Important Victory
By a 44-32 vote, the state Assembly on June 3 approved a CTA-sponsored measure designed to improve California’s student assessment program and bring it in line with requirements of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
With broad-based support, the bill now advances to the Senate Education Committee.
As amended, AB 356, by Assembly Member Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley), would:
- Align California’s Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program with federal guidelines in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). It would exempt pupils in second grade from the state-testing requirement, just as the federal legislation does, increasing instructional time for second graders.
- Delay until the 2005-06 school year requiring students to pass the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) as state requirement for high school graduation.
- Eliminates the school and staff rewards based on tests scores in the STAR program. This includes the Governor’s Performance Awards Program and the Certificated Staff Performance Incentive Program.
Currently, approximately 470,000 second-graders, ranging from age six to eight are tested for 410 minutes, more than any other elementary grade level. Studies have shown this testing time to be developmentally inappropriate for these young learners. According to the California Department of Education, California spends approximately $3.2 million to test second graders each year.
At a time of critically short financial resources, AB 356 will help the state use its education funding more wisely, protect youngsters in early grades from unnecessary testing, and bring California’s testing program in line with federal requirements. California is one of only two states that currently test second grade students.
CTA Members:
Contact members of Senate Education and ask them to approve AB 356 (Hancock) in the form that it passed the Assembly.
Senate Education Committee
(Note: clicking on the e-mail notation should allow you to e-mail directly to each lawmaker. If the link does not work, you may e-mail each by using the address firstname.lastname@sen.ca.gov. For instance, Sen. John Vasconcellos' e-mail address is john.vasconcellos@sen.ca.gov.)