BILL NUMBER: AB 2950 CHAPTERED 09/11/02 CHAPTER 463 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 11, 2002 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 11, 2002 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 27, 2002 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY MAY 23, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 11, 2002 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Strom-Martin FEBRUARY 25, 2002 An act to amend Sections 99200 and 99206 of the Education Code, relating to instructional strategies. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2950, Strom-Martin. Instructional strategies: subject matter projects. (1) Existing law provides for the establishment and maintenance of 6 subject matter projects by the Regents of the University of California with the approval of the Concurrence Committee. Existing law provides that these subject matter projects are to create opportunities for researchers, higher education faculty, and elementary and secondary school faculty to work together to identify exemplary teaching practices, examine and develop research on learning, knowledge, and educational materials and to provide support to teachers to develop and enhance content knowledge and pedagogical skills. Existing law also requests the Regents of the University of California to jointly develop with the Trustees of the California State University and the independent colleges and universities, the California Professional Development Institutes that provide training to teachers in various subject matters taught in the elementary and secondary schools. Existing law provides that the provisions concerning the subject matter projects and the professional development institutes will become inoperative on June 30, 2002, and will be repealed as of January 1, 2003. This bill would extend the inoperative date to June 30, 2007, and the repeal date to January 1, 2008, and would make these provisions applicable only to the subject matter projects, thereby eliminating the inoperative date and repeal date for the California Professional Development Institutes. (2) Existing law requires a 4-year independent evaluation of the effectiveness of the subject matter projects to be reported to the State Board of Education, the Governor, and the Legislature by July 1, 2002, and requires annual reports of the preliminary results of this evaluation beginning July 1, 2000. This bill would require the independent evaluation to be reported by February 1, 2006, and would require annual reports of the preliminary results of the evaluation beginning February 1, 2004. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 99200 of the Education Code is amended to read: 99200. (a) With funds appropriated therefor, and with the approval of the Concurrence Committee, the Regents of the University of California shall establish and maintain cooperative endeavors designed to accomplish the following: (1) Develop and enhance teachers' subject matter knowledge in the subject matter areas specified in Section 99201. (2) Develop and enhance teachers' instructional strategies to improve student learning and academic performance as measured against State Board of Education standards adopted pursuant to Section 60605. (3) Provide teachers with access to and opportunity to examine current research that is demonstrably linked to improved student learning and achievement as measured by performance levels on state tests administered pursuant to Section 60605. (4) Maintain subject-specific professional communities that create ongoing opportunities for teacher learning and research. (5) Develop and deploy as teacher leaders, teachers with demonstrated levels of expertise in the classroom and certifiable levels of content knowledge. (b) The duties of the Concurrence Committee shall include, but need not be limited to, all of the following: (1) Ensuring that the statewide and local subject matter projects comply with requirements of this chapter. (2) Developing rules and regulations for the statewide subject matter projects. (3) Selecting a contractor for a four-year independent evaluation of the effectiveness of the subject matter projects. (c) An independent evaluation of the effectiveness of the subject matter projects shall be performed by a contractor selected pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (b), and shall be reported to the State Board of Education, the Governor, and the Legislature by February 1, 2006. Preliminary results shall be reported annually beginning February 1, 2004. The evaluation shall include, but not be limited to: (1) Documenting the impact of participation in the program on student achievement in the statewide tests administered pursuant to Section 60605. (2) Measuring the results of research on learning, knowledge, and educational materials developed by the statewide subject matter projects. (3) Documenting the quantity, quality, cost-effectiveness, and inclusiveness of subject matter project programs. (4) The impact of the subject matter projects on the performance levels of low-performing schools affiliated with the subject matter projects. (d) Grants to establish local sites of statewide subject matter projects shall be available to institutions of higher education, county offices of education and school districts, or any combination thereof, with a subject matter proposal approved pursuant to this article. Once established, each subject matter project shall be administered by the University of California in cooperation with the Concurrence Committee. Local sites of statewide subject matter projects shall be distributed throughout the state so that elementary, secondary, and postsecondary school personnel located in rural, urban, and suburban areas may avail themselves of subject matter projects. (e) The composition of the Concurrence Committee shall be as follows: (1) One representative selected by the Regents of the University of California. (2) One representative selected by the Board of Trustees of the California State University. (3) Two representatives selected by the State Board of Education. (4) One representative selected by the Governor. (5) One representative selected by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing. (6) One representative selected by the Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission. (7) One representative of the California Community Colleges selected by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. (8) One representative of an independent postsecondary institution selected by the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities. SEC. 2. Section 99206 of the Education Code is amended to read: 99206. This article shall become inoperative on June 30, 2007, and, as of January 1, 2008, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute that is enacted before January 1, 2008, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.