BILL ANALYSIS
AB 465
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 465 (Coto)
As Amended May 13, 2009
Majority vote
EDUCATION 9-0
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|Ayes:|Brownley, Nestande, | | |
| |Ammiano, | | |
| |Arambula, Buchanan, | | |
| |Carter, Miller, | | |
| |Solorio, Torlakson | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Encourages school districts to review and, if
appropriate, contract with nonprofit community-based
organizations that meet specified criteria to increase parent
involvement in schools. Specifically, this bill :
1)Specifies that the nonprofit community-based organization a
school district is encouraged to contract with must have a
proven track record and can provide evidence of its success in
educating parents and building direct collaboration with
school districts, administrators, and educators.
2)Specifies that a nonprofit community-based organization that
contracts with a school district shall demonstrate and provide
a culturally and linguistically competent parent involvement
program using best practices that address the diversity of the
school district.
3)Encourages a low-performing school district to submit an
annual report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction that
demonstrates its efforts to promote parent engagement and the
outcomes that result from contracting with the nonprofit
community-based organization.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Finds and declares that parental involvement and support in
the education of children is an integral part of improving
academic achievement.
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2)Requires the governing board of each school district to
establish a parent involvement program to engage parents
positively in their children's education by helping parents to
develop skills to use at home that support their children's
academic efforts at school and their children's development as
responsible future members of our society, to inform parents
that they can directly affect the success of their children's
learning, and to develop a consistent and effective
communication between home and school.
3)Authorizes a school district, to the extent permitted by
federal law, to contract with nonprofit organizations and
agencies experienced in administering parent involvement
programs to design or implement, or design and implement, a
school's parent involvement program.
4)Specifies that parents and guardians of pupils enrolled in
public schools have the right and should have the opportunity,
as mutually supportive and respectful partners in the
education of their children within the public schools, to be
informed by the school, and to participate in the education of
their children, as specified.
5)Establishes various monetary and non-monetary parent
involvement programs, including the Nell Soto Parent/Teacher
Involvement Program, the Teresa P. Hughes Family-School
Partnership Award and Grant Program, and the Tom Hayden
Community-Based Parent Involvement Grant Program.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Legislative Counsel, this bill
is non-fiscal.
COMMENTS : Existing law recognizes the impact parents can have
in the educational success of children and requires districts to
establish parent involvement programs to educate parents on the
importance of their involvement and on what they can do at home
to support their children's education at school. Existing law
authorizes a school district, to the extent permitted by federal
law, to contract with nonprofit organizations to design and
implement parent involvement programs. Funds have been provided
in prior Budget Acts for teacher home visits with parents (Nell
Soto Parent/Teacher Involvement Program) and to provide training
to parents to enhance their involvement in the education of
their children (Tom Hayden Community-Based Parent Involvement
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Program).
This bill encourages school districts to review and, if
appropriate, contract with a nonprofit community-based
organization that has shown success in educating parents and
building collaboration with district and school staff. The bill
specifies that the organizations districts are encouraged to
review and contract with must have documentations of their
success. One of the sponsors of this bill is the Parent
Institute for Quality Education (PIQE), which has received an
evaluation by the San Diego State University's College of
Business Administration's Marketing Department showing that its
parent involvement program helped increased student graduation
and college attendance rates.
PIQE was started in 1987 in San Diego and provides a nine-week
parent involvement education program taught by professional
facilitators trained by PIQE. Sessions are free and are offered
in the morning or evening to accommodate work schedules. The
program has been taught in 16 languages and has expanded beyond
San Diego to Los Angeles, Fresno, San Jose, Orange, Riverside,
San Bernardino, Monterey, Sacramento, Stanislaus, Alameda, San
Francisco, and Shasta Counties. According to PIQE's Web site,
over 375,000 parents have graduated from the program.
The bill's co-sponsor, Families in Schools, created in 2000 by
the Los Angeles Annenberg Metropolitan Project, received an
evaluation of its "Read with Me/Lea Conmigo" program in 2002,
which showed that the project successfully increased parent
reading time with their children. The project provided
backpacks with five books every week to children and provided
teacher training on how to help parents work with their children
at home.
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF),
which offers the Parent School Partnership (PSP) program, has
received an evaluation by educational researchers at the
University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and University of
California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). The PSP program was initiated
20 years ago to educate and develop the skills of parents to be
involved in ensuring that their children had adequate education
for access to higher education. The UCSD and UCSB study
collected data through a survey of parents in Los Angeles,
Houston, Atlanta and Chicago. The study reports that the PSP
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prescribes to the belief that if parents are provided with
information on how the school system works and become engaged in
community- and school-based action projects, they will be
empowered to become active leaders in the schools and
communities and stronger supporters of their children's
education. With leadership development, parents will be able to
gain a voice and exercise their rights to have schools offer the
educational programs and services needed by their children. The
study found an alignment with PSP's espoused theory of action
and its implementation of the program. Findings from the survey
data indicated that PSP positively influenced parents'
knowledge; parents' college expectations; parents'
self-efficacy; parents' actions at home, school and community;
and, children's academics.
The author states, "Drugs, violence, broken homes and poverty
all have a direct effect on California's poor academic
achievements and high drop out rates. In addition, studies show
that economically disadvantaged and ethnically diverse students
are more susceptible to educational inequity. About 50% of
African Americans and Latinos graduate from high schools,
compared with 72% of white students. An approach is needed that
will have a profound impact on this crisis. AB 465 looks to use
a valuable resource: parents. Research shows that children get
higher grades and are more likely to graduate from high school
and continue on to college when their families are involved in
their education.
"In areas with large immigrant populations, parents frequently
have difficulties communicating with their children's school,
and may lack the knowledge and experience to help their children
succeed. Many parents may be confused by school district
bureaucracy and feel disconnected from teachers and
administrators."
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0000793