AB 1951: Pupil assessments: Pathways to College Act.

Existing law establishes the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) as the statewide system of pupil assessments under which certain assessments are required or authorized to be administered in public schools, as specified, including a consortium summative assessment in English language arts and mathematics for grades 3 to 8, inclusive, and grade 11 that measures content standards adopted by the State Board of Education.

This bill would require, pursuant to specified provisions of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Superintendent of Public Instruction to approve a nationally recognized high school assessment that a local educational agency, as defined, may, at its own discretion, administer, if the alternative assessment is approved by the local educational agencys governing board or body in a public meeting, commencing with the 202021 school year, and each school year thereafter, in lieu of the consortium summative assessment in English language arts and mathematics for grade 11.

The bill would require a nationally recognized high school assessment approved by the Superintendent to meet specified requirements, would authorize the Superintendent to require the publisher of that assessment to provide documentation that the assessment meets or exceeds these requirements, and would require the Superintendent, if he or she determines that the assessment does not meet these requirements, to inform the assessments publisher in writing of specific deficiencies and changes needed to meet these requirements. The bill would authorize a governing board of a local educational agency that is part of a consortium of local educational agencies to enter into a cooperative contract with a publisher for the purposes of providing an assessment, as provided. To the extent permitted by the United States Department of Education, the bill would deem certain nationally recognized high school assessments to meet these requirements, and would require the Superintendent to approve these assessments for selection by a local educational agency. The bill would require the state board to amend the state plan required pursuant to federal law to account for the authorization for local educational agencies to use an alternate assessment pursuant to the bills provisions, if required by federal law.

The bill would require a local educational agency that administers a nationally recognized high school assessment to comply with specified requirements, would require the Superintendent to apportion to the local educational agency the lesser of the actual cost of administering the alternative assessment, as specified, and the amount that would have been apportioned to the local educational agency if it had administered the consortium summative assessment in English language arts and mathematics for grade 11. The bill would state that a local educational agency may administer only one nationally recognized high school assessment in lieu of the consortium summative assessment in English language arts and mathematics for grade 11.

The bill would make these provisions inoperative 5 years after the first school year in which a local educational agency is able to exercise the authority to administer the alternative assessment, as specified, and would repeal these provisions as of the following January 1. The bill would require the Superintendent to inform the Legislative Counsel within 30 days of when this 5 year condition has been satisfied and post that determination on its Internet Web site.

The bill would require the State Department of Education to ensure that local educational agencies comply with specified requirements, concerning the alternative assessment, that apply in connection with the summative assessments under CAASPP, including that grade 11 pupils, or parents or legal guardians of those pupils, may request results from the alternative assessment.

Existing law requires the Superintendent to prepare and submit, and subsequently post on the Internet Web site of the department, an annual report to the state board containing an analysis of the results and test scores of the summative assessments administered under the CAASPP.

This bill would require the Superintendent to include the results and test scores of the alternative assessment in that annual report.