Article 2. Program Provisions of California Education Code >> Division 4. >> Title 2. >> Part 33. >> Chapter 5. >> Article 2.

(a) The Superintendent shall design and implement, consistent with the timetable and plan required pursuant to subdivision (b), a statewide pupil assessment system consistent with the testing requirements of this article in accordance with the objectives set forth in Section 60602.5. That system shall include all of the following:
  (1) Exclusive of the consortium assessments, a plan for producing or adopting valid, fair, and reliable achievement tests as recommended by the Superintendent and adopted by the state board pursuant to the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) established by Article 4 (commencing with Section 60640).
  (2) A plan for administering the consortium summative assessment as outlined by the joint agreement of the consortium.
  (3) Statewide academically rigorous content and performance standards that reflect the knowledge and complex skills that pupils will need in order to succeed in the information-based, global economy of the 21st century. These skills shall not include personal behavioral standards or skills, including, but not limited to, honesty, sociability, ethics, or self-esteem.
  (4) A statewide system that provides the results of testing in a manner that reflects the degree to which pupils are achieving the academically rigorous content and performance standards adopted by the state board.
  (5) The alignment of assessment with the statewide academically rigorous content and performance standards adopted by the state board.
  (6) The active, ongoing involvement of parents, classroom teachers, administrators, other educators, governing board members of school districts, business community members, institutions of higher education, and the public in all phases of the design and implementation of the statewide pupil assessment system.
  (7) A plan for ensuring the security and integrity of the CAASPP assessments.
  (8) The development of a contract or contracts with a contractor for the development or administration of achievement tests and performance tasks aligned to state-adopted content standards, including summative assessments or assessments that employ matrix sampling or population sampling methods.
  (b) The Superintendent shall develop and annually update for the Legislature a five-year cost projection, implementation plan for the CAASPP, and a timetable for implementing the system described in Section 60640. The annual update shall be submitted on or before March 1 of each year to the Department of Finance, the state board, and the respective chairpersons of the appropriate fiscal subcommittees considering budget appropriations and the appropriate policy committees in each house. The update shall explain any significant variations from the five-year cost projection for the current year budget and the proposed budget.
  (c) The Superintendent shall make resources available that are designed to assist with the interpretation and use of the CAASPP results to promote the use of the results for purposes of improving pupil learning and educational programs across the full curriculum. The Superintendent shall consider information already provided by assessment consortia to which California belongs or assessment contractors when fulfilling this requirement.
  (d) The Superintendent shall make information and resources available to parents, teachers, pupils, administrators, school board members, and the public regarding the CAASPP, including, but not necessarily limited to, system goals, purposes, scoring systems, results, valid uses of assessments, and information on the relationship between performance on the previous state assessments and the CAASPP.
  (e) The Superintendent and the state board shall consider comments and recommendations from teachers, administrators, pupil representatives, institutions of higher education, and the public in the development, adoption, and approval of assessment instruments.
  (f) The results of the achievement tests, exclusive of the consortium summative assessments, administered pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 60640), shall be returned to the local educational agencies within the period of time specified by the state board.

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the reauthorization of the statewide pupil assessment program include all of the following:
  (1) A plan for transitioning to a system of high-quality assessments.
  (2) Alignment with the standards developed pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 60605.8.
  (3) Any common assessments aligned with the standards developed pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 60605.8.
  (4) Conformity to the assessment requirements of any reauthorization of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act or any other federal law that effectively replaces that act.
  (b) The Superintendent shall develop recommendations for the reauthorization of the statewide pupil assessment program. The recommendations shall include, but not be limited to, a plan for transitioning to a system of high-quality assessments. The recommendations shall consider including all of the following in the reauthorized assessment system:
  (1) Aligning the assessments to the standards adopted or revised pursuant to Section 60605.8.
  (2) Implementing and incorporating any common assessments aligned with the common set of standards developed by the Common Core State Standards Initiative consortium or other interstate collaboration in which the state participates.
  (3) Conforming to the assessment requirements of any reauthorization of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.) or any other federal law that effectively replaces that act.
  (4) Enabling the valid, reliable, and fair measurement of achievement at a point in time and over time for groups and subgroups of pupils, and for individual pupils.
  (5) Allowing the comparison from one year to the next of an individual pupil's scale scores in each content area tested, so as to reflect the growth in that pupil's actual scores over time.
  (6) Enabling and including the valid, reliable, and fair measurement of achievement of all pupils, including pupils with disabilities and English learners.
  (7) Providing for the assessment of English learners using primary language assessments.
  (8) Ensuring that no aspect of the system creates any bias with respect to race, ethnicity, culture, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.
  (9) Incorporating a variety of item types and formats, including, but not limited to, open-ended responses and performance-based tasks.
  (10) Generating multiple measures of pupil achievement, which, when combined with other measures, can be used to determine the effectiveness of instruction and the extent of learning.
  (11) Including the assessment of science and history-social science in all grade levels at or above grade 4.
  (12) Assessing a pupil's understanding of and ability to use the technology necessary for success in the 21st century classroom and workplace.
  (13) Providing for both formative and interim assessments, as those terms are defined in this chapter, in order to provide timely feedback for purposes of continually adjusting instruction to improve learning.
  (14) Making use of test administration and scoring technologies that will allow the return of test results to parents and teachers as soon as is possible in order to support instructional improvement.
  (15) Minimizing testing time while not jeopardizing the validity, reliability, fairness, or instructional usefulness of the assessment results.
  (16) Including options for diagnostic assessments for pupils in grade 2.
  (c) In developing the recommendations pursuant to this section, the Superintendent shall consult with all of the following:
  (1) The state board.
  (2) The committee advising the Superintendent on the Academic Performance Index pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 52052.5.
  (3) Measurement experts from California's public and private universities.
  (4) Individuals with expertise in assessing pupils with disabilities and English learners.
  (5) Teachers, administrators, and governing board members, from California's local educational agencies.
  (6) Parents.
  (d) The Superintendent shall report the recommendations developed pursuant to this section to the fiscal and appropriate policy committees of both houses of the Legislature on or before November 1, 2012.

(a) (1) (A) Not later than January 1, 1998, the state board shall adopt statewide academically rigorous content standards, pursuant to the recommendations of the Commission for the Establishment of Academic Content and Performance Standards, in the core curriculum areas of reading, writing, and mathematics to serve as the basis for assessing the academic achievement of individual pupils and of schools, school districts, and the California educational system. Not later than November 1, 1998, the state board shall adopt these standards in the core curriculum areas of history/social science and science.
  (B) The state board shall adopt statewide performance standards in the core curriculum areas of reading, writing, mathematics, history/social science, and science based on the recommendations made by the Superintendent of a contractor or contractors.
  (C) The state board shall require the contractor or contractors to submit performance standards to the Superintendent and the state board not later than a specified date that allows sufficient opportunity for the Superintendent to make a recommendation to the state board and for the state board to conduct regional hearings prior to the adoption of the performance standards.
  (2) (A) The state board may modify any proposed content standards or performance standards prior to adoption and may adopt content and performance standards in individual core curriculum areas as those standards are submitted to the state board. The state performance standards shall be established against specific grade level benchmarks of academic achievement for each subject area tested and shall be based on the knowledge and skills that pupils will need in order to succeed in the information-based, global economy of the 21st century. These skills shall not include personal behavioral standards or skills, including, but not limited to, honesty, sociability, ethics, or self-esteem. The standards adopted pursuant to this section shall be for the purpose of guiding state decisions regarding the development, adoption, and approval of assessment instruments pursuant to this chapter and does not mandate any actions or activities by school districts.
  (B) Because these standards are models, the adoption of these standards is not subject to the Administrative Procedure Act. This subparagraph is declaratory of existing law.
  (3) Before adopting academic content and performance standards, the state board shall hold regional hearings for the purpose of giving parents and other members of the public the opportunity to comment on the proposed standards.
  (b) (1) The state board shall ensure that the statewide assessment system adopted pursuant to this chapter yields valid, reliable individual pupil scores and, where applicable, aggregate school scores, school district scores, and statewide scores of pupils and assesses basic academic skills and content standards, including the use of a direct writing assessment or other applied academic skills if deemed valid and reliable and if resources are made available for their use.
  (2) This subdivision does not prevent the state board from developing or adopting an assessment instrument that also contains assessments of basic academic skills.
  (c) To the extent feasible and as otherwise required, the state board shall ensure that assessments developed, or contracted for pursuant to Section 60642.5, by the state are aligned with the statewide content and performance standards adopted pursuant to subdivision (a). The department, with the approval of the state board, periodically shall contract for a review of the achievement test for conformance with these standards.
  (d) After adopting statewide content and performance standards, the state board shall review the existing curriculum frameworks for conformity with the new statewide standards and shall modify the curriculum frameworks where appropriate to bring them into alignment with the standards.
  (e) The state board shall adopt regulations for the conduct and administration of the testing and assessment program.
  (f) The state board shall adopt a regulation for minimum security procedures that test and assessment publishers and school districts must follow to ensure the security and integrity of test and assessment questions and materials.
  (g) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2011.

(a) No later than June 1, 2001, the State Board of Education shall adopt content standards, pursuant to recommendations developed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in the curriculum area of visual and performing arts.
  (b) The content standards are intended to provide a framework for programs that a school may offer in the instruction of visual or performing arts. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a school to follow the content standards.
  (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed as mandating an assessment of pupils in visual or performing arts.

(a) No later than December 1, 2004, the State Board of Education shall adopt model content standards, pursuant to recommendations developed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in the curriculum area of physical education.
  (b) The model content standards are intended to provide a framework for programs that a school may offer in the instruction of physical education. Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a school to follow the model content standards.

(a) On or before June 1, 2009, the State Board of Education shall adopt content standards, pursuant to recommendations developed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, for teaching foreign languages in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive.
  (b) The content standards shall support the goals of Section 51212 and subdivision (c) of Section 51220 by including all of the following:
  (1) A summary of the language goals which recognizes that instruction may begin in elementary or secondary school.
  (2) A description of individual language skills that should be taught and attained at each level.
  (3) Course content that is aligned with findings from research on second language acquisition and education.
  (4) Course content that is aligned with the admission requirements for the California State University and the University of California.
  (c) The content standards may be used by school districts to develop language programs and course assessments but are not mandatory.

(a) On or before July 31, 2019, the Instructional Quality Commission shall consider developing and recommending to the state board computer science content standards for kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, pursuant to recommendations developed by a group of computer science experts. The Instructional Quality Commission shall consider existing computer science content standards, which include, but are not limited to, the national K-12 computer science content standards developed by the Computer Science Teachers Association, and consider content standards that include, but are not necessarily limited to, standards for teaching coding. For purposes of this section, "coding" is the process of converting a program design into an accurate and detailed representation of that program in a suitable language.
  (b) (1) The Superintendent, in consultation with the state board, shall consider convening the group of experts referenced in subdivision (a), and shall ensure that the members of the group include, but are not necessarily limited to, all of the following:
  (A) Teachers who teach computer science, including mathematics and science teachers, in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive.
  (B) Schoolsite principals.
  (C) School district or county office of education administrators.
  (D) University professors.
  (E) Representatives of private sector business or industry.
  (2) The Superintendent, in consultation with the state board, shall ensure that one-half of the members of the group are teachers as described in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1).
  (c) The computer science content standards may be used by school districts to develop computer science programs and course assessments but are not mandatory.
  (d) The operation of this section is subject to an appropriation being made for purposes of this section in the annual Budget Act or another statute.

Subject to the availability of funds appropriated in the annual Budget Act for this purpose, the Superintendent, upon approval of the state board, shall contract for the development and distribution of workbooks, as follows:
  (a) One workbook to be distributed to all pupils in grade 10. This workbook shall contain information on the proficiency levels that must be demonstrated by pupils on the high school exit examination described in Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 60850). The workbook also shall contain sample questions, with explanations describing how these sample questions test pupil knowledge of the language arts and mathematics content standards adopted by the state board pursuant to Section 60605.
  (b) Separate workbooks for each of grades 2 to 11, inclusive. Each pupil in grades 2 to 11, inclusive, who is required to take the achievement tests described in Section 60642.5 shall receive a copy of the workbook designed for the same grade level in which the pupil is enrolled. These workbooks shall contain material to assist pupils and their parents with standards-based learning, including the grade appropriate academic content standards adopted by the state board pursuant to Section 60605 and sample questions that require knowledge of these standards to answer. The workbooks also shall describe how the sample questions test knowledge of the state board adopted academic content standards.

The Superintendent, the state board, and any other entity or individual designated by the Governor shall participate in the Common Core State Standards Initiative consortium sponsored by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers or any associated or related interstate collaboration to jointly develop common high-quality standards or assessments aligned with the common set of standards.

(a) There is hereby established the Academic Content Standards Commission. The commission shall consist of 21 members, appointed as follows:
  (1) Eleven members appointed by the Governor.
  (2) Five members appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules.
  (3) Five members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
  (b) Members of the commission shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority.
  (c) Not less than half of the members appointed by each of the appointing authorities pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be current public school elementary or secondary classroom teachers.
  (d) The commission shall develop academic content standards in language arts and mathematics. The standards shall be internationally benchmarked and build toward college and career readiness by the time of high school graduation. Unless otherwise allowed by the Secretary of the United States Department of Education, at least 85 percent of these standards shall be the common core academic standards developed by the consortium or interstate collaboration set forth in Section 60605.7.
  (e) Pursuant to the Bagley-Keene Act, Article 9 (commencing with Sec. 11120) of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, all meetings and hearings of the commission shall be open and available to the public.
  (f) On or before July 15, 2010, the commission shall present its recommended academic content standards to the state board.
  (g) On or before August 2, 2010, the state board shall do either of the following:
  (1) Adopt the academic content standards as proposed by the commission.
  (2) Reject the academic content standards as proposed by the commission. If the state board rejects the standards it shall provide a specific written explanation to the Superintendent, the Governor, and the Legislature of the reasons why the proposed standards were rejected.
  (h) The Superintendent and state board shall present to the Governor and to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature a schedule and implementation plan for integrating the academic content standards adopted pursuant to this section into the state educational system.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the limitation in paragraph (6) of subdivision (c) of Section 60200, which requires that other criteria be approved at least 30 months prior to the date that the materials are to be approved for adoption, shall not apply to instructional materials adopted by the state board that are aligned with the content standards adopted pursuant to Section 60605.8 in each of the content areas for which standards are revised or adopted.

The Superintendent may recommend and the state board may adopt the college and career readiness anchor standards developed by the Common Core State Standards Initiative consortium. The state board may also take action to resolve any technical issues in the English language arts standards adopted pursuant to Section 60605.8.

(a) The Superintendent may recommend to the state board, and the state board may approve, modifications to the common core academic content standards in mathematics adopted by the state board pursuant to Section 60605.8. If the state board modifies the common core academic content standards in mathematics, it shall explain, in writing, to the Governor and the Legislature the reasons for modifying the standards. The Superintendent's recommendations and the state board's actions shall assist schools in the implementation of the standards.
  (1) In consultation with the state board, the Superintendent shall consult a group of experts in mathematics for purposes of developing recommendations pursuant to this section. The Superintendent shall ensure that the group of experts includes, but is not limited to, individuals who are teachers of mathematics in elementary and secondary schools, schoolsite principals, administrators of school districts or county offices of education, and university professors. Not less than one-half of the members of the group shall be currently employed public school teachers.
  (2) The Superintendent and the state board shall hold a minimum of two public hearings pursuant to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code) in order for the public to provide input on the modifications recommended pursuant to this section.
  (3) On or before March 30, 2013, the Superintendent shall recommend modifications to the mathematics standards to the state board, and the state board, by that date, shall adopt, reject, or modify those recommendations.
  (b) The modifications to the common core academic content standards in mathematics that the Superintendent recommends to the state board and that the state board approves shall ensure all of the following:
  (1) The rigor of the state common core academic content standards in mathematics is maintained so that all high school graduates are prepared for college and careers, as specified in the common core academic content standards.
  (2) All of the common core academic standards developed by the consortium or interstate collaboration set forth in Section 60605.7 are adopted.
  (3) One set of standards is adopted at each grade level.
  (4) The content standards for algebra I are based upon the common core academic content standards for mathematics.
  (5) Redundant mathematics standards are eliminated.
  (6) The implementation of standards is improved.
  (7) Any technical issues in the standards are resolved.
  (8) The modifications amount to no more than 15 percent of the common core academic content standards adopted by the state board.
  (c) (1) Any modifications to the common core academic content standards in mathematics made pursuant to this section shall be incorporated into the curriculum framework and the evaluation criteria for mathematics for the purpose of adopting instructional materials in mathematics pursuant to Section 60207.
  (2) This subdivision shall become operative only if Assembly Bill 1246 of the 2011-12 Regular Session is chaptered and becomes effective.

(a) Each pupil shall have an individual record of accomplishment by the end of grade 12 that includes the results of the achievement test required and administered annually as part of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP), or any predecessor assessments, established pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 60640), results of end-of-course examinations he or she has taken, and the vocational education certification examinations he or she chose to take.
  (b) It is the intent of the Legislature that local educational agencies and schools use the results of the academic achievement tests administered annually as part of the CAASPP to provide support to pupils and parents or guardians in order to assist pupils in strengthening their development as learners, and thereby to improve their academic achievement and performance in subsequent assessments.
  (c) (1) Except for research provided for in former Section 49079.6, as it read on December 31, 2013, a pupil's results or a record of accomplishment shall be private, and may not be released to any person, other than the pupil's parent or guardian and a teacher, counselor, or administrator directly involved with the pupil, without the express written consent of either the parent or guardian of the pupil if the pupil is a minor, or the pupil if the pupil has reached the age of majority or is emancipated.
  (2) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a pupil or his or her parent or guardian may authorize the release of pupil results or a record of accomplishment to a postsecondary educational institution for the purpose of credit, placement, or admission.
  (B) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the results of an individual pupil on the CAASPP may be released to a postsecondary educational institution for the purpose of credit, placement, or admission.

The governing board of each district shall, in accordance with the rules and regulations of the State Board of Education, conduct a testing program pursuant to this chapter and may also administer other tests.

At the request of the state board, and in accordance with rules and regulations that the state board may adopt, each county superintendent of schools shall cooperate with and assist school districts and charter schools under his or her jurisdiction in carrying out the testing programs of those school districts and charter schools and other duties imposed on school districts by this chapter.

A local educational agency, district superintendent of schools, or principal or teacher of any elementary or secondary school, including a charter school, shall not carry on any program for the sole purpose of test preparation of pupils for the statewide pupil assessment system or a particular test used in the statewide pupil assessment system. Nothing in this section prohibits the use of materials to familiarize pupils with item types or the computer-based testing environment used in the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress.

Upon adoption or approval of assessments pursuant to this chapter, the Superintendent shall prepare, and make available to parents, teachers, pupils, administrators, school board members, and the public, easily understood materials, in accordance with subdivisions (c) and (d) of Section 60604, describing the nature and purposes of the assessments, the systems of scoring, and the valid uses to which the assessments will be put. The Superintendent shall produce the materials for parents in languages other than English in accordance with Section 48985. It is the intent of the Legislature that the department utilize the clearinghouse for multilingual documents to meet this requirement. The Superintendent shall consider information already provided by assessment consortia of which California is a member or assessment contractors when fulfilling this requirement.

A school district is an agent of the State Department of Education for the purpose of administering a test or assessment required pursuant to this article. No action may be brought or maintained against any school district or its officers or employees acting in accordance with the instructions of the Superintendent of Public Instruction or the State Board of Education.

Notwithstanding Section 51513, no test, examination, or assessment given as part of the statewide pupil assessment program shall contain any questions or items that solicit or invite disclosure of a pupil's, or his or her parents' or guardians', personal beliefs or practices in sex, family life, morality, or religion nor shall it contain any question designed to evaluate personal behavioral characteristics, including, but not limited to, honesty, integrity, sociability, or self esteem.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a parent's or guardian's written request to school officials to excuse his or her child from any or all parts of the assessments administered pursuant to this chapter shall be granted.

Any achievement test adopted by the state board pursuant to this chapter may be reviewed by any Member of the Legislature or any member of the governing board of a school district, if the member agrees in writing prior to the review to maintain the confidentiality of the test.

The governing board of any school district may meet in closed session only to review the actual contents of any approved or adopted assessment, provided the governing board agrees by resolution to accept any terms or conditions for that review that are established by rules and regulations of the State Board of Education. The purpose of this provision is to maintain the confidentiality of the assessments under review.

(a) The academic content and performance standards adopted by the State Board of Education pursuant to Section 60605 that are used as standards for the purposes of this article are to be considered model standards for any other purpose.
  (b) School districts may use these model standards as a guideline in developing district standards.