BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 1290
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          Date of Hearing:   June 16, 2010

                           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                                Julia Brownley, Chair
                    SB 1290 (Kehoe) - As Amended:  April 28, 2010

           SENATE VOTE  :  25-3
           
          SUBJECT  :  Physical education: self-defense and safety  
          instruction.

           SUMMARY  :  Requires the state board of education (SBE) to include  
          self-defense and safety instruction in the next revision of the  
          physical education (PE) framework for students in grades 7, 8,  
          9, 11 and 12.  Specifically,  this bill  defines:  

          1)Self-defense instruction to include, but not necessarily be  
            limited to, martial arts, boxing, and other defensive  
            techniques.

          2)Safety instruction to include, but not necessarily be limited  
            to, awareness and avoidance of potentially dangerous  
            situations.

           EXISTING LAW  : 

          1)Requires high school PE to be judged on whether or not the  
            course of study provides for instruction in each of the  
            following areas: effects of physical activity upon dynamic  
            health, mechanics of body movement, aquatics, gymnastics and  
            tumbling, individual and dual sports, rhythms and dance, team  
            sports, and combatives for boys.  (California Code of  
            Regulation, Title 5, Section 10060)

          2)Provides a framework for self-defense instruction to be  
            included in course two of high school PE in the combatives  
            section.  (2009 Physical Education Framework)

          3)Defines combative activities to include wrestling, fencing,  
            boxing, kickboxing, martial arts, and self-defense.  (2009  
            Physical Education Framework)

          4)Prohibits the SBE from reviewing frameworks and adopting  
            instructional materials until the 2013-14 school year.   
            (Education Code  60200.7)  








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           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown

           COMMENTS  :  This bill requires the PE frameworks to be revised to  
          include self-defense and safety instruction in grades 7, 8, 9,  
          11 and 12.  The committee should consider whether it is  
          appropriate to codify specific instructional topics for a  
          certain course subject.  If one considers PE just like any other  
          content area, should the state be more prescriptive with regard  
          to PE instructional topics, as compared to the other subject  
          areas?  

          According to the author, the intent of SB 1290 is to provide  
          school districts with enhanced authority to better prepare  
          students to avoid and handle threatening situations when they  
          arise.  On February 25, 2010, a 17-year-old San Diego County  
          resident named Chelsea King was attacked and killed after  
          apparently jogging alone near Lake Hodges.  The attacker has  
          confessed to the murders of both Chelsea and Amber Dubois, a 14  
          year-old victim who was killed in February 2009.  Following his  
          arrest, another jogger came forward to allege that she had been  
          assaulted by the same man two months earlier.  That jogger had  
          received martial arts training and was able to fend off the  
          attack.  Although she had received training in advanced  
          self-defense techniques, her experience demonstrates the public  
          value of educating students on basic self-defense techniques.   
          In an effort to help give all students basic instruction on how  
          to defend themselves against physical assault, SB 1290 aims to  
          incorporate self-defense training into the PE framework for high  
          school students.  The bill may not turn California public school  
          students into self-defense experts, but it will ensure that  
          school districts have the option of making pupils familiar with  
          methods of avoiding physical assault and increasing awareness of  
          how to handle unsafe situations.  

           Physical Education Content Standards, Framework & Regulation  .   
          The PE model content standards provide guidance for developing  
          PE programs by identifying what each student in California  
          should know and be able to do at each grade level.  The  
          standards highlight the fact that participation in physical  
          activity is not the same as learning the content in PE.  The  
          content standards address a student's ability to demonstrate  
          motor skills, movement patterns, knowledge of physical fitness,  
          and knowledge of psychological and sociological concepts that  
          apply to physical activity, among others.  Decisions about how  








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          best to teach the standards are left to teachers, schools, and  
          local educational agencies.  

          The PE framework assists administrators and teachers with  
          instituting standards-based PE instruction and programs that are  
          effective for every student; and, provides instructional  
          suggestions for teachers on each standard at each grade level.   
          The framework describes the why, when, and how of assessing  
          student learning and presents detailed examples of different  
          types of assessment.  Focusing on the tools for standards-based  
          instruction, the framework highlights the instructional content  
          of the model content standards, student assessments,  
          instructional considerations, universal access, support, and  
          instructional resources.  

          Specifically with regard to self-defense instruction, the PE  
          framework suggests that high school course two (which is grade  
          10) should address three content areas: combatives, gymnastics  
          and tumbling, and team activities.  The framework states,  
          "self-defense is one option for addressing the content area of  
          combatives.  Because it is directly related to student safety,  
          it is an important area for physical educators to teach and  
          students to learn.  The emphasis of this unit is on how to  
          defend, not how to fight.  The unit begins with students  
          learning about potentially unsafe situations and how to avoid  
          them.  Safety skills are the initial focus of instruction.  Only  
          after learning safety skills do students begin to learn how to  
          protect themselves should they be attacked."  Because  
          self-defense and safety are already included in the PE framework  
          for grade 10, this bill only requires the inclusion of  
          self-defense and safety for grades, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12.

          State regulation also specifies that school districts shall  
          judge the quality of a high school PE program based upon whether  
          or not the course of study provides for instruction in each of  
          the following areas: effects of physical activity upon dynamic  
          health, mechanics of body movement, aquatics, gymnastics and  
          tumbling, individual and dual sports, rhythms and dance, team  
          sports, and combatives for boys.  

           Framework Adoption Process  .  The process of adopting  
          instructional materials begins with the review and update of the  
          curriculum framework.  The framework development process  
          typically takes 24 months from initiation to approval by the  
          SBE.  Once the framework for a particular subject is adopted by  








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          the SBE, the instructional material adoption process begins,  
          which includes submissions from publishers, review by the  
          Instructional Materials Advisory Reviewer and Content Review  
          Expert, Curriculum Commission hearings and SBE adoption.  The  
          adoption process typically takes 30 months.  Schools were  
          required to provide pupils with instructional materials within  
          24 months of adoption by SBE, but this requirement is suspended  
          from the 2008-09 to 2012-13 fiscal year.  

          The processes for reviewing frameworks and adopting  
          instructional materials has been suspended since July 2009,  
          pursuant to AB 2 X4 (Evans), Chapter 2, Statutes of 2009, which  
          among other things, prohibited the SBE from reviewing frameworks  
          and adopting instructional materials until the 2013-14 school  
          year.  AB 2 also extended to the 2012-13 fiscal year the  
          suspension of the requirement to purchase instructional  
          materials within any specific period of time following adoption  
          of those materials by the SBE.  

          A number of recent bills have sought to amend the curriculum  
          standards and frameworks, and some have required instruction in  
          a particular subject matter.  Because the education code is  
          permissive, districts can offer self-defense instruction already  
          in high school.  The committee should also consider whether  
          self-defense and safety instruction should be included in the  
          next revision of the PE frameworks since they are the blueprint  
          for instruction in PE courses across the state.

           Committee Amendments  :  Staff recommends the bill be amended to  
          require the SBE and the Curriculum Development and Supplemental  
          Materials Commission to include these provisions in the next  
          revision of the PE framework.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

           Support 
           
          California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
          Planned Parenthood
          San Diego Unified School District
          WEAVE 
          Numerous Individuals
           
            Opposition 
           








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          None on file.

          Analysis Prepared by  :    Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087