BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 18, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 1 (Monning) - As Introduced: December 1, 2008
SUBJECT : Teachers: program of professional growth: conflict
resolution.
SUMMARY : Authorizes an individual program of professional
growth for teachers to include courses in negotiation, mediation
and conflict resolution. Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes an individual program of professional growth to
include courses in negotiation, mediation and conflict
resolution, including peer mediation training and the theory
and practice of nonviolence.
2)Specifies courses may include the following components:
a) Basic negotiation skills;
b) Communication skills, including cross-cultural
communication;
c) Basic mediation and peer mediation training; and,
d) Theory and practice of nonviolence and peace building.
3)Specifies a teacher who elects to pursue a course in
negotiation, mediation and conflict resolution, may introduce
appropriate conflict resolution skills to pupils through
classroom instruction, including, but not limited to, the core
curriculum areas of reading, writing, mathematics,
history/social science, and science.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Specifies an individual program of professional growth may
consist of activities that are aligned with the California
Standards for the Teaching Profession that contribute to
competence, performance, or effectiveness in the profession of
education and classroom assignments of the teachers; a basic
course in cardiopulmonary resuscitation; and, a course in
first aid. (Education Code Section 44277)
AB 1
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2)Specifies acceptable activities of an individual program of
professional growth may include, the completion of courses
offered by regionally accredited colleges and universities,
online courses, participation in professional conferences,
workshops, teacher center programs, staff development programs
or instruction provided by the California Reading Professional
Development Program, service as a mentor teacher,
participation in systematic programs of observation and
analysis of teaching, service in a leadership role in a
professional organization, and participation in educational
research or innovation efforts. (Education Code Section 44277)
3)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to award
grants through the Administrator Training Program for training
in numerous areas including conflict resolution. (Education
Code Section 44511)
4)Authorizes funds from the School Safety and Violence
Prevention Act be used to hire school personnel trained in
conflict resolution. (Education Code Section 32228.1)
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal.
COMMENTS : Background . As of January 1, 2007, professional
growth requirements for the renewal of teacher credentials were
no longer required. SB 1209 (Scott), Chapter 517, Statutes of
2006, repealed the requirement for teachers to participate in
150 hours of professional growth. Instead, statute was enacted
expressing the Legislature's intent to encourage teachers to
engage in programs of professional growth to extend their
content knowledge and teaching skill.
As a result, teachers have the option to participate and enroll
on their own time in professional growth programs as a method
for improving their teaching skills and enhancing their
classroom environment. Professional growth programs consist of
activities that are aligned with the California Standards for
the Teaching Profession (CSTP). AB 1 authorizes coursework in
conflict resolution to be part of a program of professional
growth.
The existing program standards for both multiple and single
subject teacher preparation programs currently include a
requirement in Standard #10 for teacher candidates to have
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"opportunities to learn and practice effective strategies and
techniques for crisis prevention, conflict management, and
resolution in ways that contribute to respectful, effective
learning environments, including recognizing and defusing
situations that may lead to student conflict or violence." This
means all teachers trained since the initial adoption of these
standards in 2001, have had some training in conflict management
and resolution while existing teachers may not have had this
training in their teacher preparation program. Therefore under
AB 1, both new teachers and experienced teachers would be able
to further explore their knowledge through their individual
professional growth program. In addition, the proposed
coursework in conflict resolution also addresses several of the
California Standards for the Teaching Profession and could
compliment existing teaching practices for those teachers who
choose to pursue coursework in this area, and in the future
could be included in existing curriculum taught to students.
AB 1 authorizes programs of professional growth to include
courses in negotiation, mediation and conflict resolution and
highlights the importance for teachers to consider pursuing
coursework in this area. It is unclear; however, whether
legislation is necessary to achieve the outcome the author is
interested in seeing, since programs of professional growth are
voluntary.
According to the author, conflict resolution represents a range
of processes that can be employed to reduce or eliminate
conflict or to take advantage of a mutual opportunity. Conflict
resolution processes include negotiation, basic and peer
mediation, arbitration, and diplomacy. Today's teachers often
find themselves confronting societal pressures and stresses
manifested in the classroom. Diversity in student population,
conflict at home, and bullying by peers represent examples of
conflict that directly or indirectly confront teachers.
Additionally, students face an array of conflict and
negotiations in virtually all of life's arenas: home, school,
employment, social groupings, etc. Providing teachers with
enhanced skills to address conflict in the classroom or on the
schoolyard as well as providing the tools for the introduction
of negotiation and mediation skills to students through already
established curriculum will inure to the safety of our schools
as well as to the promotion of a culture of principled conflict
resolution practice.
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School Safety and Violence Prevention Act . The Carl Washington
School Safety and Violence Prevention Act, provides funds to
school districts to hire personnel such as school counselors,
social workers, or nurses who are trained in conflict
resolution; purchase on-campus communication devices; establish
in-service staff training for school staff to identify at-risk
pupils; provide instructional curricula and materials to equip
pupils with skills and understanding necessary to prevent school
violence; establish arrangements with local law enforcement
agencies for appropriate school-community relationships; prevent
and respond to acts of hate violence and bias-related incidents,
including implementation of programs and instructional
curricula; and any other purpose that the school or district
determines would materially contribute to the goals of safe
schools and preventing violence among pupils. The Act provides
grants based on a per pupil allocation, with a minimum of $5,000
per schoolsite or $10,000 per school district, to develop
strategies and train staff in preventing and reducing violence
at the schoolsite. In the 2008-2009 budget year, the School
Safety Block Grant allocation was $85 million. It is possible
that some of these existing funds have been used in the past to
hire personnel trained in conflict resolution, although due to
the changes enacted in the most recent Budget Act, the School
Safety Block Grant is among those programs that are authorized
to be used for alternative instructional programs.
School District Programs . Some school districts have implemented
conflict resolution programs into student curriculum on their
own. One such program, adopted by the Santa Monica/Malibu
Unified School District is Cool Tools, an innovative conflict
resolution system developed at UCLA Lab School. Cool Tools
vividly teaches lifelong strategies for handling all forms of
bullying. It was created to ensure a caring community in which
all students feel safe to learn and play without threats of
physical, verbal or non-verbal harassment of any type.
What Other States are Doing . Other states, such as Ohio, have
implemented statewide dispute resolution and conflict management
programs that provide resources and training to Ohio schools.
North Carolina requires teacher training programs to include
coursework in management of student behavior and effective
communication techniques for defusing and deescalating
disruptive or dangerous behavior. Some North Carolina schools
have resource coordinators that research and select conflict
resolution educational programs to incorporate into existing
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curriculum for students at the school. Illinois requires
schools to provide instruction in violence prevention and
conflict resolution to students in grades 4 through 12.
Related legislation : SB 1209 (Scott), Chapter 517, Statutes of
2006, repealed the requirement for teachers to participate in
150 hours of professional growth as a condition of credential
renewal.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Teachers Association (CTA)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087