BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



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          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING


          AB  
          2350 (O'Donnell)


          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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          SUMMARY:  Prohibits English learners (ELs) in middle and high  
          school from being prevented from enrolling in core curriculum  
          courses and courses required for graduation, requires that  
          courses designed for long term English learners (LTELs) be  
          offered for graduation credit, and requires the California  
          Department of Education (CDE) to create a video-based  
          professional development series on English Language Development  
          (ELD) and revise a publication on improving instruction for ELs.  
           Specifically, this bill:  


          1)Prohibits a middle or high school student who is enrolled in  
            an English language development course or who is classified as  
            an English learner from being prevented from doing either of  
            the following:


             a)   Enrolling in core curriculum courses in English language  
               arts or any other course required for graduation, grade  
               promotion, or meeting the a-g subject requirements for  
               admission to the University of California (UC) or the  
               California State University (CSU)


             b)   Taking a full course load in core subjects required for  
               graduation, grade promotion, or meeting the a-g subject  
               requirements for admission to the UC or CSU


          1)States that this requirement does not apply to a student  
            participating in an articulated newcomer program unless the  
            student meets the local educational agency's (LEA's) exit  
            criteria for transition into a general education program.   
            Defines, for purposes of this requirement, "articulated  
            newcomer program" as a separate, sometimes self-contained  
            program that meets all of the following criteria:










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             a)   The program is designed to meet the academic and  
               transitional needs of newly arrived immigrants


             b)   Instruction is aligned with state academic content  
               standards in content areas for which standards are adopted


             c)   Instruction for learning English is aligned with ELD  
               standards


             d)   When possible, instruction in the core subjects of  
               mathematics, science, and history-social science are  
               offered in the student's primary language


          1)Requires that, if an LEA offers a course designed for LTELs,  
            that the course confer credits in English language arts  
            necessary to meet graduation or grade promotion requirements.   
            States the intent of the Legislature that LEAs submit those  
            courses to the UC and the CSU for approval to meet a-g subject  
            requirements for admission.


          2)Requires the CDE to contract for the development of a series  
            of videos demonstrating best practices for implementing  
            designated and integrated ELD in grades transitional  
            Kindergarten through grade 12, and make the series available  
            on the CDE website; and requires the CDE to revise its  
            existing research-based guidance document on improving the  
            education of English learners.  Requires that in developing  
            the series the CDE to:  


             a)   Compile program models that address the implementation  
               of designated and integrated ELD instruction during the  
               school day that allows students to access ELD and academic  
               content








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             b)   Convene a group of experts and request public input


             c)   Complete the series and revised document by the  
               beginning of the 2019-20 school year


          1)States that implementation of requirement to produce the video  
            series and revised document is contingent upon funding being  
            provided for this purpose in the annual Budget Act or another  
            statute.


          2)Defines "integrated and designated" ELD as used in the ELD  
            standards.  States that the English Language Arts/English  
            Language Development Framework adopted by the State Board of  
            Education in 2014 states that English learners at all levels  
            require both integrated and designated ELD, defined as  
            follows:


             a)   Designated ELD:  instruction designed for ELs according  
               to their level of English proficiency to overcome language  
               barriers in a reasonable amount of time, during a protected  
               time in the regular school day, in which teachers use the  
               ELD standards in ways that build into and from content  
               instruction in order to develop critical language they need  
               for content learning in English


             b)   Integrated ELD:  instruction in which all teachers with  
               ELs in their classrooms, regardless of course content, use  
               the California ELD standards in tandem with the state  
               content standards


          1)Changes the term "limited English proficient" to "English  








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            learner" in a section related to credentialing of teachers to  
            serve English learners, and aligns the definition of  
            "specially designed content instruction in English" with the  
            one used in the state's ELD standards.


          FISCAL EFFECT:  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee, administrative costs to the CDE of approximately $1.2  
          million (federal Title III), over three years, to develop best  
          practices videos and update guidance documents on instruction. 





          COMMENTS:  


          Need for the bill.  The author's office states:  "The  
          achievement gap between California's English learners and their  
          peers is a central challenge facing in our public education  
          system.  


          "California's English learner students score substantially lower  
          on state assessments than non-English learner students, graduate  
          from high school at lower rates, and attend postsecondary  
          institutions at lower rates.  While there has been incremental  
          growth in achievement among students in both the general  
          population and English learners, the rate of growth in the  
          general population has significantly outpaced that of English  
          learners.  As a result, the achievement gap has actually widened  
          over time.  Results from the first administration of our Common  
          Core-aligned assessments suggest that the gap may be widening  
          further.


          "Recent evidence has pointed to a number of institutional  
          barriers to English learners' success, including secondary  








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          English learners' poor access to the core curriculum and  
          insufficient teacher preparation and professional development to  
          address the instructional needs of English learners,  
          particularly in light of the state's new English language  
          development standards.  


          "AB 2350 will improve English learners' access to the core  
          curriculum and will support educators in improving English  
          language development instruction.  This bill will ensure that  
          English learners are not held back from enrolling in core  
          curriculum courses necessary for graduation, and it will ensure  
          that special courses designed for long term English learners are  
          credit-bearing.  And it will establish a professional  
          development resource for teachers on California's groundbreaking  
          English language development standards.   These standards  
          represent provide new and promising opportunities to meet the  
          language and content learning needs of our students."


          English learner achievement gap.  There are approximately 1.4  
          million English learners in California public schools,  
          representing 22% of the state's enrollment.  2.7 million  
          students speak a language other than English in their homes,  
          representing about 43% of the state's public school enrollment.   
          73% of English learners are enrolled in the elementary grades,  
          and 27% are enrolled in the secondary grades.  One in three  
          English learners in the United States resides in California.


          California's English learner students score substantially lower  
          on state assessments and other measures of achievement than  
          non-English learner students.  While there has been incremental  
          growth in achievement on state assessments among all students  
          over time, the rate of growth in the non-English learner  
          population has significantly outpaced that of English learners.   
          As a result, the achievement gap has widened over time.  Data  
          from state sources indicates:









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          1)On the 2015 administration of the California Assessment of  
            Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP), 11% of English  
            learners in all grades met or exceeded standard in English  
            language arts/literacy and 11% in math, compared with 69% and  
            55% for those subjects, respectively, for students proficient  
            in English.  
          2)A report by the Public Policy Institute of California found  
            that in a relatively large number of schools, no EL students  
            scored at or above the standards for English language arts  
            (ELA) and math on the CAASPP assessment.  The report notes  
            that, in the past, 30% of districts required ELs to meet the  
            ELA standard on the California Standards Test to be  
            reclassified.


          3)Graduation rates for English learners are lower compared to  
            the general population and other subgroups.  The 2013-14  
            four-year cohort graduation was 81%, while the rate for  
            English learners was 65%, the lowest of any subgroup besides  
            students in special education.  The dropout rate for English  
            learners, at 21%, was the highest of any subgroup.


          4)In 2014, the pass rate of English learners on the California  
            High School Exit Examination language arts test was half the  
            rate of English only peers (17% vs. 34%), and was also lower  
            on the mathematics portion (13% vs. 20%).  


          5)Data from 2008-09 show that English learners high school  
            graduates attend postsecondary institutions at the rate of  
            52%, compared with 74% of English-only students.


          When viewing this data it is important to note that English  
          learners who have achieved proficiency in English and have been  
          reclassified are no longer included in the English learner  
          subgroup.  








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          Access to the core curriculum for English learners.  This bill  
          addresses English learners' access to core curriculum courses in  
          middle and high school by prohibiting ELs from being prevented  
          from taking core curriculum courses and courses necessary for  
          graduation.


          Policy Analysis for California Education's (PACE) 2015 report,  
          "Improving the Opportunities and Outcomes of California's  
          Students Learning English," reported that ELs are less likely  
          than non-ELs to be enrolled in core academic subject courses  
          and, as a result, earn fewer credits toward graduation than  
          non-EL students.  The research further found that limited access  
          to ELA is largely due to 1) ELD courses being used as a  
          substitute, rather than a complement, for ELA courses, and 2)  
          the enrollment of elementary and secondary ELs in intervention  
          classes for language arts and math which were not designed for  
          ELs' language and academic needs. 


          This research found that in one large urban school district, 30%  
          of ELs were not enrolled in ELA courses, and 35% were not  
          enrolled in a full course load.  PACE reported that this  
          research "suggests that English learners often suffer from  
          restricted educational opportunity compared to that of  
          non-English learners, particularly with regard to their academic  
          learning needs."  The report also noted that, while some  
          students were prohibited from taking ELA courses because they  
          were enrolled in ELD courses, the content area preventing ELs  
          from being reclassified was generally ELA itself.  This finding  
          suggests that some English learners are stuck in a kind of trap  
          - unable to access ELA courses until they are proficient in ELA.




          Analysis Prepared by:                                             








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                          Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087  FN:  
          0003341