BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 916
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Date of Hearing: June 22, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Patrick O'Donnell, Chair
SB
916 (Allen) - As Amended April 27, 2016
SENATE VOTE: 39-0
SUBJECT: Teacher credentialing
SUMMARY: Authorizes single subject teaching credentials in
dance and theatre. Specifically, this bill:
1)Adds single subject teaching credentials in dance and theatre
to the current list of 13 single subject teaching credentials.
2)States that a person issued a single subject teaching
credential in physical education or dance before the
establishment of single subject teaching credentials in dance
and theatre is authorized to teach dance or theatre,
respectively.
3)States that a person pursuing a single subject teaching
credential in physical education or English before the
establishment of a single subject teaching credential in dance
and theatre is not become subject to additional requirements
as a result of this bill.
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4)States that nothing in the act shall be construed to prohibit
a school district from employing a person who holds a single
subject teaching credential in another subject with an
authorization to teach theatre from teaching theatre, or a
person who holds a single subject teaching credential in
another subject with an authorization to teach dance from
teaching dance.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Authorizes the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) to
issue single subject teaching credentials in agriculture, art,
business, English, foreign language, health science, home
economics, industrial and technology education, mathematics,
music, physical education, science, and social science.
2)Authorizes the CTC to issue a multiple or single subject
teaching credential with a specified concentration in a
particular subject based upon the depth of an applicant's
preparation in an important subject of the school curriculum
in order to ensure excellence in teaching in specific
subjects.
3)Authorizes the CTC to issue credentials for teaching
specialties, including bilingual education, early childhood
education, and special education. Education specialist
teaching credentials are to be based upon a baccalaureate
degree from an accredited institution, completion of a program
of professional preparation, and standards that the CTC may
establish.
4)Requires students to successfully complete a course in visual
and performing arts (VAPA), foreign language, or career
technical education in order to graduate from high school.
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5)Establishes that visual and performing arts, including dance,
music, theatre, and visual arts are part of the adopted course
of study for grades 1-12.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, the CTC anticipates the cost to implement this bill
would be between $400,000 and $500,000 to develop credential
standards and develop both the dance and theatre exams for
certification. To the extent the intent of this bill is to no
longer allow future physical education and English teachers to
be authorized to teach dance and theatre respectively, the CTC
would incur additional costs to redevelop those exams. (Test
Development and Administration Account)
COMMENTS:
Need for the bill. The author's office states: "In order to
teach dance, a teacher must obtain a credential in physical
education, even though the standards for teaching dance are
separate from the standards for teaching physical education.
Similarly, to teach theatre, an instructor must obtain an
English credential, even though an English credential provides
no training in theatre instruction. Dance and theatre are the
only two subject areas with discrete subject standards that are
not taught under their own single-subject credential."
The author's office reports that dance and theatre undergraduate
majors are numerous in California, with 73 public and private
colleges and universities offering dance majors, and 131
colleges offering theatre majors. The author notes that
students who earn degrees in dance or theatre are unable to
teach in their respective fields unless they earn a credential
in physical education or English.
Proponents of the establishment of these credentials argue that
1) the current system reflects a lack of alignment between the
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preparation teachers must undergo and the content which they
expect to teach, and 2) that this system dissuades individuals
wishing to teach dance and theatre from entering the teaching
profession, due both to misaligned preparation requirements and
the possibility of being assigned to teach outside of their
intended subject area.
History of dance and theatre credentials in California.
According to the California Alliance for Arts Education, in the
1960's teaching credentials in dance and theatre were authorized
under the Fisher Act of 1961.
The elimination of these credentials was a result of the Teacher
Preparation and Licensing Law of 1970, known as the Ryan Act,
which removed the "s" from the word "arts." The effect of this
omission (which is believed to have been unintentional) is that
the authorization in current law has since been interpreted to
authorize credentials only in visual art (and music under
separate authorization). As a result, for over forty years
California has authorized single subject credentials in music
and visual arts, but no single subject credentials specific to
dance or theatre. As noted above, under current law individuals
seeking to teach dance and theatre must earn physical education
and English credentials, respectively.
Over the years there have been a number of legislative attempts
to establish single subject credentials in dance and theatre.
According to the California Alliance for Arts Education, in the
early 1990's Senator Patrick Johnston authored two bills to
establish these credentials, but these were withdrawn for lack
of support. In the late 1990's Assemblymember Susan Davis
authored two bills to establish these credentials but they were
vetoed or withdrawn under threat of veto. The CTC has also
attempted to address this issue. In 2013, the Teacher Advisory
Panel (TAP) to the CTC recommended the establishment of single
subject credentials in dance and theatre, and staff developed a
proposal to create a Visual and Performing Arts credential with
concentrations in dance, theatre, music, and visual arts. This
proposal did not move forward due to stakeholder concerns.
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The primary objections raised to the establishment of these
credentials have been that 1) the establishment of these
credentials represents an unnecessary, and potentially
precedent-setting, proliferation of credential types, 2) more
narrow credentials may make holders less employable, and 3) more
narrow credentials may make it more difficult for districts,
particularly smaller districts which have small enrollments in
these subjects, to hire qualified teachers.
Alignment between dance and theatre content standards and
credentialing requirements. Current law authorizes the
establishment of content standards in visual and performing
arts, English language arts, and physical education. The CTC
aligns its subject matter preparation requirements to the
state's content standards.
While credentialing requirements place dance and theatre in
physical education and English subjects, the state's academic
content standards in those subjects are found in the VAPA
standards, which cover music, dance, theatre, and visual arts.
This means that while all four of the VAPA disciplines have
discrete content standards, two of them have single subject
credentials aligned to the standards, and two do not. It also
means that teachers undergoing preparation for dance and theatre
must be prepared in content standards which are different from
those specific to the subject they intend to teach.
The 2013 TAP report to the CTC illustrated the preparation
alignment issues in dance and theatre. For dance, the TAP noted
that the VAPA framework directs teachers to instruct students on
the concepts of time, space, force/energy use, costume, setting,
music/rhythm, choreography and cultural context, and that in
order to master these concepts students "must be engaged with a
wide range of materials and be given ample opportunity to
develop and apply their dance concepts, artistic skills,
aesthetic sense, and vocabulary." The TAP noted that, in
contrast, the physical education framework directs teachers to
instruct students on "understanding and mastering the movements
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needed to perform physical activities and acquiring the
knowledge base and habits needed to maintain physical fitness
and health." The TAP concluded that the frameworks "clearly
emphasize different bodies of knowledge and different
applications, each with distinct intellectual and disciplinary
roots."
Similarly, the TAP noted that while both the theatre standards
and the (2007) English language arts standards emphasize the
interpretation and understanding of text and its
historical/cultural/social context, the VAPA standards for
theatre include a number of additional concepts not found in the
English/language arts standards, including "the vocabulary of
theatre (acting values, style, genre and theme), the historical
and cultural roles of the theatre, the social, cultural,
political and artistic contexts that produced genres of and key
works in theatre, elements of interpretation and dramatic
performance techniques, knowledge of the technical aspects of
theatrical productions in multiple media, and knowledge of the
key roles in theatrical productions (director, actor, stage
manager, costume designer, etc.)." The TAP also noted that the
theatre standards include a heavier emphasis on multiple media
for the theatre arts (stage, film/video, electronic media) than
is included the English/language arts standards.
Future of the existing authorization. While the bill adds the
authority for the CTC to issue single subject credentials in
dance and theatre, it does not appear to expressly prohibit the
continued use of the existing credentials to teach dance and
theatre courses. Maintaining this pathway would allow teachers
to decide between obtaining a broader or more narrow
authorization, and would give districts the same choice in
hiring. The continuation of this option was recommended in the
2013 TAP report to the CTC.
Course enrollment and staffing in visual and performing arts.
According to the California Department of Education (CDE),
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enrollment in visual and performing arts courses in 2015-16
totaled nearly 1.3 million students, with the following
enrollments: art (572,000), music (510,000), dance (50,000), and
theatre (133,000). CDE estimates that this enrollment
represents full time equivalent of 3,800 art teachers, 3,300
music teachers, 300 dance teachers, and 900 theatre teachers.
Prior legislation. AB 2254 (Calderon) of the 2013-14 Session
would have stated the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation to authorize the development of single subject
teaching credentials, one in dance and one in theatre. This
bill was never heard in a Committee.
AB 752 (Davis, 1999) would have created an emphasis credential
in theatre and dance to holders of English and physical
education credentials. This measure passed the Legislature and
was enrolled to the Governor, but subsequently withdrawn at the
author's request.
AB 1052 (Davis, 1998), similar to this measure, proposed to
provide a single subject credential in dance and theatre but was
vetoed by Governor Wilson with the following message:
This bill would require the Commission on Teacher
Credentialing to adopt regulations establishing new standards
for theatre and dance teachers within existing single subject
teaching credentials. Appreciation of the arts is an
important part of every child's education, and should be
encouraged. But this bill imposes a needless and unrealistic
burden upon the holders of most single subject credentials
that is wholly unrelated to their chosen discipline. A far
more relevant and appropriate approach to achieving the same
result was that taken by Senate Concurrent Resolution 31 of
1994.
SCR 31 (Johnston) of 1994 requested that the Commission review
and assess the adequacy of the teaching of dance and theatre in
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California classrooms, and report its findings to the
Legislature.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Dance Education Association (sponsor)
California Educational Theatre Association (sponsor)
California Alliance for Arts Education
California Art Education Association
California Association for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation and Dance
California Federation of Teachers
California Music Educators Association
California Teachers Association
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City of Santa Monica
Common Sense Kids Action
County of Los Angeles
Educational Theatre Association
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Los Angeles Unified School District
Loyola High School
National Association for Music Education
National Art Education Association
National Dance Education Organization
Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio
Artists
University of Southern California
Numerous individuals
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Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916)
319-2087