BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     SB 916


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          SENATE THIRD READING


          SB  
          916 (Allen)


          As Amended  August 15, 2016


          Majority vote


          SENATE VOTE:  39-0


           ------------------------------------------------------------------ 
          |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, Holden,       |                    |
          |                |     |Jones, Obernolte,     |                    |
          |                |     |Quirk, Santiago,      |                    |
          |                |     |Wagner, Weber, Wood,  |                    |
          |                |     |McCarty               |                    |
          |                |     |                      |                    |








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          |                |     |                      |                    |
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          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 shall not become subject to additional  
            requirements as a result of this bill.


          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.


          FISCAL EFFECT:  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee, one-time administrative costs to the California  
          Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) in the range of  
          $400,000 to $500,000 (Test Development and Administration  








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          Account (TDAA)) to develop credential standards and develop both  
          the dance and theatre exams for certification.  The TDAA  
          currently has a reserve of $2.9 million. 


          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  
          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.   








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          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.


          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  








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          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 Visual and  
          Performing Arts (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  
          needed to perform physical activities and acquiring the  








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          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.  












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          Analysis Prepared by:                                             
          Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087  FN:  0004060