BILL NUMBER: SB 835 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Scott
FEBRUARY 23, 2007
An act to amend Sections 33126 and 33126.1 of the Education Code,
relating to school accountability.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 835, as introduced, Scott. School accountability: report card.
The Classroom Instructional Improvement and Accountability Act,
requires the governing board of each school maintaining an elementary
or secondary school to develop and cause to be implemented for each
school in the district a school accountability report card that
includes assessments of various school conditions, as specified. The
existing act prohibits any change to its provisions, except a change
to further its purposes enacted by a bill passed by a vote of 2/3 of
the Legislature and signed by the Governor.
This bill would delete certain items from the list of school
conditions for which assessments are required to be included in the
school accountability report card, including, among others, adequacy
of teacher evaluations and opportunities for professional
improvement, teacher and staff training and curriculum improvement
programs, the quality of school instruction and leadership, the
degree to which pupils are prepared to enter the workforce, the total
number of instructional minutes offered in the school year, the
total number of minimum days in the school year, and whether the
school qualifies for the Governor's Performance Award Program. The
bill would also revise some of the listed items. The bill would state
legislative findings and declarations that the changes made to the
existing act by those provisions further the purposes of the existing
act.
Existing law requires the State Department of Education to develop
and recommend for adoption a standardized template for the school
accountability report card. Existing law requires local educational
agencies to make the report cards available through the Internet or
through paper copies.
This bill would require each local educational agency to make the
annually updated school accountability report cards available to the
public no later than February 1 of the following school year through
the Internet and by making paper copies of each school's report card
available upon request at that schoolsite.
This bill would delete obsolete provisions and make clarifying and
other technical changes.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated
local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 33126 of the Education Code is amended to read:
33126. (a) The school accountability report card shall provide
data by which a parent can make meaningful comparisons between public
schools that will enable him or her to make informed decisions on
which school to enroll his or her children.
(b) The school accountability report card shall include, but is
not limited to, assessment of the following school conditions:
(1) (A) Pupil achievement by grade level, as measured by the
standardized testing and reporting programs pursuant to Article 4
(commencing with Section 60640) of Chapter 5 of Part 33.
(B) Pupil achievement in and progress toward meeting reading,
writing, arithmetic, and other academic goals, including results by
grade level from the assessment tool used by the school district
using percentiles when available for the most recent three-year
period.
(C) After the state develops a
(B) Pupil achievement by grade level,
as measured by the statewide assessment system pursuant to
Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 60600) and Chapter 6 (commencing
with Section 60800) of Part 33 , pupil achievement by grade
level, as measured by the results of the statewide assessment
.
(D)
(C) Secondary schools with high school seniors shall
list both the average verbal and math Scholastic Assessment Test
scores to the extent provided to the school and the percentage of
seniors taking that exam for the most recent three-year period.
(2) Progress toward reducing dropout rates, including the one-year
dropout rate listed in the California Basic Education
Educational Data System or any successor data
system for the schoolsite over the most recent three-year period, and
the graduation rate, as defined by the State Board of
Education , over the most recent three-year period when
available pursuant to Section 52052.
(3) Estimated expenditures per pupil and types of services funded.
The assessment of estimated expenditures per pupil shall reflect the
actual salaries of personnel assigned to the schoolsite. The
assessment of estimated expenditures per pupil shall be reported in
total, shall be reported in subtotal by restricted and by
unrestricted source, and shall include a reporting of the average of
actual salaries paid to certificated instructional personnel at that
schoolsite.
(4) Progress toward reducing Average
class sizes and teaching loads , including the distribution
of class sizes at the schoolsite by grade level ,
the average class size, and, if applicable, the percentage of pupils
in kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive, participating in the
Class Size Reduction Program established pursuant to Chapter 6.10
(commencing with Section 52120) of Part 28, using California Basic
Education Data System or any successor data system information
for the most recent three-year period.
(5) The total number of the school's fully credentialed teachers,
the number of teachers relying upon emergency credentials, the number
of teachers working without credentials, any assignment of teachers
outside their subject areas of competence, misassignments, including
misassignments of teachers of English learners, and the number of
vacant teacher positions for the most recent three-year period.
(A) For purposes of this paragraph, "vacant teacher position"
means a position to which a single-designated certificated employee
has not been assigned at the beginning of the year for an entire year
or, if the position is for a one-semester course, a position of
which a single-designated certificated employee has not been assigned
at the beginning of a semester for an entire semester.
(B) For purposes of this paragraph, "misassignment" means the
placement of a certificated employee in a teaching or services
position for which the employee does not hold a legally recognized
certificate or credential or the placement of a certificated employee
in a teaching or services position that the employee is not
otherwise authorized by statute to hold.
(6) (A) Quality and currency of textbooks and other instructional
materials, including indicating whether
textbooks and other materials meet state standards and are adopted
by the State Board of Education for kindergarten
and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, and or
adopted by the governing boards of school districts for grades 9 to
12, inclusive, and indicating the ratio of textbooks per
pupil and the year the textbooks were adopted.
(B) The availability of sufficient textbooks and other
instructional materials, as defined in Section 60119, for each pupil,
including English learners, in each of areas enumerated in clauses
(i) to (iii), inclusive. If the governing board determines, pursuant
to Section 60119 that there are insufficient textbooks or
instructional materials, or both, it shall include information for
each school in which an insufficiency exists, identifying the
percentage of pupils who lack sufficient standards-aligned textbooks
or instructional materials in each subject area. The subject areas to
be included are all of the following:
(i) The core curriculum areas of reading/language arts,
mathematics, science, and history/social science.
(ii) Foreign language and health.
(iii) Science laboratory equipment for grades 9 to 12, inclusive,
as appropriate.
(7) The availability of qualified personnel to provide counseling
and other pupil support services, including the ratio of academic
counselors per pupil.
(8) Availability of qualified substitute teachers.
(9) Safety, cleanliness, and adequacy of school facilities,
including any needed maintenance to ensure good repair as specified
in Section 17014, Section 17032.5, subdivision (a) of Section
17070.75, and subdivision (b) of Section 17089.
(10) Adequacy of teacher evaluations and opportunities
for professional improvement, including the The
annual number of schooldays dedicated to staff development for the
most recent three-year period.
(11) Classroom discipline and climate for learning,
including suspension Suspension and expulsion
rates for the most recent three-year period.
(12) Teacher and staff training, and curriculum improvement
programs.
(13) Quality of school instruction and leadership.
(14) The degree to which pupils are prepared to enter the
workforce.
(15) The total number of instructional minutes offered in the
school year, separately stated for each grade level, as compared to
the total number of the instructional minutes per school year
required by state law, separately stated for each grade level.
(16) The total number of minimum days, as specified in Sections
46112, 46113, 46117, and 46141, in the school year.
(17)
(12) The number of advanced placement and
International Baccalaureate courses offered, by subject.
(18)
(13) The Academic Performance Index, including the
disaggregation of subgroups as set forth in Section 52052 and the
decile rankings and a comparison of schools.
(19) Whether a school qualified for the Immediate Intervention
Underperforming Schools Program pursuant to Section 52053 and whether
the school applied for, and received a grant pursuant to, that
program.
(20) Whether the school qualifies for the Governor's Performance
Award Program.
(21) When available, the
(14) The percentage of pupils,
including the disaggregation of subgroups, as set forth in Section
52052, completing grade 12 who successfully complete the high school
exit examination, as set forth in Sections 60850 and 60851, as
compared to the percentage of pupils in the district and statewide
completing grade 12 who successfully complete the examination.
(22)
(15) Contact information pertaining to the
schoolsite council and any parent advisory councils or
other organized opportunities for parental involvement.
(23)
(16) For secondary schools, the percentage of graduates
who have passed satisfactorily met
course requirements for entrance to the University of California and
the California State University pursuant to Section 51225.3 and the
percentage of pupils enrolled in those courses, as reported by the
California Basic Education Educational
Data System or any successor data system.
(24) Whether the school has a college admissions test preparation
course program.
(25)
(17) Career technical education data measures
information , including all of the following:
(A) A list of programs offered by the school district that pupils
at the school may participate in and that are aligned to the model
curriculum standards adopted pursuant to Section 51226, and program
sequences offered by the school district. The list should identify
courses conducted by a regional occupation
occupational center or program, and those conducted directly by
the school district.
(B) A listing of the primary representative of the career
technical advisory committee of the school district and the
industries represented.
(C) The number of pupils participating in career technical
education.
(D) The percentage of pupils that complete a career technical
education program and earn a high school diploma.
(E) The percentage of career technical education courses that are
sequenced or articulated between a school and institutions of
postsecondary education.
(c) If the Commission on State Mandates finds a school district is
eligible for a reimbursement of costs incurred complying with this
section, the school district shall be reimbursed only if the
information provided in the school accountability report card is
accurate, as determined by the annual audit performed pursuant to
Section 41020. If the information is determined to be inaccurate, the
school district is not ineligible for reimbursement if the
information is corrected by May 15.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that schools make a
concerted effort to notify parents of the purpose of the school
accountability report cards, as described in this section, and ensure
that all parents receive a copy of the report card; to ensure that
the report cards are easy to read and understandable by parents; to
ensure that local educational agencies with access to the Internet
make available current copies of the report cards through the
Internet; and to ensure that administrators and teachers are
available to answer any questions regarding the report cards.
SEC. 2. Section 33126.1 of the Education Code is amended to read:
33126.1. (a) The department shall develop and recommend for
adoption by the State Board of Education a
standardized template intended to simplify the process for completing
the school accountability report card and make the school
accountability report card more meaningful to the public.
(b) The standardized template shall include fields for the
insertion of data and information by the department and by local
educational agencies, including a field to report the determination
of the sufficiency of textbooks and instructional materials, as
defined in Section 60119, and a summary statement of the condition of
school facilities, as defined in Section 17014, Section 17032.5,
subdivision (a) of Section 17070.75, and subdivision (b) of Section
17089. The department shall provide examples of summary statements of
the condition of school facilities that are acceptable and those
that are unacceptable. When the template for a school is completed,
it should enable parents and guardians to compare the manner in which
local schools compare to other schools within that district as well
as other schools in the state.
(c) In conjunction with the development of the standardized
template, the department shall furnish standard definitions for
school conditions included in the school accountability report card.
The standard definitions shall comply with the following:
(1) Definitions shall be consistent with the definitions already
in place or under the development at the state level pursuant to
existing law.
(2) Definitions shall enable schools to furnish contextual or
comparative information to assist the public in understanding the
information in relation to the performance of other schools.
(3) Definitions shall specify the data for which the department
will be responsible for providing and the data and information for
which the local educational agencies will be responsible.
(d) By December 1, 2000, the department shall report to the State
Board of Education on the school conditions for
which it already has standard definitions in place or under
development. The report shall include a survey of the conditions for
which the department has valid and reliable data at the state,
district, or school level. The report shall provide a timetable for
the inclusion of conditions for which standard definitions or valid
and reliable data do not yet exist through the department.
(e) By December 1, 2000, the Superintendent of Public
Instruction shall recommend and the State Board of
Education shall appoint 13 members to serve on a
broad-based advisory committee of local administrators, educators,
parents, and other knowledgeable parties to develop definitions for
the school conditions for which standard definitions do not yet
exist. The State Board of Education may designate
outside experts in performance measurements in support of activities
of the advisory board.
(f) By January 1, 2001, the State Board of Education
shall approve available definitions for inclusion in the
template as well as a timetable for the further development of
definitions and data collection procedures. By July 1, 2001, and each
year thereafter, the State Board of Education
shall adopt the template for the current year's school accountability
report card. Definitions for all school conditions shall be included
in the template by July 1, 2002.
(g) The department shall annually post the completed and viewable
template on the Internet. The template shall be designed to allow
schools or districts to download the template from the Internet. The
template shall further be designed to allow local educational
agencies, including individual schools, to enter data into the school
accountability report card electronically, individualize the report
card, and further describe the data elements. The department shall
establish model guidelines and safeguards that may be used by school
districts with secured access only for those school
officials authorized to make modifications.
(h) The department shall annually post, on the Internet, each
eligible school's claiming rate of pupils who earned an award for
either of the programs established by subdivision (a) of Section
69997. The Scholarshare Investment Board shall provide the claiming
rates, for the most recent two-year period, for each eligible school
to the department by June 30 of each year. Schools shall post their
claiming rate, required in paragraph (25) of subdivision (b) of
Section 33216, from the Internet site of the department.
(i)
(h) The department shall maintain current Internet
links with the Internet Web sites of local educational
agencies to provide parents and the public with easy access to the
school accountability report cards maintained on the Internet. In
order to ensure the currency of these Internet links, local
educational agencies that provide access to school accountability
report cards through the Internet shall furnish current Uniform
Resource Locators for their Internet Web sites to the
department.
(j)
(i) A school or school district that chooses not to
utilize the standardized template adopted pursuant to this section
shall report the data for its school accountability report card in a
manner that is consistent with the definitions adopted pursuant to
subdivision (c).
(k)
(j) The department shall provide recommendations for
changes to the California Basic Education
Educational Data System, or any successor data system, and
other data collection mechanisms to ensure that the information will
be preserved and available in the future.
(l)
(k) Local educational agencies
Each local educational agency shall make these annually
updated school accountability report cards available to the
public no later than February 1 of the following school year
through the Internet or through and by making
paper copies of each school's accountability report card
available upon request at that schoolsite .
(m)
(l) The department shall monitor the compliance of
local educational agencies with the requirements to prepare and to
distribute school accountability report cards.
SEC. 3. The Legislature finds and declares that the changes made
to Section 33126 of the Education Code by Section 1 of this act
further the purposes of the Classroom Instructional Improvement and
Accountability Act.