SECTIONS 60640-60649 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 60640-60649

60640. (a) There is hereby established the Standardized Testing and
Reporting Program, to be known as the STAR Program.
(b) From the funds available for that purpose, each school
district, charter school, and county office of education shall
administer to each of its pupils in grades 2 to 11, inclusive, the
standards-based achievement test provided for in Section 60642.5. The
state board shall establish a testing period to provide that all
schools administer these tests to pupils at approximately the same
time during the instructional year, except as necessary to ensure
test security and to meet the final filing date.
(c) The publisher and the school district shall provide two makeup
days for the testing of previously absent pupils within the testing
period established by the state board in subdivision (b).
(d) The governing board of the school district may administer
achievement tests in grades other than those required by subdivision
(b) as it deems appropriate.
(e) Pursuant to Section 1412(a)(17) of Title 20 of the United
States Code, individuals with exceptional needs, as defined in
Section 56026, shall be included in the testing requirement of
subdivision (b) with appropriate accommodations in administration,
where necessary, and those individuals with exceptional needs who are
unable to participate in the testing, even with accommodations,
shall be given an alternate assessment.
(f) (1) At the option of the school district, pupils with limited
English proficiency who are enrolled in any of grades 2 to 11,
inclusive, may take a second achievement test in their primary
language. Primary language tests administered pursuant to this
subdivision and subdivision (g) shall be subject to the requirements
of subdivision (a) of Section 60641. These primary language tests
shall produce individual pupil scores that are valid and reliable.
(2) Notwithstanding any other law, the state board shall designate
for use, as part of this program, a single primary language test in
each language for which a test is available for grades 2 to 11,
inclusive, pursuant to the process used for designation of the
assessment chosen in the 1997-98 fiscal year, as specified in Section
60643, as applicable.
(3) (A) The department shall use funds made available pursuant to
Title VI of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C.
Sec. 6301 et seq.) and appropriated by the annual Budget Act for the
purpose of developing and adopting primary language assessments that
are aligned to the state academic content standards. Subject to the
availability of funds, primary language assessments shall be
developed and adopted for reading/language arts and mathematics in
the dominant primary language of limited-English-proficient pupils.
The dominant primary language shall be determined by the count in the
annual language census of the primary language of each
limited-English-proficient pupil enrolled in the California public
schools.
(B) Once a dominant primary language assessment is available for
use for a specific grade level, it shall be administered in place of
the assessment designated pursuant to paragraph (1) for that grade
level.
(C) In choosing a contractor to develop a primary language
assessment the state board shall consider the criteria for choosing a
contractor or test publisher as specified by Section 60643, and as
specified by Section 60642.5, as applicable.
(D) Subject to the availability of funds, the assessments shall be
developed in grade order starting with the lowest grade subject to
the STAR Program.
(E) If the state board contracts for the development of primary
language assessments or test items to augment an existing assessment,
the state shall retain ownership rights to the assessment and the
test items. With the approval of the state board, the department may
license the test for use in other states subject to a compensation
agreement approved by the Department of Finance.
(F) On or before January 1, 2006, the department shall submit to
the Legislature a report on the development and implementation of the
initial primary language assessments and recommendations on the
development and implementation of future assessments and funding
requirements.
(g) A pupil identified as limited English proficient pursuant to
the administration of a test made available pursuant to Section 60810
who is enrolled in any of grades 2 to 11, inclusive, and who either
receives instruction in his or her primary language or has been
enrolled in a school in the United States for less than 12 months
shall be required to take a test in his or her primary language if a
test is available.
(h) (1) The Superintendent shall apportion funds to school
districts to enable school districts to meet the requirements of
subdivisions (b), (e), (f), and (g).
(2) The state board annually shall establish the amount of funding
to be apportioned to school districts for each test administered and
annually shall establish the amount that each publisher shall be
paid for each test administered under the agreements required
pursuant to Section 60643. The amounts to be paid to the publishers
shall be determined by considering the cost estimates submitted by
each publisher each September and the amount included in the annual
Budget Act, and by making allowance for the estimated costs to school
districts for compliance with the requirements of subdivisions (b),
(e), (f), and (g).
(3) An adjustment to the amount of funding to be apportioned per
test shall not be valid without the approval of the Director of
Finance. A request for approval of an adjustment to the amount of
funding to be apportioned per test shall be submitted in writing to
the Director of Finance and the chairpersons of the fiscal committees
of both houses of the Legislature with accompanying material
justifying the proposed adjustment. The Director of Finance is
authorized to approve only those adjustments related to activities
required by statute. The Director of Finance shall approve or
disapprove the amount within 30 days of receipt of the request and
shall notify the chairpersons of the fiscal committees of both houses
of the Legislature of the decision.
(i) For purposes of making the computations required by Section 8
of Article XVI of the California Constitution, the appropriation for
the apportionments made pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (h),
and the payments made to the publishers under the contracts required
pursuant to Section 60643 or subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a) of Section 60605 between the department and the
contractor, are "General Fund revenues appropriated for school
districts," as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 41202, for the
applicable fiscal year, and included within the "total allocations to
school districts and community college districts from General Fund
proceeds of taxes appropriated pursuant to Article XIII B," as
defined in subdivision (e) of Section 41202, for that fiscal year.
(j) As a condition to receiving an apportionment pursuant to
subdivision (h), a school district shall report to the Superintendent
all of the following:
(1) The number of pupils enrolled in the school district in grades
2 to 11, inclusive.
(2) The number of pupils to whom an achievement test was
administered in grades 2 to 11, inclusive, in the school district.
(3) The number of pupils in paragraph (1) who were exempted from
the test at the request of their parents or guardians.
(k) The Superintendent and the state board are authorized and
encouraged to assist postsecondary educational institutions to use
the assessment results of the California Standards Tests, including,
but not limited to, the augmented California Standards Tests, for
academic credit, placement, or admissions processes.
(l) The Superintendent, with the approval of the state board,
annually shall release to the public test items from the
standards-based achievement tests pursuant to Section 60642.5
administered in previous years. The minimum number of test items
released per year shall be equal to 25 percent of the total number of
test items on the test administered in the previous year.

60641. (a) The department shall ensure that school districts comply
with each of the following requirements:
(1) The standards-based achievement test provided for in Section
60642.5 is scheduled to be administered to all pupils during the
period prescribed in subdivision (b) of Section 60640.
(2) The individual results of each pupil test administered
pursuant to Section 60640 shall be reported, in writing, to the
parent or guardian of the pupil. The written report shall include a
clear explanation of the purpose of the test, the score of the pupil,
and the intended use by the school district of the test score. This
subdivision does not require teachers or other school district
personnel to prepare individualized explanations of the test score of
each pupil.
(3) (A) The individual results of each pupil test administered
pursuant to Section 60640 also shall be reported to the school and
teachers of a pupil. The school district shall include the test
results of a pupil in his or her pupil records. However, except as
provided in this section, individual pupil test results only may be
released with the permission of either the pupil's parent or guardian
if the pupil is a minor, or the pupil if the pupil has reached the
age of majority or is emancipated.
(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a pupil or his or her parent
or guardian may authorize the release of individual pupil results to
a postsecondary educational institution for the purpose of credit,
placement, determination of readiness for college-level coursework,
or admission.
(4) The districtwide, school-level, and grade-level results of the
STAR Program in each of the grades designated pursuant to Section
60640, but not the score or relative position of any individually
ascertainable pupil, shall be reported to the governing board of the
school district at a regularly scheduled meeting, and the countywide,
school-level, and grade-level results for classes and programs under
the jurisdiction of the county office of education shall be
similarly reported to the county board of education at a regularly
scheduled meeting.
(b) The publisher of the standards-based achievement tests
provided for in Section 60642.5 shall make the individual pupil,
grade, school, school district, and state results available to the
department pursuant to paragraph (9) of subdivision (a) of Section
60643 by August 8 of each year in which the achievement test is
administered for those schools for which the last day of test
administration, including makeup days, is on or before June 25. The
department shall make the grade, school, school district, and state
results available on the Internet by August 15 of each year in which
the achievement test is administered for those schools for which the
last day of test administration, including makeup days, is on or
before June 25.
(c) The department shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that
the results of the test for all pupils who take the test by June 25
are made available on the Internet by August 15, as set forth in
subdivision (b).
(d) The department shall ensure that a California Standards Test
that is augmented for the purpose of determining credit, placement,
or readiness for college-level coursework of a pupil in a
postsecondary educational institution inform a pupil in grade 11 that
he or she may request that the results from that assessment be
released to a postsecondary educational institution.

60642.5. (a) 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. 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.
(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.

60643. (a) To be eligible for consideration under Section 60642.5
by the state board, test publishers shall agree in writing each year
to meet the following requirements, as applicable, if selected:
(1) Enter into an agreement, pursuant to subdivision (e) or (f),
with the department by October 15 of that year.
(2) Align the standards-based achievement test provided for in
Section 60642.5 to the academically rigorous content and performance
standards adopted by the state board.
(3) Comply with subdivisions (c) and (d) of Section 60645.
(4) Provide valid and reliable individual pupil scores to parents
or guardians, teachers, and school administrators.
(5) Provide valid and reliable aggregate scores to school
districts and county boards of education in all of the following
forms and formats:
(A) Grade level.
(B) School level.
(C) District level.
(D) Countywide.
(E) Statewide.
(F) Comparison of statewide scores relative to other states.
(6) Provide disaggregated scores, based on
limited-English-proficient status and nonlimited-English-proficient
status. For purposes of this section, pupils with
"nonlimited-English-proficient status" shall include the total of
those pupils who are English-only pupils, fluent-English-proficient
pupils, and redesignated fluent-English-proficient pupils. These
scores shall be provided to school districts and county boards of
education in the same forms and formats listed in paragraph (5).
(7) Provide disaggregated scores by pupil gender and ethnicity and
provide disaggregated scores based on whether pupils are
economically disadvantaged or not. These disaggregated scores shall
be in the same forms and formats as listed in paragraph (5). In any
one year, the disaggregation shall entail information already being
collected by school districts, county offices of education, or
charter schools.
(8) Provide disaggregated scores for pupils who have
individualized education programs and have enrolled in special
education, to the extent required by federal law. These scores shall
be provided in the same forms and formats listed in paragraph (5).
This section shall not be construed to exclude the scores of special
education pupils from any state or federal accountability system.
(9) Provide information listed in paragraphs (5), (6), (7), and
(8) to the department and the state board in the medium requested by
each entity, respectively.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the publisher work
with the Superintendent and the state board in developing a
methodology to disaggregate statewide scores as required in
paragraphs (6) and (7) of subdivision (a), and in determining which
variable indicated on the STAR testing document shall serve as a
proxy for "economically disadvantaged" status pursuant to paragraph
(7) of subdivision (a).
(c) Access to information about individual pupils or their
families shall be granted to the publisher only for purposes of
correctly associating test results with the pupils who produced those
results or for reporting and disaggregating test results as required
by this section. School districts are prohibited from excluding a
pupil from the test if a parent or parents decline to disclose
income. This chapter does not abridge or deny rights to
confidentiality contained in the federal Family Educational Rights
and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g) or other applicable
state and federal law that protect the confidentiality of information
collected by educational institutions.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, the publisher of the
standards-based achievement test provided for in Section 60642.5 or
any contractor under subdivision (f) shall comply with all of the
conditions and requirements enumerated in subdivision (a), as
applicable, to the satisfaction of the state board.
(e) (1) A publisher shall not provide a test described in Section
60642.5 or 60650 or in subdivision (f) of Section 60640 for use in
California public schools, unless the publisher enters into a written
contract with the department as set forth in this subdivision.
(2) The department shall develop, and the state board shall
approve, a contract to be entered into with a publisher pursuant to
paragraph (1). The department may develop the contract through
negotiations with the publisher.
(3) For purposes of the contracts authorized pursuant to this
subdivision, the department is exempt from the requirements of Part 2
(commencing with Section 10100) of Division 2 of the Public Contract
Code and from the requirements of Article 6 (commencing with Section
999) of Chapter 6 of Division 4 of the Military and Veterans Code.
(4) The contracts shall include provisions for progress payments
to the publisher for work performed or costs incurred in the
performance of the contract. Not less than 10 percent of the amount
budgeted for each separate and distinct component task provided for
in each contract shall be withheld pending final completion of all
component tasks by that publisher. The total amount withheld pending
final completion shall not exceed 10 percent of the total contract
price.
(5) The contracts shall require liquidated damages to be paid by
the publisher in the amount of up to 10 percent of the total cost of
the contract for any component task that the publisher through its
own fault or that of its subcontractors fails to substantially
perform by the date specified in the agreement.
(6) The contracts shall establish the process and criteria by
which the successful completion of each component task shall be
recommended by the department and approved by the state board.
(7) The publishers shall submit, as part of the contract
negotiation process, a proposed budget and invoice schedule, that
includes a detailed listing of the costs for each component task and
the expected date of the invoice for each completed component task.
(8) The contracts shall specify the following component tasks, as
applicable, that are separate and distinct:
(A) Development of new tests or test items as required by
paragraph (2) of subdivision (a).
(B) Test materials production or publication.
(C) Delivery of test materials to school districts.
(D) Test processing, scoring, and analyses.
(E) Reporting of test results to the school districts, including,
but not limited to, all reports specified in this section.
(F) Reporting of test results to the department, including, but
not limited to, the electronic files required pursuant to this
section.
(G) All other analyses or reports required by the Superintendent
to meet the requirements of state and federal law and set forth in
the agreement.
(9) The contracts shall specify the specific reports and data
files, if any, that are to be provided to school districts by the
publisher and the number of copies of each report or file to be
provided.
(10) The contracts shall specify the means by which any delivery
date for materials to each school district shall be verified by the
publisher and the school district.
(11) School districts may negotiate a separate agreement with the
publisher for any additional materials or services not within the
contracts specified in this subdivision, including, but not limited
to, the administration of the tests to pupils in grade levels other
than grades 2 to 11, inclusive. Any separate agreement is not within
the scope of the contract specified in this subdivision.
(f) The department, with approval of the state board, may enter
into a separate contract for the development or administration of a
test authorized pursuant to this part, including, but not limited to,
item development, coordination of tests, assemblage of tests or test
items, scoring, or reporting. The liquidated damages provision set
forth in paragraph (5) of subdivision (e) shall apply to a contract
entered into pursuant to this subdivision.

60643.1. (a) (1) The test publisher designated by the state board
pursuant to Section 60642 shall make available a reading list on the
Internet by June 1 of the applicable school year. The reading list
shall include an index that correlates ranges of pupil reading scores
on the English language arts portion of the achievement test
designated pursuant to Section 60642 to titles of materials that
would be suitable for pupils in each of grades 2 to 11, inclusive, to
read in order to improve their reading skills. This reading list
shall include titles of books that allow a pupil to practice reading
at his or her current reading level and that will assist the pupil in
achieving a higher level of proficiency. To the extent possible, the
index also shall include information related to the subject matter
of each title. At a minimum, the reading list also shall categorize
titles by subject matter and identify age-appropriate distinctions in
the list.
(2) The test publisher, in each school year, shall make available
for purchase by school districts a report that provides a numerical
distribution of the reading scores of all pupils in California who
took the achievement test designated pursuant to Section 60642.
(3) The test publisher, in each school year, shall make available
for purchase by school districts reading lists that can be
distributed to pupils based on a pupil's age and the ranges of scores
on the English language arts portion of the achievement test
designated pursuant to Section 60642.
(4) The requirements of this subdivision shall become operative
only upon a determination by the Director of Finance that funds are
available to make an adjustment pursuant to subdivision (h) of
Section 60640.
(b) The state board and the Superintendent jointly shall certify
that the process used by the publisher to determine the reading
levels of the corresponding reading list pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a) meets the following criteria:
(1) The process is educationally valid.
(2) The process results in a reading list for each reading span
that provides titles at the pupil's current reading level and the
next higher level for challenging practice.
(3) The process results in a selection from the universe of titles
from the list developed pursuant to subdivision (d) that matches
each reading level.
(4) The process is unbiased in the selection of publishers' titles
from the legal compliance list.
(c) The titles listed at each reading level range posted on the
Internet and the reading lists made available to school districts
pursuant to subdivision (a), at a minimum, shall include all relevant
literature materials approved as of September 1, 1999, as being
legally compliant pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section
60040) of Chapter 1 of Part 33, and the titles listed in all of the
content area reading and literature lists that are developed and
published by the department and that have been determined by the
department to meet the relevant reading level as certified pursuant
to subdivision (b).
(d) By imposing the requirements of this section on publishers, it
is not the intent of the Legislature to unfairly disadvantage any
publisher who has otherwise met the requirements of this section or
of Article 3 (commencing with Section 60040) of Chapter 1 of Part 33.

60643.5. (a) A school shall be reimbursed by the test publisher
selected pursuant to this article for any unexpected expenses
incurred due to scheduling changes that resulted from the late
delivery of testing materials in connection with the STAR Program.
(b) The State Department of Education shall monitor and report to
the State Board of Education regarding the publisher's production,
processing, and delivery system to ensure that a timely delivery of
testing materials to all schools occurs during the 1999-2000 testing
cycle.

60645. (a) The panel established pursuant to Section 60606 shall
review the standards-based achievement test provided for in Section
60642.5 and items identified in subdivision (d) for compliance with
Section 60614.
(b) Test questions or test content identified by the panel to be
out of compliance with Section 60614 shall be recommended for
deletion or replacement pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 60606.
(c) The state board shall ensure that any question or content not
in compliance with Section 60614 is deleted from the standards-based
achievement test provided for in Section 60642.5.
(d) If necessary to maintain the requirements of Section 60642.5,
the publisher shall replace deleted test content with revisions that
comply with Section 60614 as required by the state board pursuant to
subdivision (c).

60647. An action to challenge a provision of this article or a
determination made by the state board under this article, shall be
filed and adjudicated pursuant to Sections 860 to 870, inclusive, of
the Code of Civil Procedure. No exercise of discretion by the state
board in its administration of this article or exercise of its
discretion pursuant to Section 60605 shall be overturned absent a
finding that the state board acted in an arbitrary and capricious
manner.

60648. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall recommend,
and the State Board of Education shall adopt, levels of pupil
performance on achievement tests administered pursuant to this
article in reading, English language arts, and mathematics at each
grade level. The performance levels shall identify and establish the
level of performance that is deemed to be the minimum level required
for satisfactory performance in the next grade. These levels of
performance shall only be adopted after the standards-based
achievement tests have been aligned, pursuant to paragraph (2) of
subdivision (a) of Section 60643, to the content and performance
standards adopted by the State Board of Education pursuant to
subdivision (a) of Section 60605.

60649. On or before March 1, 2001, the Superintendent of Public
Instruction and the State Board of Education shall report to the
Legislature and the Governor on the status of implementation of this
chapter. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the
following:
(a) Description of the actions taken to ensure full coverage of
academic content standards in assessments developed pursuant to this
chapter.
(b) Identification of the types of test items designed to measure
applied academic skills, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section
60603.
(c) The means by which the Superintendent of Public Instruction
and the State Board of Education determine assessments are valid,
reliable, and provide consistent year-to-year comparisons of student
progress, consistent with nationally recognized and accepted test
construction and implementation methodologies, as applicable.
(d) Recommendations to improve the state's assessment system,
identifying related costs or savings, and increases or decreases in
testing time.