BILL ANALYSIS
AB 976
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Date of Hearing: January 13, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 976 (Arambula) - As Amended: January 4, 2010
SUBJECT : Public schools: alternative education: accountability
SUMMARY : Prohibits a school district or county office of
education (COE) from offering independent study (IS) to a pupil
if the school district or COE determines that the pupil is
performing below state standards, as specified. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Prohibits a school district or COE from offering IS to a pupil
if the school district or COE determines that the pupil is
performing below state standards and provides for an exception
for a pupil who is:
a) Employed;
b) Pregnant or is a parent and is caring for a child or
children;
c) Obliged to be off campus for his or her safety; or
d) Obliged to be off campus due to a medical or
psychological condition.
2)Requires a school district, prior to referring a pupil to IS
pursuant to an alternative education program, to provide the
pupil and his or her parent or guardian with a listing of all
other alternative education options and a description of the
requirements that the pupil must fulfill to return to the
school of origin.
3)Provides that if independent study is the only appropriate
alternative for a pupil, that a statement declining all other
options shall be signed by the pupil, his or her parent or
guardian and a school official.
4)Prohibits IS from being the primary referral alternative when
a pupil is referred to an alternative education program.
5)Authorizes the California Department of Education (CDE) to
prohibit a school district or county office of education from
continuing to enroll a pupil in IS if the pupil performs below
average state standards and does not make significant
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progress.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Authorizes a school district or county office of education to
offer IS to meet the educational needs of pupils, and provides
that educational opportunities offered through IS may include,
but shall not be limited to, the following:
a) Special assignments extending the content of regular
courses of instruction;
b) Individualized study in a particular area of interest or
in a subject not currently available in the regular school
curriculum;
c) Individualized alternative education designed to teach
the knowledge and skills of the core curriculum, and
provides that IS shall not be provided as an alternative
curriculum;
d) Continuing and special study during travel; and
e) Volunteer community service activities that support and
strengthen pupil achievement.
2)Requires, as a condition of receiving apportionments for IS,
school districts to adopt and implement written policies
pursuant to rules and regulations adopted by the
Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), that include, but
are not limited to all of the following:
a) The maximum length of time, by grade level and type of
program, that may elapse between the time an IS assignment
is made and the date of completion by a pupil;
b) The number of missed assignments to be allowed before an
evaluation is conducted to determine whether it is in the
best interests of the pupil to remain in IS, or whether he
or she should return to the regular school program; and
c) A requirement that a current written agreement for each
IS pupil is maintained on file that includes, but is not
limited to, a statement in each agreement that IS is an
optional educational alternative in which no pupil may be
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required to participate, and other specified components.
3)Requires each written agreement to be signed, prior to the
commencement of IS, by the pupil, the pupil's parent, legal
guardian, or caregiver, if the pupil is less than 18 years of
age, the certificated employee who has been designated as
having responsibility for the general supervision of IS, and
all persons who have direct responsibility for providing
assistance to the pupil.
4)Requires the IS by each pupil or student be coordinated,
evaluated, and under the general supervision of an employee of
the school district or county office of education who
possesses a valid certification document, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Independent study is an alternative instructional
strategy, not an alternative curriculum that offers a level of
flexibility to meet individual student needs, interests, and
styles of learning. Independent study is available as a
voluntary option, and current law requires that prior to the
commencement of IS, a written agreement be signed by the pupil,
his or her parent, guardian, or caregiver, the supervising
teacher and any other individual having direct responsibility
for providing assistance to the pupil. The agreement outlines
the instructional plan for the pupil and the supervision that is
to be provided for that pupil to complete the work outlined in
the agreement.
This bill prohibits a school district or COE from offering IS to
a pupil if the school district or COE determines that the pupil
is performing below state standards and provides for exceptions
for specified circumstances. It is unclear as to how this
provision would be implemented. The term "below average state
standards" is not a term that is used in describing a pupil's
performance. There are content standards that have been adopted
for each grade level nevertheless those standards are not used
for measuring performance but rather used for purposes of
instruction. This bill does not provide for a definition of
"below average state standards" and thus could result in
confusion and inconsistent application throughout the state, as
it is not clear how a district would determine which pupils
would fall under this category.
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This provision is also inconsistent with current law prohibiting
the use of previous classroom performance as a criterion in
placing a pupil in an alternative school. To the extent that an
alternative school uses IS as an instructional strategy, this
bill would be inconsistent with the intent of offering
alternative education programs to pupils who are not doing well
in the regular school setting and may be limiting the
opportunities for these pupils to stay in school.
This bill is based on the assumption that independent study is a
mandatory program and that pupils have no opportunity to exit or
go back to the classroom once they are in IS. The bill fails to
consider that independent study is an instructional strategy
offered as a voluntary option and that the pupil and his or her
parent have to agree to IS before a pupil is enrolled. The
CDE's Independent Study Manual points out that, "Participation
in IS must be voluntary: a choice made by the student, parent,
guardian, or caregiver, and the teachers-not an administrative
decision of last resort." As currently drafted, this bill could
potentially allow the governing board of a school district to
overturn the decision of a parent who has agreed to his or her
pupil's participation in IS.
The bill provides specific exceptions to the above prohibition
for pupils who work, are pregnant or have to be off campus for
their safety, or for medical or psychological reasons. While
this list recognizes that there are circumstances and situations
for which pupils, regardless of academic achievement, could
benefit from IS, it fails to recognize that those circumstances
and situations vary widely. Depending on the pupil's situation,
IS could assist that pupil in making up credits or providing an
alternative if he or she has to be out of the classroom for
reasons that vary so widely that they would be impossible to
list. For many at-risk students, IS may be an opportunity to
change direction and continue their education, nevertheless,
this bill establishes a "one-size-fits-all" approach that may
severely limit a local school district's flexibility to offer
its pupils a full range of educational opportunities to meet the
unique needs of its pupils.
This bill further requires a school district to provide pupils
and their parents a listing of all alternative education options
available when referring pupils to an alternative education
program along with a description of the requirements the pupil
must fulfill to return to his or her school of origin; and
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requires the pupil, his or her parent and a school official to
sign a statement declining all other options if IS is "the only
appropriate alternative for the pupil." There is already a
requirement in law for parents or guardians, pupils, the
supervising teacher and others to sign a written agreement prior
to commencement of IS, thus creating additional notification
requirements may be duplicative. Furthermore, current law
requires the inclusion of a statement in the written agreement
specifying that "independent study is an optional educational
alternative in which no pupil may be required to participate."
Requiring districts to provide additional notification and
additional documentation could create a state-reimbursable state
mandate. Considering the fiscal problems facing the state, it
is unclear that duplicating work for school districts would be
an appropriate use of the limited resources currently available
to them.
Current law also provides that IS agreements cannot be longer
than one semester in duration and it requires the agreement to
include the beginning and ending dates of the IS. This means
that at the conclusion of the duration specified in the
agreement, either a new agreement will have to be signed by all
parties for continued enrollment or the placement terminates.
Hence, it is unclear whether it is necessary to add more
notification regarding requirements the pupil must fulfill to
return to his or her school of origin. Additionally, it shall
be noted that the IS agreement does not prohibit a pupil from
going back to his or her school at any time.
A provision in current law specifies that for pupils referred to
alternative education programs, the IS agreement must include a
statement specifying that instruction may be provided to the
pupil through IS only if the pupil is offered the alternative of
classroom instruction. Furthermore, current law prohibits
pupils enrolled in community day schools from being placed in IS
and also prohibits a continuation high school from placing more
than 10% of its pupils in IS.
Lastly, this bill authorizes the CDE to prohibit a school
district or COE from continuing to enroll a pupil in IS if the
pupil performs below average state standards for his or her
grade level and does not make significant progress. There are
several concerns with this provision:
1) This bill does not provide a definition of "below average
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state standards" hence it is unclear as to how this provision
will be implemented and it will result in inconsistent
application throughout the state.
2) Our existing assessment and accountability system does not
measure nor does it report individual pupil achievement growth,
hence it is unclear as to how "significant progress" will be
measured in order to implement this provision.
3) The CDE does not monitor the achievement of individual pupils
enrolled in specific programs. This would add a new level of
work that CDE currently does not perform and will translate into
new costs.
4) Most importantly, however is the concern that this bill takes
away a parent's right and option to place his or her pupil in
IS. A pupil can only be placed in IS once the parent or
guardian, the pupil and others sign the required agreement, but
giving CDE the authority to prohibit continued enrollment of a
pupil in IS would essentially give CDE the authority to overturn
a parent's decision to enroll his or her pupil in IS. This
Committee shall consider whether it is appropriate to take away
the authority to continue to place a pupil in IS out of the
hands of that pupil's parent or guardian and instead place that
authority in the hands of a bureaucratic entity that has no
direct knowledge of the wide-ranging needs of individual pupils.
This bill takes away options for parents to place their pupils
in a program that for many students may represent a safety net.
IS can be used on a short-term or long-term basis and on a
full-time basis or in conjunction with courses taken in a
classroom setting. This bill does not distinguish between the
two and it applies to both settings, including IS high schools.
Districts operate IS as a program within a school or as
stand-alone IS high school. According to CDE, more than 130,765
full-time kindergarten through grade twelve students used IS in
2007-08 and in 2007-08, over 19,000 IS students graduated from
high school or passed a high school equivalency exam.
Should this Committee decide to pass this bill, the bill could
be amended to delete subdivisions (f) and (h) and revise
subdivision (g) as follows:
(g) When a school district refers a pupil to an alternative
education program, independent study shall not be the
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primary
referral alternative. The the school district shall provide
the pupil and
his or her parent or guardian with a listing of all
alternative
education options, as well as a description of the
requirements the
pupil must fulfill in order to return to his or her school
of origin.
If the only appropriate alternative for the pupil is
independent
study, a statement declining all other options shall be
signed by
the pupil, his or her parent or guardian, and a school
official.
The author states, "Independent study is typically the first
alternative option offered to students, when students do not
perform well, and threaten the schools' ranking. Independent
study should not be the first option, it should be the second or
third option presented to parents."
Arguments in opposition : The San Diego County Office of
Education (SDCOE) writes, "This bill would eliminate independent
study as a service option for students who are performing
below-average academically, meaning that only above-average
students could participate. Since most students in the court
community are below grade level, this would eliminate this
option for them. SDCOE screens students for their ability to do
independent work before allowing them to join the independent
study program."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
California Consortium for Independent Study
California Continuation Education Association
Orange County Department of Education
San Diego County Office of Education
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Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avi?a / ED. / (916) 319-2087