It is the intention of the Legislature in enacting this article that:
(a) Evaluations shall be performed in such a manner as to minimize the resources required of school districts in the collection, analysis, and reporting of evaluation information. In order to achieve this goal, program evaluations shall require only that information which is essential to the State Department of Education for carrying out statutorily mandated functions, and shall be conducted only as necessary for the conduct of those functions. In addition, in evaluations of state-funded programs, the department may use sampling procedures as it determines to be appropriate based on professional standards.
(b) Evaluations shall be performed and reported in such a manner as to maximize their utility to decisionmakers in the Legislature.