Section 99300.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that in 2004, the California State University (CSU) established the Early Assessment Program (EAP), a collaborative effort among the State Board of Education, the State Department of Education, and CSU, to enable pupils to learn about their readiness for college-level English and mathematics before their senior year of high school. It is the intent of the Legislature that the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the office of the Chancellor of the California State University, the State Board of Education, and the State Department of Education work together to modify the existing EAP to expand it to include the California Community Colleges (CCC) so that, beginning in the 2009–10 school year, high school juniors who are considering attending either system can take the EAP and receive information in the summer before their senior year concerning their preparation for college-level work at both CSU and CCC.

(b) It is also the intent of the Legislature that the existing EAP student notification system, as currently operated by agreement between CSU and the State Department of Education, be modified to do both of the following:

(1) Reassure pupils that they are eligible to attend a community college and that taking the EAP test has no bearing on their eligibility to attend a community college.

(2) Inform pupils of their readiness for college-level coursework in English or mathematics, or both, and recommend the next appropriate steps as they pertain to achieving success at a community college, similar to how CSU communicates with pupils who take the EAP test and are prospective CSU students.

(c) It is also the intent of the Legislature that the EAP be modified to include all of the following requirements:

(1) That the participating community college districts utilize the existing EAP secure data repository and clearinghouse for test score distribution of the California Standards Test (CST) and the augmented CST, as referenced in Section 60641.

(2) That the modified EAP not affect the statutory reporting requirements of the STAR Program, or increase the costs of either the STAR Program or the State Department of Education.

(3) That the modified EAP be titled the "Early Assessment Program."

(Added by Stats. 2008, Ch. 473, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2009.)