English learners: reclassification.

Existing law requires each school district that has one or more pupils who are English learners, and to the extent required by federal law, a county office of education and a charter school, to assess the English language development of each of those pupils in order to determine their level of proficiency. 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 the Superintendent of Public Instruction to apportion funds appropriated for purposes of assessing the English language development of pupils whose primary language is a language other than English to enable school districts to use the California English language development test to identify pupils who are limited English proficient, determine the level of English language proficiency of those pupils, and to assess the progress of those pupils in acquiring the skills of listening, reading, speaking, and writing in English. This bill would require the department, by January 1, 2014, to review and analyze the criteria, policies, and practices that a sampling of school districts that represent the geographic, socioeconomic, and demographic diversity of school districts in the state use to reclassify English learners and recommend to the Legislature and state board any guideline, regulatory, or statutory changes that the department determines are necessary to identify when English learners are prepared for the successful transition to classrooms and curricula that require English proficiency. The bill would require the department, by January 1, 2014, to issue a report on its findings, research, analysis, recommendations, and best practices, and by January 1, 2017, to issue an updated report that reflects any changes in analysis and recommendations as a result of the adoption by the state board of the common core standards and related English language development standards. The bill would make implementation of these provisions contingent on an appropriation of federal or state funds or on the availability of private funding.