California Assembly Bill 770, which is currently being considered in theState Assembly,would require the chancellor of the California Community Colleges to distribute funding to programs that are based on “evidence-based models of academic assessment and placement, remediation, and student support that accelerate the progress of underprepared students toward achieving postsecondary educational and career goals.” The full text of AB770 can be found at:

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB770

AB770argues that national research and evidence from California shows that extensive remedial coursework causes students to fail to complete college English requirements and to make it less likely they will attain a degree. The amendment willprovide fundingfor innovate programs based on a number of principles, including multiple measures of assessment and placement, aligning course content withacademic and professional writing expectations, and completion of college-level English within a three-course sequence or less.

The amendment reflects a number of recent best practices in Basic Writing in its emphasis on multiple measures of assessment and placement rather than reliance on a single timed test, accelerated curriculum models, and alignment of Basic Writing curriculum with the expectations of academic and professional writing rather than a “basic skills” focus.