BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    






                          SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                               Gloria Romero, Chair
                            2009-2010 Regular Session
                                         

          BILL NO:       AJR 39
          AUTHOR:        Torlakson
          AMENDED:       May 10, 2010
          FISCAL COMM:   No             HEARING DATE:  June 16, 2010
          URGENCY:       No             CONSULTANT:Lynn Lorber

           SUBJECT  :   Common core standards: history-social science and  
          science.

           KEY POLICY ISSUES  

          Should the Legislature call upon the National Governors  
          Association (NGA) and Council of Chief State School Officers  
          (CCSSO) to develop common core standards in social studies  
          and science?

          Should the Legislature call upon these entities to consider  
          the development of common core standards in other subject  
          areas, such as foreign language, the arts, physical education  
          and career technical education? 

          Is this resolution necessary when the NGA and CCSSO have  
          already indicated they plan to develop common core standards  
          in science and possibly other subject areas?

           SUMMARY  

          This resolution calls upon the National Governors Association  
          and the Council of Chief State School Officers to replicate  
          the process used to develop English language arts and  
          mathematics common core standards to now develop common core  
          standards for social studies and science.

           BACKGROUND  

          Academic content standards define the knowledge, concepts,  
          and skills that pupils should acquire at each grade level.

          California has adopted content standards as follows:

                 English language arts - 1997
                 Mathematics - 1997



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                 History-Social Science - 1998
                 Science - 1998
                 English Language Development - 1999
                 Visual and Performing Arts - 2001
                 Physical Education - 2005
                 Career Technical Education - 2005
                 Health - 2008

          The development of common core standards in English language  
          arts and math, i.e., academic standards that are meant to be  
          used by states (voluntarily) across the nation, has been  
          undertaken by the National Governors Association's Center for  
          Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School  
          Officers, reportedly in consultation with teachers, parents,  
          content experts and administrators.  Forty eight states (all  
          but Texas and Alaska), the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico  
          and the Virgin Islands have signed on as participants in the  
          development of the common core standards.  States that  
          participate in the development of the standards are not  
          required to adopt the final common core standards.

          The final draft of the English language arts and mathematics  
          common core standards were released on June 2, 2010.  These  
          standards also include standards for literacy in  
          history-social studies, science and technical subjects  
          (understand words and phrases, learn to pay attention to  
          details, and read diagrams and charts).  These literacy  
          standards are meant to cover the academic language used in  
          those subjects but do not cover the subject matter content of  
          history-social science or science standards.

          These common core standards are not national standards per  
          se, as they were not developed by the United States  
          Department of Education nor are states required to adopt  
          these standards.  However, the United States Department of  
          Education is promoting this initiative through the Race to  
          the Top grant, for which applicant states can score points  
          for adopting common core standards.

          SB 1 of the Fifth Extraordinary Session (Steinberg, Chapter  
          2, 2010), which relates to the Race to the Top grant, among  
          other things, established a 21-member Academic Content  
          Standards Commission (Commission) for the purpose of  
          developing academic content standards in English language  
          arts and mathematics (at least 85% of these standards must be  
          the common core academic standards).  SB x5 1 established the  
          following deadlines:



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                 The Commission must present the standards it develops  
               to the State Board of Education (SBE) by July 15, 2010.

                 The SBE must either adopt or reject these standards  
               by August 2, 2010.  (Education Code  60605.8)  

          The first meeting of the Academic Content Standards  
          Commission is scheduled for June 17, 2010.

          In addition to making statutory changes relative to common  
          core standards, California has expressed a commitment to  
          consider adopting common core standards via the state's  
          applications for Race to the Top grant funding (in  
          applications for both the first and second rounds).   
          California's second round application states, "California  
          became a committed participant in the development of common  
          core standards in English-Language Arts and mathematics by  
          submitting a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on May 28, 2009,  
          with the National Governors Association and the Council of  
          Chief State School Officers.  The MOA was signed by the  
          Governor, the California State Board of Education President,  
          and the State 

          Superintendent of Public Instruction. The MOA clearly stated  
          an intention to adopt common core standards as long as they  
          'meet or exceed our own.'  The State intends to submit  
          evidence of adoption on or before August 2, 2010."

           ANALYSIS  

           This resolution  calls upon the National Governors Association  
          and the Council of Chief State School Officers to replicate  
          the process used to develop English-language arts and  
          mathematics common core standards to now develop common core  
          standards for social studies and science.

          This resolution further calls upon the National Governors  
          Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School  
          Officers (CCSSO) to also examine the viability of developing  
          common standards in other subject areas, including but not  
          limited to foreign language, the arts, physical education,  
          and career technical education.

           STAFF COMMENTS  

           1)   Need for the bill  :  According to the author, the Common  



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               Core Standards Initiative does not currently include  
               efforts to develop standards for other core subject  
               areas.  "Each new generation of students needs to be  
               equipped with the knowledge of history, geography,  
               economics and government, skills needed to make informed  
               decisions about complex public issues, attitudes that  
               support democratic practices, commitment to engage in  
               civic life, a strong understanding of the physical  
               world, including biology, chemistry, geology, astronomy  
               and physics, and a firm grasp of the scientific method  
               of discovery."

           2)   Only English and math  ?  The Common Core State Standards  
               Initiative website states, "English-language arts and  
               math were the first subjects chosen for the common core  
               state standards because these two subjects are skills,  
               upon which students build skill sets in other subject  
               areas.  They are also the subjects most frequently  
               assessed for accountability purposes.  Of course, other  
               subject areas are critical to young people's education  
               and their success in college and careers.  Once the  
               English-language arts and math standards are developed,  
               CCSSO and NGA Center, on behalf of the states, plan to  
               develop a common core of standards in science and  
               potentially additional subject areas."  Considering this  
               plan to develop common core standards in science and  
               possibly other subjects, is this resolution necessary?

           3)   Prior legislation  .  

                           AB 97 (Torlakson, 2009) would have required  
                    the Superintendent of Public Instruction to convene  
                    Academic Content and Performance Standards Review  
                    panels for the purpose of reviewing and  
                    recommending changes to the academic content  
                    standards for 

                    English language arts and mathematics.  AB 97 is on  
                    the inactive file on the Senate Floor. 

                           SB 1097 (Torlakson, 2008) would have  
                    established a process for review and revision of  
                    the reading/language arts and history/social 
                    science academic content standards.  SB 1097 was  
                    vetoed by the Governor, whose veto message read:

                    The original academic content standards were  



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                         adopted through a 
                    public and inclusive process involving teachers,  
                         educators and
                    content experts from around the state.  The  
                         authorizing statute 
                    provided that the Governor retain a majority of  
                         appointments to
                    the Standards Commission, followed by the  
                         Superintendent and 
                    leadership in the legislature and correctly held  
                         the Governor 
                    ultimately accountable to ensure a balance of  
                         expertise and 
                    stakeholders participated in such a critical  
                         endeavor.  This bill 
                    proposes to dilute the role of the Governor.

                    SB 1097 also deletes a provision codified by the  
                         original statute 
                    that explicitly authorized the State Board of  
                         Education (Board) to 
                    modify any proposed content standards prior to  
                         adoption.   
                    Instead, it only allows the Board to accept or  
                         reject proposed 
                    changes.  The Board would not have authority to  
                         make even 
                    minor corrections to the panel's recommended  
                         changes.

                    I see no compelling reason to alter the balance  
                         established by 
                    the original statute in determining the composition  
                         of the 
                    commission that reviewed the academic content, or  
                         the process 
                    that provided for recommendations to the Board for 
                    consideration, modification, and approval.

                    Furthermore, while I would welcome participation by  
                         teachers, 
                    the measure does not define "recent public  
                         classroom 
                    experience" and thereby raises the possibility of  
                         controversy 
                    regarding whether or not certain members of the  
                         panel are duly 



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                    authorized to participate.

                    I cannot support the dilution of the authority of  
                         the Governor or 
                    the State Board of Education.  California's content  
                         standards are 
                    too important to allow for unnecessary ambiguity  
                         that could call 
                    into question the very process of a historic review  
                         and possible 
                    modification.
          
           SUPPORT
           
          Association of California School Administrators
          California Alliance for Arts Education
          California Association for Health, Physical Education,  
          Recreation and Dance
          California Council for the Social Studies

          California Language Teachers Association
          California Science Teachers Association
          California State PTA

           OPPOSITION
           
          None received.