BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






                         SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                                Carol Liu, Chair
                           2013-2014 Regular Session
                                        

          BILL NO:       AB 1764
          AUTHOR:        Olsen
          AMENDED:       April 24, 2014
          FISCAL COMM:   No             HEARING DATE: June 18, 2014
          URGENCY:       No             CONSULTANT:    Lynn Lorber

           SUBJECT  :  A-G course requirements: computer science.
          
           SUMMARY
           
          This bill 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.

           BACKGROUND
           
           High school graduation requirements
           
          Current law:

          1)   Requires a pupil to pass both the English language  
               arts and mathematics portions of the California High  
               School Exit Exam and complete the following courses as  
               a condition of graduating from high school:

               a)        Three years of English.

               b)        Two years of mathematics, one year of which  
                    must be Algebra I.

               c)        Two years of science, including biological  
                    and physical sciences.

               d)        Three years of social studies, including  
                    United States history and geography; world  
                    history, culture, and geography; one semester of  
                    American government and civics, and one semester  
                    of economics.








                                                               AB 1764
                                                                Page 2



               e)        One year of visual or performing arts,  
                    foreign language, or until July 1, 2017, career  
                    technical education.

               f)        Two years of physical education.  (Education  
                    Code § 60851, § 51225.3, and § 51224.5)

          2)   Authorizes school districts to impose additional  
               coursework requirements as a condition of graduation  
               from high school.  (EC§51225.3)



           A-G course requirements
           
          Current law requires the California State University (CSU)  
          and requests the University of California (UC) to establish  
          a model uniform set of academic standards for high school  
          courses that satisfy university admission requirements.  In  
          addition, both the CSU and the UC are directed to implement  
          a speedy process whereby schools may obtain approval of  
          their courses for admission purposes, and requires that  
          this process notify applicant schools whether a submitted  
          course has been approved or denied by August 1 each school  
          year. (Education Code § 66205.5)

          The UC and the CSU have established common high school  
          course requirements for undergraduate admissions to ensure  
          that potential university students are prepared to engage  
          and be successful in university-level coursework.  Students  
          who follow the articulated sequence of courses in each of  
          the subject areas listed below and who meet other specified  
          criteria are eligible to apply and be considered for  
          admission.  The following list is commonly referred to as  
          the "a-g" subject area requirements:

          a)   2 years of history-social science. 

          b)   4 years of college preparatory English. 

          c)   3 years of college preparatory mathematics. 









                                                               AB 1764
                                                                Page 3


          d)   2 years of laboratory science. 

          e)   2 years of the same language other than English. 

          f)   1 year visual and performing arts. 

          g)   1 year college preparatory electives.

           ANALYSIS
           
           This bill  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.  Specifically, this bill:

          1)   Authorizes school districts that require more than two  
               courses (years) in mathematics for graduation to award  
               up to one mathematics course credit for successful  
               completion of a "category C" approved computer science  
               course.

          2)   Prohibits the school district from awarding  
               mathematics course credit for a "category C" approved  
               computer science course if the district also awards  
               credit for that course in science or arts, foreign  
               language or career technical education.

          3)   Provides that "category C" refers to the "A-G"  
               admission requirements for the California State  
               University and the University of California.

           STAFF COMMENTS
           
           1)   Necessary  ?  This bill authorizes action that can  
               already be taken by school districts. School districts  
               currently grant mathematics credit for computer  
               science courses that meet mathematics standards,  
               regardless of whether the district requires more than  
               two years of mathematics for high school graduation.   
               Further, the California State University (CSU) and  
               University of California (UC) currently recognize  
               computer science courses as meeting admission  
               requirements for mathematics ("category C") or  








                                                               AB 1764
                                                                Page 4


               electives ("category G"). 

          While permissive, and intended to incentivize completion of  
               high school computer science coursework that meets  
               "A-G" requirements, it is possible that this bill  
               could be misconstrued to limit the awarding of credit  
               for computer science courses to only those districts  
               that require more than 2 years of mathematics to  
               graduate (even though the CSU and UC require three  
               years of mathematics for freshman admission), or if  
               the computer science course is not approved for  
               "category C" by the UC.  Should this bill state that  
               nothing precludes districts from awarding credit  
               toward graduation for computer science if the district  
               does not require more than two years of mathematics,  
               or if the course is not "A-G" approved (whether for  
               mathematics or elective credit)?

          Staff recommends an amendment that encourages the governing  
               board of a school district to ensure that computer  
               science courses determined to satisfy mathematics  
               subject area requirements build upon fundamental  
               mathematics content.
           
          2)   Author's amendments  .  The author wishes to amend this  
               bill as follows:

               a)        Delete language that specifically prohibits  
                    districts from awarding mathematics credit for a  
                    computer science course if credit was awarded for  
                    science or visual performing arts, foreign  
                    language or career technical education.

               b)        Encourage school districts to submit  
                    computer science courses to the University of  
                    California for "A-G" review.  

          3)   How are high school courses approved for A-G  ?   
               Generally, the process of assessing the suitability of  
               specific courses for meeting subject area requirements  
               has been in the purview of the faculty of the  
               University of California (UC), through the Board of  
               Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS) which  








                                                               AB 1764
                                                                Page 5


               oversees all matters relating to the admissions of  
               undergraduate students.  A course's "A-G" approval is  
               based on the "A-G" course evaluation guidelines and  
               the subject-specific course criteria established by UC  
               faculty.  While CSU ultimately has the final decision  
               regarding the acceptance of these courses, the UC has  
               generally taken the lead on "A-G" subject matter  
               requirements.

          California high schools may submit their courses to UC for  
               "A-G" certification and once approved, the "A-G"  
               course is added to the school's "A-G" course list.   
               According to the UC Office of the President, all  
               approved courses in the mathematics "category C"  
               requirement are expected to satisfy specified  
               criteria, as outlined in the "Statement of  
               Competencies in Mathematics Expected of Entering  
               College Students."  

           4)   Current computer science courses  .  The UC Office of  
               the President issued a status report on high school  
               computer science courses in January 2014.  According  
               to the UC, in 2013-14 over 400 high schools (about  
               20%) offered at least one UC approved computer science  
               course.  The majority of these courses will satisfy  
               the "G" elective requirement for admissions purposes.

          In its status report, the UC noted that some of the  
               challenges of expanding computer science education in  
               high schools include identifying appropriate  
               instructors and institutional resource limitations.  

           5)   Related legislation  .  SB 1200 (Padilla) (2014),  
               requires the California State University, and requests  
               the UC, to develop guidelines for high school computer  
               science courses that may be approved for admission.   
               SB 1200 is pending in the Assembly Higher Education  
               Committee.

          ACR 108 (Wagner, Chapter 42, 2014) designates the week of  
               December 8, 2014, as Computer Science Education Week. 

          AB 1530 (Chau) (2014), encourages the Superintendent of  








                                                               AB 1764
                                                                Page 6


               Public Instruction to develop or revise a model  
               curriculum on computer science by July 1, 2017.  AB  
               1530 is pending referral in the Senate Rules  
               Committee.

          AB 1539 (Hagman) (2014), requires the Instructional Quality  
               Commission to develop computer science content  
               standards by July 31, 2016.           AB 1539 is  
               pending referral in the Senate Rules Committee.

          AB 2110 (Ting) (2014), requires the Instructional Quality  
               Commission to incorporate computer science curriculum  
               content into the mathematics, science, history-social  
               science, and language arts curriculum frameworks, as  
               it deems appropriate.  AB 2110 is pending referral in  
               the Senate Rules Committee.

           SUPPORT
           
          Alliance for California Computing Education for Students  
          and Schools
          California Chamber of Commerce
          California STEM Learning Network
          California Teachers Association
          Code.org
          Computer Science Teachers Association
          Computing in the Core
          County of San Diego
          Microsoft
          Mountain View Chamber of Commerce
          San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
          San Diego Regional EDC
          San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
          San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce
          StudentsFirst
          TechNet

           OPPOSITION

           None on file.











                                                               AB 1764
                                                                Page 7