(a)
By January 15, 2000, the Superintendent shall contract for a multiyear independent evaluation of the high school exit examination that is established pursuant to this chapter. The evaluation shall be based upon information gathered in field testing and annual administrations of the examination and shall include all of the following:
(1)
Analysis of pupil performance, broken down by grade level, gender, race or ethnicity, and subject matter of the examination, including trends that become apparent over time.
(2)
Analysis of the exit examination’s effects, if any, on college attendance, pupil retention, graduation,
and dropout rates, including analysis of these effects on the population subgroups described in subdivision (b).
(3)
Analysis of whether the exit examination is likely to have, or has, differential effects, whether beneficial or detrimental, on population subgroups described in subdivision (b).
(b)
Evaluations conducted pursuant to this section shall separately consider test results for each of the following population subgroups, provided that information concerning individuals shall not be gathered or disclosed in the process of preparing this evaluation.
(1)
English language learners and non-English language learners.
(2)
Individuals with exceptional needs and individuals without exceptional needs.
(3)
Pupils who qualify for free or reduced price meals and are enrolled in schools that qualify for assistance under Title 1 of the federal Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-382) and pupils that do not qualify for free or reduced price meals and are not enrolled in schools that qualify for assistance under Title 1 of the federal Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-382).
(4)
Any group of pupils that has been determined by the independent evaluator to be differentially affected by the exit examination established pursuant to this chapter.
(c)
Evaluation reports shall include recommendations to improve the quality, fairness, validity, and reliability of the examination. The independent evaluator also may make recommendations for revisions in design, administration, scoring, processing, or use of the examination.
(d)
The independent evaluator shall report to the Governor, the Office of the Legislative Analyst, the Superintendent, the state board, and the chairs of the education policy committees in both houses of the Legislature, in accordance with the following schedule:
(1)
Preliminary report on field testing by July 1, 2000.
(2)
First annual report by February 1, 2002.
(3)
Regular biennial reports by February 1 of even-numbered years following 2002.