BILL NUMBER: AB 97 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 19, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 23, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Torlakson
JANUARY 6, 2009
An act to amend and repeal Section 60605 of, and to add and repeal
Section 60605.4 of, the Education Code, relating to school
curriculum.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 97, as amended, Torlakson. School curriculum: content
standards.
Existing law, operative until July 1, 2011, and to be repealed on
January 1, 2012, requires the State Board of Education to adopt
statewide academic content standards and performance standards, based
on the recommendation of the Commission for the Establishment of
Academic Content and Performance Standards and the Superintendent of
Public Instruction, respectively. Existing law authorizes the state
board to modify any proposed content standard or performance standard
prior to its adoption.
This bill would instead repeal these provisions on January 1,
2017, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January
1, 2017, deletes or extends that date. This bill would delete the
provisions allowing the state board to modify the recommended
standards prior to adoption.
The bill would require the Superintendent to convene an Academic
Content and Performance Standards Review Panel for the
English-language arts and mathematics curriculum area content
standards adopted by the state board. Teachers appointed to the
panels would be required to meet specified requirements, and in
choosing members for the panels, the specified appointing authorities
would be required to consult with each other to ensure that each
review panel consists of members who meet prescribed requirements.
The bill would require each review panel to review the content and
performance standards in its particular curriculum area, and
recommend changes to the state board as the review panel may deem
necessary.
This bill would require the state board to hold hearings on the
recommended changes to the standards, and adopt or reject the
recommended changes to the standards within 120 days of receipt from
the review panel, and at least 2 years prior to the adoption of the
curriculum framework for the relevant subject area. The bill would
require the state board, if it does not adopt the recommended
changes, to provide a specific, written explanation of the reasons
why the recommended changes were not adopted. The bill would
authorize a review panel to modify the recommendations to correct
deficiencies identified by the state board and to resubmit the
recommended changes for adoption. The bill would provide that upon
recommendation of the Superintendent, the state board shall adopt a
schedule for reviewing the science and history-social science
curriculum area content standards so they can be reviewed when
funding permits, as specified. The bill would not be implemented
unless an appropriation is specifically enacted for the purposes of
the bill.
The bill would make these provisions inoperative on January 1,
2014, and repeal them on January 1, 2015, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2015, deletes or extends
that date.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 60605 of the Education Code is amended to read:
60605. (a) (1) (A) Not later than January 1, 1998, the state
board shall adopt statewide academically rigorous content standards,
pursuant to the recommendations of the Commission for the
Establishment of Academic Content and Performance Standards, in the
core curriculum areas of reading, writing, and mathematics to serve
as the basis for assessing the academic achievement of individual
pupils and of schools, school districts, and the California
educational system. Not later than November 1, 1998, the state board
shall adopt these standards in the core curriculum areas of
history/social science and science.
(B) The state board shall adopt statewide performance standards in
the core curriculum areas of reading, writing, mathematics,
history/social science, and science based on the recommendations made
by the Superintendent of a contractor or contractors.
(C) The state board shall require the contractor or contractors to
submit performance standards to the Superintendent and the state
board not later than a specified date that allows sufficient
opportunity for the Superintendent to make a recommendation to the
state board and for the state board to conduct regional hearings
prior to the adoption of the performance standards.
(2) (A) The state performance standards shall be established
against specific grade level benchmarks of academic achievement for
each subject area tested, and shall be based on the knowledge and
skills that pupils will need in order to succeed in the
information-based, global economy of the 21st century. These skills
shall not include personal behavioral standards or skills, including,
but not necessarily limited to, honesty, sociability, ethics, or
self-esteem. The standards adopted pursuant to this section shall be
for the purpose of guiding state decisions regarding the development,
adoption, and approval of assessment instruments pursuant to this
chapter, and shall not mandate any actions or activities by school
districts.
(B) Because these standards are models, the adoption of these
standards is not subject to the Administrative Procedure Act. This
subparagraph is declaratory of existing law.
(3) Before adopting academic content and performance standards,
the state board shall hold regional hearings for the purpose of
giving parents and other members of the public the opportunity to
comment on the proposed standards.
(b) (1) The state board shall ensure that the statewide assessment
system adopted pursuant to this chapter yields valid, reliable
individual pupil scores and, if applicable, aggregate school scores,
school district scores, and statewide scores of pupils, and assesses
basic academic skills and content standards, including the use of a
direct writing assessment or other applied academic skills if deemed
valid and reliable and if resources are made available for their use.
(2) This subdivision does not prevent the state board from
developing or adopting an assessment instrument that also contains
assessments of basic academic skills.
(c) To the extent feasible and as otherwise required, the state
board shall ensure that assessments developed, or contracted for,
pursuant to Section 60642.5 by the state are aligned with the
statewide content and performance standards adopted pursuant to
subdivision (a), or pursuant to Section 60605.4. The department, with
the approval of the state board, periodically shall contract for a
review of the achievement test for conformance with these standards.
(d) After adopting statewide content and performance standards,
the state board shall review the existing curriculum frameworks for
conformity with the new statewide standards, and shall modify the
curriculum frameworks, if appropriate, to bring them into alignment
with the standards.
(e) The state board shall adopt regulations for the conduct and
administration of the testing and assessment program.
(f) The state board shall adopt a regulation for minimum security
procedures that test and assessment publishers and school districts
shall follow to ensure the security and integrity of test and
assessment questions and materials.
(g) Notwithstanding Section 60601, this section shall remain in
effect only until January 1, 2017, and as of that date is repealed,
unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1,
2017, deletes or extends that date.
SEC. 2. Section 60605.4 is added to the Education Code, to read:
60605.4. (a) The Superintendent shall convene an Academic Content
and Performance Standards Review Panel, consisting of 13 members,
for the English language arts and mathematics curriculum area content
standards adopted pursuant to this chapter.
(1) The members of each review panel shall be as follows:
(A) Six members appointed by the Governor, at least
four of whom shall be credentialed teachers and have public
school classroom experience who, in at least five of
the previous seven years, have taught in California public school
classrooms in the curriculum area and in those grade levels for
which they are appointed.
(B) The Superintendent, or his or her designee.
(C) Four members appointed by the Superintendent, at least
three of whom shall be credentialed teachers and have
public school classroom experience who, in at least
five of the previous seven years, have taught in California public
school classroo ms in the curriculum area and in
those grade levels for which they are appointed.
(D) One member appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules.
(E) One member appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.
(2) Members of each panel shall serve a two-year term at the
pleasure of the appointing authority.
(3) It is the intent of the Legislature that the membership of
each review panel include, but not necessarily be limited to,
parents, classroom teachers, representatives of the business
community, and individuals with expertise in the curriculum areas
included within the content standards.
(4) In making appointments to each review panel, the appointing
authorities specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) shall
consult with each other to ensure that each review panel consists of
all of the following:
(A) Individuals with expertise in the academic subject matter
under review.
(B) Individuals who are knowledgeable about the following:
(i) Urban and rural schools.
(ii) English learners.
(iii) Special education.
(C) Individuals from different geographical areas of the state.
(D) Individuals who reflect the ethnic and gender diversity of
California.
(b) Each Academic Content and Performance Standards Review Panel
shall review the content standards and performance standards approved
by the state board to ensure that the standards meet all of, but are
not limited to, the following:
(1) Are measurable and objective.
(2) Reflect the knowledge and skills necessary for California's
workforce to be competitive in the global, information-based economy
of the 21st century.
(3) Are comparable in rigor to academic content and performance
standards used in the school systems of America's global economic
competitors.
(4) Provide the basis for statewide assessments.
(5) Provide for grade level continuity
continuity in content between grade levels .
(c) Each Academic Content and Performance Standards Review Panel
shall review the content and performance standards established in its
particular curriculum area, and shall recommend changes to the state
board as it may deem necessary.
(d) If an Academic Content and Performance Standards Review Panel
recommends changes to the content or performance standards in its
particular curriculum area, it shall forward the recommended changes
to the state board. The state board shall hold hearings on the
recommended changes to the standards. The state board shall adopt or
reject the recommended changes to the standards within 120 days of
their receipt from a review panel, and at least two years prior to
the adoption of curriculum frameworks for the relevant subject area.
(e) If the recommended changes to the content or performance
standards submitted by an Academic Content and Performance Standards
Review Panel are rejected, the state board shall provide a specific,
written explanation of the reasons why the submitted recommendations
were not adopted. The review panel may modify the recommendations to
correct deficiencies identified by the state board, and may resubmit
recommended changes for adoption by the state board.
(f) A member of an Academic Content and Performance Standards
Review Panel shall serve without compensation, except for
reimbursement for actual and necessary travel expenses.
(g) Upon recommendation of the Superintendent, the state board
shall adopt a schedule for reviewing the science and history-social
science curriculum area content standards so they can be reviewed,
when funding permits, pursuant to the process established in this
section.
(h) This section shall not be implemented unless an appropriation
is provided specifically for the purposes of this section in the
annual Budget Act or another statute.
(i) Notwithstanding Section 60601, this section shall become
inoperative on January 1, 2014, and as of January 1, 2015, is
repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before
January 1, 2015, deletes or extends that date.