BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 458
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Date of Hearing: April 22, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
458 (O'Donnell) - As Introduced February 23, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill requests the California Subject Matters Project
(CSMP), within the University of California (UC), to conduct a
feasibility study to determine the appropriate grade level and
subject area and potential cost for a pilot program to develop
AB 458
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standards-aligned content and instructional software for use on
portable electronic devices.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Minor one-time General Fund costs (under $50,000) to UC for the
CSMP to conduct the feasibility study.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, "As California transitions
to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), we need to invest
in instructional materials that are aligned to those new
standards. At the same time, there is an increased demand for
portable electronic devices to provide curriculum content.
Although electronic materials are being created by private
publishers, they are developed for a national market and may
not suit the unique needs of California's students." The
author contends that the state could realize significant cost
savings by using publicly-resourced materials. AB 458 is
intended to examine the feasibility and cost of developing
such materials. The author believes that the CSMP should do
the study, as the only interdisciplinary and intersegmental
public entity working directly with teachers to improve
classroom instruction in specified content areas.
2)Background. CSMP is an intersegmental effort of postsecondary
education institutions that connects K-12 educators with
faculty in the various disciplines from UC, California State
University, and private higher education colleges and
universities to provide professional development designed to
enhance teachers' content knowledge and instructional
strategies to improve student learning and academic
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performance.
Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)
319-2081