BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  SB 612
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          Date of Hearing:   June 21, 2011

                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
                                 Marty Block, Chair
                    SB 612 (Steinberg) - As Amended:  May 4, 2011

           SENATE VOTE  :   27-10
           
          SUBJECT  :   Postsecondary education: instructional strategies.

           SUMMARY  :   Authorizes the establishment of three additional 
          California Subject Matter Projects (CSMP), 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.  
          Specifically,  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 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 
               Standards as adopted by the State Board of Education (SBE). 
                Requires the CSMP Concurrence Committee, in consultation 








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               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 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 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 Project;

             b)   The California Arts Project; and,

             c)   The California World Language Project.  

          9)Deletes the inoperative and repeal dates, thereby extending 








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            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 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 UC President, who is 
               a member of the faculty in the discipline addressed by the 
               project.  

             c)   One representative, selected by the CSU Chancellor, 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)   One representative of the California Community Colleges, 
               selected by the Chancellor, one of whom is a faculty member 
               in the subject matter addressed by the project.  

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









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             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.  

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Provides for the establishment and maintenance of six CSMPs 
            for the purpose of developing and enhancing teachers' subject 
            matter knowledge and pedagogical skills, as follows (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.  

          2)Authorizes 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)  

          3)Requires the UC Regents, 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.  Requires the advisory board of each 
            subject matter project to use specified criteria in 
            recommending funding for local project sites.  (EC § 99200)  

          4)Sunsets CSMP 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)  








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           FISCAL EFFECT  :   According to the Senate Appropriations 
          Committee, eliminating the sunset date will result in $6-7 
          million in ongoing cost pressures and adding the three CSMP 
          subject areas will result in $1.8 million in additional costs 
          per year when fully implemented.   However, UC has stated that 
          adding these three projects to statute would not create any cost 
          pressure on the General Fund because there are no plans to 
          request additional state funds above what CSMP currently 
          receives ($5 million a year).  Existing resources will continue 
          to be utilized in funding all nine projects.

           COMMENTS  :   This bill is double-referred to the Assembly 
          Education Committee, which will consider issues related to K-12 
          education.  This bill is part of a four bill package (SB 547, 
          SB1x 1, SB 611, and SB 612) that the author is sponsoring to 
          align middle and high school curricula more closely to the needs 
          of growing and emerging sectors of the California economy and 
          reduce the middle and high school drop-out rate by engaging and 
          motivating students.

           Need for this bill  .  According to the author, given the proven 
          efficacy of the CSMP along with its broad statewide reach, the 
          CSMP are uniquely positioned to help teachers deliver curriculum 
          that is more closely aligned with the needs of growing and 
          emerging sectors of the California economy.  Further, state 
          authorization for the CSMP is set to expire on June 30, 2012.  

           CSMP  .  CSMP is an intersegmental effort of postsecondary 
          education institutions that connects K-12 educators with faculty 
          in the various disciplines from UC, CSU, and private higher 
          education colleges and universities to provide professional 
          development designed to enhance teachers' content knowledge and 
          instructional strategies to improve 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.  According to UC, the projects 
          served almost 26,000 teachers and administrators from 4,290 of 
          the state's public K-12 schools in 2009-10, serving over 800 
          school districts and close to 100 sites statewide on campuses of 
          UC, CSU, and independent colleges and universities.

           Legislative history  .  Prior to 1998, the Education Code provided 








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          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, 
          and subject matter projects in arts, foreign language, and 
          physical education-health were deleted from statute.  AB 1734 
          (Mazzoni, Chapter 333, Statutes of 1998), authorized the six 
          projects currently specified in statute and authorized UC to 
          establish additional subject matter projects; however, the 
          legislation prohibited such projects from receiving funding in 
          the annual Budget Act.  

           Three new subject areas  .  SB 611 (Ducheny, Chapter 857, Statutes 
          of 2003) expressed legislative intent that maintenance-level 
          funding be provided for projects in academic fields seeking 
          standards approval from the State Board.  Accordingly, the UC 
          has continued to operate subject matter projects in the arts, 
          foreign language, and physical education/health, for which the 
          SBE adopted K-12 academic standards as follows: visual and 
          performing arts (2001), physical education (2005), health 
          education (2008), and world languages (2009).  According to UC, 
          it currently supports the three projects with the CSMP 
          maintenance-level funding and will not seek additional state 
          funding for the projects; however, the author notes that 
          establishing these projects in statute could make it easier for 
          UC to successfully compete for foundation funding to provide 
          additional support for the projects.

           Sunset elimination  .  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. 
           The SRI study report also notes 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.  

           Career-oriented, integrated academic and technical content  .  
          Pursuant to AB 2648 (Bass, Chapter 681, Statutes of 2008), the 
          California Department of Education submitted a report to the 








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          Governor and the Legislature in 2010, exploring 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."  

           Previous 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.  SB 232 
          (Ducheny, Chapter 292, 2007) would have 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.  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.  The three bills were either held in the Senate 
          Appropriations Committee or amended to remove the new subject 
          projects.  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 but was 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.  

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

           Support 
           
          Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
          California Alliance for Arts Education
          California Art Education Association








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          California Association for Bilingual Education
          California Association for Health, Physical Education, 
          Recreation and Dance
          California Association of Leaders for Career Preparation
          California Association of Music Education
          California Chamber of Commerce
          California Federation of Teachers
          California Language Teachers Association
          California Postsecondary Education Commission
          California State PTA
          California State University, Sacramento, Department of Teacher 
          Education
          California Teachers Association
          Californians Together
          Children Now
          Fillmore Unified School District
          Fresno Unified School District
          Gary S. Thomas, Superintendent, San Bernardino County 
            Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
          Los Angeles Unified School District
          Magnolia School District
          North State Building Industry Association
          Orange County Department of Education
          San Diego County Office of Education
          San Diego Unified School District
          San Francisco Unified School District
          Temecula Valley Unified School District
          University of California
          Vista Del Lago High School Visual and Performing Arts/Career 
          Technical Education teachers

           Opposition 
           
          None on file.


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Sandra Fried / HIGHER ED. / (916) 
          319-3960