BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Carol Liu, Chair 2013-2014 Regular Session BILL NO: AB 1539 AUTHOR: Hagman AMENDED: June 10, 2014 FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 25, 2014 URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lynn Lorber SUBJECT : Computer science standards. SUMMARY This bill requires the Instructional Quality Commission to develop computer science content standards by July 31, 2016. BACKGROUND Academic content standards define the knowledge, concepts, and skills that students should acquire at each grade level. Curricular frameworks are the blueprint for implementing the standards, and include criteria by which instructional materials are evaluated. Standards Current law: 1) Establishes the Academic Content Standards Commission for the purpose of developing the common core standards in English language arts and mathematics. These standards were adopted by the State Board of Education (SBE) on August 2, 2010. The SBE adopted revised frameworks for common core mathematics on November 6, 2013, and is required to adopt revised frameworks in common core English language arts by July 30, 2014. (Education Code § 60605.8 and § 60207) 2) Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to recommend modifications to the common core AB 1539 Page 2 standards in mathematics by consulting with a group of experts in mathematics. The SBE adopted modified mathematics standards in January 2013. (EC § 60605.11) 3) Requires the SPI to update, revise and align the English language development standards to the common core standards in English language arts. The SPI was required to convene a group of experts to complete this work, and the SBE adopted these standards on November 7, 2012. The SPI is required to convene a group of experts to also modify the English language development standards, by January 1, 2015, to link with the common core standards in mathematics and updated science standards. (EC § 60811.3 and § 60811.4) 4) Requires the SPI to convene a group of science experts to recommend science standards using the Next Generation Science Standards. The SBE adopted these standards on September 4, 2013, and is required to consider the adoption of a revised framework and evaluation criteria by January 31, 2016. (EC § 60605.85 and § 60200.9) ANALYSIS This bill requires the Instructional Quality Commission to develop computer science content standards by July 31, 2016. Specifically, this bill: 1) Requires the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) to develop and recommend to the State Board of Education (SBE), by July 31, 2016, computer science content standards pursuant to recommendations developed by a group of computer science experts. 2) Requires the IQC to consider: a) Existing computer science content standards including the national K-12 computer AB 1539 Page 3 science content standards developed by the Computer Science Teachers Association. b) Content standards that include, but are not limited to, standards for teaching coding. This bill defines "coding" as the process of converting a program design into an accurate and detailed representation of that program in a suitable language. 3) Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), in consultation with the IQC, to convene the group of experts in computer science, and requires the SPI to ensure that the members of the group include, but are not limited to, all of the following: a) Teachers who teach computer science in grades 7-12, including mathematics and science teachers. b) Schoolsite principals. c) School district or county office of education administrators. d) University professors. e) Representatives of private sector business or industry. Requires the SPI, in consultation with the SBE, to ensure that one-half of the members are teachers. 4) Authorizes the computer science content standards to be used by school districts to develop computer science programs and course assessments, and specifies that the standards are not mandatory. STAFF COMMENTS AB 1539 Page 4 1) Standards . Content standards are currently in place for the following subjects: a) English language arts. b) English language development. c) Mathematics. d) Science. e) History-social science. f) Career technical education. g) Health. h) Physical education. i) Visual and performing arts. j) Model school library. aa) World language. This bill requires the development of stand-alone standards in computer science, rather than incorporating computer science into existing subjects such as mathematics and science. 2) Fidelity to the process . This bill requires the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) to develop standards in computer science, and requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to convene a group of experts to develop the standards. To keep with the tradition of the Legislature in not reversing the amendments of another committee, staff recommends amendments to require the IQC to consider developing standards in computer science and require the SPI to consider convening the panel of experts. AB 1539 Page 5 3) Timing . The State Board of Education (SBE) adopted common core standards in English language arts and mathematics in August 2010, standards in English language development that are aligned to the common core in November 2012, and the Next Generation Science Standards in September 2013. There is no statutory authorization or requirement for standards to be developed, revised or adopted in any other subject area. Current legislation requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to present recommended history-social science standards by March 31, 2018, and SBE to adopt, modify or reject the standards by July 30, 2018. Staff recommends an amendment to change the timeline, from July 31, 2016, to July 31, 2019, to first allow for the expected adoption of history-social science standards. 4) Group of experts . This bill requires the SPI, in consultation with the IQC, to convene the group of experts in computer science. The existing process is to have SPI consult with the SBE. Staff recommends an amendment to correct this error. 5) K-12 ? This bill requires the group of experts to include teachers who teach computer science in grades 7-12. This bill also references national K-12 computer science standards. It is unclear if the standards proposed by this bill are to be limited to grades 7-12. Staff recommends an amendment to clarify the grade spans. 6) Fiscal impact . According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, a prior version of this bill would impose: a) General Fund administrative costs to the IQC of $300,000 to develop computer science standards. Computer science standards currently embedded in the Career Technical Education Model AB 1539 Page 6 Curriculum standards and Model School Library standards may meet the needs of what is intended by this legislation, in which case the above costs would be substantially reduced. b) Ongoing costs in the range of $20,000 to $100,000 to CDE to publish and edit updated standards, costs could be offset through sales of materials. c) General Fund (Proposition 98) cost pressure, likely in the millions of dollars, to hire credentialed teachers to teach computer science, provide equipment and materials, and provide professional development. 7) Related legislation . AB 2110 (Ting) requires the IQC to consider incorporating computer science curriculum content into the mathematics, science, history-social science, and language arts frameworks. AB 2110 is scheduled to be heard in this Committee on June 25. AB 1530 (Chau) requires the SPI to consider identifying, developing or revising model curriculum on computer science. AB 1530 is scheduled to be heard in this Committee on June 25. AB 1764 (Olsen) authorizes school districts that require more than two years of mathematics for high school graduation to award credit for a "category C" approved computer science course. AB 1764 is pending on the Senate Floor. SB 1057 (Corbett) requires the SPI to recommended history-social science content standards to the SBE on or before March 30, 2018, and requires the SBE to adopt, reject, or modify the history-social science content standards by July 30, 2018. AB 455 (Medina) requires the Superintendent of Public AB 1539 Page 7 Instruction to develop standards in Braille and American Sign Language that are aligned to the common core standards. AB 455 is scheduled to be heard in this Committee on June 25. AB 2016 (Campos) requires the SBE to consider adopting, by March 1, 2017, content standards in sexual abuse and sexual assault awareness and prevention upon the recommendations of the SPI. AB 2016 is scheduled to be heard in this Committee on June 25. SUPPORT Alliance for California Computing Education for Students and Schools California Chamber of Commerce California Educational Technology Professionals Association California School Boards Association California Teachers Association Children Now Code.org Computer Science Teachers Association Computing in the Core Microsoft TechNet OPPOSITION None on file.