Section 60604.

(a) The Superintendent shall design and implement, consistent with the timetable and plan required pursuant to subdivision (b), a statewide pupil assessment program consistent with the testing requirements of this article in accordance with the objectives set forth in Section 60602. That program shall include all of the following:

(1) A plan for producing valid, reliable, and comparable individual pupil scores in grades 2 to 11, inclusive, and a comprehensive analysis of these scores based on the results of the achievement test designated by the state board that assesses a broad range of basic academic skills pursuant to the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program established by Article 4 (commencing with Section 60640).

(2) A method of working with publishers to ensure valid, reliable, and comparable individual, grade-level, school-level, district-level, county-level, and statewide scores in grades 2 to 11, inclusive.

(3) Statewide academically rigorous content and performance standards that reflect the knowledge and skills that pupils will need in order to succeed in the information-based, global economy of the 21st century. These skills shall not include personal behavioral standards or skills, including, but not limited to, honesty, sociability, ethics, or self-esteem.

(4) A statewide system that provides the results of testing in a manner that reflects the degree to which pupils are achieving the academically rigorous content and performance standards adopted by the state board.

(5) The alignment of assessment with the statewide academically rigorous content and performance standards adopted by the state board.

(6) The active, ongoing involvement of parents, classroom teachers, administrators, other educators, governing board members of school districts, and the public in all phases of the design and implementation of the statewide pupil assessment program.

(7) The development of a contract or contracts with a publisher or publishers, after the approval of statewide academically rigorous content standards by the state board, for the development of performance standards and assessments of applied academic skills designed to test pupils' knowledge of academic skills and abilities to apply that knowledge and those skills in order to solve problems and communicate.

(b) The Superintendent shall develop and annually update for the Legislature a five-year cost projection, implementation plan, and timetable for implementing the program described in subdivision (a). The annual update shall be submitted on or before March 1 of each year to the chairperson of the fiscal subcommittee considering budget appropriations in each house. The update shall explain any significant variations from the five-year cost projection for the current year budget and the proposed budget.

(c) The Superintendent shall provide each school district with guidelines for professional development that are designed to assist classroom teachers to use the results of the assessments administered pursuant to this chapter to modify instruction for the purpose of improving pupil learning. These guidelines shall be developed in consultation with classroom teachers and approved by the state board before dissemination.

(d) The Superintendent and the state board shall consider comments and recommendations from school districts and the public in the development, adoption, and approval of assessment instruments.

(e) The results of the achievement test administered pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 60640) shall be returned to the school district within the period of time specified by the state board.

(Amended by Stats. 2010, 5th Ex. Sess., Ch. 2, Sec. 11. Effective April 12, 2010. Inoperative July 1, 2014. Repealed as of January 1, 2015, pursuant to Section 60601.)