BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 252
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Date of Hearing: April 22, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
O'Donnell, Chair
AB
252 (Holden) - As Amended March 26, 2015
SUBJECT: Advanced placement program: grant program: STEM
curriculum
SUMMARY: Establishes a grant program to award moneys to cover
the costs associated with a high school establishing or
expanding its advanced placement STEM curriculum, as specified.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Defines "STEM curriculum" to mean courses in any of the
following subject areas:
a) Biology;
b) Calculus;
c) Chemistry;
d) Computer science;
e) Environmental science;
f) Physics; or
g) Statistics
2)Establishes a grant program to award moneys to cover the costs
associated with a high school establishing or expanding its
advanced placement (AP) STEM curriculum.
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3)Provides that grant funds may be used for professional
development to enable instructors to teach an advanced
placement course in the STEM curriculum proposed to be
established by the high school.
4)Requires the grant amount to be determined based on the cost
of the type of advanced placement course in the STEM
curriculum, not to exceed eight thousand dollars per grant
application, excluding professional development costs.
5)Authorizes a high school to apply to the California Department
of Education (CDE) for grant funding if all of the following
conditions are met:
a) The high school either does not offer AP courses in the
STEM curriculum or the AP STEM courses are oversubscribed;
and
b) The high school has identified pupils who have
demonstrated they have high potential to be successful in
one or more AP courses in the STEM curriculum, using any
means it deems appropriate, including, but not limited to,
a pupil's score on the preliminary SAT.
6)Defines "oversubscribed" to mean demand for the course exceeds
space by at least one-half of the number of pupils required
for a full class.
7)Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to give
first priority to applicants with no advanced placement
courses in the STEM curriculum.
8)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to
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submit a report to the Legislature describing the
effectiveness of the grant program no later than July 1, 2021.
9)Requires the report to include the following:
a) The increase in the number of pupils who have access to
advanced placement courses in the STEM curriculum; and
b) The increase in the number of pupils in the AP STEM
courses that include core demographics, including, but not
limited to, gender and race.
10)Encourages the SPI to consult with the College Board in
preparing the report.
11)Requires the report to be submitted in compliance with
Section 9795 of the Government Code.
12)Provides that the grant program shall be established only to
the extent that moneys are available for its purpose from any
state, federal, or nonstate source.
13)Makes findings and declarations regarding the value of AP
courses, the need for STEM courses, and the need to expand
diversity in the STEM fields.
14)Establishes a sunset date of July 1, 2021.
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EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires the SPI to annually update information on advanced
placement available on the CDE's web site, including
information on the various means available to school districts
to offer or access AP courses, including online courses.
2)Requires the SPI to annually communicate with high schools
that offer AP courses in fewer than five subjects to inform
them of the various options for making AP courses and other
rigorous courses available.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: Advanced Placement (AP). The Advanced Placement (AP)
Program was established over 40 years ago by the College Board,
a national nonprofit organization. The AP Program consists of
college-level courses in 31 subject areas, including the seven
subject areas identified by this bill.
The AP Program provides incentives for public high schools in
California to provide access to rigorous, college-level courses
for interested and prepared students. With such programs,
students may pursue college-level work while still in secondary
school and receive college credit, advanced academic standing,
or both.
AP courses are recognized by virtually all public and private
universities. Successful completion of AP courses, and the
related tests, can greatly help students in the very competitive
process of university admission.
AP courses prepare students for AP exams, which are administered
by the College Board and scored on a five-point scale as
follows:
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5 - Extremely well qualified
4 - Well qualified
3 - Qualified
2 - Possibly qualified
1 - No recommendation
Most colleges and universities require a score of at least 3 or
4 for college credit.
STEM. STEM is an acronym standing for "science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics." Advocates of a STEM curriculum
argue that a STEM education is critical to enabling the United
States to be competitive and retain economic and technological
leadership in the global economy of the 21st Century. A 2009
report from the Institute for Higher Education Leadership &
Policy at Sacramento State University called "Technical
Difficulties: Meeting California's Workforce Needs in Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Fields" contains the
following key findings:
STEM jobs are vital to the California economy, but a
shortage of skilled workers may decrease the state's
strength in STEM fields.
Employment demand in STEM fields is growing faster than
employment demand in non-STEM fields.
The supply of STEM-educated workers is not keeping pace
with demand.
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Not all STEM graduates become STEM employees.
Need for diversity. The above-mentioned report also concluded
that increasing STEM achievement by underrepresented groups is
necessary to ensure that there are enough STEM workers. There
is evidence, however, that female and ethnic minority students
have fewer opportunities to enroll in STEM courses. In a survey
of chemists and chemical engineers conducted by the Bayer
Corporation ("Bayer Facts of Science Education XIV: Female and
Minority Chemists and Chemical Engineers Speak about Diversity
and Underrepresentation in STEM," March 2010), 75% of
respondents agreed that lack of quality science and math
education programs in poorer school districts is a top cause of
underrepresentation in STEM, and 66% agreed that stereotypes
that say STEM is not for girls or minorities is a top cause of
underrepresentation in STEM. The Bayer survey also reports that
77% of respondents say "significant numbers of women and
underrepresented minorities are missing from the U.S. STEM
workforce today because they were not identified, encouraged or
nurtured to pursue STEM studies early on." Although the Bayer
survey was restricted to chemists and chemical engineers, it is
reasonable to assume that its findings apply across the STEM
curriculum.
Need for this bill. According to the author's office, the
purpose of this bill is to help create more STEM opportunities
for traditionally underrepresented students. The bill states
"the intent of the Legislature to establish an advanced
placement STEM Access Grant Program to expand diversity in the
STEM field in regards to socioeconomic standing, gender, and
race."
Existing incentive. Existing law provides a non-monetary
incentive for districts to increase the number of AP courses
they offer and to encourage their students to take AP exams.
Specifically, each district is required to adopt a Local Control
and Accountability Plan (LCAP) that must address eight state
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priorities, one of which is "pupil achievement." One measure of
pupil achievement is the percentage of students in a district
that score 3 or higher on an AP exam. Increasing the percentage
or maintaining a high percentage would indicate progress on the
LCAP. In addition, the local control funding formula (LCFF)
provides additional funding to districts that enroll low income
pupils and English learners, who account for most of the pupils
who are underrepresented in STEM courses.
Given the existing incentive and the additional funding, some
districts may already be planning to establish or expand AP STEM
courses. Such districts could receive grant funds to do what
they were already planning to do without the funds. If this
bill is enacted, and if the number of AP STEM courses increases,
it will be impossible to determine whether the increase is the
result of the incentives provided by the bill or if the bill
simply provided additional funds for districts without adding to
the number of AP STEM courses that would otherwise be offered.
Need to target funds. As written, the bill does not target
grant funds to students based on socioeconomic standing, gender,
and race, which is the author's intent. Instead, funds may be
allocated to any high school that (1) either does not offer AP
courses in the STEM curriculum or those courses are
oversubscribed and (2) has identified pupils who have
demonstrated high potential to successful in AP STEM courses.
In order to achieve the author's purpose, staff recommends the
bill be amended to specify that the "identified pupils" be from
groups that are traditionally underrepresented in STEM courses.
Use of grant funds. Staff recommends that the bill be amended
to further define the purposes for which grant funds may be
used. Specifically, staff recommends that the bill specify that
the grant funds may be used for one-time purposes associated
with the costs of establishing or expanding AP STEM courses,
including:
Teacher recruitment
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Professional development
Instructional materials
Laboratory supplies and equipment
Facilities remodeling
Grant application. Staff recommends that the bill be amended to
provide that the grant applications shall be on a form developed
by the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) and that the
form include, at a minimum:
An itemized budget for the one-time use of the grant
funds
An agreement by the grant recipient to provide the SPI
the data needed to complete the required report.
Clarification needed. The bill defines "oversubscribed" to mean
that "demand for the course exceeds space by at least one-half
of the number of pupils required for a full class." The use of
the word "space" is ambiguous and could be interpreted to refer
strictly to a facilities problem. To avoid this ambiguity and
to be consistent with the author's intent, staff recommends that
the bill be amended to replace "space" with "enrollment."
In addition, the bill requires the report from the SPI to
include the increase in the number of pupils who have access to
AP STEM courses "that include core demographics, including, but
not limited to, gender and race." To be consistent with
language in other parts of the Education Code, staff recommends
that the bill be amended to instead reference gender and pupil
subgroups identified pursuant to Section 52052 of the Education
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Code. Because "access" is difficult to define, staff also
recommends that the report include the increase in "enrollment"
in AP STEM courses.
Also, the bill limits the grant amount to $8,000 "per grant
application." According to the author's office, this is the
average cost of adding a new AP STEM course. It is not clear if
a grant application covers one course, one school, or one
district. Staff recommends the bill be amended to the grant to
$8,000 per course added or expanded. In order to allow
participation a large number of districts, staff also recommends
that the bill be amended to limit grants to one grant per school
and 10 schools per district.
Finally, staff recommends that the bill be amended to provide
that a school district, rather than a high school, may apply for
grants.
Arguments in support. Supporters argue that we need to build a
strong STEM pipeline, because we have a dwindling number of
scientists and engineers. At the same time, "we have a vast
untapped talent pool in those students who traditionally have
been underrepresented to STEM fields." It is important to
encourage schools to offer more STEM opportunities for that
population of students.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Advanced Medical Technology Association
American Chemistry Council
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BayBio
Bayer Health Care
Biocom
California Chamber of Commerce
California Communities United Institute
California Federation of Teachers
California Healthcare Institute
California Manufacturers and Technology Association
California Teachers Association
College Board
Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers Association
TechNet
Opposition
None received
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Analysis Prepared
by: Rick Pratt/ED./(916) 319-2087