BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1246|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1246
Author: Brownley (D), et al.
Amended: 8/24/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 6-2, 6/27/12
AYES: Lowenthal, Alquist, Liu, Price, Simitian, Vargas
NOES: Blakeslee, Huff
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner, Hancock, Vacancy
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 8/16/12
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Lieu, Price, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Dutton
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 50-27, 1/30/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Instructional materials
SOURCE : Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom
Torlakson
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
DIGEST : This bill establishes a new process for the
submission and review of instructional materials by
requiring the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI)
and authorizing school districts to review and recommend
materials for adoption by the State Board of Education
(SBE). This bill states legislative intent relative to
ensuring the adoption of instructional materials that are
aligned to the common core standards for mathematics and
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providing school districts flexibility in their use of
instructional materials. This bill add double-jointing
language with AB 1719 (Fuentes).
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/24/12 (1) make the enactment
of this bill contingent upon the enactment of AB 1719
(Fuentes), which requires the development and review of
supplemental instructional materials for English learners
to serve as a bridge between the revised English language
development standards and the California common core
English language arts standards, and (2) make technical
changes and state legislative intent relative to ensuring
the adoption of instructional materials that are aligned to
the common core standards for mathematics and providing
school districts flexibility in their use of instructional
materials.
ANALYSIS : Academic content standards define the
knowledge, concepts and skills that pupils should learn at
each grade level. Curricular frameworks serve as the
blueprint for how to implement the standards and provide
guidance to publishers, along with evaluation criteria, for
the development of instructional materials. The processes
for the revision of curricular frameworks and adoption of
instructional materials have been suspended since July 2009
and are suspended until the 2015-16 school year.
Notwithstanding the suspension, existing law requires the
development of frameworks specific to the common core
standards in English language arts and mathematics, and
evaluation criteria relative to supplemental instructional
materials that are aligned to the common core standards.
The role of the Curriculum Development and Supplemental
Materials Commission (Curriculum Commission) was recently
revised, and renamed the Instructional Quality Commission
(IQC), to focus on the development of frameworks and
professional development opportunities relative to the
common core standards in English language arts and
mathematics.
The currently suspended process for the review and adoption
of instructional materials involved the submission of
materials by publishers to the formerly-named
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Curriculum Commission for review by committees of the
Commission, public hearings of both the Commission and the
SBE, and adoption by the SBE. That process typically took
30 months.
The SBE is required to adopt instructional materials for
grades 1-8, pursuant to Article IX, Section 7.5 of the
California Constitution. The SBE adopts materials for K-8.
Existing law requires school districts to adopt
instructional materials for use in their high schools.
Only instructional materials of those publishers who comply
with specified requirements (basic academic and social
content reviews, and requirements for publishers) may be
locally adopted.
This bill revises the process for adopting instructional
materials for use in kindergarten and grades 1-8, inclusive
(K-8). Specifically, this bill:
1. Authorizes school districts and requires the SPI,
instead of the IQC, to recommend to the SBE
instructional materials for review and adoption, and
requires the following:
A. Instructional materials recommended by the SPI
or by a school district to meet existing criteria,
as specified;
B. Recommendations submitted from the SPI and
school districts to include reports of findings
that include information regarding alignment of
standards, program organization, pupil assessments,
teacher support, and support for English learners
and pupils with disabilities; and,
C. Instructional material review committees
convened by a school district for the purpose of
making recommendations to consist of a majority of
classroom teachers serving pupils in the grade in
which the instructional materials are to be used.
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2. Makes the instructional materials adoption cycles eight
years long for all content areas and authorizes the
submission of materials on a continuous basis, but
authorizes the Department of Education (CDE) to assess a
fee to a publisher to conduct a review if those
materials are submitted after a timeframe specified by
the SBE.
3. Authorizes publishers to submit materials to the SPI and
to school districts and authorizes school districts to
submit district developed or published materials to the
SBE.
4. Provides that the process of reviewing instructional
materials shall involve review committees that shall
include, but shall not be limited to, volunteer content
experts and reviewers that include a majority of
classroom teachers.
5. Specifies that the rules and procedures for the adoption
of instructional materials shall be transparent and
consistently applicable regardless of the format of the
instructional materials, which may include, but not be
limited to, print, digital, and open-source
instructional materials.
6. Deletes the requirement that the IQC review and
recommend instructional materials for adoption, and
instead, authorizes, at the request of the SBE, the IQC
to review instructional materials reports of findings,
hear appeals, and give independent advice to the SBE on
instructional materials.
7. Specifies that the provisions in 6) above shall not be
implemented unless funds are available in the Budget Act
for the IQC.
8. Requires the SBE to hold a public hearing before
adopting instructional materials for use in the
elementary schools of the state.
9. Makes the enactment of this bill contingent upon the
enactment of
AB 1719 (Fuentes), which requires the development and
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review of supplemental instructional materials for
English learners to serve as a bridge between the
revised English language development standards and the
California common core English language arts standards.
10.Makes technical changes and state legislative intent
relative to ensuring the adoption of instructional
materials that are aligned to the common core standards
for mathematics and providing school districts
flexibility in their use of instructional materials.
Comments
With the adoption of the common core academic content
standards, the state must ensure all students have access
to these recently adopted standards. AB 250 (Brownley),
Chapter 608, Statutes of 2011, started a comprehensive
process for implementing the common core standards, through
the development of curriculum frameworks and model
professional development modules. A prior version of AB
250 also sought to improve the instructional materials
adoption process, but those provisions were amended out of
the bill in the Senate, at the request of the
Administration for further deliberation. This bill
contains the provisions that were amended out of AB 250.
This bill makes changes to streamline the instructional
materials adoption process and give school districts the
opportunity to participate in the review of instructional
materials.
The current adoption process has been suspended until the
2015-16 school year, thus no instructional material
adoptions have taken place since the 2008 Reading Language
Arts adoption. A temporary measure, SB 140 (Lowenthal),
Chapter 623, Statutes of 2011, was enacted to ensure
availability of supplemental instructional materials that
are aligned to the common core academic content standards
during the time of the adoption suspension. The author's
intent is to have an improved process in place by the time
the state restarts the adoption of instructional materials.
Revising the K-8 instructional materials adoption process:
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The K-8 instructional materials adoption process has been
criticized for being overly complex and not giving school
districts enough flexibility and options for instructional
materials. This bill modifies the role of the IQC,
formerly the Curriculum Commission, in the instructional
materials adoption process, and requires the SPI and allows
school districts to submit recommendations to the SBE for
the adoption of instructional materials, instead of the
IQC. The IQC will continue to exist but will be primarily
responsible for developing and revising curriculum
frameworks and criteria, and will have a limited role in
the adoption of instructional materials at the request of
the SBE. This bill authorizes the SBE to request the IQC
to review reports of findings prepared by the SPI or school
districts and review instructional materials, as necessary.
The IQC will also serve as an appeals panel when disputes
emerge and in such cases, give independent advice to the
SBE on whether instructional materials meet the required
criteria.
The Legislative Analyst's Office notes in a 2007 report
titled, "Reforming California's Instructional Materials
Adoption Process," that removing the Curriculum Commission
from the process "would constrain the state-level
tendencies to override the evaluation decision of teachers
and other experts. In so doing, it likely would increase
the number of district options and reduce instructional
materials costs." This bill will give school districts the
opportunity to participate in the process of reviewing and
adopting instructional materials and in turn would provide
more flexibility and options for school districts. The
intent of this provision is to provide for a process that
is similar to the process used in the adoption of high
school instructional materials, whereby local school
districts review and adopt their own materials. However
because the California Constitution requires the SBE to
adopt instructional materials for use in K-8, this bill
maintains the authority for the SBE to approve or reject
instructional materials submitted by school districts.
A public and transparent process: The existing process
involves content experts and field reviewers that make
recommendations based on the extensive reviews they
conduct. The intent is to continue a similar open and
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public process that the SPI would coordinate. Together the
SPI and school districts would have the opportunity to make
recommendations that would in turn potentially result in a
comprehensive list of state-adopted instructional materials
that gives several program options for school districts to
choose from.
After textbooks are adopted by the SBE, school districts
have to conduct their own evaluation of instructional
materials and to select the materials that best meet the
needs of their students. Districts are given virtually no
information to compare the state-adopted materials when
they conduct their own reviews. This results in school
districts spending additional time and resources to
duplicate, in many instances, the efforts of experts who
have already reviewed materials at the state level. To
address the lack of information and to increase
transparency, this bill requires a report of findings from
school districts or the SPI along with specified
information be made available to districts and posted on
CDE's Internet Web site. For purposes of transparency,
this bill also requires the SBE to hold a public meeting
prior to the adoption of instructional materials.
Additionally, arguments have been made that the current
adoption process stifles rather than stimulates innovation,
and that an ongoing or rolling process might provide
opportunities to update materials more efficiently. To
that end, this bill allows for the continuous submission of
instructional materials, but would authorize the SBE to
specify a timeframe during an eight year cycle during which
the reviews would be conducted per existing practice of not
charging a review fee, and after that specified timeframe,
publishers would be assessed a fee to have their materials
reviewed. This is similar to how follow-up adoptions were
handled in the past.
Given that no adoptions are taking place at the present
moment, the timing for the changes proposed by this bill
may be appropriate, and disruptions are not likely to occur
as a result of this bill.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
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According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Codified legislative intent: $200,000-$400,000 to
conduct the feasibility study and produce the related
report, reliant on private funds. If private funds are
not available, this creates cost pressure for the
General Fund to conduct the study, and potentially to
implement recommendations.
Reviews: Significant state costs, which will be fully
recovered by publishers' fees.
Instructional materials: Substantial cost pressure for
local educational agencies to purchase new instructional
materials.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/27/12)
Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson
(co-source)
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce (co-source)
Association of California School Administrators
California School Boards Association
California State PTA
California Teachers Association
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Los Angeles County Office of Education
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "With the
adoption of the common core academic content standards, the
state must ensure all students have access to these
recently adopted standards. AB 250 (Brownley, Ch. 608,
2011) recently started a comprehensive process for
implementing the common core standards through the
development of curriculum frameworks and model professional
development. This bill will give school districts the
opportunity to participate in the process of reviewing and
adopting instructional materials and in turn would provide
more flexibility and options for school districts. The
existing process involves content experts and field
reviewers that make recommendations based on the extensive
reviews they conduct. The intent of this bill is to
continue a similar open and public process that the SPI
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would coordinate. Together the SPI and school districts
would have the opportunity to make recommendations that
would in turn potentially result in a comprehensive list of
state-adopted instructional materials that gives several
program options for school districts to choose from."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 50-27, 1/30/12
AYES: Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block,
Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan,
Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo,
Chesbro, Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes,
Furutani, Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Hall, Hayashi, Roger
Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Ma, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Perea, Portantino,
Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Wieckowski, Williams,
Yamada, John A. Pérez
NOES: Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Conway, Cook, Donnelly,
Fletcher, Beth Gaines, Garrick, Grove, Hagman, Halderman,
Harkey, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller,
Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Silva, Smyth,
Valadao, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gorell, Lara, V. Manuel Pérez
PQ:d 8/27/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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