AB 2555

Existing law requires each school district that has one or more pupils who are English learners, and, to the extent required by federal law, each county office of education and each charter school, to assess the English language development of each pupil in order to determine the pupil’s level of proficiency, as specified. Existing law requires the assessment for initial identification to be conducted upon the initial enrollment of a pupil, as provided. Existing law requires the State Department of Education, with the approval of the State Board of Education, to establish procedures for conducting the assessment and for the reclassification of a pupil from English learner to English proficient. Existing law requires those reclassification procedures to use multiple criteria in determining whether to reclassify a pupil as proficient in English, including, (1) an assessment of language proficiency using an objective assessment instrument, including the English language development test that is developed or acquired by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, (2) teacher evaluation, (3) parental opinion and consultation, and (4) a comparison of the performance of the pupil in basic skills against an empirically established range of performance in basic skills based upon the performance of English proficient pupils of the same age that demonstrates whether the pupil is sufficiently proficient in English to participate effectively in a curriculum designed for pupils of the same age whose native language is English. This bill would make the provisions related to reclassification procedures inoperative on July 1, 2027, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2028. Commencing July 1, 2027, this bill would require a school district, county office of education, or charter school to communicate to the parent or guardian of a pupil who is determined to be an English learner in a clear, concise, and comprehensible manner specified information regarding the pupil, including, among other things, that the pupil has been classified as an English learner, that the parent or guardian is encouraged to engage as a partner with the school, as provided, and that the pupil will take an assessment each year to measure the pupil’s progress toward becoming proficient in English. The bill would instead require that an English learner pupil be reclassified as English proficient if the pupil meets the score established by the state board for purposes of reclassification on an assessment of English language proficiency identified or developed by the Superintendent, or, if applicable, the pupil meets the score established by the state board for purposes of reclassification on the statewide alternate assessment for English language proficiency, as provided. The bill would require the department, as those pupil scores become available, and on or before May 30 of each year, to record the pupils who meet the scores established by the state board as reclassified in the appropriate data system. After a pupil is reclassified, the bill would require a local educational agency to ensure that the pupil’s instructional program and placement reflects that the pupil is a reclassified pupil and communicate to the pupil’s parent or guardian that their child has been reclassified, as provided. The bill would require a pupil who is an English learner, has an individualized education program (IEP), does not take the statewide alternate assessment, has used all test accommodations and any domain exemptions required by the pupil’s IEP, and has failed to achieve the score required by the state board for purposes of reclassification, and whose local educational agency determines that the pupil has demonstrated, through the use of alternate coursework and performance tasks, that the pupil has reached a level of proficiency that is comparable to the threshold for reclassification on the assessment of English language proficiency or the statewide alternate assessment for English language proficiency, to be reported to department by the local educational agency as reclassified as English proficient. The bill would require a local educational agency, for a pupil who has been reclassified as English proficient, to monitor the pupil’s progress to ensure, among other things, that the pupil does not fail to progress academically because of insufficient proficiency in English. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the state board, on or before January 1, 2028, to identify one or more appropriate instruments to be used for purposes of determining whether the English proficiency of a reclassified pupil is posing a barrier to the pupil’s academic success and appropriate interventions for pupils who need additional support for the English language to progress academically. Commencing with the 2027–28 school year, and subject to state and federal law regarding the privacy of pupil information, the bill would require the department to annually post on its internet website the reclassification rates of local educational agencies and statewide reclassification rates, as provided. This bill, subject to an appropriation for these purposes, would require the department, (1) on or before June 30, 2028, to develop and post on its internet website alternative coursework and performance tasks for pupils who are English learners, have IEPs, and do not qualify to take the statewide alternate assessment for English language proficiency to demonstrate proficiency in each of the domains of the English language development assessment identified or developed by the Superintendent, and (2) to contract for an evaluation of the effects of the changes to the reclassification criteria and process required by the bill to be completed and sent to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on or before January 1, 2032, as provided. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.