BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    AB 2350


                                                                    Page  1


          CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS


          AB  
          2350 (O'Donnell)


          As Amended  August 19, 2016


          Majority vote


           -------------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |ASSEMBLY:  |78-0  |(June 1, 2016) |SENATE: | 39-0 |(August 23,      |
          |           |      |               |        |      |2016)            |
          |           |      |               |        |      |                 |
          |           |      |               |        |      |                 |
           -------------------------------------------------------------------- 


          Original Committee Reference:  ED.


          SUMMARY:  Prohibits middle and high school English learner  
          students from being denied enrollment in core curriculum  
          courses, courses required for graduation, and courses required  
          for middle school grade promotion, consistent with federal law.


          The Senate amendments:


          1)Delete the section of the bill which required that the  
            California Department of Education (CDE) contract for the  
            development of a series of videos demonstrating best practices  
            for implementing designated and integrated English language  
            development (ELD).  This project was funded in the Budget Act  
            of 2016.


          2)Delete the section of the bill which required that if a local  








                                                                    AB 2350


                                                                    Page  2


            educational agency (LEA) offered a course designed for long  
            term English learners the course confer credits in English  
            language arts necessary to meet graduation or grade promotion  
            requirements.  


          3)Delete the section defining "integrated and designated" ELD as  
            used in the state's ELD framework.  


          4)Delete the section updating the term "specially designed  
            content instruction in English," as defined for the purpose of  
            teacher credentialing, to conform with existing practice in  
            teacher credentialing.


          5)Align with federal law the section prohibiting middle and high  
            school English learners from being denied enrollment in  
            specified courses, by:


             a)   Defining the "standard instructional program" of a  
               school (as used in case law related to federal law) to  
               include, at a minimum, core curriculum courses in English  
               language arts, mathematics and science; courses required  
               for graduation; and courses required for grade promotion.  


             b)   Stating that English learners cannot be denied  
               enrollment in "a-g" courses or advanced courses which are  
               not part of the standard instructional program on the sole  
               basis of their classification as English learners.


             c)   Clarifying that the exemption from the above prohibition  
               applies to programs designed to meet the academic and  
               transitional needs of newly arrived immigrants by focusing  
               on English proficiency as a primary objective, provided  
               that they are designed to remedy any academic deficits  
               incurred during participation and are reasonably calculated  
               to enable parity of participation in the standard  
               instructional program.








                                                                    AB 2350


                                                                    Page  3







          EXISTING LAW:


          1)The federal Equal Educational Opportunity Act of 1974 (EEOA,  
            20 United States Code (U.S.C.) Section 1701 et seq.) prohibits  
            the denial of equal educational opportunity by the failure of  
            an educational agency to take appropriate action to overcome  
            language barriers that impede equal participation by its  
            students in its instructional programs.


          2)Existing case law, Castaneda v. Pickard (1981, 648 F.2d 989),  
            interprets the EEOA to require schools to ensure English  
            learners' participation in the "standard instructional  
            program" of a school either by providing access to the  
            standard instructional program along with English language  
            support, or instead by providing a program for English  
            learners, "during the early part of their school career, which  
            has, as its primary objective the development of literacy in  
            English," provided that the program is designed to help the  
            student "overcome the academic deficits" incurred during  
            participation in that program, and that it is "reasonably  
            calculated to enable students to attain parity of  
            participation in the standard instructional program within a  
            reasonable length of time after they enter the school system."


          FISCAL EFFECT:  According to the Senate Appropriations Committee  
          (based on August 1, 2016 version), this bill is not anticipated  
          to result in significant costs to the state as the prohibition  
          of preventing English learners (ELs) from enrolling in courses  
          required for graduation, grade promotion, or minimum course  
          requirements for University of California (UC) and California  
          State University (CSU) admission, is predicated on federal law  
          which prohibits a state from denying equal educational  
          opportunity, as specified.  This bill provides greater  
          specificity on this federal requirement that appears to align  








                                                                    AB 2350


                                                                    Page  4


          with federal guidance. 


          COMMENTS:  


          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  
          such as English language arts, mathematics, and science, and as  
          a result earn fewer credits toward graduation than non-EL  
          students.  The research further found that limited access to  
          English Language Arts (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.  


          Specifically, this research found that in one large California  
          district:


          1)42% of ELs were not enrolled in ELA courses (compared to 1-2%  
            of non-ELs)
          2)4% were not enrolled in math courses (compared to 1% of  
            non-ELs)


          3)10% of ELs were not enrolled in science courses (compared to  
            1% of non-ELs)


          4)Overall, 47% of ELs were not enrolled in at least one core  








                                                                    AB 2350


                                                                    Page  5


            curriculum area, compared to 5% of non ELs


          5)In math and science, ELs with higher levels of English  
            proficiency are just as likely as those with lower levels of  
            English proficiency to not be enrolled.


          6)Controlling for prior achievement, ELs are still 40% less  
            likely to be enrolled in a full academic course load compared  
            to similarly achieving non-ELs.


          7)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.


          Other recent research on English learners' course enrollment in  
          other California districts has found similar patterns of  
          restricted access to the core curriculum.  These findings are  
          consistent with recent national research, which concluded, that  
          even with demographic and academic controls, English learners  
          have markedly different course taking patterns, and that overall  
          they experience significantly less academic exposure.


          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."  


          Clarification of federal law.  Current federal law and related  
          case law prohibit the denial of English learner's participation  
          in the "standard instructional program" of a school, and  
          authorize schools to either provide access to the standard  
          instructional program along with English language support, or  
          instead provide a program for English learners, "during the  








                                                                    AB 2350


                                                                    Page  6


          early part of their school career, which has, as its primary  
          objective the development of literacy in English," provided that  
          the program is designed to help the student "overcome the  
          academic deficits" incurred during participation in that  
          program, and that it is "reasonably calculated to enable  
          students to attain parity of participation in the standard  
          instructional program within a reasonable length of time after  
          they enter the school system."


          This bill is intended to clarify the requirements of federal law  
          for California schools.  It clarifies the meaning of "standard  
          instructional program of a school" in this state (to mean core  
          curriculum courses in English language arts, mathematics, and  
          science, and courses needed for graduation and for middle school  
          grade promotion).  It clarifies that English learners cannot be  
          denied the ability to enroll in a full course load of these  
          courses.  And the bill clarifies that the option to provide a  
          program for middle and high school students (who are in the  
          early part of their school career in U.S. schools), which  
          emphasizes English over the standard instructional program, must  
          be designed to "remedy academic deficits" incurred during the  
          program, as required by federal law. 


          Analysis Prepared by:                                             
                          Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087  FN:  
          0004813