Bill Text: CA SB915 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Standardized testing: inadequate or improper test conditions.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2014-08-22 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 245, Statutes of 2014. [SB915 Detail]
Download: California-2013-SB915-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 915 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 245
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE AUGUST 22, 2014
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR AUGUST 22, 2014
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 11, 2014
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 7, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 30, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 19, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 21, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Senator Hill
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Mullin)
JANUARY 27, 2014
An act to add Section 99160.5 to the Education Code, relating to
standardized testing.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 915, Hill. Standardized testing: inadequate or improper test
conditions.
Existing law imposes various requirements on a test sponsor, also
known as a test agency, with respect to the administration of
standardized tests for purposes of postsecondary education. Existing
law provides that a test sponsor that intentionally violates these
provisions is liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $750 for each
violation. Existing law provides that these requirements do not apply
to instances where the cancellation of all test scores results from
the complete disruption of the administration of the test, such as by
natural disasters, national emergencies, inadequate or improper test
conditions, answer sheet printing errors, or testing agency errors.
This bill would require a test agency, where there has been a
complaint or a notice of inadequate or improper test conditions
relating to an administration of an Advanced Placement test, to
immediately initiate an investigation. The bill would require the
school in charge of the test site to cooperate with the test agency's
investigation by providing information requested by the test agency,
as specified. If the test agency, upon completing the investigation,
determines that the inadequate or improper test conditions will
prevent it from reporting valid test scores, the bill would require
the test agency to notify the school in charge of the test site of
the decision within 2 business days. The bill would require the
school in charge of the test site, following notification from the
test agency of the decision that scores will not be reported, to
notify the affected test subjects of the decision within 2 business
days. The bill would require the school in charge of the test site to
provide all affected test subjects with at least 5 business days'
prior notice of an opportunity to retest. The bill would require such
a retest to be administered within 30 calendar days of the
completion of the investigation.
The bill would require proctors administering an Advanced
Placement test to create a seating chart, including the seat location
of each test subject, for each Advanced Placement test administered
at the test site. The bill would further require the school in charge
of the test site to retain and preserve each such seating chart for
at least one year after the administration of the Advanced Placement
test to which that seating chart applies. The bill would require the
school in charge of the test site to submit these seating charts to
the test agency upon its request to assist with its investigation of
a complaint or notice of inadequate or improper test conditions.
An intentional violation of these requirements would subject a
test sponsor to the civil penalty referenced above.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 99160.5 is added to the Education Code, to
read:
99160.5. (a) A test agency shall immediately initiate an
investigation upon learning of a complaint or a notice of inadequate
or improper test conditions relating to an administration of an
Advanced Placement test. In order to expedite the investigation and
ensure a timely resolution, the school in charge of the test site
shall cooperate with the test agency's investigation by providing
information requested by the test agency within five business days.
If, upon completing the investigation, the test agency determines
that the inadequate or improper test conditions will prevent it from
reporting valid test scores, the test agency shall notify the school
in charge of the test site of the decision within two business days.
Upon notification from the test agency that the test agency has
determined that the inadequate or improper test conditions will
prevent it from reporting valid test scores, the school in charge of
the test site shall notify the affected test subjects of the decision
within two business days. The school in charge of the test site
shall provide all affected test subjects with at least five business
days' prior notice of an opportunity to retest. That retest shall be
administered within 30 calendar days of the completion of the
investigation.
(b) Proctors administering an Advanced Placement test shall create
a seating chart, including the seat location of each test subject,
for each Advanced Placement test administered at the test site. The
test agency shall provide seating chart templates for use by each
test site. The school in charge of the test site shall retain and
preserve each seating chart created pursuant to this subdivision for
at least one year after the administration of the Advanced Placement
test to which that seating chart applies. The school in charge of the
test site shall submit these seating charts to the test agency upon
its request to assist with its investigation of a complaint or notice
of inadequate or improper test conditions.
