BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2016 Page 1 (Without Reference to File) ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 2016 (Alejo, et al.) As Amended June 1, 2016 Majority vote ------------------------------------------------------------------ |Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------| |Education |5-0 |O'Donnell, McCarty, | | | | |Santiago, Thurmond, | | | | |Weber | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------| |Appropriations |14-1 |Gonzalez, Bloom, |Gallagher | | | |Bonilla, Bonta, | | | | |Calderon, Daly, | | | | |Eggman, Eduardo | | | | |Garcia, Roger | | | | |Hernández, Holden, | | | | |Quirk, Santiago, | | | | |Weber, Wood | | | | | | | AB 2016 Page 2 | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ SUMMARY: Requires the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) to develop, and the State Board of Education (SBE) to adopt, a model curriculum in ethnic studies, and requires that a school district or charter school which elects to offer a course in ethnic studies to base it on the model curriculum, among other requirements. 1) Requires the IQC to develop, and the SBE to adopt, a model curriculum in ethnic studies to ensure quality courses of study in ethnic studies. 2) Requires that the be developed with participation from faculty of ethnic studies programs at universities and colleges with ethnic studies programs and a group of representatives of local educational agencies (LEAs), of whom a majority are teachers who have relevant experience or education background in the study and teaching of ethnic studies. 3) Requires the model curriculum to: a) Be written as a guide to allow school districts to adapt their courses to reflect the pupil demographics in their communities. b) Include examples of courses offered by local educational agencies which have been approved as meeting the A-G admissions requirements of the University of California and the California State University, including, to the extent possible, course outlines for those courses. AB 2016 Page 3 4) Requires, on or before June 30, 2019, the IQC to submit the model curriculum to the SBE for adoption, and requires the SBE to shall adopt the model curriculum on or before November 30, 2019. 5) Requires the IQC to provide 45 days for public comment before submitting the model curriculum to the SBE. 6) Encourages, beginning in the school year following the adoption of the model curriculum, each school district or charter school maintaining any of grades nine to 12, that does not otherwise offer a standards-based ethnic studies curriculum to offer a course in ethnic studies based on the model curriculum. 7) Requires school districts and charter schools which elect to offer a course in ethnic studies in grades nine to 12 to offer a course based on the model curriculum as an elective in the social sciences or English language arts, and to make it available in at least one year during a student's enrollment in grades nine to 12. 8) States the intent of the Legislature that LEAs submit course outlines for ethnic studies for approval as A-G courses. FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, General Fund administrative costs of approximately $300,000 in the first year and $460,000 in the second year for the California Department of Education (CDE) to develop a model curriculum framework in ethnic studies. Developing curriculum framework involves an extensive process that would likely take two years to develop and would necessitate contracting with AB 2016 Page 4 subject matter experts. COMMENTS: Need for the bill. The author's office states, "Developing ethnic studies programs in public high schools is an integral part of cultivating a classroom environment that is accepting of diverse cultures. It is vital for young people to learn about their history, but also important for them to feel like they can change their communities in positive ways. "The National Education Association confirms that ethnic studies have a positive impact on students of color. The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies report indicates that ethnic studies benefits students in observable ways: they became more academically engaged, improve outcomes on academic tests, graduate at higher rates, and develop a sense of self-efficacy and personal empowerment. An ethnic studies curriculum will help close the achievement gap by reducing student truancy, increasing student enrollment, reduce drop-out rates, and better prepare Californian youth to be college-prepared and career-ready." Most social science ethnic studies courses do not meet A-G requirements. According to data reported by the CDE, 8,678 students were enrolled in ethnic studies courses in the 2014-15 school year. Of those, 5,750 students were enrolled in 505 social science ethnic studies courses in 119 schools, and 2,298 students were enrolled in 146 language arts (ethnic literature) courses in 58 schools. 162 of the 505 social science courses were identified as approved UC/CSU A-G courses, while 107 of the 146 language arts courses were approved. AB 2016 Page 5 Trend toward local ethnic studies graduation requirements. Several school districts have recently made completion of a course in ethnic studies a local graduation requirement. Among them are Los Angeles Unified School District (which also resolved that the total number of credits required for graduation would not increase), Montebello Unified School District, El Rancho Unified School District, and Coachella Valley Unified School District. San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) has resolved to offer ethnic studies courses at all high schools, and explore making it a graduation requirement in the next five years. The Oakland Unified School District has required all high schools to offer access to ethnic studies courses which confer credit toward graduation and which are A-G approved by the 2018-19 school year. Research on academic value of ethnic studies. A review by the National Education Association found that "there is considerable research evidence that well-designed and well-taught ethnic studies curricula have positive academic and social outcomes for students." Another recent analysis found "a consistent, significant, positive relationship between [Mexican American Studies] participation and student academic performance." A 2016 study from Stanford University (published as a working paper) on the effects of an ethnic studies curriculum piloted in several San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) high schools found that assignment to a year-long ninth grade ethnic studies course was associated with an increase of ninth-grade student attendance by 21% points, grade point average (GPA) by 1.4 grade points, and credits earned by 23. The authors conclude that "these surprisingly large effects are consistent with the hypothesis that the course reduced dropout rates and suggest that culturally relevant teaching, when implemented in a supportive, high-fidelity context, can provide effective support to at-risk students." They also note, "the implementation of ethnic studies in SFUSD was, arguably, conducted with a high AB 2016 Page 6 degree of fidelity, forethought, and planning. In particular, it appeared to draw upon the work of a core group of dedicated teachers, engaging in a regular professional learning community, with outside support from experts in the subject to create and sustain the program. As scholars from a number of disciplines have noted, the effects of such smaller-scale interventions are often very different when the same policies are implemented at scale." Similar bill recently vetoed. AB 101 (Alejo) of this legislative session, which was approved by this Committee on a 6-1 vote, would have required the SPI to oversee the development of a model curriculum in ethnic studies, and would have established an advisory committee on ethnic studies to make recommendations on the development of the curriculum. This bill creates what is essentially a redundant process. The Instructional Quality Commission is in the midst of revising the History-Social Science Framework, which includes guidance on ethnic studies courses. Creating yet another advisory body specific to ethnic studies would be duplicative and undermine our current curriculum process. While AB 101 would have established an advisory committee to make recommendations to the SPI on the development of the model curriculum, this bill requires the IQC to make these recommendations. Amendments recommended below would require the IQC to develop the model curriculum. Analysis Prepared by: Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0003349 AB 2016 Page 7