Amended in Assembly April 23, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 711

Introduced by Assembly Member Santiago

February 25, 2015

An act to amend Section 60605.3 of the Education Code, relating to school curriculum.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 711, as amended, Santiago. School curriculum: foreign languages.

Existing law requires the State Board of Education, on or before June 1, 2009, to adopt content standards for teaching foreign languages in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, pursuant to recommendations developed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

begin delete

This

end delete

begin insert Unless AB 740 of the 2015-16 Regular Session is enacted and becomes operative, this end insert bill would require the state board, on or before begin delete January end delete begin insert September end insert 1, 2017, to adopt begin insert or reject end insert specified national content standards for teaching foreign languages in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, pursuant to recommendations developed by the Superintendent. begin insert If AB 740 of the 2015-16 Regular Session is enacted and becomes operative, the bill would require the state board to appoint an advisory committee to recommend updated national content standards for teaching foreign language in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to the state board and would require the state board to adopt or reject those content standards, as specified. end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) The national World-Readiness Standards for Learning
Languages are in the process of being published. Those standards
reflect new research on best practices for teaching languages and
cultures and offer a sound vision for program goal setting, teaching
and facilitating learning, and assessing the standards pupils know
and applying that knowledge in global settings. Those standards
have now been adopted in total or with minor modifications in 40
states.

(b) The national World-Readiness Standards for Learning
Languages are based on the original national standards, begin delete publish end delete
begin insert published end insert in 1996, that stood the test of time in providing common
language and descriptors for world languages and cultures
education.

(c) Pupils will benefit from the clarity that will arise from
following the widely adopted and updated national standards.
World language and culture educators in California, as of January
1, 2016, need to navigate between national and state standards as
they read and research professional documents, collaborate with
other world language and culture educators from other states and
nations, and engage in other professional standards-based work,
including national assessments for assessing learners proficiency
in world languages and cultures.

(d) If the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages
are adopted by the State Board of Education by begin delete June 1, end delete begin insert September
1, end insert 2017, the standards and framework could be developed in
tandem, rather than revising the standards adopted as of January
1, 2016, to reflect new framework and research, resulting in
significant cost savings for the state.

(e) The national World-Readiness Standards for Learning
Languages provide pupils friendly and clearly stated functional
learning goals and assessment tasks through a series of “I can”
statements based on predictable descriptors of language
development.

SEC. 2.  

Section 60605.3 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

60605.3.  

(a)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert On or before begin delete June 1, end delete begin insert September 1, end insert 2017, the
state board shall adopt begin insert or reject end insert national content standards in
accordance with the World-Readiness Standards for Learning
Languages, begin delete published, in 2015, end delete begin insert published in 2015 end insert by the American
Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages, pursuant to
recommendations developed by the Superintendent, for teaching
foreign languages in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive.

begin insert

(2) If the state board rejects the national content standards, it
shall submit a written explanation to the Superintendent, the
Governor, and the Legislature of the reasons why the proposed
content standards were rejected.

end insert begin insert

(3) This subdivision shall not become operative if Assembly Bill
740 of the 2015-16 Regular Session is enacted and becomes
operative.

end insert begin insert

(b) (1) The state board shall appoint an advisory committee to
recommend updated national content standards for teaching
foreign language in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to
the state board. The advisory committee shall consist of 21
members, appointed as follows:

end insert begin insert

(A) Ten members appointed by the Governor.

end insert begin insert

(B) Four members appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules.

end insert begin insert

(C) Four members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.

end insert begin insert

(D) Three members appointed by the Superintendent.

end insert begin insert

(2) Members of the advisory committee shall serve at the
pleasure of the appointing authority.

end insert begin insert

(3) Not less than one-half of the members appointed by each of
the appointing authorities pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be
current public school elementary or secondary classroom teachers
who have a professional credential under state law, and meet the
definition of “highly qualified” under federal law.

end insert begin insert

(4) The advisory committee shall review the content standards
established in its particular subject matter and shall prepare
updates to the content standards as the committee deems necessary.

end insert begin insert

(5) When making its recommendation, the advisory committee
shall consider both of the following criteria:

end insert begin insert

(A) The extent to which its proposed updates reflect current and
confirmed research in the subject area under consideration.

end insert begin insert

(B) The impact that the proposed updates will have upon school
districts and existing curricula and assessments.

end insert begin insert

(6) The advisory committee shall conduct at least two, and no
more than six, in-person meetings that are open to the public and
include opportunities for public input. The advisory committee
may convene additional meetings by teleconference or the Internet
subject to the requirements of Article 9 (commencing with Section
11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code.

end insert begin insert

(7) Upon completing this review, the terms of the members of
the advisory committee shall cease.

end insert begin insert

(8) Upon updating the content standards, the advisory committee
shall forward them to the state board, which shall do either of the
following within 120 days of the receipt:

end insert begin insert

(A) Adopt the proposed updates as proposed by the advisory
committee.

end insert begin insert

(B) Reject the proposed updates as proposed by the advisory
committee. If the state board rejects the content standards, it shall
provide a specific written explanation to the Superintendent, the
Governor, and the Legislature of the reasons why the proposed
content standards were rejected.

end insert begin insert

(9) Prior to final action pursuant to paragraph (4), the
department shall post on its Internet Web site the updates proposed
by the advisory committee for a minimum of 60 days. The
department shall include a link by which members of the public
may submit comments on the proposed updates.

end insert begin insert

(10) Members of the advisory committee shall serve without
compensation, except for actual and necessary travel expenses
and substitute costs.

end insert begin insert

(11) This subdivision shall become operative only if Assembly
Bill 740 of the 2015-16 Regular Session is enacted and becomes
operative.

end insert begin delete

(b)

end delete

begin insert ( end insert begin insert c) end insert  The content standards begin insert adopted pursuant to subdivisions (a)
or ( end insert begin insert b) end insert shall support the goals of Section 51212 and subdivision (c)
of Section 51220 by including all of the following:

(1) A summary of the language goals which recognizes that
instruction may begin in elementary or secondary school.

(2) A description of individual language skills that should be
taught and attained at each level.

(3) Course content that is aligned with findings from research
on second language acquisition and education.

(4) Course content that is aligned with the admission
requirements for the California State University and the University
of California.

begin delete

(c)

end delete

begin insert ( end insert begin insert d) end insert  The content standards begin insert adopted pursuant to subdivisions (a)
or ( end insert begin insert b) end insert may be used by school districts to develop language
programs and course assessments but are not mandatory.