California Governor Newsom signed a total of 148 new bills as of July 18, among which a bill amending the Education Code to waive English assessments for 4-year-old children entering Transitional Kindergarten (TK) has been approved and immediately took effect.
The bill, named “English Learners: Preliminary Identification: English Proficiency Assessment” AB2268, was introduced by Democratic Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi of the 66th District. It passed the Assembly with a vote of 75-0, with 4 members absent; and in the Senate, it passed with a vote of 32-0, with 8 members not voting.
Muratsuchi stated in a press release, “The California English Language Proficiency Assessments (ELPAC) are not appropriate for 4-year-old children. AB2268 will ensure that children are not required to undergo entrance assessments, allowing them to receive guidance and support based on their actual learning needs.”
ELPAC, initiated in California in 2018, assesses students entering K-12 who are non-native English speakers or have cognitive disabilities to determine if they are “English Learners” (ELs). The test includes listening, speaking, reading, and writing, serving as an annual summative assessment for ELs.
It is generally believed that accurately identifying students as ELs may contribute to their success. However, for students with higher English proficiency, being classified as ELs could negatively impact their educational prospects, potentially leading to lower academic performance and reduced likelihood of graduating and entering college on time.
California’s 2021-22 state budget introduced the Universal Preschool Education Program (UPK), aiming to provide free preschool education for all 4-year-old children, eligible 3-year-old children, and children with disabilities by 2025-26. Assemblymember Muratsuchi expressed that educators across California were dissatisfied with the requirement to use ELPAC for assessing 4-year-old children, stating, “They reported that this assessment did not provide useful information about children’s language abilities and instead caused distress for some children.”
According to a report by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), a study on approximately 90,000 TK students from the 2014-15 school year to the 2020-21 school year in five major school districts found that students attending TK were disproportionately identified as ELs, while those not enrolled in TK had a lower likelihood of being identified as ELs.
The organization Early Edge California, advocating for early public education, supports AB2268, stating, “ELPAC did not conduct developmental testing for children attending TK in California public schools, and using it for TK students would lead to misidentification.” The legislative analysis report on the bill did not have any opposing views.
By 2025-26, California is set to become the state with the largest universal preschool education program in the United States. California also has the highest number of children aged 0-5 who speak or are exposed to multiple languages at home. Muratsuchi believes that bilingual students entering TK must receive appropriate identification and support to promote their unique language and cultural assets. TK students are typically in the early stages of language development, including letter recognition and phonetics, making the ELPAC assessment designed for older students inappropriate for young children and potentially leading TK students onto an educational path that does not align with their needs and abilities.
Dr. Edgar Lampkin, Executive Director of the California Association for Bilingual Education, stated, “California is fortunate to be a leader in providing Transitional Kindergarten for our youngest learners.” AB2268 will “ensure that the first educational experience for these students is positive and age-appropriate.”