CBET Announcement
January 3, 2007
Dear County and District Superintendents:
AMENDMENTS TO COMMUNITY-BASED ENGLISH TUTORING PROGRAM
The Community-Based English Tutoring (CBET) program was enacted after public approval of Proposition 227 in June 1998, and it has been supported by a $50 million dollar annual appropriation for the past ten fiscal years (FY). This appropriation format is scheduled to conclude at the end of FY 2006-07. Beginning with FY 2007-08, the CBET program will be included as an item for consideration during the approval of the Annual Budget Act.
The continuance of CBET programs beyond FY 2006-07 was supported when Senate Bill (SB) 368 was passed by the legislature in August 2006. The intent of the bill remains largely the same: to provide free or subsidized programs of adult English language instruction to parents or other members of the community who in turn pledge to provide personal English language tutoring to English learners in kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12). Within the text of SB 368 are two significant declarations by the legislature that will help to provide guidance to districts applying for funding during the FY 2007-08 application process:
- The more a parent or guardian is involved in the education of his or her child, the better the child will perform in school. Education Code (EC) Section 316.5 (a)(1)
- English language proficiency is critical to academic success.
EC Section 316.5 (a)(2)
Additional provisions of SB 368 require that CBET programs funded for FY 2007-08 include local school board approval of a detailed program plan and assessment protocol describing a pre-test and post-test process for adult participants in the program. Records of adult progress, using a measure described in your plan, must be analyzed by CBET staff members, the district superintendent, and the governing board.
Records shall additionally be maintained for students participating in the CBET program to include improvement in school attendance and progress on annual administrations of the Standardized Testing and Reporting system and the California English Language Development Test.
Assessment information collected during FY 2007-08 is to be reviewed as a condition for continued funding during FY 2008-09 and annually thereafter as long as CBET appropriations are awarded to support your local programs. Information collected from adult and student records must be used to revise your local CBET plan, as necessary, or at the very least once every three years. Superintendents should consider program effectiveness and implications for recruiting adult participants and staff development to further the goals of English language proficiency among the K-12 student population.
To assist you with the new provisions of SB 368, the Language Policy and Leadership Office (LPLO) has prepared regulations to be considered at the January meeting of the California State Board of Education. The LPLO is in the process of updating the CBET Web site to reflect the new amendments. For technical support, once documents have been approved, we will post a user-friendly template suggested for your CBET plan outline. Districts may use alternate formats for the plan as long as all assurances are addressed. View the full text of SB 368 (Outside Source) to become familiar with the required elements to be included in your local CBET Plan.
The timeline for the announcement of funding availability and application deadline will remain largely unchanged. You may expect an application availability announcement letter in mid-April of 2007. The deadline for application submission is scheduled to be June 1, 2007.
If you need additional information regarding CBET, please contact Mark Klinesteker, Consultant, LPLO, at 916-319-0271 or by e-mail at mklinesteker@cde.ca.gov.
Sincerely,
Veronica Aguila, Interim Director
Professional Development and Curriculum Support Division
VA:mk
1430 N Street
Sacramento, CA 95814