Common Core: CA Senate Committee Approves Changes to Standardized Testing

The replacement of California's Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) system for public education came closer to final enactment Wednesday.

As schools districts—including Lake Elsinore Unified—work to bring the new Common Core State Standards to classrooms by fall 2014, the California Senate Education Committee on Wednesday approved legislation that would replace the STAR system with new, computer-based exams designed to assess students’ progress toward career and college readiness.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson sponsors the legislation.

“I appreciate the Committee’s support of this legislation, and their recognition that it’s time for our tests to measure how ready students are for the challenges of a changing world,” Torlakson stated. “With teachers and schools across the state working hard to bring the new Common Core State Standards to life in our classrooms, we need assessments that reflect the deeper learning students are striving for—and the real-world skills they need to contribute to the future of our state.”

As stated in a news release Wednesday from the California Department of Education, Assembly Bill 484 (Bonilla D-Concord), would limit the use of STAR tests for the 2013-14 school year, and begin statewide use of new assessments aligned to California’s Common Core State Standards in 2014-15; it would at that time completely replace the STAR program with the California Measurement of Academic Performance and Progress for the 21st Century (CalMAPP21) assessments.

The urgency legislation, which was approved last month by the state Assembly, now moves on to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The Common Core initiative involves streamlining math and language arts in schools across the nation. Forty-five states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity have adopted the Common Core State Standards, according to Corestandards.org. The states that have yet to adopt the initiative are Alaska, Minnesota, Nebraska, Texas and Virginia, the website states.