Section 44320.2 Of Article 7. Professional Preparation From California Education Code >> Division 3. >> Title 2. >> Part 25. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 7.
44320.2
. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that the competence
and performance of teachers are among the most important factors in
influencing the quality and effectiveness of education in elementary
and secondary schools.
(b) Commencing July 1, 2008, for a program of professional
preparation to satisfy the requirements of paragraph (3) of
subdivision (b) of Section 44259, the program shall include a
teaching performance assessment that is aligned with the California
Standards for the Teaching Profession and that is congruent with
state content and performance standards for pupils adopted pursuant
to subdivision (a) of Section 60605. In implementing this
requirement, institutions or agencies may do the following:
(1) Voluntarily develop an assessment for approval by the
commission. Approval of any locally developed performance assessment
shall be based on assessment quality standards adopted by the
commission, which shall encourage the use of alternative assessment
methods including portfolios of teaching artifacts and practices.
(2) Participate in an assessment training program for assessors
and implement the commission developed assessment.
(c) The commission shall implement the performance assessment in a
manner that does not increase the number of assessments required for
teacher credential candidates prepared in this state. Each candidate
shall be assessed during the normal term or duration of the
preparation program of the candidate.
(d) Subject to the availability of funds in the annual Budget Act,
the commission shall perform all of the following duties with
respect to the performance assessment:
(1) Assemble and convene an expert panel to advise the commission
about performance standards and developmental scales for teaching
credential candidates and the design, content, administration, and
scoring of the assessment. At least one-third of the panel members
shall be classroom teachers in California public schools.
(2) Design, develop, and implement assessment standards and an
institutional assessor training program for the sponsors of
professional preparation programs to use if they choose to use the
commission developed assessment.
(3) Establish a review panel to examine each assessment developed
by an institution or agency in relation to the standards set by the
commission and advise the commission regarding approval of each
assessment system.
(4) Initially and periodically analyze the validity of assessment
content and the reliability of assessment scores that are established
pursuant to this section.
(5) Establish and implement appropriate standards for satisfactory
performance in assessments that are established pursuant to this
section. The commission shall ensure that oral proficiency in English
is a criterion for scoring the performance of each candidate in each
assessment.
(6) Analyze possible sources of bias in the performance assessment
and act promptly to eliminate any bias that is discovered.
(7) Collect and analyze background information provided by
candidates who participate in the performance assessment, and report
and interpret the individual and aggregated results of the
assessment.
(8) Examine and revise, as necessary, the institutional
accreditation system pursuant to Article 10 (commencing with Section
44370), for the purpose of providing a strong assurance to teaching
candidates that ongoing opportunities are available in each
credential preparation program that is offered pursuant to Section
44320, Article 6 (commencing with Section 44310), Article 7.5
(commencing with Section 44325), or Article 3 (commencing with
Section 44450) of Chapter 3 for candidates to acquire the knowledge,
skills, and abilities measured by the assessment system.
(9) Ensure that the aggregated results of the assessment for
groups of candidates who have completed a credential program are used
as one source of information about the quality and effectiveness of
that program.
(e) The commission shall ensure that each performance assessment
pursuant to subdivision (b) is state approved and aligned with the
California Standards for the Teaching Profession and is consistently
applied to candidates in similar preparation programs. To the maximum
feasible extent, each performance assessment shall be ongoing and
blended into the preparation program, and shall produce the following
benefits for credential candidates, sponsors of preparation
programs, and local education agencies that employ program graduates:
(1) The performance assessment shall be designed to provide
formative assessment information during the preparation program for
use by the candidate, instructors, and supervisors for the purpose of
improving the teaching knowledge, skill, and ability of the
candidate.
(2) The performance assessment results shall be reported so that
they may serve as one basis for a recommendation by the program
sponsor that the commission award a teaching credential to a
candidate who has successfully met the performance assessment
standards.
(3) The formative assessment information pursuant to paragraph (1)
and the performance assessment results pursuant to paragraph (2)
shall be reported so that they may serve as one basis for the
individual induction plan of the new teacher pursuant to Section
44279.2.
(f) It is the intent of the Legislature that assessments in
accordance with paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (b), including
the administrative costs of the commission, be fully funded.