BILL NUMBER: SB 532 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 21, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Hernandez
FEBRUARY 17, 2011
An act to amend Section 52240 of , and to add Sections 76003
and 89012 to, the Education Code, relating to pupil
instruction.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 532, as amended, Hernandez. Advanced placement program.
Existing
(1) Existing law contains
legislative findings and declarations stating that advanced placement
courses, among other things, help to improve the overall curriculum
at schools where they are provided and provide a cost-effective means
for high school pupils to obtain college-level coursework
experience. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature to
provide financial assistance to economically disadvantaged pupils for
the payment of advanced placement examination fees.
This bill , commencing with the 2013-14 school year,
would make technical, nonsubstantive changes in the
provision described above. require a school district
maintaining any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, to offer advanced
placement courses in English, history, foreign language, mathematics,
and science at each high school that during the 2012-13 school year
did not offer those courses. If an advanced placement teacher is not
available or if fewer than 10 pupils would be enrolled in any given
advanced placement course, the bill would require a school district
to consider alternative means of providing advanced placement
courses, including high-quality online courses. The bill would define
a "high-quality online course" for the purposes of this provision.
By requiring school districts to offer advanced placement courses,
the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) Existing law authorizes a system of incentives to encourage
high schools to operate International Baccalaureate Diploma Programs,
and to encourage pupils in these schools to enroll in, attempt, and
pass the International Baccalaureate course of study and examinations
that lead to the International Baccalaureate Diploma.
This bill would require the governing board of a community college
district and the California State University to give a student who
scored 5, 6, or 7 on the International Baccalaureate examinations
taken during high school the same amount of credit given to students
who scored 4 or 5 on the equivalent advanced placement examinations
taken during high school. By requiring the governing board of
community colleges to give eligible students these credits, the bill
would impose a state-mandated local program.
(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no
yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 52240 of the Education Code is amended to read:
52240. (a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) Advanced placement courses, for which school credit is
awarded, provide rigorous academic coursework opportunities for high
school pupils and help to improve the overall curriculum at schools
where those courses are provided.
(2) The successful completion of advanced placement courses and
the subsequent advanced placement examinations, which are conducted
by the College Entrance Examination Board and for which college
credit is awarded, provide a cost-effective means for high school
pupils to obtain college-level coursework experience.
(3) To the extent that economically disadvantaged pupils are
provided financial assistance to take advanced placement
examinations, they will be provided with successful college-level
experience and be encouraged to pursue postsecondary education
opportunities.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature, therefore, that certain
state funding that currently is provided to school districts be made
available to provide financial assistance to economically
disadvantaged pupils for the payment of advanced placement
examination fees. It is further the intent of the Legislature that a
competitive grant program also be established for the purpose of
awarding grants to economically disadvantaged pupils to cover the
costs of advanced placement examination fees, thereby creating a
second source of financial assistance for economically disadvantaged
pupils taking advanced placement examinations.
(c) Commencing with the 2013-14 school year, a school district
maintaining any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, shall offer advanced
placement courses in each of the following areas of study at each
school in the district maintaining any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive,
that did not offer those courses during the 2012-13 school year:
(1) English.
(2) History.
(3) Foreign language.
(4) Mathematics.
(5) Science.
(d) If an advanced placement teacher is not available or if fewer
than 10 pupils would be enrolled in any given advanced placement
course, a school district shall consider alternative means of
providing advanced placement courses. Alternative means may include,
but are not limited to, high-quality online courses.
(e) For the purposes of this section, a "high-quality online
course" means an online course that meets all of the following
requirements:
(1) The online course is approved by the governing body of the
local educational agency.
(2) The online course is certified to meet these requirements,
through a resolution adopted by the governing body of the local
educational agency.
(3) The online course is certified by the governing body of the
local educational agency as being as rigorous as a classroom-based
course and meeting or exceeding all relevant state content standards.
(4) Either of the following:
(A) The teacher is online at the same time as each pupil, is
accessible to each pupil attending the synchronous online course to
respond to pupil queries, assign tasks, and dispense information, and
is able to make a visual connection with each pupil for the purposes
of verifying attendance or providing immediate supervision of the
pupil.
(B) The teacher may be online at different times than each pupil,
is accessible to each pupil attending the asynchronous online course
to respond to pupil queries, assign tasks, and dispense information,
and, for the purposes of verifying attendance, is able to employ at
least one of the following:
(i) Periodic proctored examinations.
(ii) Direct teacher-pupil meetings no less than twice per calendar
month.
(iii) A visual connection, including, but not limited to, Internet
Webcam.
(5) (A) The ratio of full-time equivalent certificated teachers
teaching the online course to pupils enrolled in that course is
greater than or equal to the ratio of teachers to pupils in
traditional classroom study of the same subject matter in the school,
school district, or the unified school district with the largest
average daily attendance of pupils in that county for the prior
school year, as reported on the Internet Web site of the department.
(B) If the online course is new or deemed by the governing body of
the local educational agency to be unique to the online setting, the
ratio of full-time equivalent certificated teachers to pupils
enrolled in that course shall not exceed 30 to 1.
(C) If the online course is new or deemed by the governing body of
the local educational agency to be unique to the online setting, the
teacher of the online course, at a minimum, shall meet the
requirements described in paragraph (7).
(6) When a traditional classroom-based course of the same course
title exists within the local educational agency, the subject matter
content of the online course is the same as for the traditional
classroom-based course.
(7) The teacher of the online course holds the appropriate subject
matter credential and meets the requirements for a highly qualified
teacher pursuant to the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20
U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.).
(8) Statewide testing results for online pupils are reported and
assigned to the local educational agency in which the pupil is
enrolled for regular classroom courses.
(9) The online course is offered by a high school, continuation
school, county office of education, or charter school.
(10) A pupil is not assigned to the online course unless the pupil
voluntarily elects to participate in the online course and the
parent or guardian of the pupil provides written consent before the
pupil participates in the online course.
(11) A pupil voluntarily electing to participate in the online
course is not denied access because the pupil lacks the computer
hardware or software necessary to participate in the online course.
(12) A pupil is not charged for his or her participation in the
online course.
(13) Pupils enrolled in the online course take examinations by
proctor or other reliable methods are used to ensure test integrity,
and there is a clear record of pupil work, using the same method of
documentation and assessment as used in a classroom-based course.
(14) Contemporaneous records of the time that a pupil spends
online in the course and in related activities, and of the time the
teacher is online, are maintained by the local educational agency.
SEC. 2. Section 76003 is added to the
Education Code , to read:
76003. The governing board of a community college district shall
give a student who scored 5, 6, or 7 on the International
Baccalaureate examinations taken during high school the same amount
of credit given to students who scored 4 or 5 on the equivalent
advanced placement examinations taken during high school.
SEC. 3. Section 89012 is added to the
Education Code , to read:
89012. The California State University shall give a student who
scored 5, 6, or 7 on the International Baccalaureate examinations
taken during high school the same amount of credit given to students
who scored 4 or 5 on the equivalent advanced placement examinations
taken during high school.
SEC. 4. If the Commission on State Mandates
determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs
shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of
Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.