BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






                          SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                              Alan Lowenthal, Chair
                             2011-12 Regular Session
                                         

          BILL NO:       SB 612
          AUTHOR:        Steinberg
          INTRODUCED:    February 17, 2011
          FISCAL COMM:   Yes            HEARING DATE:  April 27, 2011
          URGENCY:       No             CONSULTANT:Beth Graybill

           SUBJECT  :  Teacher Professional Development:  Subject Matter 
          Projects.
          
           SUMMARY   

          This bill authorizes the establishment of three additional 
          California Subject Matter Projects, deletes the sunset date 
          on existing projects, adds new areas of emphasis for subject 
          matter projects, and makes various changes to the concurrence 
          committee and project advisory boards.  

           BACKGROUND  

          Existing law provides for the establishment and maintenance 
          of six California Subject Matter Projects (CSMP) for the 
          purpose of developing and enhancing teachers' subject matter 
          knowledge and pedagogical skills.  Current law authorizes the 
          following subject matter projects:  (Education Code § 99201)  


               a)        The California Writing Project.
               b)        The California Reading and Literature Project.
               c)        The California Mathematics Project.
               d)        The California Science Project.
               e)        The California History-Social Science Project.
               f)        The World History and International Studies 
                    project.  

          Existing law authorizes the UC to establish other subject 
          matter projects and specifies that no funds allocated in the 
          annual Budget Act shall be used for subject matter projects 
          in subjects not specifically authorized in statute.  
          (EC § 99201.5)  

          Existing law requires the Regents of the University of 




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          California (UC), with the approval of an intersegmental 
          Concurrence Committee, to establish and maintain the projects 
          and specifies the composition of the concurrence committee to 
          be representatives of the various segments of education.  
          Existing law requires the advisory board of each subject 
          matter project to use specified criteria in recommending 
          funding for local project sites.  (EC § 99200)  

          Existing law makes the CSMP inoperative on June 30, 2012, and 
          repeals the authorizing statute on January 1, 2013, unless a 
          later enacted statute deletes or extends those dates.  (EC § 
          99206)  

           ANALYSIS  

           This bill  :

          1)   Makes findings and declarations about the high dropout 
               rate in California high schools; the need for an 
               educated workforce, the value of schools offering a more 
               integrated approach to learning, and declares that 
               investments in delivering to pupils the skills and 
               knowledge needed for further education and employment in 
               California's high-growth, high-demand industries are 
               investments in the growth of a knowledge-intensive, 
               innovative economy.  

          2)   Makes further findings and declarations about the role 
               and purpose of the California Subject Matter Projects 
               (CSMP) as a statewide network of subject-specific 
               professional development programs and how the CSMP 
               infrastructure may be leveraged to align middle and high 
               school curricula more closely to the needs of growing 
               and emerging sectors of the California economy by 
               providing teachers with the supports and tools necessary 
               to deliver career-oriented, integrated academic and 
               technical education content.  

          3)   Adds two new areas of emphasis for CSMP to provide 
               teachers with:  

               a)        Instructional strategies for delivering 
                    career-oriented, integrated academic and technical 
                    content in a manner that is linked to high priority 
                    industry sectors identified in the California 
                    Career Technical Education Model Curriculum 




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                    Standards as adopted by the State Board of 
                    Education (SBE).  Requires the CSMP Concurrence 
                    Committee, in consultation with the appropriate 
                    state entities, industry leaders, and 
                    representatives of organized labor, educators, and 
                    other parties, to determine the priority of the 
                    industry sectors.  

               b)        Instructional strategies for ongoing 
                    collaboration on the delivery of career-oriented, 
                    integrated academic and technical education 
                    content.  

          4)   Clarifies that the CSMP provide support to teachers to 
               develop and enhance content knowledge and pedagogical 
               skills necessary to implement the state adopted content 
               standards and the curriculum frameworks.  

          5)   Requires the CSMP Concurrence Committee, beginning 
               January 1, 2016, and every three years thereafter, to 
               provide a report, as specified, on the subject matter 
               projects to the Governor and to appropriate policy and 
               fiscal committees of the Legislature.  Makes the 
               reporting requirement inoperative on January 1, 2020, 
               pursuant to the Government Code.

          6)   Modifies the composition of the nine-member CSMP 
               Concurrence Committee by reducing the number of 
               representatives selected by the SBE from two to one; and 
               by adding a representative selected by the 
               Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI).  

          7)   Requires the CSMP, in partnership with the University of 
               California Curriculum Integration Institute or other 
               appropriate entities, to provide teachers with support 
               in the implementation of career-oriented, integrated 
               academic and technical courses that meet course 
               requirements for admission to the University of 
               California (UC), the California State University (CSU), 
               and align with high-priority industry sectors as 
               specified.  

          8)   Adds the following projects to the list of authorized 
               subject matter projects:  

               a)        The California Physical Education-Health 




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                    Project.
               b)        The California Arts Project.
               c)        The California Foreign Language Project.  

          9)   Deletes the inoperative and repeal dates, thereby 
               extending the operation of these provisions 
               indefinitely.  

          10)  Modifies the composition of project advisory boards for 
               each subject matter project by reducing from two to one, 
               representatives selected by the UC, CSU, SPI, and SBE 
               such that the new composition of each advisory board is 
               as follows:  

               a)        One representative selected by the California 
                    Postsecondary Education Committee (CPEC).  

               b)        One representative, selected by the President 
                    of the UC, who is a member of the faculty in the 
                    discipline addressed by the project.  

               c)        One representative, selected by the Chancellor 
                    of the CSU, who is a member of the faculty in the 
                    discipline addressed by the project.  

               d)        One representative, selected by the SPI, who 
                    is a classroom teacher in the subject area 
                    addressed by the project. 

               e)        One representative, selected by the SBE, who 
                    is a classroom teacher in the subject area 
                    addressed by the project.  

               f)        One representative selected by the Governor.  

               g)        One representative selected by the Commission 
                    on Teacher Credentialing. 

               h)        One representative of a statewide professional 
                    organization of teachers in the subject matter 
                    addressed by the project, as specified. 

               i)        Two representatives of the California 
                    community colleges, selected by the Chancellor, one 
                    of whom is a faculty member in the subject matter 
                    addressed by the project.  




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               j)        Two representatives of an independent 
                    postsecondary institution selected by the 
                    Association of Independent California Colleges and 
                    Universities (AICCU), one of whom is a faculty 
                    member in the subject matter addressed by the 
                    project.  

               aa)       One representative who is from an industry 
                    sector that principally utilizes the discipline 
                    addressed by the project and who is selected by the 
                    advisory board.  

          11)  Adds high pupil drop-out rates to the criteria each 
               project advisory board must use in recommending funding 
               for local project sites.  

          12)  Specifies that for purposes of recommending funding for 
               local project sites that serve middle or high school 
               teachers, the project advisory board shall give special 
               consideration to sites that utilize or are preparing to 
               utilize instructional strategies to deliver 
               career-oriented, integrated academic and technical 
               content.  

           STAFF COMMENTS  

           1)   California Subject Matter Projects  .  The California 
               Subject Matter Projects provide intensive, content-rich 
               and discipline-based professional development designed 
               to develop and enhance teachers' content knowledge and 
               instructional strategies for the purpose of improving 
               student learning and academic performance as measured 
               against the state's K-12 academic content standards.  In 
               addition, the CSMP provide teachers with instructional 
               strategies for working with English learners and help 
               teachers use research and data to improve student 
               learning and achievement.  In addition to the six 
               subject matter projects authorized in statute, the UC 
               has established and maintains three additional projects 
               in art, physical education-health, and foreign 
               languages.  Together, the nine projects serve over 800 
               school districts and close to 100 sites statewide on 
               campuses of the UC, California State University, and 
               independent colleges and universities.  According to the 
               UC, the projects served 94,703 teachers, administrators, 




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               and university faculty from 2006 to 2010.  

           2)   Legislative history  .  Prior to 1998, the Education Code 
               provided for the establishment and maintenance of 
               subject matter projects in each subject area of teachers 
               in the public schools and established priority for 
               funding according to subjects required for high school 
               graduation and subjects that coincided with state 
               curriculum initiatives.  With the adoption of K-12 
               academic content standards in the late 1990s, the state 
               narrowed the focus of the CSMP to the core content areas 
               of English language Arts, mathematics, science, and 
               history-social science.  AB 1734 (Mazzoni, Chapter 333, 
               Statutes of 1998), authorized the six projects currently 
               specified in Education Code and authorized the UC to 
               establish additional subject matter projects, but 
               prohibited those projects from receiving funding in the 
               annual budget act.  Although subsequent legislation 
               expressed legislative intent that maintenance-level 
               funding be provided for projects in academic fields 
               seeking standards approval from the State Board of 
               Education and although the SBE has adopted K-12 academic 
               content standards in visual and performing arts (2001), 
               physical education (2005), health education (2008), and 
               world languages (2009), legislative attempts to 
               authorize these subject areas in statute been 
               unsuccessful (see below).  While authorizing these three 
               additional subject matter projects could create cost 
               pressure to provide maintenance-level funding, it could 
               be argued that authorizing them in statute will make it 
               easier for the UC to successfully compete for foundation 
               funding to provide additional support for the projects 
               and will provide a formal recognition that all nine 
               subject areas are included in the course of study 
               undertaken by middle school and high school students and 
               represent the content standards adopted by the SBE.   
               Given that the SBE adopted academic content standards in 
               "world languages" would it make more sense for the CSMP 
               in foreign languages to be called "The California World 
               Language Project?"  

           3)   Career-oriented, integrated academic and technical 
               content  .  In recent years, many high schools have 
               established partnership academies, career-themed small 
               learning communities, and other programs that integrate 
               academic coursework with applied learning opportunities. 




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                Additionally, many schools and regional occupational 
               centers/programs have worked to increase the rigor of 
               career technical education courses to ensure that these 
               courses prepare students for more options following high 
               school.  The goal of these programs is to provide 
               students with rigorous, relevant learning opportunities 
               that link what we expect them to know when they leave 
               high school with the skills necessary to follow a chosen 
               career pathway.  

          Pursuant to AB 2648 (Bass, Chapter 681, Statutes of 2008), 
               the California Department of Education (CDE) submitted a 
               report to the Governor and the Legislature in 2010, that 
               explores the feasibility of establishing and expanding 
               additional high school programs that prepare students to 
               be successful in their chosen pathways after high 
               school.  The AB 2648 Multiple Pathways to Student 
               Success Report suggests that teachers in linked learning 
               programs "need to have competencies in four domains:  
               knowledge, pedagogy, professional skills, and 
               foundational comprehension.  Teachers need knowledge of 
               the academic concepts that underlie work in industries, 
               intellectual skills to solve problems in the real world, 
               and must know how to work in a community of practice."  
               The report also noted that teachers need pedagogical 
               skills specific to engaging engage students in 
               project-based and cooperative learning, building on 
               students' prior knowledge and skills, and using multiple 
               assessment measures and ways for students to demonstrate 
               their competencies.  Teachers must have appropriate 
               professional skills that equip them to work in pathway 
               settings and collaborate with other teachers and 
               industry partners.  By expanding the emphasis of the 
               CSMP to include providing teachers with instructional 
               strategies to deliver career-oriented integrated 
               academic and technical content and by providing teachers 
               with strategies for ongoing collaboration in the 
               delivery of that content, this bill will enable the CSMP 
               to help teachers working in these programs and could 
               enable teachers of traditional academic courses 
               incorporate real-world examples and applied learning 
               opportunities into their day-to-day instruction.  


           4)   Time to eliminate the sunset  ?  The Legislature 
               established the CSMP in 1988 and the projects have been 




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               providing professional development to teachers 
               continuously since that time.  The CSMP serves as a 
               model of intersegmental collaboration in the delivery of 
               content-rich professional development that has helped 
               develop teacher leaders in schools.  The unique 
               adaptable structure of the CSMP has enabled the projects 
               to help schools implement state academic content 
               standards and respond to priorities established by the 
               No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) while maintaining a 
               strong focus on teachers with the most need of support:  
               those in low-performing schools and those working 
               English learners.  According to a 2005 evaluation of the 
               CSMP conducted by SRI International, teachers reported 
               that the CSMP influenced their instruction more than 
               other professional development and contributed to 
               improvements in student learning.  Case study evidence 
               gathered by SRI further suggests that when these changes 
               influence teaching practice across departments or grade 
               levels, schools have observed increases in student 
               achievement and made progress in closing the achievement 
               gap, especially for English learners.  Given the 
               positive evaluations associated with this 
               long-established program and the fiscal control the 
               Legislature has over its funding, deleting the sunset 
               date appears to pose little policy risk to the state.   
           
           5)   Administrative and Fiscal issues .  This bill specifies 
               that each CSMP advisory board is to have one 
               representative from the UC and CSU, but provides for two 
               representatives each from the California Community 
               Colleges and an AICCU institution.  To ensure balance in 
               the representation from higher education segments, 
               shouldn't the CCC and the AICCU have only one 
               representative on each advisory board?  

          The 2010-11 Budget Act allocates $9.35 million in state and 
               federal funding to support the six existing CSMPs.  
               ($4.35 million is federal funding and $5.0 million in 
               non-98 General Funds.)  Since the newly authorized 
               projects could be allocated funds from the annual Budget 
               Act, this bill could create cost pressure to increase 
               funding for the CSMP.  Funding for CSMP in 2011-12 
               includes $5 million in General Funds and $5.758 million 
               in federal funds.  

           6)   Amendments .  Staff recommends the following amendments:  




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               a)        Technical amendments to address incorrect code 
                    citations:  

                    i)           The Government Code citation that 
                         repeals the reporting requirement on page 7, 
                         line 19 of the bill is incorrect.  The correct 
                         citation should be Government Code § 10231.5.  


                 ii)         The Education Code citation intended to 
                      refer to the curriculum 
                         frameworks, on page 7, line 36 of the bill is 
                         incorrect.  The correct citation should be § 
                         51226.  For clarity, staff also recommends 
                         adding "curriculum frameworks" to the text of 
                         that 
                         subparagraph and adding language to allow for 
                         standards that may be adopted pursuant to the 
                         Common Core Initiative.  

               b)        To ensure balance in the representation from 
                    higher education segments on CSMP advisory 
                    committees, staff recommends amendments to specify 
                    that each advisory committee should have one 
                    representative of the CCC selected by the 
                    Chancellor and one representative of an independent 
                    postsecondary institution selected by the AICCU.  

               c)        To maintain consistency with the academic 
                    content standards adopted by the SBE in "World 
                    Languages," staff recommends amendments that would 
                    authorize "The California World Language Project" 
                    instead of The California Foreign Language Project 
                    as specified in the current version of the bill.  

           7)   Related and prior legislation  .  

          SB 199 (Ducheny, 2009) would have authorized the 
               establishment of subject matter projects in arts, 
               physical education and health, and foreign languages, 
               deleted the sunset date for CSMP and authorized projects 
               to provide assistance to teachers providing instruction 
               in integrated academic and career technical education 
               programs.  This measure was passed by the Senate 




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               Education Committee on a 6-0 vote and was subsequently 
               held by the Senate Appropriations Committee.  

          SB 232 (Ducheny, Chapter 292, 2007), required the Concurrence 
               Committee to report to the Governor and the Legislature 
               on specified elements of the CSM and would have also 
               authorized the establishment of subject matter projects 
               in arts, physical education and health, and foreign 
               languages, and This measure was passed by the Senate 
               Education Committee on a 6-1 vote, and was amended in 
               the Senate Appropriations Committee to delete the 
               provisions authorizing the specified projects.  

          SB 1073 (Simitian, 2006) would have added the California Arts 
               Project, the California Foreign Language Project, and 
               the California Physical Education-Health Project to the 
               subject matter projects already created by law.  This 
               measure was passed by the Senate Education Committee on 
               a 10-0 vote and was subsequently held in the Assembly 
               Appropriations Committee.  

          AB 108 (Mazzoni, 2000) would have, among other things, 
               authorized the California Arts Project, the California 
               Foreign Language Project, and the California Physical 
               Education-Health Project to the statewide subject matter 
               projects.  This bill was passed by the Senate Education 
               Committee on a 10-2 vote and was subsequently vetoed by 
               Governor Gray Davis who opined that the highest priority 
               for the use of state funds should be to support the 
               existing subject matter projects aimed at improving 
               student academic performance in English, mathematics, 
                                                                                     science, and the social sciences.  
           
          SUPPORT
           
          California Alliance for Arts Education
          California Art Education Association
          California Association for Health, Physical Education, 
          Recreation and Dance
          California Association of Leaders for Career Preparation
          California Language Teachers Association
          California Teachers Association
          Genentech
          Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
          Los Angeles Unified School District
          University of California




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           OPPOSITION
           
          None received.