BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1060
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SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1060 (Liu)
As Amended June 19, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :35-0
EDUCATION 5-0
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|Ayes:|Buchanan, Gonzalez, | | |
| |Nazarian, Weber, Williams | | |
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| | | | |
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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 evaluate professional learning based on specified criteria
and are encouraged to choose professional learning that meets
any of the 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 evaluate
professional learning based on the following criteria and are
encouraged to choose professional learning that meets any 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
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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'
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 learning 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 learning 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
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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 Section 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
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 Section 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
Education Code Section 41531, as the statutes governing
those programs read on January 1, 2004.
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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 Section
41530)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
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) of the current legislative session, 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 evaluate the programs based on several
attributes and are encouraged to choose a PD program that meets
the criteria.
PD and Quality Education Investment Act (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 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.
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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's Office (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 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
programs for education professionals that embody collaboration,
continuous improvement, a focus on instruction, capacity
building, and expanding content knowledge."
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0004085
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