BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 631
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 631 (Fox)
As Amended July 2, 2013
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |70-0 |(May 16, 2013) |SENATE: |32-0 |(July 8, 2013) |
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Original Committee Reference: ED.
SUMMARY : Permits a county board of education to modify the course
of study offered to pupils in juvenile court schools. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Permits a county board of education to adopt an enhanced course of
study for pupils enrolled in juvenile court schools who are
performing three or more grades below grade level.
2)Specifies that this course of study shall meet the Common Core
State Standards (CCSS) in English language arts (ELA) and math.
3)Allows a county board of education to use locally approved
assessments or statewide assessments to determine the academic
needs of the pupil.
4)Specifies the purpose of this course of study is to increase a
pupil's academic literacy and reading fluency.
5)Makes technical non-substantive amendments to this section.
The Senate amendments insert the word "shall" and are technical and
clarifying.
FISCAL EFFECT : None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : Juvenile court schools provide public education for
individuals who are incarcerated in facilities run by counties.
Juvenile court schools are public schools or classes in any juvenile
hall, juvenile home, day center, juvenile ranch, juvenile camp,
regional youth educational facility or in any group home housing 25
or more children. These schools operate under the central
administration of a county office of education, with acceptable
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school structures at one or more centrally located sites to serve
the single or composite populations of juvenile court school pupils.
These schools, under the protection or authority of the juvenile
court system, provide an educational program that meets the needs of
students who have been incarcerated in juvenile halls as well as
students who have been expelled from their home district schools
because of a status offense or other infraction or behavior governed
by the Welfare and Institution Code or Education Code. Funding is
provided by the state General Fund and is included in the annual
apportionment to county offices of education.
Using data available through the California Department of Education
(CDE) from the 2011-12 administration of the California Standardized
Tests (CST) in ELA and math, the number of students in a sampling of
juvenile court schools that score below basic or far below basic is
staggering:
Imperial County Office of Education - Juvenile Court School
75% of students in grades 7 - 11 scored below basic or far below
basic on the CST ELA
89% of students in grades 10 and 11 scored below basic or far below
basic on the CST Algebra I
Los Angeles County Office of Education - Central Juvenile Hall
86% of students in grades 8 - 11 scored below basic or far below
basic on the CST ELA
96% of students in grades 9 - 11 scored below basic or far below
basic on the CST Algebra I
Fresno County Office of Education - Court School
75% of students in grades 8 - 11 scored below basic or far below
basic on the CST ELA
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89% of students in grades 10 and 11 scored below basic or far below
basic on the CST Algebra I
Course of Study
Existing law requires each local educational agency (LEA) to adopt a
course of study for use in each of its schools. There are numerous
elements that must be met within this course of study as prescribed
by statute. These courses of study, while often aligned to the
state's academic content standards, are designed by each LEA to meet
the unique needs of its pupils. A county office of education may
set its priorities within this course of study, so long as all
required elements are included.
Narrowing of the Curriculum
The requirements of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and state
accountability programs have resulted in districts spending much of
their instructional time on reading and math. School and school
districts that fail to make their annual targets in English language
arts and math are subject to a variety of sanctions ranging from
redirection of federal Title I funds to state takeover. For these
reasons instructional time in other subject areas has greatly
diminished and there is almost no time for teachers to teach
critical thinking skills.
Partly in response to this, California adopted the CCSS. Building
on the rigorous standards of NCLB but recognizing the unintended
consequence of a narrowed curriculum, the CCSS focus on core
conceptual understandings and procedures starting in the early
grades, thus enabling teachers to take the time needed to teach core
concepts and procedures well-and to give students the opportunity to
master them. In adopting the CCSS, this Legislature signaled an end
to curriculum that, whether intentionally or unintentionally,
excluded a comprehensive curriculum.
This bill would permit a county board of education to adopt a
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separate course of study for pupils in juvenile hall by providing
increased attention to basic reading and math skills for specified
pupils who are performing three or more grades below grade level.
The author, however, has indicated that while increased instruction
in reading fluency and academic literacy is intended, it is not the
author's intention that this increased focus be at the cost of a
pupil's access to the general curriculum. By using the literacy
strands in science, social science, and technical subjects embedded
in the CCSS in English language arts, this increased focus would
permit intensive remediation within the given instructional time
without limiting curriculum areas.
Analysis Prepared by : Jill Rice / ED. / (916) 319-2087
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