BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 1060 Page 1 Date of Hearing: June 11, 2014 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Joan Buchanan, Chair SB 1060 (Liu) - As Amended: May 27, 2014 SENATE VOTE : 35-0 SUBJECT : School employees: professional growth. SUMMARY : Specifies that if a local educational agency (LEA) offers a program of professional growth for teachers, administrators, paraprofessional educators, or other classified employees involved in the direct instruction of pupils, the LEA shall consider high quality professional development that meets specified criteria. Specifically, this bill : 1)Specifies that if a LEA offers a program of professional growth for teachers, administrators, paraprofessional educators, or other classified employees involved in the direct instruction of pupils, the LEA shall consider high quality professional development that meets all of the following criteria: a) Helps attract, grow, and retain effective educators. b) Is a part of every educator's experience in order to accelerate instructional improvement and support pupil learning. c) Is based on needs assessment of educators and tied to supporting pupil learning. d) Emphasizes the importance of meeting the needs of all pupils. e) Is grounded in a description of effective practice, as articulated in the California Standards for the Teaching Profession. f) Affords educators opportunities to engage with others to develop their craft, including, but not limited to, opportunities to increase their content knowledge. g) Ensures educators have adequate time to learn about, practice, reflect, adjust, critique, and share what educators need to ensure that all pupils, especially high-needs pupils, develop knowledge and lifelong learning skills that will help the pupils to be successful. h) Recognizes and utilizes expert teacher and leader skills. i) Attends to collective growth needs as well as educators' SB 1060 Page 2 individual growth needs. j) Contributes to a positive, collaborative, and supportive adult learning environment. aa) Contributes to cycles of inquiry and improvement. bb) Is not limited to a single instance, but supports educators through multiple iterations or engagements. cc) Is based on a coherent and focused plan. 2)Authorizes professional development activities to also include collaboration time for teachers to develop new instructional lessons, to select or develop common formative assessments, to analyze pupil data, for mentoring projects for new teachers, or for extra support for teachers to improve practice; and, specifies that appropriate professional development may be part of a coherent plan that combines school activities within the school, including, but not limited to, lesson study or co-teaching, and external learning opportunities that meet all of the following criteria: a) Are related to the academic subjects taught. b) Provide time to meet and work with other teachers. c) Support instruction and pupil learning to improve instruction in a manner that is consistent with academic content standards. 3)Defines "local educational agency" to mean a school district, county office of education, or charter school. EXISTING LAW : 1)Declares Legislative intent to encourage teachers to engage in an individual program of professional growth that extends their content knowledge and teaching skills and for school districts to establish professional growth programs that give individual teachers a wide range of options to pursue as well as significant roles in determining the course of their professional growth. (Education Code 44277) 2)Specifies that an individual program of professional growth may consist of activities that are aligned with the California Standards for the Teaching Profession that contribute to competence, performance, or effectiveness in the profession of education and the classroom assignments of the teacher. Specifies that acceptable activities may include, the completion of courses offered by regionally accredited colleges and universities, including instructor-led SB 1060 Page 3 interactive courses delivered through online technologies; participation in professional conferences, workshops, teacher center programs, staff development programs, or a California Reading Professional Development Program; service as a mentor teacher; participation in school curriculum development projects; participation in systematic programs of observation and analysis of teaching; service in a leadership role in a professional organization; and, participation in educational research or innovation efforts. Authorizes employing agencies and the bargaining agents of employees to negotiate to agree on the terms of programs of professional growth within their jurisdictions. (Education Code 44277) 3)Establishes the Professional Development Block Grant and authorizes a school district to expend funds received for either of the following: a) Any purpose authorized by the programs listed in Section 41531, as the statutes governing those programs read on January 1, 2004. b) To compensate new and existing mathematics, science, and special education teachers in schools ranked, in the 2008-09 school year or any subsequent school year, in decile 1, 2, or 3 of the Academic Performance Index, in a manner separate from the uniform allowance for years of training and years of service. (Education Code 41530) FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal. COMMENTS : In years past, the state required specific professional development (PD) for certificated employees and funded the Professional Development Block Grant to fund both state mandated PD, and to give LEAs discretion to provide PD that was most appropriate for their workforce. The implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) defunded the Professional Development Block Grant and folded those funds into the LCFF. While the statutes are still valid, they are no longer relevant in light of the LCFF, and SB 971 (Huff) from 2014, which is pending in the Assembly, and was introduced to repeal these irrelevant code sections. Under LCFF, LEAs have the discretion to provide PD in the manner and amount of their choosing, as it is no longer required under existing state law. This bill requires LEAs that choose to provide PD, to consider several attributes when choosing a PD program. SB 1060 Page 4 PD and QEIA : This bill authorizes PD to include collaboration time for teachers to develop common assessments, analyze data and work together to improve practice, among other things. Collaboration time as part of PD has been a priority for the state for several years. For example, under the Quality Education Investment Act (QEIA), the required PD specifically included collaboration time for teachers as one option to meet the required 40 hours of PD per year. According to the California Department of Education, the QEIA program defined PD to include all of the following: collaboration time for teachers; mentoring projects for new teachers; extra support for teachers to improve practice; and, rigorous, in-depth PD on pedagogical practices to extend subject matter knowledge. Much of the language in this bill mirrors the language used to describe collaboration time in the QEIA program. According to the author, "As a result of budget cuts that school districts have endured since 2009 and due to categorical flexibility provisions that have been put in place, funding for professional development activities has been severely reduced and diverted to fill other budget gaps. According to a May 2012 report from the Legislative Analyst (Year-Three Survey: Update on School District Finance in California), more than half of school districts report that they have eliminated or significantly reduced professional development offered to teachers and principals, and one-third of districts have reduced paid professional development days. As a consequence, the continued professional training and knowledge base that is needed for effective teaching has suffered, negatively impacting not only educators, but students as well. Even worse, the lack of professional training may have persuaded some teachers to leave the profession. With the implementation of common core standards and the upcoming roll out of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) assessments in 2014-15, it is imperative more now than ever, that teachers, administrators, and paraprofessionals have the necessary, up-to-date training to adequately prepare students." Further the author states, "SB 1060 seeks to help LEAs attract, grow, and retain effective educators and encourages them to provide high quality professional growth opportunities for school employees involved in the direct instruction of students. Further, the bill provides criteria guidelines for LEAs in developing meaningful and effective professional development SB 1060 Page 5 programs for education professionals that embody collaboration, continuous improvement, a focus on instruction, capacity building, and expanding content knowledge." Professional Learning Standards : According to the State Superintendent's 2013 Quality Professional Learning Standards publication, " Professional learning standards are the cornerstone of quality professional learning, identifying essential elements of quality professional learning that cut across specific content knowledge, pedagogical skills, and dispositions. The Superintendent's Quality Professional Learning Standards (QPLS) serve as a foundation for the content, processes, and conditions essential to all educator professional learning. The Superintendent has identified the following seven interdependent professional learning standards to promote quality teacher learning and development: Data - Quality professional learning uses varied sources and kinds of information to guide priorities, design and assessments. Content and Pedagogy - Quality professional learning enhances educators' expertise to increase students' capacity to learn and thrive. Equity - Quality professional learning focuses on equitable access, opportunities, outcomes for all students, with an emphasis on addressing achievement and opportunity disparities between student groups. Design and Structure - Quality professional learning reflects evidence-based approaches, recognizing that focused, sustained learning enables educators to acquire, implement, and assess improved practices. Collaboration and Shared Accountability - Quality professional learning facilitates the development of a shared purpose for student learning and collective responsibility for achieving it. Resources - Quality professional learning dedicates resources that are adequate, accessible, and allocated appropriately toward established priorities and outcomes. Alignment and Coherence - Quality professional learning contributes to a coherent system of educator learning and support that connects district, school, and individual priorities and needs with state and federal requirements and resources. The seven QPLS represent essential components of a comprehensive, research-based, quality SB 1060 Page 6 professional learning system that is appropriate for California. Each broadly stated standard is made more concrete by identifying three to five major elements that are building blocks of the standard. For each element, indicators further detail what quality professional learning looks like in practice." Committee Amendments : Staff recommends the bill be amended to clarify that if an LEA provides professional development, the LEA shall evaluate professional development programs based on all the listed attributes, and specify that LEAs are encouraged to choose professional development programs that meet any or all the listed attributes. Staff further recommends the bill be amended to change the term "professional development" to "professional learning" to bring this code section up to date with commonly used terminology. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support California Federation of Teachers California Teachers Association The Education Trust - West Opposition None on file. Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087