can be calculated accurately using
longitudinal data, the rates described in paragraph (3) of
subdivision (a) shall be replaced by dropout rates for cohorts of
pupils entering middle school.
(c) When data is available, the report shall also include all of
the following:
(1) Rates at which pupils graduate in four, five, and six years,
pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of
Section 52052.
(2) Percentage of high school graduates and dropouts who completed
courses that are certified by the University of California as
meeting admission requirement criteria for the University of
California and California State University systems.
(3) Percentage of high school graduates and dropouts who completed
two or more classes in career technical education.
(4) Percentage of high school graduates and dropouts who completed
both course sequences described in paragraphs (2) and (3).
(5) Behavioral data by school and district, including suspensions
and expulsions.
(6) Truancy rates.
(7) GED earning rates.
(d) If possible, the data listed in subdivisions (a) and (b) shall
be presented in the report, organized as follows:
(1) By state.
(2) By county.
(3) By district both including and excluding charter schools.
(4) By school.
(e) The report shall include data from alternative middle and high
schools, including continuation high schools, community day schools,
juvenile court schools, special schools, opportunity schools, and
schools attended by wards of the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Justice.
(f) The report may include relevant data on school climate and
pupil engagement from the California Healthy Kids Survey.
(g) If possible, the data listed in subdivisions (a) and (b) shall
be presented for the following subgroups, if the subgroup consists
of at least 50 pupils, and the subgroup constitutes at least 15
percent of the total population of pupils at a school:
(1) Grade level.
(2) Ethnicity.
(3) Gender.
(4) Low socioeconomic status.
(5) English learners.
(6) Special education status.
(h) The first Annual Report on Dropouts in California shall
include data from the most recent year. Subsequent annual reports
shall include data from the most recent year and, at a minimum, the
two prior years, so that comparisons can be made easily.
(i) The Superintendent or his or her designee shall make an oral
presentation of the contents of the report to the state board at a
regularly scheduled meeting of the board.
(j) The Superintendent shall make the contents of the report
available on the department's Internet Web site in a format that is
easy for the public to access and understand.
(k) If inclusion of school-level data would render the written
report unwieldy, the data may be omitted from the written report and
posted on the department's Internet Web site.
(l) It is the intent of the Legislature that the report prepared
by the Superintendent be usable by schools, districts, policymakers,
researchers, parents, and the public, for purposes of identifying and
understanding trends, causal relations, early warning indicators,
and potential points of intervention to address the high rate of
dropouts in California.
(m) For purposes of this section, dropouts shall be defined using
the exit/withdrawal codes developed by the department.
(n) For purposes of this section, "dropout recovery high school"
has the same meaning as defined in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (4)
of subdivision (a) of Section 52052.
SEC. 2. Section 52052.1 of the Education Code is amended to read:
52052.1. (a) Beginning July 1, 2011, in addition to the test
scores specified in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (4) of subdivision
(a) of Section 52052, the Academic Performance Index (API) for a
school or school district shall do all of the following:
(1) Include the test scores and other accountability data of
enrolled pupils who were referred by the school or school district of
residence to an alternative education program, including community,
community day, and continuation high schools and independent study,
and be calculated by assigning all accountability data on pupils in
alternative education programs, including community, community day,
and continuation high schools and independent study, to the school
and school district of residence to ensure that placement decisions
are in the best interests of affected pupils. If a pupil is referred
to an alternative education program by a juvenile court judge or
other correctional or judicial official, or if the pupil is expelled
pursuant to subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of Section 48915, the test
scores of that pupil shall remain with the alternative education
program and with the school district or county office of education
serving that pupil. This section does not prohibit the alternative
education program from counting the test scores of those pupils
served in their alternative education program. It is the intent of
the Legislature that these alternative education programs remain
accountable to the pupils they serve.
(2) Exclude the test scores or other data of those pupils exempt
pursuant to federal statute or federal regulation.
(3) Include school and school district dropout rates for pupils
who drop out of school while enrolled in grade 8 or 9. If reliable
data is not available by July 1, 2011, the Superintendent, on or
before that date, shall report to the Legislature the reasons for the
delay and date he or she anticipates the specified dropout rates
will be included in the API.
(b) The advisory committee established pursuant to Section 52052.5
shall recommend to the Superintendent and the state board all of the
following:
(1) The length of time for which the accountability data on pupils
in alternative education programs shall be assigned to the school
and school district of residence pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a).
(2) Whether it is appropriate to assign accountability data to the
school or the school district, pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a), if the pupil never attended the school of residence
or has been absent for more than one year from the school district of
residence due to placement in another school or school district or
out of state.