BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 1126
AUTHOR: Liu
AMENDED: March 22, 2010
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: March 24, 2010
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lynn Lorber
SUBJECT : Transfer of early childhood education coursework.
KEY POLICY ISSUES
Should the Legislature establish a framework for the academic
senates of all three segments of public postsecondary
education to review the eight common core lower division
courses in child development or early education?
Should the California State University be prohibited from
requiring more total units in child development or early
education for students who complete the common core and
general education lower division coursework at a California
Community College?
Is the need for early childhood educators with a
baccalaureate degree so great that the Legislature should
require the establishment of articulated pathways to a
baccalaureate degree?
Are current efforts to improve articulation and transfer
insufficient?
Is this a reasonable approach to increase the quality of
child care programs?
SUMMARY:
This bill requires the academic senates of the California
Community Colleges (CCC) and the California State University
(CSU), and requests the Academic Senate of the University of
California, to review the eight common core lower division
courses in child development or early education to improve
articulation. This bill also prohibits the CSU from
requiring more total units in child development or early
education for students who complete the eight common core
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lower division and general education requirements at a CCC.
BACKGROUND
Course articulation is the formal recognition of specific
courses at one institution to meet equivalent course and
program requirements at another institution. Articulation
could be between campuses within the same segment of
postsecondary education or between segments (typically
between the CCC and CSU or UC).
Current law:
1) Requires the segments of higher education to develop an
intersegmental common core curriculum in general
education for the purpose of transfer. This common core
curriculum is known as the Intersegmental General
Education Transfer curriculum (IGETC). Any student who
completes the IGETC course pattern is deemed to have
completed the lower division coursework required for
transfer to the University of California (UC) or the
CSU. (Education Code 66720)
2) Requests UC to identify commonalities and differences in
similar majors across all UC campuses and provide CCC
students with the information in at least the top 20
majors. (EC 66721.7)
3) Requires the Chancellor of CSU, in consultation with the
Academic Senate of CSU, to establish specified
components necessary for a clear degree path for
transfer students, including specification of a
systemwide lower division transfer curriculum for each
high-demand baccalaureate major. (EC 66739.5)
4) Requires the CSU Chancellor's Office to implement
articulated nursing degree transfer pathways for
Associates Degree in Nursing (ADN) students at CCCs
seeking a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing (BSN) at CSU
prior to the 2012-13 academic year. (EC 89267.5)
5) Requires the governing board of each public
postsecondary education segment to be accountable for
the development and implementation of formal systemwide
articulation agreements and transfer agreement programs,
including those for general education or a transfer core
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curriculum, and other appropriate procedures to support
and enhance the transfer function. (EC 66738)
ANALYSIS
This bill establishes a framework for the academic senates of
all three segments of public postsecondary education to
improve the articulation of child development or early
education transfer pathways. Specifically, this bill:
1) Requires the academic senates of the California State
University (CSU) and California Community Colleges
(CCC), and requests the Academic Senate of the
University of California (UC), to review eight core
lower division courses in child development or early
education in conjunction with early childhood faculty to
improve early childhood educator program articulation.
In conducting this work, the academic senates are
required to consider and make findings on all of the
following:
a) A plan to ensure CSU and UC courses reflect
the advanced level of early educator competencies
that will build upon the eight core lower division
courses and other competency based coursework.
b) The transferability of coursework from the
CCCs to the CSU and UC.
c) An implementation plan for the attainment of a
baccalaureate degree in child development, early
education, or a related major at the CCCs in
collaboration with the CSU or UC.
2) Requires the chairs of the academic senates from the CSU
and CCC, and requests the chair of the Academic Senate
of the UC, to report to the Legislature and the
Legislative Analyst's Office, by December 1, 2011, on
the findings, recommend the next steps in implementing
changes to facilitate success for students in early
childhood education programs, and suggest any statutory
changes necessary to implement their findings.
3) Requires the CSU, and requests the UC, to deem
transferring community college students who have
completed all eight common core courses and general
education requirements as having fulfilled lower
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division coursework.
4) Prohibits students who meet the conditions stated in #3
above from being required by the CSU to take more total
units in child development or early education to satisfy
graduation requirements for the related major than is
required of students who did not transfer to the CSU as
described in #3. This bill requests that UC not require
more total units for these students.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill : According to the author, "California
students face barriers as they move from one
post-secondary education system to another due to a lack
of consistency in colleges and confusing educational
requirements. In order for California to meet the
demand for high-quality early education programs and to
address the critical shortage of Early Childhood
Educators in our state, it is an economic benefit to the
state and students to improve the articulation and
transfer pathway for obtaining ECE degrees. The lack of
articulation results in requiring students to take
duplicative and unnecessary coursework that prolongs the
time to obtain a degree and increases the cost of
education both to the student and to the state."
2) If we build it, will they come ? Possession of a
baccalaureate degree is not required to obtain any level
of Child Development Permit issued by the Commission on
Teacher Credentialing. Numerous research reports show
that the qualifications, compensation and stability of
early childhood educators affect program quality. Many
researchers believe that a better educated staff,
particularly those with a baccalaureate degree, will
increase the quality of child care and preschool
programs. On the other hand, statistics show that this
workforce is unstable mainly due to low compensation;
people leave the job for higher paying work. Staff
notes that
the state is not likely to increase reimbursement rates
for child care providers in the near future.
Considering these issues within the context of this
bill, several questions arise:
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a) There is a critical shortage of high-quality
child care and preschool programs, but is there a
critical shortage of early childhood educators with
a baccalaureate degree?
b) Will producing more baccalaureate degree
holders help improve the quality of child care and
preschool programs?
c) Will this bill result in a well-educated
workforce that will not persist in the profession
due to low pay?
3) Existing articulation and transfer initiatives . There
are currently several existing and ongoing efforts to
improve the transfer process. However, many of these
efforts were undertaken by the segments of public
postsecondary education separately; few involve faculty
from both the CCC and CSU or from all three segments,
and staff is aware of only one initiative is specific to
child development and early education. The various
efforts include:
The California Community College Early
Childhood Curriculum Alignment Project which has
identified, in conjunction with CSU faculty, eight
common core lower division courses in child
development or early education. This bill builds
upon the efforts of this project.
In March 2009, the Chancellors of the three
segments of public postsecondary education
established the Community College Transfer Task
Force to improve transfer between the CCC and CSU
or UC and have made several recommendations to
improve the overall transfer function.
The Articulation System Stimulating
Interinstitutional Student Transfer (ASSIST) is an
online student transfer information system that
shows how course credits earned at one public
college or university can be applied when
transferred to another.
The CSU developed the Lower Division
Transfer Pattern (LDTP), which is intended to
provide community college students with a direct
path to a baccalaureate degree by identifying the
courses that will be accepted by all CSU campuses
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offering the major for which the student is
preparing. However, the LDTP is only useful for
students transferring to CSU.
The California Articulation Number System
(CAN) is a "supplemental" a common course numbering
system to help students and faculty identify
courses that are accepted for credit toward
fulfilling major preparation requirements at the
CSU. CAN only applies to major requirements and
does not apply to general education requirements.
The Course Identification Numbering System
(C-ID) assigns a number to "significant" transfer
courses. Each number identifies a lower-division,
transferable course commonly articulated between
the CCC, CSU and UC. The goal is to provide
guidelines to students and faculty who must
identify which community college courses best meet
the expectations transfer partners have for
courses. Child development is one of the
identified disciplines. C-ID is still under
development.
The Integrated General Education Transfer
Curriculum (IGETC) is a common course pattern that
community college students can use to fulfill lower
division general education requirements for
transferring to a CSU or UC campus.
The Intersegmental Major Preparation
Articulated Curriculum (IMPAC) brought faculty in
certain disciplines from each segment together
regionally to discuss the lower division major
preparation course requirements for transfer.
In spite of these efforts, a recent report by the
Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy,
Crafting a Student-Centered Transfer Process in
California: Lessons from Other States, finds that
transfer rates remain low, students continue to take
more units than are needed at both the community college
and university level, and there is a lack of consistency
in lower-division major prerequisites (both between
campuses within the same segment and between segments).
1) Common core courses . As noted in comment #3, the Early
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Childhood Curriculum Alignment Project, a coordinated
effort of CCC and CSU faculty, has already identified
the eight common core lower division courses in child
development or early education. It is therefore the
author's intent that the academic senates review those
courses and build upon the efforts already undertaken.
Those courses are:
a) Child growth and development.
b) Child, family and community.
c) Principles and practices.
d) Introduction to curriculum.
e) Observation and assessment.
f) Health, safety and nutrition.
g) Teaching in a diverse society.
h) Practicum.
Staff recommends an amendment to state legislative
intent that the academic senates build on the work of
the Early Childhood Curriculum Alignment Project.
2) Additional coursework requirements . This bill deems
transferring community college students who have
completed all eight common core courses and general
education requirements as having fulfilled lower
division coursework at a CSU. This bill prohibits the
CSU from requiring more total units in child development
or early education for students who complete the eight
common core and general education lower division
requirements at a community college prior to
transferring to a CSU campus. Both restrict the
academic freedom of CSU faculty to determine which
specific courses should be required to complete a
program in child development or early education.
Staff recommends an amendment to instead require the academic
senates to consider and report on the appropriateness
of:
a) Deeming certain lower division coursework at
the CCC as fulfilling CSU's lower division
requirements.
b) Prohibiting universities from requiring
additional coursework for these transfer students.
3) Additional amendments . This bill requires the academic
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senates to report on the attainment of a baccalaureate
degree in child development, early education, or a
related major at the CCCs in collaboration with CSU or
UC. Staff recommends an amendment to instead require
the academic senates to consider and report on whether
this is appropriate, and if so, how to achieve it.
Staff recommends technical amendments to clarify that the
academic academics should consider and report on the
three issues specified in this bill at a minimum, and
what "student success" means.
4) Prior and related legislation .
SB 1440 (Padilla) authorizes CCCs to offer
an associate degree with the special designation of
"for transfer" subject to specified requirements.
SB 1440 is awaiting action in this Committee.
AB 440 (Beall, 2009) was identical to SB
1440. AB 440 failed passage in this Committee on a
4-3 vote on July 15, 2009.
SB 912 (Ashburn, 2010) states legislative
intent to enact legislation to incorporate the
recommendations of the Community College Transfer
Task Force for improving the transfer process
between the segments of public postsecondary
education. SB 912 is awaiting referral to policy
committee.
AB 1917 (Davis, 2010) states legislative
intent to enact legislation to require CCC to
establish a statewide system for improving transfer
rates among community college students. AB 1917 is
awaiting referral to policy committee.
AB 2302 (Fong, 2010) requires the CCC and
CSU chancellors and the UC President to jointly
develop and implement a strategy for increasing the
number of students who successfully transfer from a
CCC to a CSU or UC campus, and requires the
strategy to include the development and
implementation of a transfer degree with specified
characteristics. AB 2302 is awaiting action in the
Assembly Higher Education Committee.
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SUPPORT
Advancement Project
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
California Head Start Association
Children Now
Los Angeles Valley College, Child Development Department
An individual
OPPOSITION
None received.