School accountability: low-performing schools.

The Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999 requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the approval of the State Board of Education, to develop the Academic Performance Index (API) , consisting of a variety of indicators currently reported to the State Department of Education to track the achievement of schools and their pupils. Existing law requires the API to be used for specified purposes, including, but not limited to, ranking all public schools in the state. The Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program, the High Priority Schools Program, and the Quality Education Investment Act of 2006 are intended to provide support to schools ranked in the lower deciles of the API. The federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires the state accountability system to ensure that all local educational agencies and public schools make adequate yearly progress, as defined. The State Department of Education is required to identify local educational agencies that are in danger of being identified within 2 years as program improvement local educational agencies under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. This bill, subject to an appropriation of federal funds for this purpose, would require the State Department of Education to contract for the development of a new indicator that measures pupil-level growth in academic achievement over time using specified statewide tests. The new indicator would be required to allow the state to comply with the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and to measure adequate yearly progress under that act. The bill would require the department to convene an advisory board consisting of representatives from the state board, the Secretary for Education, the Department of Finance, the Legislative Analyst's Office, parent groups, school districts, and education researchers to provide general guidance and make recommendations relative to modifying assessments, academic content standards, performance expectations, and eligibility criteria for state support and resources. The bill would require the department, subject to funding being provided in the annual Budget Act, to contract with a consultant for independent oversight of the project to develop a new academic performance indicator. The consultant would be required to twice annually submit a written report on the progress in developing the new indicator and how the new indicator is meeting specified goals to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the state board, the advisory board, the Director of Finance, the Legislative Analyst, and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature.