BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 252
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
252 (Holden)
As Amended June 2, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Education |6-1 |O'Donnell, Kim, |Chávez |
| | |McCarty, Santiago, | |
| | |Thurmond, Weber | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Appropriations |13-4 |Gomez, Bonta, |Bigelow, Gallagher, |
| | |Calderon, Chang, |Jones, Wagner |
| | |Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Gordon, Holden, | |
| | |Quirk, Rendon, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Establishes the Advanced Placement (AP) STEM Access
Grant Program through July 1, 2021, to be administered by the
California Department of Education (CDE) for purposes of awarding
funds to cover the costs associated with a high school
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establishing or expanding its AP Science, Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics (STEM) curriculum. Specifically, this bill:
1)Establishes the AP STEM Access Grant Program Account in the
State Treasury and authorizes funds in the account to be used to
fund grants and to administer the program.
2)Authorizes grant funds to be used for one-time costs of
establishing or expanding AP STEM courses, as defined, including
but not limited to, professional development, instructional
materials, and laboratory materials and supplies.
3)Requires the grant amount to be determined based on the cost of
the type of AP course in the STEM curriculum, not to exceed
$8,000 per grant application. Specifies terms and conditions
necessary to apply for the grant funding and provides first
priority shall be given to applicants with no AP courses in
STEM.
4)Authorizes a school district to apply for a maximum of one grant
per high school and ten grants per district if the high school
or school district either does not offer AP courses in the STEM
curriculum or the AP STEM courses are oversubscribed; and the
high school has identified pupils from populations that are
underrepresented in STEM courses and 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.
5)Requires the CDE to give first priority to applicants with no AP
courses in the STEM curriculum.
6)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), who is
encouraged to work with the College Board, to submit a report to
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the Legislature on the effectiveness of the program no later
than July 1, 2021.
7)Provides that the grant program will be established only to the
extent that moneys are available for its purpose from any state
or nonstate source.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Unknown Proposition 98 (1988)/General Fund cost pressure in the
hundreds of thousands. Program requirements would be contingent
upon state, federal or non-state funding; however, no specific
funding source has been identified. Actual costs will depend on
the amount of the total grant award. For illustration, assuming
100 schools qualify for the maximum grant award of $8,000; costs
would be in excess of $800,000.
2)Administrative costs of approximately $400,000 to the California
Department of Education (CDE) to review and approve
applications, provide technical assistance and write an
evaluation of the program. CDE would likely contract with a
statewide evaluator to evaluate the effectiveness of the
programs.
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
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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:
1)Extremely well qualified - 5
2)Well qualified - 4
3)Qualified - 3
4)Possibly qualified - 2
5)No recommendation - 1
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 STEM Fields" contains the
following key findings:
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1)STEM jobs are vital to the California economy, but a shortage of
skilled workers may decrease the state's strength in STEM
fields.
2)Employment demand in STEM fields is growing faster than
employment demand in non-STEM fields.
3)The supply of STEM-educated workers is not keeping pace with
demand.
4)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 United States 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.
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Analysis Prepared by:
Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0000869