BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1764 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 1764 (Olsen and Buchanan) As Amended April 24, 2014 Majority Vote EDUCATION 7 - 0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Buchanan, Olsen, Chávez, | | | | |Gonzalez, Nazarian, | | | | |Weber, Williams | | | | | | | | |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------| | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Allows a school district to award mathematics credit for completion of a California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) approved "Category C" computer science course, if the district requires more than two years of mathematics courses for graduation. FISCAL EFFECT : None. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative Counsel. COMMENTS : By allowing computer science to count for a high school mathematics credit, this bill provides an essential incentive for more students to take computer science courses while in high school. By providing students with an opportunity to gain critical knowledge and skills in the field it may also result in more students pursuing computer science in in their postsecondary education. In an effort to encourage rigorous courses that speak to computer science, rather than the use of technology, this bill suggests that districts should offer mathematics credit only when those courses are approved by the CSUs/UCs for "Category C" credit, which represents the mathematics course requirements. This bill recognizes this overlap between higher level mathematics courses and rigorous computer science courses and encourages districts to construct computer science courses that allow students to re-think traditional mathematics and explore meaningful computer science curriculum. AB 1764 Page 2 Analysis Prepared by : Jill Rice / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0003184