BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1985
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
1985 (Williams)
As Amended April 21, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Higher |13-0 |Medina, Baker, Bloom, | |
|Education | |Chávez, Irwin, | |
| | |Jones-Sawyer, Levine, | |
| | |Linder, Low, Olsen, | |
| | |Santiago, Weber, | |
| | |Williams | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |19-1 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, |Wagner |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, McCarty, | |
| | |Eggman, Gallagher, | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, Chau, | |
| | |Holden, Jones, | |
| | |Obernolte, Quirk, | |
| | |Santiago, Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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AB 1985
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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 Chancellor, in collaboration with the
Academic Senate, 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 (GE) Transfer Curriculum
(IGETC), California State University General Education
Breadth, or local community college general education
requirements, as appropriate for the pupil's needs, in a
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:
AB 1985
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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 California Code
of Regulations Section 55052).
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
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
AB 1985
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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 four to award credit, and six colleges
require a score on some AP exams of five. According to the
author, the lack of a system-wide 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.
California State University (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.
University of California (UC) policy on AP exam credit.
According to UC, system-wide UC 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.
AB 1985
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Analysis Prepared by:
Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960 FN:
0002953