(a) 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, shall assess the English language development of each pupil in order to determine the level of proficiency for purposes of this chapter.
(b) The department, with the approval of the state board, shall establish procedures for conducting the assessment required pursuant to subdivision (a) and for the reclassification of a pupil from English learner to English proficient.
(c) Commencing with the 2000–01 school year until subdivision (d) is implemented, the assessment shall be conducted upon initial enrollment, and annually, thereafter, during a period of time determined by the Superintendent and the state board. The annual assessments shall continue until the pupil is redesignated as English proficient. The assessment shall primarily utilize the English language development test identified or developed by the Superintendent pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 60810) of Part 33 of Division 4 of Title 2.
(d) (1) This subdivision shall not be implemented unless and until the department receives written documentation from the United States Department of Education that federal law permits the implementation of the changes set forth in this subdivision or until the 2013–14 school year, whichever occurs later.
(2) The summative assessment shall be conducted annually during a four-month period after January 1 determined by the Superintendent with the approval of the state board. Annual assessments shall continue until the pupil is redesignated as English proficient. The annual assessment shall primarily utilize the English language development assessment identified or developed by the Superintendent pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 60810) of Part 33 of Division 4 of Title 2.
(3) The assessment for initial identification shall be conducted upon the initial enrollment of a pupil in order to provide information to be used to determine if the pupil is an English learner.
(A) If the initial enrollment of a pupil occurs on a date outside of the testing period identified pursuant to paragraph (2), the prior year’s annual assessment for the grade in which the pupil is enrolling shall be used for this purpose.
(B) If the initial enrollment of a pupil occurs on a date within the testing period identified pursuant to paragraph (2), the initial assessment of the pupil shall be conducted as part of the annual assessment conducted pursuant to paragraph (2).
(4) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), a school district shall assess the English language development of a pupil pursuant to this section no more than one time per school year for each assessment purpose pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 60810) of Part 33 of Division 4 of Title 2.
(e) The assessments conducted pursuant to subdivision (d) shall be conducted in a manner consistent with federal statutes and regulations.
(f) The reclassification procedures developed by the department shall utilize multiple criteria in determining whether to reclassify a pupil as proficient in English, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Assessment of language proficiency using an objective assessment instrument, including, but not limited to, the English language development test that is developed or acquired pursuant to Section 60810.
(2) Teacher evaluation, including, but not limited to, a review of the pupil’s curriculum mastery.
(3) Parental opinion and consultation.
(4) 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.
(g) This section does not preclude a school district or county office of education from testing English learners more than once in a school year if the school district or county office of education chooses to do so.
(h) For purposes of this section, “initial enrollment” does not include enrollment in a transitional kindergarten program.
(Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 15, Sec. 2. (AB 2268) Effective June 14, 2024.)