BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2862
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Date of Hearing: May 4, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2862 (O'Donnell) - As Amended April 12, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI) to recommend to the State Board of Education (SBE),
revisions to the visual and performing arts (VAPA) content
standards, and requires the SBE to adopt, reject, or modify
recommendations by January 1, 2019. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires, if the SBE modifies the revisions recommended by the
SPI, the SBE to explain, in writing, to the Governor and the
Legislature the reasons for modifying the recommended revised
content standards.
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2)Requires the SPI, in consultation with the SBE, to select a
group of experts in VAPA for purposes of assisting in
developing recommendations.
3)Requires the SPI to hold a minimum of two public hearings to
receive input on the revisions. Requires the SBE to adopt,
reject, or modify those recommendations at a subsequent public
meeting.
4)Requires that, if the VAPA standards are modified, during the
next revision of the VAPA curriculum framework and evaluation
criteria, the IQC ensure that the modifications are
incorporated into that curriculum framework and evaluation
criteria for purposes of adopting instructional materials.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1) General Fund costs to the California Department of
Education (CDE) of approximately $660,000 to develop VAPA
content standards. CDE would need to develop a timeline to
implement standards development, costs would be ongoing
until the process is complete. Costs are also associated
with hiring experts in visual and performing arts to
consult on the standards.
2) The adoption of new content standards has a multiplier
effect that will lead to additional costs. Once new
curriculum standards are adopted, frameworks aligned to
those standards must be adopted. After frameworks are
adopted, instructional materials adoption follows. General
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Fund administrative costs for these activities average
about $1 million each. In addition to these costs, local
education agencies would incur additional Proposition 98/GF
costs in the millions of dollars to purchase instructional
materials and provide professional development.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. California's visual and performing arts standards,
adopted in 2001, are one of the oldest sets of state
standards that have not been revised. According to the
author, these standards are in urgent need of an update to
allow students to benefit from current curriculum,
instruction, and instructional materials. The state's visual
and performing arts standards are also not aligned with
current career technical education instruction - curriculum
necessary for career readiness in the arts. The author
states it is in the economic interest of students and the
state to provide students the most current and relevant
instruction in the visual and performing arts.
2)Background. Academic content standards define the knowledge,
concepts, and skills that students should acquire at each
grade level. Curricular frameworks are the blueprint for
implementing the standards, and include criteria by which
instructional materials are evaluated.
There is no statutory authority for the review or updating of
standards. A schedule once existed for the review and update
of frameworks and instructional materials in many subject
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areas, but those processes were suspended in July of 2009 due
to budget constraints. AB 740 (Weber), pending in the
Senate, proposes a process for the regular updating of
content standards. Such a comprehensive approach would
create a predictable and rational system of curriculum for
local school districts.
3)Prior legislation. This bill is similar to SB 725 (Hancock)
of 2015 which would have required the VAPA standards be
updated if a schedule for the regular updating of standards
were adopted by the SBE. That bill was amended to address a
different topic before being heard in this committee. This
bill is different from SB 725 in that it does not reference
the National Core Arts standards as the basis for the
revision; however, it is likely that the process of updating
the VAPA standards would begin with a review of the National
Core Arts Standards.
Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081