TITLE: CONCERNING STATEWIDE ASSESSMENTS OF STUDENTS WITH LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY.

Fiscal Impact Summary	FY 1999/2000	FY 2000/2001
State Revenues General Fund
State Expenditures General Fund	$147,110	$147,110
FTE Position Change	0.0 FTE	0.0 FTE
Other State Impact: None
Effective Date: Upon signature of the Governor
Appropriation Summary for FY 1999-2000: Department of Education - $147,110 General Fund
Local Government Impact: None

This bill requires that when adopting the state assessments, in addition to the English versions of the state assessments, the State Board of Education may adopt assessments developed and written in a language other than English for the purpose of assessing students whose dominant language is not English. The bill requires the Department of Education to administer the English versions of the state assessments and any assessments adopted by the State Board in a language other than English, as may be appropriate for students whose dominant language is not English.

The bill is permissive since it allows, but does not require, the State Board to adopt the assessments in a language other than English. Therefore, the bill is assessed as having a conditional state fiscal impact.

The Colorado Student Assessment Program administered reading and writing assessment tests to 3^rd and 4^th grade students during the 1996-97 and 1997-98 academic years in both English and Spanish. The Spanish version was given to approximately 2,450 non-English speaking students per year. The additional annual costs associated with providing the Spanish version was $147,110. This includes expenses for printing, distribution, and scoring, and are net of any cost savings for not giving the English version of the assessment to these students.

For the 1998-99 academic year, the Spanish version of the assessment was not funded, and a supplemental request for the test was not approved. However, the Spanish version was provided to students. The decision item for assessments for FY 1999-00 was approved without the additional funding for the Spanish version. It is assumed that without funding for the Spanish version, the assessment will no longer be offered statewide. If the State Board of Education formally adopts the use of reading and writing assessment tests to 3^rd and 4^th grade students in Spanish in the future, the additional annual General Fund appropriation necessary to conduct the tests is $147,110.

The fiscal note implies that the Department of Education requires a General Fund appropriation of $147,110 in FY 1999-00 to implement the bill.