Bill Text: CA SB930 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Pupil assessments.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2010-09-30 - In Senate. To unfinished business. (Veto) [SB930 Detail]

Download: California-2009-SB930-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 930	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 20, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 16, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 2, 2010
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 1, 2010
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 11, 2010
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 27, 2010
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 7, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Ducheny
   (Coauthors: Senators Alquist, Florez, and Romero)
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Coto and V. Manuel Perez)

                        FEBRUARY 2, 2010

   An act to add Section 52052.7 to the Education Code, relating to
pupil assessments.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 930, as amended, Ducheny. Pupil assessments.
   Existing law, the Public School Performance Accountability
Program, provides a state assessment program for schools, an
intervention program for low-performing schools, and a reward system
for high-achieving schools, as specified.
   This bill would require that any primary language assessment
developed by the department and administered to
limited-English-proficient students, as identified pursuant to
existing law, on or after July 1, 2013, be included in the state's
assessment system or any successor system and in the state's federal
and state accountability system and any successor system. The bill
would require the results of the primary language assessment to be
used in any successor measure or results reported for the state's
assessment systems and in any other successor measure, as specified.
The bill would also require the results to be used in any measure,
index, or results reported for the state's federal and state
accountability system, or any successor system. These provisions
would become operative on July 1, 2013.
   This bill would make various findings and declarations.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (1) The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec.
6301 et seq.) requires states to test all pupils in a valid and
reliable manner and requires, to the extent practicable, that pupils
with limited English proficiency be tested in the language and form
most likely to yield accurate data on academic subject areas.
   (2) Approximately one of every four pupils enrolled in California'
s public schools is identified as a pupil with limited English
proficiency.
   (3) The current academic assessment system does not allow pupils
with limited English proficiency to show academic ability in academic
subject areas.
   (4) Exclusive reliance on academic assessments designed for native
English speakers to gauge the academic progress of pupils with
limited English proficiency violates standards for educational
testing established by recognized national educational institutions,
including the American Educational Research Association, the American
Psychological Association, and the National Council on Measurement
in Education.
   (5) Valid and reliable academic assessment data is critical to the
education accountability system.
   (6) An accountability system that would yield more accurate data
on the academic ability of pupils with limited English proficiency is
needed.
   (7) Local educational agencies should not experience negative
consequences solely based on the scores of recent immigrant pupils on
tests that do not provide valid and reliable diagnostic information
about what these pupils know and can do in academic subject areas.
   (b) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature 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.), including the requirement that states 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. It is also the intent of the
Legislature that California's state assessments be valid and reliable
assessments for pupils who are English learners and for pupils with
developmental disabilities and that the provision of accommodations
enable their participation in these state assessments pursuant to the
core assurances of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009 (Public Law 111-5).
  SEC. 2.  Section 52052.7 is added to the Education Code, to read:
   52052.7.  (a) Any primary language assessment developed by the
department and administered to pupils identified as limited English
proficient pursuant to Section 60810 on or after July 1, 2013, shall
be included in the state's assessment system or in any successor
system and shall be included in any measure or index that is
developed or used for the purposes of the state's federal and state
accountability system or any successor system. In addition to being
identified as limited English proficient pursuant to Section 60810,
limited-English-proficient pupils who either receive instruction in
their primary language or are literate in their primary language as
determined by the results of the first administration of the primary
language assessment and have been enrolled in a school in the United
States for less than three consecutive years shall be included.
Additionally, pupils who are not limited English proficient and who
are enrolled in public schools providing dual language immersion
programs shall be included. The results of the primary language
assessment shall be used in any measure or results reported for the
state's assessment system or any successor system, and shall be used
in any measure, index, or results reported for the state's federal
and state accountability system or any successor system.
   (b) Any successor system to the state's assessment system adopted
on or after July 1, 2013, shall modify the achievement test
administered pursuant to Section 60642.5 in order to eliminate
linguistic complexity, to the extent practicable. The modifications
shall be based upon research and be designed to maintain the rigor of
the test.
   (c) Any successor system to the state assessment system adopted on
or after July 1, 2013, shall include accommodations and
modifications for English learners that will allow for meaningful
participation in the assessments and that address the unique
linguistic and sociocultural needs of the English learner without
altering the test construct. The accommodations and modifications
shall include:
   (1) A word-to-word glossary, without definitions, in English and
in the top five  primary  languages as determined by the
language  census   language census taken
pursuant to Section 52164 and  submitted to the department by
the districts. The glossary shall include frequently used general
academic words as well as discipline-specific words used in the
assessments.
   (2) The repetition of test directions at the request of a pupil.
   (3) Translations of the test directions in the top  primary
 five languages as determined by the  Language Census
  language census taken pursuant to Section 52164 and
 submitted to the department by the districts.
   (d) The department shall provide to the districts the bilingual
glossaries prepared pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) and
the translations of test directions prepared pursuant to paragraph
(3) of subdivision (c).
   (e) (1)  An   Any  advisory committee,
work group, task force, or technical assistance group required by the
Legislature or Governor or established by the Superintendent or
state board for the purpose of providing recommendations to the
Superintendent and the state board on the future state assessment and
accountability systems and federal accountability system also shall
determine all of the following:
   (A) How to include primary language assessments and their scores
in the state's assessment system and any successor assessment system
and in the state and federal accountability system and any successor
accountability system.
   (B) How to modify the state's successor assessment system as
specified in subdivision (b).
   (C) How to include the accommodations and modifications in the
state's successor assessment system as specified in subdivision (c).
   (D) How to provide data on pupils who are English learners, their
program of instruction, and their English proficiency level as
determined by the California English Language Development Test.
   (E) How to provide disaggregated scores, based on
limited-English-proficient status and nonlimited-English-proficient
status. For purposes of this section, pupils with
"nonlimited-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. 
   (2) The majority of the advisory committee shall be comprised of

    (2)     Any group identified in paragraph
(1) of subdivision (e) shall include  persons with demonstrated
expertise in developing academic assessments specific to English
learners and persons with demonstrated experience in research and
data specific to English learners.
   (f) The primary language assessments developed pursuant to this
section shall meet the requirements regarding validity, reliability,
and comparability as specified by the  National Council on
Measurements   testing standards jointly developed by
the American Psychological Association, the American Educational
Research Association, and the National Council on Measurement 
in Education. The testing contractor chosen for the purpose of
developing the primary language assessments shall report to the state
board  in writing  as to how these requirements have been
met.
   (g) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2013.