California Senate Bill SB253 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 253AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 31, 2009 INTRODUCED BY Senator Wyland FEBRUARY 24, 2009  An act to amend Section 60642.5 of the Education Code, relating to pupil assessment.   An act to add Section 52377.5 to the Education Code, relating to career technical education.  LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 253, as amended, Wyland.  Pupil assessment: STAR testing.   Career technical education: recognition certificates.   Existing law authorizes a school district to issue diplomas or certificates evidencing the completion of a prescribed course of study following a pupil's satisfactory completion of that course of study.   This bill would authorize a school district or county office of education to offer a pupil a career technical education certificate if the pupil meets specified requirements, including completion of 4 technical education courses, a structured work-based learning experience, and a related culminating project. The bill would prohibit the award of a career technical education certificate awarded under the bill from being construed as equivalent to the award of a high school diploma or as a change to the statutory curriculum or compulsory education requirements.   The Leroy Greene California Assessment of Academic Achievement Act requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to design and implement a statewide pupil assessment program, known as the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program.   This bill would require that any reading selection that is used as part of the assessment instruments administered under the STAR Program relate to American history.  Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  yes   no  . State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   Section 52377.5 is added to the   Education Code  , to read:   52377.5. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a school district or county office of education may award a pupil a career technical education certificate if all of the following requirements are met: (1) The pupil has satisfactorily completed four career technical education courses. (2) The pupil has satisfactorily participated in a structured work-based learning experience related to the career technical education courses. (3) The pupil has satisfactorily completed a culminating project related to the career technical education courses. (b) The award of a career technical education certificate under this section shall in no way be construed as equivalent to the award of a high school diploma or as a change to the requirements of Section 48200 or 51228.   SECTION 1.   Section 60642.5 of the Education Code is amended to read: 60642.5. (a) (1) The Superintendent, with approval of the state board, shall provide for the development of an assessment instrument, to be called the California Standards Tests, that measures the degree to which pupils are achieving the academically rigorous content standards and performance standards, to the extent standards have been adopted by the state board. (b) These standards-based achievement tests shall contain the subject areas specified in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 60603 for grades 2 to 8, inclusive, and shall include an assessment in history/social science in at least one elementary or middle school grade level selected by the state board and science in at least one elementary or middle school grade level selected by the state board, and the core curriculum areas specified in paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) of Section 60603 for grades 9 to 11, inclusive, except that history-social science shall not be included in the grade 9 assessment unless the state board adopts academic content standards for a grade 9 history-social science course, and shall include, at a minimum, a direct writing assessment once in elementary school and once in middle or junior high school and other items of applied academic skill if deemed valid and reliable and if resources are made available for their use. (3) Any reading selections that are used as part of an administration of the assessment instruments under this section shall relate to American history. (b) In approving a contract for the development or administration of the California Standards Tests, the state board shall consider each of the following criteria: (1) The ability of the contractor to produce valid, reliable individual pupil scores. (2) The ability of the contractor to report results pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 60643 by August 8. (3) The ability of the contractor to ensure alignment between the standards-based achievement test and the academically rigorous content and performance standards as those standards are adopted by the state board. This criterion shall include the ability of the contractor to implement a process to establish and maintain alignment between the test items and the standards. (4) The per pupil cost estimates of developing and, if appropriate, administering the proposed assessment with a system to facilitate the determination of future per pupil cost determinations. (5) The procedures of the contractor to ensure the security and integrity of test questions and materials. (6) The experience of the contractor in successfully conducting testing programs adopted and administered by other states. For experience to be considered, the number of grades and pupils tested shall be provided. (c) The standards-based achievement tests may use items from other tests.