BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2016
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
2016 (Alejo, et al.)
As Amended August 16, 2016
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |61-7 |(June 2, 2016) |SENATE: |32-5 |(August 17, |
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Original Committee Reference: ED.
SUMMARY: Requires the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) to
develop, and the State Board of Education (SBE) to adopt,
modify, or revise 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 offer the course as an
elective in the social sciences or English language arts and
make the course available in at least one year during each
student's enrollment in grades nine to 12.
The Senate amendments:
1)Authorize the SBE to modify or revise (in addition to adopt)
the model curriculum in ethnic studies.
2)Change the date by which the IQC must submit the model
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curriculum from June 30, 2019 to December 31, 2019, and change
the date by which the SBE must adopt the model curriculum from
November 30, 2019 to March 31, 2020.
3)Allows the IQC to provide more than 45 days for public comment
before submitting the model curriculum to the SBE.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
1) The California Department of Education estimates one-time
costs of about $763,000 over two fiscal years ($302,000 in
the first year and $461,000 in the second year) to develop
the model curriculum as prescribed by this bill, including
required examples of courses. These costs would support 2.0
positions, a writer contract, outside curriculum experts,
advisory committee meetings, and press editing.
2) Local cost pressure to provide ethnic courses based on the
model curriculum as expressly encouraged by this bill. To
implement a new ethnic studies course, school districts would
have to purchase instructional materials and either hire
appropriate teachers or provide professional development to
existing teachers. These costs would not be reimbursable by
the state.
COMMENTS:
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."
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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 9th grade ethnic
studies course was associated with an increase of ninth-grade
student attendance by 21 percentage points, GPA (grade point
average) 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 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."
Most social science ethnic studies courses do not meet A-G
requirements. This bill requires that the model curriculum
include examples of courses offered by schools that have been
approved as meeting the A-G admissions requirements of the
University of California and the California State University.
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 University of California/California State University
(UC/CSU) A-G courses, while 107 of the 146 language arts courses
were approved.
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Effect of requirement. This bill does not require each school
district and charter school to offer ethnic studies courses, but
it does require that if a school district or charter school
elects to offer a single course in ethnic studies it make the
course available in at least one year during each student's
enrollment in grades 9-12. In other words, if school district
or charter school chooses to offer any ethnic studies courses it
must provide the opportunity for all students to take an ethnic
studies courses during high school. It is unclear what effect
this might have on school districts' and charter schools'
willingness to offer ethnic studies courses, particularly those
which do not currently offer such courses.
Trend toward local 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.
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.
Analysis Prepared by:
Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN:
0004309
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