BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1985
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Date of Hearing: April 19, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Jose Medina, Chair
AB 1985
(Williams) - As Introduced February 16, 2016
SUBJECT: Postsecondary education
SUMMARY: Requires the California Community Colleges (CCC) to
develop a uniform policy regarding credit awarded for Advance
Placement (AP) examinations. Specifically, this bill:
1)Establishes Legislative intent to create a uniform AP credit
policy within the CCC.
2)Finds that studies consistently find that pupils who earn AP
Exam scores of three and higher are likely to demonstrate
multiple measures of college success.
3)Finds that the lack of a uniform AP credit policy often serves
as an academic and financial barrier for students enrolling in
CCC and is a transfer obstacle for many pupils.
4)Requires the CCC to develop, and requires each CCC district to
adopt, a uniform policy to award a pupil who passes an AP exam
with a score of three or higher credit for a California
Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC)
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course with subject matter similar to that of the AP exam.
5)Provides for reimbursement to local agencies and school
districts if the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this bill contains mandated state costs.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the Board of Governors (BOG) and the Chancellor of
the CCC to provide leadership and direction to the CCC while
maintaining and continuing, to the maximum degree permissible,
local authority and control in the administration of the
districts (CCD). The BOG and Chancellor are responsible for a
variety of functions, including establishing minimum
standards, providing various reports, and various annual
budgeting functions. In performing functions, BOG is required
to carry out a process of consultation with institutional
representatives, college organizations and interested
individuals and parties. (Education Code Section 70901).
2)Pursuant to BOG regulations, the governing board of a CCD may
adopt policies to grant credit for satisfactory completion of
AP exams. The faculty in the appropriate discipline must
approve AP examinations, scores deemed to constitute
satisfactory performance, courses offered by the college for
which credit will be granted, and requirements that may be met
by such examinations in accordance with policies and
procedures approved by the curriculum committee. The
student's academic record must be clearly annotated to reflect
that credit was earned through an AP exam. (5 CCR Sec.
55052).
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
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COMMENTS: Purpose of this bill. AP courses are designed to
provide rigorous academic coursework opportunities for high
school students. Upon successful completion of AP courses,
students are provided the opportunity to take an AP exam,
conducted by the College Board, for which scores range from 1-5.
According to College Board, scores of 3-5 correlate to college
course grades of C to A. According to the author, AP credit
policies vary across the 113 community colleges. According to a
College Board report entitled AP Credit Policies at California
Community Colleges, 10 colleges do not grant credit or have
unknown credit policies for all available AP exams, 24 colleges
require a score of 4 to award credit, and 6 colleges require a
score on some AP exams of 5. According to the author, the lack
of a systemwide credit policy for the CCC creates an unnecessary
barrier for students in receiving and transferring credits. In
2014, 16,178 AP test takers reported 47,180 AP exam scores to
CCC.
CSU policy on AP exam credit. CSU Executive Order No. 1036,
issued on July 14, 2008, provides that CSU campuses shall award
baccalaureate credit toward degree and/or admissions eligibility
to students who pass standardized external examinations (such as
AP, International Baccalaureate, and College Level Entrance
Program examinations). The Chancellor, in consultation with the
General Education Advisory Committee is required to maintain a
list of external examinations and passing scores, minimum
credits toward admissions eligibility, minimum credits toward
the baccalaureate degree, and, placement in GE Breadth area for
transfer students seeking general education certification.
According to the most recently available list, all AP exams
require a minimum passing score of three.
UC policy on AP exam credit. According to UC, systemwide UC
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grants credit for AP exams on which a student scores a 3 or
higher. Elective units awarded may be applied to UC graduation
requirements for specific subjects and/or for general
education/breadth requirements, as determined by each campus.
For transfer students, AP exams can also be used to meet the
minimum transfer admission subject requirements in English, math
and 4 other courses chosen from the humanities,
behavioral/social sciences, and biological/physical sciences.
Support if amended. The Community College League of California
(League) is requesting amendments to strike the contents of the
bill and instead require CCCCO to recommend, and each CCC
district to adopt, a policy regarding the awarding of AP
credits. The amendments would also require the Academic Senate
of the CCC to develop a policy for reviewing the policies and
procedures of awarding AP credit. Finally, the amendments would
require that CCC districts complete periodic reviews of the AP
policy. The League believes that local CCC districts should
retain flexibility to adapt to transferability requirements.
Suggested amendments. Committee staff recommends amendments to
(1) make the findings and declarations uncodified contained in
the bill; (2) include the Academic Senate of the CCC in the
development of the policy; (3) clarify that the CCC Chancellor's
Office is responsible for developing the policy (in
collaboration with the Academic Senate); and, (4) clarify that
the policy should be applicable to IGETC, the CSU GE Breadth,
and CCC GE transfer.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
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Association of California School Administrators
College Board
North Orange County Community College District
Santa Rosa Junior College
School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics, and Engineering,
California State University, Bakersfield
Opposition
None on File
Analysis Prepared by:Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960
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