BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 916 Page 1 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 | | | | | | | SB 916 Page 2 | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 SB 916 Page 3 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. SB 916 Page 4 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 SB 916 Page 5 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 SB 916 Page 6 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. SB 916 Page 7 Analysis Prepared by: Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0004060