CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS

CSA1 Bill Id:AB 1097

Author:(Holden)

As Amended Ver:June 11, 2019

Majority vote

SUMMARY:

This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE), by July 1, 2021, to provide a report to the governor and Legislature on credit recovery programs.

The Senate Amendments:

Add a definition of "school credit recovery assistance" for pupils enrolled in county community schools aligned with the definition of "credit recovery" for the purposes of the CDE providing a report to the governor and Legislature on credit recovery programs.

COMMENTS:

Available data regarding California credit recovery programs. Very little statewide data is available related to the use of and characteristics of credit recovery programs in California. The CDE does not collect this data set, however schools and local educational agencies self-report information about credit recovery programs as a part of the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC). The CRDC's 2015-16 survey provided the following definition: "credit recovery programs (including courses or other instruction) aim to help schools graduate more students by giving students who have fallen behind the chance to "recover" credits through a multitude of different strategies, including online. Different programs allow students to work on their credit recovery classes over the summer, on school breaks, after school, on weekends, at home on their own, at night in school computer labs, or even during the school day."

What state accountability measures are currently in place for high school students? All of the priority areas and state and local indicators are applicable to high school students and are reported both on the Dashboard and in Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs). Pupil engagement is measured by school attendance rates, dropout rates and school climate. Student performance is measured by pupil achievement on statewide assessments, as well as the College/Career Indicator (CCI).

The College/Career Indicator. The goal of the CCI is to emphasize that a high school diploma represents the completion of a broad and rigorous course of study that prepares students for success after high school. Recognizing that students pursue various options to prepare for success after high school, the model relies on both test results and course completion and allows for fair comparisons across all local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools. The CCI currently consists of six college and career measures: 1) Career Technical Education (CTE) Pathway Completion; 2) Completion of courses that meet the University of California and the California State University "a-g" requirements; 3) Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments for English language arts/literacy (ELA) and mathematics; 4) Advanced Placement (AP) Exam: Pass with a score of 3 or higher; 5) International Baccalaureate (IB) Exam: Pass with a score of 4 or higher, and 6) Dual Enrollment.

High school graduation course requirements in California. Beginning in the 1986-87 school year, state law has specified a minimum set of courses to meet state requirements to graduate from high school and receive a diploma. The governing boards of LEAs have the authority to supplement the state minimum requirements at the local level and the responsibility for establishing any requirements for awarding a California high school diploma from their secondary schools. These must include the set of 13 minimum courses required under California Education Code. Most school districts in California require between 22 and 26 one-year courses (or the equivalent) for graduation.

According to the Author:

"Credit recovery programs have drawn both acclaim and concern as high school graduation rates have hit record highs five times in the past five years. These programs let students who fail a class 'recover' credit via abbreviated makeup courses. Done well, credit recovery programs provide students with legitimate second chances to graduate on time. But some, particularly high-volume programs, have quality-control problems that create a second track to graduation that erodes school cultures and lowers expectations—particularly for disadvantaged students. Unfortunately, too little is known across the nation or in California about these programs' effectiveness or operations. We should increase attention to these rapidly expanding programs to ensure they are helping, not harming, students struggling to graduate."

Arguments in Support:

The Alliance for Children's Rights states, "Supporting our students means enabling learning so that students are equipped with the knowledge and skills for their future. Requiring the CDE to report to the Governor and the Legislature regarding the use of credit recovery programs in California public schools is a positive step in ensuring programs offered to students promote academic success and prepare them for opportunities in higher education and employment."

Arguments in Opposition:

None on file.

FISCAL COMMENTS:

According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:

1. This bill could result in one-time General Fund costs of approximately $200,000 for CDE to complete the report. This amount could be higher or lower depending on the extent of the specific data that CDE collects. If CDE were to only collect a sample of credit recovery programs in the state, the costs would be lower.
2. While the bill does not require school districts to provide any specific student data to the CDE, presumably this information would be necessary for CDE to complete the report. Therefore, the bill could result in additional, unknown costs for school districts to submit data on their credit recovery programs to the CDE for the report. This information would likely include the number and location of credit recovery programs, the number of students enrolled, and student outcomes.

VOTES:

ASM EDUCATION: 6-0-0

YES: O'Donnell, Kiley, Kalra, McCarty, Smith, Weber

ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 18-0-0

YES: Gonzalez, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonta, Brough, Calderon, Carrillo, Chau, Diep, Eggman, Fong, Gabriel, Eduardo Garcia, Maienschein, Obernolte, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Robert Rivas

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 75-0-5

YES: Aguiar-Curry, Arambula, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bigelow, Bloom, Boerner Horvath, Bonta, Brough, Burke, Calderon, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chen, Chiu, Choi, Chu, Cooper, Cunningham, Dahle, Daly, Diep, Flora, Fong, Frazier, Friedman, Gabriel, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager-Dove, Kiley, Lackey, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Obernolte, Patterson, Petrie‑Norris, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Smith, Mark Stone, Voepel, Waldron, Weber, Wicks, Wood, Rendon

ABS, ABST OR NV: Cooley, Eggman, Eduardo Garcia, Gray, Ting

SENATE FLOOR: 40-0-0

YES: Allen, Archuleta, Atkins, Bates, Beall, Borgeas, Bradford, Caballero, Chang, Dahle, Dodd, Durazo, Galgiani, Glazer, Lena Gonzalez, Grove, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Hurtado, Jackson, Jones, Leyva, McGuire, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach, Morrell, Nielsen, Pan, Portantino, Roth, Rubio, Skinner, Stern, Stone, Umberg, Wieckowski, Wiener, Wilk

UPDATED:

VERSION: June 11, 2019

CONSULTANT: Marguerite Ries / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0001704

 THIRD READING  

Bill No: AB 1097

Author: Holden (D)

Amended: 6/11/19 in Senate

Vote: 21

SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/26/19

AYES: Leyva, Wilk, Chang, Durazo, Glazer, McGuire, Pan

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/30/19

AYES: Portantino, Bates, Bradford, Durazo, Hill, Jones, Wieckowski

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 75-0, 5/28/19 - See last page for vote

SUBJECT: Pupil instruction: credit recovery programs: report

SOURCE: Author

DIGEST:

This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE), by July 1, 2021, to provide a report to the Governor and Legislature on credit recovery programs.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Requires pupils enrolled in county community schools to be assigned to classes or programs deemed most appropriate for reinforcing or reestablishing educational development, and authorizes those classes or programs to include, but need not be limited to, basic educational skill development, on-the-job training, school credit recovery assistance, tutorial assistance, and individual guidance activities. (Education Code § 1983)
2. Requires school districts to permit a pupil who is 16-18 years old and has not graduated from high school to enroll in continuation classes. (EC § 48413)
3. States legislative intent that continuation schools and classes provide an opportunity for pupils to complete the courses required for high school graduation, a program of instruction which emphasizes occupational orientation or work-study and offers intensive guidance services, a program designed to meet the educational needs of each pupil. (EC § 48430)
4. Requires the State Board of Education (SBE), on or before October 1, 2016, to adopt evaluation rubrics for all of the following purposes:
   1. To assist a school district, county office of education, or charter school in evaluating its strengths, weaknesses, and areas that require improvement.
   2. To assist a county superintendent of schools in identifying school districts and charter schools in need of technical assistance, and the specific priorities upon which the technical assistance should be focused.
   3. To assist the Superintendent in identifying school districts for which intervention.
5. Requires the evaluation rubrics to reflect a holistic, multidimensional assessment of school district and individual schoolsite performance and shall include all of the state priorities.
6. Requires the SBE to adopt, as part of the evaluation rubrics, state and local indicators to measure school district and individual schoolsite performance in regard to each of the state priorities, and authorizes the SBE to adopt alternate methods for calculating the state and local indicators for alternative schools, if appropriate to more fairly evaluate the performance of these schools or of a specific category of these schools. Alternate methods may include an individual pupil growth model. (EC § 52064.5)

This bill requires the CDE, by July 1, 2021, to provide a report to the governor and Legislature on credit recovery programs. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires the report to include all of the following:
   1. Information about local educational agencies (LEAs) operating credit recovery programs, including, but not limited to, both of the following:
      1. The number and location of credit recovery programs.
      2. Whether credit recovery programs are delivered over the summer, on school breaks, after school, on weekends, at pupils’ homes, at night in school computer labs, online, or during the schoolday.
   2. Information about pupils participating in credit recovery programs, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
      1. The number of pupils enrolled in credit recovery programs.
      2. Demographic information about pupils enrolled in credit recovery programs, including low-income status, special education status, English learner status, age, race, and ethnicity.
   3. Outcomes of pupils who have enrolled in credit recovery programs, including the number of credits earned, graduation rates, dropout rates, and transfer rates.
2. Defines “credit recovery,” for purposes of the report and “school credit recovery assistance” for purposes county community school classes or programs as referring “to a pupil passing, and receiving credit for, a course that the pupil previously attempted, but for which the pupil was unsuccessful in earning academic credit towards graduation. The pupil can recover the credit by satisfying requirements for the course in which they were unsuccessful and can focus on earning credit based on competency in the content standards for that particular course. Credit recovery programs aim to help schools graduate more pupils by giving pupils who have fallen behind the chance to recover credits through a multitude of different strategies. Different programs allow pupils to work on their credit recovery classes over the summer, on school breaks, after school, on weekends, at home on their own, at night in school computer labs, online, or even during the schoolday.”
3. Defines “local educational agency,” for purposes of the report, as “a school district, county office of education, or charter school.”

Comments

1. Need for the bill. According to the author, “the California Department of Education does not have a definition of credit recovery and credit recovery is not defined in Education Code.

“Credit recovery programs have drawn both acclaim and concern as high school graduation rates have hit record highs five times in the past five years. These programs let students who fail a class “recover” credit via abbreviated makeup courses, instead of repeating a year of school. Credit recovery helps more students stay on track for graduation, but flat national test scores and numerous credit recovery scandals raise red flags about graduation-rate inflation. High-volume, low-quality credit recovery programs can boost graduation rates while eroding expectations and harming the very students they aim to help.

“Done well, credit recovery programs provide students with legitimate second chances to graduate on time. But some, particularly high-volume programs, have quality-control problems that create a second track to graduation that erodes school cultures and lowers expectations—particularly for disadvantaged students. Unfortunately, too little is known across the nation or in California about these programs’ effectiveness or operations. California leaders should increase attention to these rapidly expanding programs to ensure they are helping, not harming, students struggling to graduate.”

1. Available data regarding California credit recovery programs. As noted by the Assembly Education Committee, very little statewide data is available related to the use of and characteristics of credit recovery programs in California. The CDE does not collect this data set, however schools and LEAs self-report information about credit recovery programs as a part of the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC). The CRDC’s 2015-16 survey provided the following definition: “credit recovery programs (including courses or other instruction) aim to help schools graduate more students by giving students who have fallen behind the chance to “recover” credits through a multitude of different strategies, including online. Different programs allow students to work on their credit recovery classes over the summer, on school breaks, after school, on weekends, at home on their own, at night in school computer labs, or even during the school day.” According to the American Enterprise Institute’s State Profile of High School Credit Recovery in California, fewer California high schools (66 percent) offered credit recovery programs than the national average (74 percent) in 2015-16, but California’s high school student participation (10 percent) is above the national average (6 percent).
2. Alternative schools. Existing law specifies, for purposes of the statewide system of support, that alternative schools include schools under the jurisdiction of a county board of education or a county superintendent of schools; community day schools; nonpublic, nonsectarian schools; and alternative schools serving high-risk pupils, including continuation high schools, dropout recovery high schools, and opportunity schools.
3. The Dashboard Alternative School Status (DASS). DASS is for schools that serve high-risk students. DASS Schools will receive a Dashboard for the first time in Fall 2018. Schools that participate in DASS will have their information displayed on the same Dashboard and be measured on the same set of indicators as non-alternative schools:
   1. Academic Indicator (English Language Arts and Mathematics).
   2. Chronic Absenteeism Indicator.
   3. College/Career Indicator.
   4. English Learner Progress Indicator (2018 Dashboard data are limited to assessment results).
   5. Graduation Rate Indicator.
   6. Suspension Rate Indicator.

Like non-alternative public schools, DASS schools will receive one of five color-coded performance levels for each indicator, identical to those given to non-alternative schools. Performance levels range from lowest to highest performance and include red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.

According to CDE, the state indicators and standards were developed for non-alternative schools. In order to fairly evaluate the success and progress of alternative schools that serve high-risk students, modified measures may be used for certain indicators. This means that these indicators may be calculated differently, or use different criteria, for DASS schools. At this time, the only modified indicator for alternative schools is the graduation rate indicator, which uses only grade 12 for alternative schools, as opposed to the four-year graduation cohort that is used for non-alternative schools.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No

According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:

• “This bill could result in one-time General Fund costs of approximately $200,000 for CDE to complete the report. This amount could be higher or lower depending on the extent of the specific data that CDE collects. If CDE were to only collect a sample of credit recovery programs in the state, the costs would be lower.”
• “While the bill does not require school districts to provide any specific student data to the CDE, presumably this information would be necessary for CDE to complete the report. Therefore, the bill could result in additional, unknown costs for school districts to submit data on their credit recovery programs to the CDE for the report. This information would likely include the number and location of credit recovery programs, the number of students enrolled, and student outcomes.”

SUPPORT: (Verified 8/30/19)

Alliance for Children’s Rights

OPPOSITION: (Verified 8/30/19)

None received

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 75-0, 5/28/19

AYES: Aguiar-Curry, Arambula, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bigelow, Bloom, Boerner Horvath, Bonta, Brough, Burke, Calderon, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chen, Chiu, Choi, Chu, Cooper, Cunningham, Dahle, Daly, Diep, Flora, Fong, Frazier, Friedman, Gabriel, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager-Dove, Kiley, Lackey, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Patterson, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Smith, Mark Stone, Voepel, Waldron, Weber, Wicks, Wood, Rendon

NO VOTE RECORDED: Cooley, Eggman, Eduardo Garcia, Gray, Ting

Prepared by: Brandon Darnell / ED. /

8/31/19 13:43:40

**** END ****

SENATE COMMITTEE ON

Senator Anthony Portantino, Chair

2019 - 2020 Regular Session

AB 1097 (Holden) - Pupil instruction: credit recovery programs: report

Bill Summary:

This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE), by July 1, 2021, to provide a report to the governor and Legislature on credit recovery programs.

Fiscal Impact:

• This bill could result in one-time General Fund costs of approximately $200,000 for CDE to complete the report. This amount could be higher or lower depending on the extent of the specific data that CDE collects. If CDE were to only collect a sample of credit recovery programs in the state, the costs would be lower.
• While the bill does not require school districts to provide any specific student data to the CDE, presumably this information would be necessary for CDE to complete the report. Therefore, the bill could result in additional, unknown costs for school districts to submit data on their credit recovery programs to the CDE for the report. This information would likely include the number and location of credit recovery programs, the number of students enrolled, and student outcomes.

Background:

Existing law specifies, for purposes of the statewide system of support, that alternative schools include schools under the jurisdiction of a county board of education or a county superintendent of schools; community day schools; nonpublic, nonsectarian schools; and alternative schools serving high-risk pupils, including continuation high schools, dropout recovery high schools, and opportunity schools.

According to the author, “the California Department of Education does not have a definition of credit recovery and credit recovery is not defined in Education Code. Credit recovery programs have drawn both acclaim and concern as high school graduation rates have hit record highs five times in the past five years. These programs let students who fail a class “recover” credit via abbreviated makeup courses, instead of repeating a year of school. Credit recovery helps more students stay on track for graduation, but flat national test scores and numerous credit recovery scandals raise red flags about graduation-rate inflation. High-volume, low-quality credit recovery programs can boost graduation rates while eroding expectations and harming the very students they aim to help.”

Very little statewide data is available related to the use of and characteristics of credit recovery programs in California. While the state does not collect data specific to credit recovery programs, LEAs self-report information about credit recovery programs as a part of the Civil Rights Data Collection program. According to the American Enterprise Institute’s State Profile of High School Credit Recovery in California, fewer California high schools (66 percent) offered credit recovery programs than the national average of 74 percent in 2015-16, but California’s high school student participation (10 percent) is above the national average (6 percent).

Proposed Law:

This bill requires the CDE, by July 1, 2021, to provide a report to the governor and Legislature on credit recovery programs. The bill requires the report to include all of the following:

a) Information about local educational agencies operating credit recovery programs, including the number and location of credit recovery programs and whether credit recovery programs are delivered over the summer, on school breaks, after school, on weekends, at pupils’ homes, at night in school computer labs, online, or during the schoolday.

b) Information about pupils participating in credit recovery programs, including the number of pupils enrolled in credit recovery programs and demographic information about pupils enrolled in credit recovery programs, including low-income status, special education status, English learner status, age, race, and ethnicity.

c) Outcomes of pupils who have enrolled in credit recovery programs, including the number of credits earned, graduation rates, dropout rates, and transfer rates.

This bill defines “credit recovery,” for purposes of the report and “school credit recovery assistance” for purposes county community school classes or programs as referring to a pupil passing, and receiving credit for, a course that the pupil previously attempted, but for which the pupil was unsuccessful in earning academic credit towards graduation. The pupil can recover the credit by satisfying requirements for the course in which they were unsuccessful and can focus on earning credit based on competency in the content standards for that particular course.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Senator Connie Leyva, Chair

2019 - 2020 Regular

Bill No: Hearing Date: June 26, 2019

Subject:

SUMMARY

This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE), by July 1, 2021, to provide a report to the governor and Legislature on credit recovery programs.

BACKGROUND

Existing law:

1) Requires pupils enrolled in county community schools to be assigned to classes or programs deemed most appropriate for reinforcing or reestablishing educational development, and authorizes those classes or programs to include, but need not be limited to, basic educational skill development, on-the-job training, school credit recovery assistance, tutorial assistance, and individual guidance activities. (Education Code § 1983)

2) Requires school districts to permit a pupil who is 16-18 years old and has not graduated from high school to enroll in continuation classes. (EC § 48413)

3) States legislative intent that continuation schools and classes provide an opportunity for pupils to complete the courses required for high school graduation, a program of instruction which emphasizes occupational orientation or work-study and offers intensive guidance services, a program designed to meet the educational needs of each pupil. (EC § 48430)

4) Requires the State Board of Education (SBE), on or before October 1, 2016, to adopt evaluation rubrics for all of the following purposes:

a) To assist a school district, county office of education, or charter school in evaluating its strengths, weaknesses, and areas that require improvement.

b) To assist a county superintendent of schools in identifying school districts and charter schools in need of technical assistance, and the specific priorities upon which the technical assistance should be focused.

c) To assist the Superintendent in identifying school districts for which intervention.

5) Requires the evaluation rubrics to reflect a holistic, multidimensional assessment of school district and individual schoolsite performance and shall include all of the state priorities.

6) Requires the SBE to adopt, as part of the evaluation rubrics, state and local indicators to measure school district and individual schoolsite performance in regard to each of the state priorities, and authorizes the SBE to adopt alternate methods for calculating the state and local indicators for alternative schools, if appropriate to more fairly evaluate the performance of these schools or of a specific category of these schools. Alternate methods may include an individual pupil growth model. (EC § 52064.5)

ANALYSIS

This bill requires the CDE, by July 1, 2021, to provide a report to the governor and Legislature on credit recovery programs. Specifically, this bill:

1) Requires the report to include all of the following:

a) Information about local educational agencies (LEAs) operating credit recovery programs, including, but not limited to, both of the following:

i) The number and location of credit recovery programs.

ii) Whether credit recovery programs are delivered over the summer, on school breaks, after school, on weekends, at pupils’ homes, at night in school computer labs, online, or during the schoolday.

b) Information about pupils participating in credit recovery programs, including, but not limited to, all of the following:

i) The number of pupils enrolled in credit recovery programs.

ii) Demographic information about pupils enrolled in credit recovery programs, including low-income status, special education status, English learner status, age, race, and ethnicity.

c) Outcomes of pupils who have enrolled in credit recovery programs, including the number of credits earned, graduation rates, dropout rates, and transfer rates.

2) Defines “credit recovery,” for purposes of the report and “school credit recovery assistance” for purposes county community school classes or programs as referring “to a pupil passing, and receiving credit for, a course that the pupil previously attempted, but for which the pupil was unsuccessful in earning academic credit towards graduation. The pupil can recover the credit by satisfying requirements for the course in which they were unsuccessful and can focus on earning credit based on competency in the content standards for that particular course. Credit recovery programs aim to help schools graduate more pupils by giving pupils who have fallen behind the chance to recover credits through a multitude of different strategies. Different programs allow pupils to work on their credit recovery classes over the summer, on school breaks, after school, on weekends, at home on their own, at night in school computer labs, online, or even during the schoolday.”

3) Defines “local educational agency,” for purposes of the report, as “a school district, county office of education, or charter school.”

STAFF COMMENTS

1. Need for the bill. According to the author, “the California Department of Education does not have a definition of credit recovery and credit recovery is not defined in Education Code.

Credit recovery programs have drawn both acclaim and concern as high school graduation rates have hit record highs five times in the past five years. These programs let students who fail a class “recover” credit via abbreviated makeup courses, instead of repeating a year of school. Credit recovery helps more students stay on track for graduation, but flat national test scores and numerous credit recovery scandals raise red flags about graduation-rate inflation. High-volume, low-quality credit recovery programs can boost graduation rates while eroding expectations and harming the very students they aim to help.

Done well, credit recovery programs provide students with legitimate second chances to graduate on time. But some, particularly high-volume programs, have quality-control problems that create a second track to graduation that erodes school cultures and lowers expectations—particularly for disadvantaged students. Unfortunately, too little is known across the nation or in California about these programs’ effectiveness or operations. California leaders should increase attention to these rapidly expanding programs to ensure they are helping, not harming, students struggling to graduate.”

2) Available data regarding California credit recovery programs. As noted by the Assembly Education Committee, Very little statewide data is available related to the use of and characteristics of credit recovery programs in California. The CDE does not collect this data set, however schools and LEAs self-report information about credit recovery programs as a part of the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC). The CRDC’s 2015-16 survey provided the following definition: “credit recovery programs (including courses or other instruction) aim to help schools graduate more students by giving students who have fallen behind the chance to “recover” credits through a multitude of different strategies, including online. Different programs allow students to work on their credit recovery classes over the summer, on school breaks, after school, on weekends, at home on their own, at night in school computer labs, or even during the school day.” According to the American Enterprise Institute’s State Profile of High School Credit Recovery in California, fewer California high schools (66 percent) offered credit recovery programs than the national average (74 percent) in 2015-16, but California’s high school student participation (10 percent) is above the national average (6 percent).

3) Alternative schools. Existing law specifies, for purposes of the statewide system of support, that alternative schools include schools under the jurisdiction of a county board of education or a county superintendent of schools; community day schools; nonpublic, nonsectarian schools; and alternative schools serving high-risk pupils, including continuation high schools, dropout recovery high schools, and opportunity schools.

4) The Dashboard Alternative School Status (DASS). DASS is for schools that serve high-risk students. DASS Schools will receive a Dashboard for the first time in Fall 2018. Schools that participate in DASS will have their information displayed on the same Dashboard and be measured on the same set of indicators as non-alternative schools:

a) Academic Indicator (English Language Arts and Mathematics).

b) Chronic Absenteeism Indicator.

c) College/Career Indicator.

d) English Learner Progress Indicator (2018 Dashboard data are limited to assessment results).

e) Graduation Rate Indicator.

f) Suspension Rate Indicator.

Like non-alternative public schools, DASS schools will receive one of five color-coded performance levels for each indicator, identical to those given to non-alternative schools. Performance levels range from lowest to highest performance and include red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.

According to CDE, the state indicators and standards were developed for non-alternative schools. In order to fairly evaluate the success and progress of alternative schools that serve high-risk students, modified measures may be used for certain indicators. This means that these indicators may be calculated differently, or use different criteria, for DASS schools. At this time, the only modified indicator for alternative schools is the graduation rate indicator, which uses only grade 12 for alternative schools, as opposed to the four-year graduation cohort that is used for non-alternative schools.

SUPPORT

None received

OPPOSITION

None received

-- END --

ASSEMBLY THIRD READING

ATR Bill Id:AB 1097

Author:(Holden)

As Amended Ver:May 16, 2019

Majority vote

SUMMARY:

This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE), by July 1, 2021, to provide a report to the governor and Legislature on credit recovery programs.

Major Provisions

1. Requires the CDE, on or before July 1, 2021, to provide a report to the Governor and the Legislature regarding the use of credit recovery programs in California public schools. Specifies required components of the report.
2. Defines "credit recovery" as a pupil passing, and receiving credit for, a course that the pupil previously attempted, but for which the pupil was unsuccessful in earning academic credit towards graduation. The pupil can then recover the credit by satisfying requirements for the course in which they were unsuccessful and can focus on earning credit based on competency in the content standards for that particular course. Credit recovery programs aim to help schools graduate more pupils by giving pupils who have fallen behind the chance to recover credits through a multitude of different strategies. Different programs allow pupils to work on their credit recovery classes over the summer, on school breaks, after school, on weekends, at home on their own, at night in school computer labs, online, or even during the school day.

COMMENTS:

Available data regarding California credit recovery programs. Very little statewide data is available related to the use of and characteristics of credit recovery programs in California. The CDE does not collect this data set, however schools and local educational agencies self-report information about credit recovery programs as a part of the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC). The CRDC's 2015-16 survey provided the following definition: "credit recovery programs (including courses or other instruction) aim to help schools graduate more students by giving students who have fallen behind the chance to "recover" credits through a multitude of different strategies, including online. Different programs allow students to work on their credit recovery classes over the summer, on school breaks, after school, on weekends, at home on their own, at night in school computer labs, or even during the school day."

What state accountability measures are currently in place for high school students? All of the priority areas and state and local indicators are applicable to high school students and are reported both on the Dashboard and in Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs). Pupil engagement is measured by school attendance rates, dropout rates and school climate. Student performance is measured by pupil achievement on statewide assessments, as well as the College/Career Indicator (CCI).

The College/Career Indicator. The goal of the CCI is to emphasize that a high school diploma represents the completion of a broad and rigorous course of study that prepares students for success after high school. Recognizing that students pursue various options to prepare for success after high school, the model relies on both test results and course completion and allows for fair comparisons across all local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools. The CCI currently consists of six college and career measures: 1) Career Technical Education (CTE) Pathway Completion; 2) Completion of courses that meet the University of California and the California State University "a-g" requirements; 3) Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments for English language arts/literacy (ELA) and mathematics; 4) Advanced Placement (AP) Exam: Pass with a score of 3 or higher; 5) International Baccalaureate (IB) Exam: Pass with a score of 4 or higher, and 6) Dual Enrollment.

High school graduation course requirements in California. Beginning in the 1986-87 school year, state law has specified a minimum set of courses to meet state requirements to graduate from high school and receive a diploma. The governing boards of LEAs have the authority to supplement the state minimum requirements at the local level and the responsibility for establishing any requirements for awarding a California high school diploma from their secondary schools. These must include the set of 13 minimum courses required under California Education Code. Most school districts in California require between 22 and 26 one-year courses (or the equivalent) for graduation.

According to the Author:

"Credit recovery programs have drawn both acclaim and concern as high school graduation rates have hit record highs five times in the past five years. These programs let students who fail a class 'recover' credit via abbreviated makeup courses. Done well, credit recovery programs provide students with legitimate second chances to graduate on time. But some, particularly high-volume programs, have quality-control problems that create a second track to graduation that erodes school cultures and lowers expectations—particularly for disadvantaged students. Unfortunately, too little is known across the nation or in California about these programs' effectiveness or operations. We should increase attention to these rapidly expanding programs to ensure they are helping, not harming, students struggling to graduate."

Arguments in Support:

None on file

Arguments in Opposition:

None on file

FISCAL COMMENTS:

According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:

1. One-time General Fund costs of about $200,000 for the CDE to complete the report.
2. One-time Proposition 98 General Fund costs to local education agencies to submit data to the CDE for the report.

VOTES:

ASM EDUCATION: 6-0-0

YES: O'Donnell, Kiley, Kalra, McCarty, Smith, Weber

ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 18-0-0

YES: Gonzalez, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonta, Brough, Calderon, Carrillo, Chau, Diep, Eggman, Fong, Gabriel, Eduardo Garcia, Maienschein, Obernolte, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Robert Rivas

UPDATED:

VERSION: May 16, 2019

CONSULTANT: Marguerite Ries / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0000748

Date of Hearing: April 24, 2019

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Lorena Gonzalez, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1097

Author:(Holden) – As Amended Ver:April 4, 2019

Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No

SUMMARY:

This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE), by July 1, 2020, to provide a report to the governor and Legislature on credit recovery programs.

FISCAL EFFECT:

1. One-time General Fund costs of about $200,000 for the CDE to complete the report. Costs could be higher or lower depending on the specific data the CDE collects and the comprehensiveness of the report. (For example, if CDE collects a sample of credit recovery programs in the state to write the report, costs would be lower than if the CDE collects data from all credit recovery programs in the state.)
2. One-time Proposition 98 General Fund costs to local education agencies to submit data to the CDE for the report. Although this bill does not compel LEAs to submit data to the CDE, presumably this would be necessary for the CDE to complete its report. Like 1), above, costs would depend on the decisions CDE makes with regard to the data it collects and the comprehensiveness of the report.

COMMENTS:

1. Purpose. According to the author:

Credit recovery programs have drawn both acclaim and concern as high school graduation rates have hit record highs five times in the past five years. These programs let students who fail a class ‘recover’ credit via abbreviated makeup courses. Done well, credit recovery programs provide students with legitimate second chances to graduate on time. But some, particularly high-volume programs, have quality-control problems that create a second track to graduation that erodes school cultures and lowers expectations—particularly for disadvantaged students. Unfortunately, too little is known across the nation or in California about these programs’ effectiveness or operations. We should increase attention to these rapidly expanding programs to ensure they are helping, not harming, students struggling to graduate.

1. Credit Recovery. Credit recovery is defined by law as a student passing and receiving credit for a course that the student previously attempted but for which the student did not earn credits. A student typically enters a credit recovery program to help them gain enough credits to graduate high school. Local education agencies offer credit recovery programs in various ways. For example, schools may refer a student to a credit recovery program to be taken online, over the summer or in the evening. A common school district referral for a credit deficient high school student is to a “continuation school,” a common type of alternative school that typically offers credit recovery courses. (Every school district is required to operate a continuation high school or its equivalent.)

While the state does not currently collect data specific to credit recovery programs, federal law requires local educational agencies in California self-report some information about credit recovery programs as a part of the Civil Rights Data Collection program. According to this reporting, in the 2015-16 school year, 66% of California high schools offered credit recovery programs and 10% of high school students participated in credit recovery programs.

This bill requires the CDE to provide a report on the use of credit recovery in California schools. It does not specify information the department is to collect or what data local education agencies are to submit for the report.

Analysis Prepared by: Natasha Collins / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing: March 27, 2019

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Patrick O'Donnell, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1097 (

Author:Holden) – As Introduced Ver:February 21, 2019

SUBJECT: California School Dashboard: local indicator: high school credit recovery participation

SUMMARY: This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to include high school credit recovery participation as a local indicator on the California School Dashboard (Dashboard).

EXISTING LAW:

1. Requires the California State Board of Education (SBE) to adopt evaluation rubrics for all of the following purposes:
   1. To assist a school district, county office of education, or charter school in evaluating its strengths, weaknesses, and areas that require improvement.
   2. To assist a county superintendent of schools in identifying school districts and charter schools in need of technical assistance and the specific priorities upon which the technical assistance should be focused.
   3. To assist the Superintendent in identifying school districts for which intervention is warranted. (Education Code Section 52064.5)
2. Requires the evaluation rubrics to reflect a holistic, multidimensional assessment of school district and individual schoolsite performance and shall include all of the state priorities described in the school district’s local control and accountability plan (LCAP).
3. Requires, as part of the evaluation rubrics, the SBE to adopt state and local indicators to measure school district and individual schoolsite performance in regard to each of the state priorities described in the school district’s LCAP.
4. Allows the SBE to adopt alternate methods for calculating the state and local indicators for alternative schools, as described in the school district’s LCAP, if appropriate, to more fairly evaluate the performance of these schools or of a specific category of these schools. Alternate methods may include an individual pupil growth model.
5. Requires, as part of the evaluation rubrics, the SBE to adopt standards for school district and individual schoolsite performance and expectations for improvement in regard to each of the state priorities described in the school district’s LCAP. Requires the standards to be based on the state and local indicators.
6. Requires the CDE, in collaboration with, and subject to the approval of, the executive director of the state board, to develop and maintain the Dashboard, a Web-based system for publicly reporting performance data on the state and local indicators included in the evaluation rubrics.
7. Requires, as part of the evaluation rubrics, the state board shall adopt performance criteria for local educational agency assistance and intervention. The criteria shall be based on performance by pupil subgroups either across two or more of the state and local indicators, or across two or more of the state priorities.

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.

COMMENTS:

Need for the bill. The author states, “Credit recovery programs have drawn both acclaim and concern as high school graduation rates have hit record highs five times in the past five years. These programs let students who fail a class ‘recover’ credit via abbreviated makeup courses. Done well, credit recovery programs provide students with legitimate second chances to graduate on time. But some, particularly high-volume programs, have quality-control problems that create a second track to graduation that erodes school cultures and lowers expectations—particularly for disadvantaged students. Unfortunately, too little is known across the nation or in California about these programs’ effectiveness or operations. We should increase attention to these rapidly expanding programs to ensure they are helping, not harming, students struggling to graduate.

Available data regarding California credit recovery programs. Very little statewide data is available related to the use of and characteristics of credit recovery programs in California. The CDE does not collect this data set, however schools and local educational agencies self-report information about credit recovery programs as a part of the Civil Rights Data Collection^[1] (CRDC). The CRDC’s 2015-16 survey provided the following definition: “credit recovery programs (including courses or other instruction) aim to help schools graduate more students by giving students who have fallen behind the chance to “recover” credits through a multitude of different strategies, including online. Different programs allow students to work on their credit recovery classes over the summer, on school breaks, after school, on weekends, at home on their own, at night in school computer labs, or even during the school day.” According to the American Enterprise Institute’s State Profile of High School Credit Recovery in California, fewer California high schools (66%) offered credit recovery programs than the national average (74%) in 2015-16, but California’s high school student participation (10%) is above the national average (6%).

The State Board of Education’s role related to state and local indicators and the California School Dashboard. California's accountability system is based on multiple measures that assess how local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools are meeting the needs of their students. The Legislature has delegated the authority of developing evaluation rubrics to the SBE in order to assist a school district, county office of education, or charter school in evaluating the strengths, weaknesses, and areas that require improvement, and to assist county superintendents of schools in identifying school districts and charter schools in need of technical assistance, and to assist the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) in identifying school districts for intervention. Under this authority, the SBE has adopted state and local indicators to measure school district and individual school site performance over the last several years.

Performance on these measures is reported on the California School Dashboard (Dashboard). Based on Dashboard results, some LEAs are eligible for assistance through the Statewide System of Support. The Dashboard is an online tool to help districts and schools identify strengths and weaknesses and pinpoint student groups that may be struggling. It reports performance and progress on both state and local measures:

• State measures apply to all LEAs, schools, and student groups and are based on data that is collected consistently across the state.
• Local measures apply at the LEA and charter school level and are based on data collected at the local level.

The state and local measures are drawn from the ten priority areas of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), which was passed in 2013. These priority areas form the basis for California's integrated accountability system, which meets both state and federal requirements. Table 1 lists each priority area and its corresponding state and/or local measure:

Table 1: The State and Local Measures for Each Local Control Funding Formula Priority Areas

What state accountability measures are currently in place for high school students? All of the priority areas and state and local indicators are applicable to high school students and are reported both on the Dashboard and in Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs). Pupil engagement is measured by school attendance rates, dropout rates and school climate. Student performance is measured by pupil achievement on statewide assessments, as well as the College/Career Indicator (CCI).

The College/Career Indicator. The goal of the CCI is to emphasize that a high school diploma represents the completion of a broad and rigorous course of study that prepares students for success after high school. Recognizing that students pursue various options to prepare for success after high school, the model relies on both test results and course completion and allows for fair comparisons across all LEAs and schools. The CCI currently consists of six college and career measures:

1. Career Technical Education (CTE) Pathway Completion: Completion of a sequence of CTE courses totaling at least 300 hours and completion of a capstone course with a grade of C minus or better;
2. Completion of courses that meet the University of California and the California State University “a-g” requirements;
3. Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments for English language arts/literacy (ELA) and mathematics;
4. Advanced Placement (AP) Exam: Pass with a score of 3 or higher; (Note: These exams are administered by the College Board.)
5. International Baccalaureate (IB) Exam: Pass with a score of 4 or higher; and (Note: These exams are administered by the IB.)
6. Dual Enrollment: Completion of college coursework with a score of C minus or better and receipt of college credit.

High schools that provide all students with a rigorous, broad course of study that leads to likely success in postsecondary and career have a greater likelihood of a high performance level on the Dashboard (Green or Blue).

High school graduation course requirements in California. Beginning in the 1986-87 school year, state law has specified a minimum set of courses to meet state requirements to graduate from high school and receive a diploma. The governing boards of LEAs have the authority to supplement the state minimum requirements at the local level and the responsibility for establishing any requirements for awarding a California high school diploma from their secondary schools. These must include the set of 13 minimum courses required under California Education Code. Most school districts in California require between 22 and 26 one-year courses (or the equivalent) for graduation.

Who has the authority to make changes to the Dashboard? The Governor and Legislature have delegated the authority of the evaluation rubrics to the SBE; updates and changes are made through the administrative process. The SBE develops indicators based on the evaluation rubrics of the state priority areas. The CDE, in collaboration with, and subject to the approval of, the executive director of the SBE, develop and maintain the Dashboard. The Committee should consider that although the Governor and Legislature ultimately have the authority to make any changes to the state priorities, evaluation rubrics and Dashboard, amending Education Code to require the CDE (rather than the SBE) to add an indicator to the Dashboard would establish a significant deviation from the existing administrative practice. Staff recommend that the bill be amended to define credit recovery based on the definition used by the CRDC, and to direct the CDE to provide a report to the Governor and the Legislature regarding the use of credit recovery programs in California public schools.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

None on file.

Opposition

None on file.

Analysis Prepared by: Marguerite Ries / ED. / (916) 319-2087

1. The Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) is a survey of all public schools and school districts in the United States. The CRDC measures student access to courses, programs, staff, and resources that impact education equity and opportunity for students. The CRDC survey is administered by U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights and survey results are used in enforcement and monitoring activities. The most recent results are from the 2015-16 survey. ↑