BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 1
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          Date of Hearing:   March 18, 2009

                           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                                Julia Brownley, Chair
                  AB 1 (Monning) - As Introduced:  December 1, 2008
           
          SUBJECT  :   Teachers: program of professional growth: conflict  
          resolution.

           SUMMARY  :   Authorizes an individual program of professional  
          growth for teachers to include courses in negotiation, mediation  
          and conflict resolution.  Specifically,  this bill  :  

          1)Authorizes an individual program of professional growth to  
            include courses in negotiation, mediation and conflict  
            resolution, including peer mediation training and the theory  
            and practice of nonviolence.  

          2)Specifies courses may include the following components:

             a)   Basic negotiation skills;

             b)   Communication skills, including cross-cultural  
               communication;

             c)   Basic mediation and peer mediation training; and,

             d)   Theory and practice of nonviolence and peace building.

          3)Specifies a teacher who elects to pursue a course in  
            negotiation, mediation and conflict resolution, may introduce  
            appropriate conflict resolution skills to pupils through  
            classroom instruction, including, but not limited to, the core  
            curriculum areas of reading, writing, mathematics,  
            history/social science, and science.                        

           EXISTING LAW  : 

          1)Specifies an individual program of professional growth may  
            consist of activities that are aligned with the California  
            Standards for the Teaching Profession that contribute to  
            competence, performance, or effectiveness in the profession of  
            education and classroom assignments of the teachers; a basic  
            course in cardiopulmonary resuscitation; and, a course in  
            first aid.  (Education Code Section 44277)








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          2)Specifies acceptable activities of an individual program of  
            professional growth may include, the completion of courses  
            offered by regionally accredited colleges and universities,  
            online courses, participation in professional conferences,  
            workshops, teacher center programs, staff development programs  
            or instruction provided by the California Reading Professional  
            Development Program, service as a mentor teacher,  
            participation in systematic programs of observation and  
            analysis of teaching, service in a leadership role in a  
            professional organization, and participation in educational  
            research or innovation efforts. (Education Code Section 44277)

          3)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to award  
            grants through the Administrator Training Program for training  
            in numerous areas including conflict resolution.  (Education  
            Code Section 44511)

          4)Authorizes funds from the School Safety and Violence  
            Prevention Act be used to hire school personnel trained in  
            conflict resolution. (Education Code Section 32228.1)

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   This bill is keyed non-fiscal.

           COMMENTS  :    Background  . As of January 1, 2007, professional  
          growth requirements for the renewal of teacher credentials were  
          no longer required.  SB 1209 (Scott), Chapter 517, Statutes of  
          2006, repealed the requirement for teachers to participate in  
          150 hours of professional growth.  Instead, statute was enacted  
          expressing the Legislature's intent to encourage teachers to  
          engage in programs of professional growth to extend their  
          content knowledge and teaching skill.

          As a result, teachers have the option to participate and enroll  
          on their own time in professional growth programs as a method  
          for improving their teaching skills and enhancing their  
          classroom environment.  Professional growth programs consist of  
          activities that are aligned with the California Standards for  
          the Teaching Profession (CSTP).  AB 1 authorizes coursework in  
          conflict resolution to be part of a program of professional  
          growth.  

          The existing program standards for both multiple and single  
          subject teacher preparation programs currently include a  
          requirement in Standard #10 for teacher candidates to have  








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          "opportunities to learn and practice effective strategies and  
          techniques for crisis prevention, conflict management, and  
          resolution in ways that contribute to respectful, effective  
          learning environments, including recognizing and defusing  
          situations that may lead to student conflict or violence."  This  
          means all teachers trained since the initial adoption of these  
          standards in 2001, have had some training in conflict management  
          and resolution while existing teachers may not have had this  
          training in their teacher preparation program.  Therefore under  
          AB 1, both new teachers and experienced teachers would be able  
          to further explore their knowledge through their individual  
          professional growth program.  In addition, the proposed  
          coursework in conflict resolution also addresses several of the  
          California Standards for the Teaching Profession and could  
          compliment existing teaching practices for those teachers who  
          choose to pursue coursework in this area, and in the future  
          could be included in existing curriculum taught to students. 

          AB 1 authorizes programs of professional growth to include  
          courses in negotiation, mediation and conflict resolution and  
          highlights the importance for teachers to consider pursuing  
          coursework in this area.  It is unclear; however, whether  
          legislation is necessary to achieve the outcome the author is  
          interested in seeing, since programs of professional growth are  
          voluntary.

          According to the author, conflict resolution represents a range  
          of processes that can be employed to reduce or eliminate  
          conflict or to take advantage of a mutual opportunity.  Conflict  
          resolution processes include negotiation, basic and peer  
          mediation, arbitration, and diplomacy.  Today's teachers often  
          find themselves confronting societal pressures and stresses  
          manifested in the classroom.  Diversity in student population,  
          conflict at home, and bullying by peers represent examples of  
          conflict that directly or indirectly confront teachers.   
          Additionally, students face an array of conflict and  
          negotiations in virtually all of life's arenas: home, school,  
          employment, social groupings, etc.  Providing teachers with  
          enhanced skills to address conflict in the classroom or on the  
          schoolyard as well as providing the tools for the introduction  
          of negotiation and mediation skills to students through already  
          established curriculum will inure to the safety of our schools  
          as well as to the promotion of a culture of principled conflict  
          resolution practice.









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           School Safety and Violence Prevention Act  . The Carl Washington  
          School Safety and Violence Prevention Act, provides funds to  
          school districts to hire personnel such as school counselors,  
          social workers, or nurses who are trained in conflict  
          resolution; purchase on-campus communication devices; establish  
          in-service staff training for school staff to identify at-risk  
          pupils; provide instructional curricula and materials to equip  
          pupils with skills and understanding necessary to prevent school  
          violence; establish arrangements with local law enforcement  
          agencies for appropriate school-community relationships; prevent  
          and respond to acts of hate violence and bias-related incidents,  
          including implementation of programs and instructional  
          curricula; and any other purpose that the school or district  
          determines would materially contribute to the goals of safe  
          schools and preventing violence among pupils.  The Act provides  
          grants based on a per pupil allocation, with a minimum of $5,000  
          per schoolsite or $10,000 per school district, to develop  
          strategies and train staff in preventing and reducing violence  
          at the schoolsite.  In the 2008-2009 budget year, the School  
          Safety Block Grant allocation was $85 million.  It is possible  
          that some of these existing funds have been used in the past to  
          hire personnel trained in conflict resolution, although due to  
          the changes enacted in the most recent Budget Act, the School  
          Safety Block Grant is among those programs that are authorized  
          to be used for alternative instructional programs. 

           School District Programs  . Some school districts have implemented  
          conflict resolution programs into student curriculum on their  
          own.  One such program, adopted by the Santa Monica/Malibu  
          Unified School District is Cool Tools, an innovative conflict  
          resolution system developed at UCLA Lab School.  Cool Tools  
          vividly teaches lifelong strategies for handling all forms of  
          bullying.  It was created to ensure a caring community in which  
          all students feel safe to learn and play without threats of  
          physical, verbal or non-verbal harassment of any type.

           What Other States are Doing  . Other states, such as Ohio, have  
          implemented statewide dispute resolution and conflict management  
          programs that provide resources and training to Ohio schools.   
          North Carolina requires teacher training programs to include  
          coursework in management of student behavior and effective  
          communication techniques for defusing and deescalating  
          disruptive or dangerous behavior.  Some North Carolina schools  
          have resource coordinators that research and select conflict  
          resolution educational programs to incorporate into existing  








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          curriculum for students at the school.  Illinois requires  
          schools to provide instruction in violence prevention and  
          conflict resolution to students in grades 4 through 12.

           Related legislation  : SB 1209 (Scott), Chapter 517, Statutes of  
          2006, repealed the requirement for teachers to participate in  
          150 hours of professional growth as a condition of credential  
          renewal.  

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   
           Support 
           California Teachers Association (CTA)

           Opposition 
           None on file.
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087