A CTA-sponsored bill aimed at reforming California's student testing and assessment system has cleared both houses of the Legislature. After the Senate concurs with technical amendments made in the Assembly, the bill will go to the governor for his consideration.
AB 356 by Assembly Member Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) will help eliminate unnecessary testing that is robbing students of instructional time.
Among its provisions, AB 356 would:
- Align California's testing program with the federal testing requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (also known as No Child Left Behind), which require that state testing programs begin in third grade. California's testing currently begins in second grade. Eliminating the STAR test in second grade after July 2005 will save more than $2 million annually and give students in these classes more instructional time.
- Refocus assessments for second-graders on effective local measuring techniques including age-appropriate diagnostic tests that are useful in improving student performance and enhancing instructional strategies and curriculum.
- Delay until 2005-06 the requirement that students pass the High School Exit Examination in order to graduate.
- Require the State Board of Education to report to the Legislature on alternative methods of assessing student competence for high school graduation purposes.
- Eliminate monetary rewards from the Public School Accountability Act while retaining more effective non-monetary rewards for performance.