BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    AB 2290


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          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING


          AB  
          2290 (Santiago)


          As Amended  May 27, 2016


          Majority vote


           ------------------------------------------------------------------ 
          |Committee       |Votes|Ayes                  |Noes                |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
          |Education       |7-0  |O'Donnell, Olsen,     |                    |
          |                |     |Kim, McCarty,         |                    |
          |                |     |Santiago, Thurmond,   |                    |
          |                |     |Weber                 |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
          |Appropriations  |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow,    |                    |
          |                |     |Bloom, Bonilla,       |                    |
          |                |     |Bonta, Calderon,      |                    |
          |                |     |Chang, Daly, Eggman,  |                    |
          |                |     |Gallagher, Eduardo    |                    |
          |                |     |Garcia, Roger         |                    |
          |                |     |Hernández, Holden,    |                    |
          |                |     |Jones, Obernolte,     |                    |
          |                |     |Quirk, Santiago,      |                    |
          |                |     |Wagner, Weber, Wood   |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |
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                                                                    AB 2290


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          SUMMARY:  Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction  
          (SPI) to recommend to the State Board of Education (SBE)  
          revisions to the content standards in world languages, and  
          authorizes the SBE to adopt, reject, or modify the revised  
          standards by January 31, 2019.  Specifically, this bill:  


          1)Authorizes the SPI to recommend to the SBE revisions to the  
            foreign language academic content standards adopted by the  
            SBE. 


          2)Requires the SBE, on or before January 31, 2019, to adopt,  
            reject, or modify any revisions proposed by the SPI. 


          3)Requires that if the SBE modifies the foreign language  
            academic content standards, it explain, in writing, to the  
            Governor and the Legislature the reasons for modifying the  
            standards.


          4)Requires the SPI, in consultation with the SBE, to select a  
            group of experts in world languages for purposes of assisting  
            the SPI in developing recommendations on the revisions. 


          5)Requires the SPI to hold a minimum of two public hearings in  
            order for the public to provide input on the revisions, and  
            requires the SBE to act on those recommendations at a  
            subsequent public meeting.


          6)Requires the public meetings to be held pursuant to the  
            Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act.


          7)Requires that, if the foreign language academic content  








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            standards are revised, during the next revision of the foreign  
            language curriculum framework and evaluation criteria the  
            Instructional Quality Commission ensure that the revisions are  
            incorporated into the foreign language curriculum framework  
            and evaluation criteria for purposes of adopting instructional  
            materials.


          FISCAL EFFECT:  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee, one-time General Fund administrative costs, in the  
          range of $150,000 to $250,000, to convene an advisory committee  
          of world language experts to assist with the development of the  
          standards.  California Department of Education indicates costs  
          to review and recommend the content standards to the SBE would  
          be absorbable. 


          COMMENTS:  


          Need for the bill.  The author's office states:  "World language  
          programs continue to expand in California and the current  
          language standards do not adequately reflect recent research  
          developments in learning a second language, especially in the  
          area of immersion education, which is the fastest growing world  
          language program in our state. 


          "The current World Language Content Standards are not aligned  
          with the Common Core State Standards, the English Language  
          Development Standards, and the curriculum framework for world  
          languages.  The existing World Language Content Standards do not  
          place emphasis on literacy development for heritage speakers of  
          world languages and in supporting learners with low literacy  
          skills both in English and another language. 


          "Furthermore, the current standards do not link the study of  
          world languages with Career and Technical Education (CTE) and  








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          workforce opportunities, which may impede students from  
          developing global competence and engagement in the 21st century  
          global workforce.  In order for language and cultural programs  
          to be the most effective for K-12 students, World Language  
          Content Standards must be updated."


          The most pressing need: standards-aligned instructional  
          materials.  The state's current foreign language framework was  
          adopted in 2003, and instructional materials aligned to that  
          framework were also adopted in 2003 (with a follow-up adoption  
          in 2005).  The current foreign language standards were adopted  
          in 2009.  Because of the suspension of the curriculum framework  
          revision process in 2009, the state never adopted a world  
          languages framework aligned to those standards.  And because  
          state-adopted instructional materials are aligned to that  
          framework, there was no instructional materials adoption aligned  
          to the standards.  As a result, the state-adopted instructional  
          materials in this content area are viewed as highly out-of-date,  
          making instruction in world languages challenging for teachers.


          Process similar to SB 1200 for revising math and science  
          standards.  The process proposed by this bill for the updating  
          of world languages standards is very similar to the one required  
          by SB 1200 (Hancock), Chapter 654, Statutes of 2012, for the  
          revising of standards in mathematics and science.  In both of  
          those content areas, state standards were updated to align with  
          national standards (Common Core State Standards in mathematics,  
          and the Next Generation Science Standards).  That bill  
          authorized the SPI to consult with a group of experts and to  
          recommend revised standards to the SBE.  The SBE was authorized  
          to adopt, reject, or modify the standards, and was required to  
          provide a written explanation for any modifications.  




          Analysis Prepared by:                                             








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                          Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087  FN:  
          0003328