State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > California > Edc > 313EDUCATION CODE
SECTION 313
313. (a) Each school district that has one or more pupils who are English learners shall assess each pupil's English language development in order to determine the level of proficiency for the purposes of this chapter. (b) The State Department of Education, with the approval of the State Board of Education, shall establish procedures for conducting the assessment required pursuant to subdivision (a) and for the reclassification of a pupil from English learner to proficient in English. (c) Commencing with the 2000-01 school year, the assessment shall be conducted upon initial enrollment, and annually, thereafter, during a period of time determined by the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education. 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 of Public Instruction pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 60810) of Part 33. Prior to completion of the English language development test, a school district shall use either an assessment instrument developed by the school district or an assessment recommended by the State Department of Education. (d) The reclassification procedures developed by the State Department of Education 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 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 pupil's performance 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. (e) It is the intent of the Legislature that nothing in this section preclude a school district or county office of education from testing English language learners more than once in a school year if the school district or county office of education chooses to do so.
