BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2290 Page 1 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 | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ AB 2290 Page 2 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 AB 2290 Page 3 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 AB 2290 Page 4 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: AB 2290 Page 5 Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0003328