BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1354
Page A
Date of Hearing: June 30, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
SB 1354 (Hancock) - As Amended: June 22, 2010
SENATE VOTE : 23-12
SUBJECT : Partnership academies
SUMMARY : Revises the criteria for identifying pupils that are
"at risk" for purposes of enrollment in California Partnership
Academies (CPAs) and requires a school district to provide an
assurance that each CPA pupil will be provided with career
technical education (CTE) courses that are part of an
occupational course sequence that targets comprehensive skills
and meets specified requirements. Specifically, this bill :
1)Modifies the criteria for determining "at risk" for purposes
of eligibility to participate in a CPA as follows:
a) Defines irregular attendance to mean absence from school
20% or more of the school year;
b) Adds the following to the existing indicators to be
considered in making the determination of "at risk":
i) Scoring "below basic" in mathematics English
language arts on standardized tests administered pursuant
to the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program;
and,
ii) Maintaining a grade point average of 2.2 or below or
the equivalent of a C minus.
2)Deletes provisions that specify the academic criteria applying
to non at risk pupils participating in a CPA.
3)Deletes the requirement that students be provided a laboratory
class related to the academy's occupational field.
4)Requires an assurance that each CPA pupil will be provided
with:
a) Instruction in at least three academic subjects each
SB 1354
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school term that prepares the pupil for a high school
diploma, and where possible, meets A-G University of
California (UC) requirements; and,
b) CTE or other appropriate technical courses offered at
each grade level at the academy that are part of an
occupational course sequence that targets comprehensive
skills and that does the following:
i) Provides CTE in high skill, high pay occupations of
regional and local economic need;
ii) Focuses on occupations requiring comprehensive
skills leading to higher than entry-level wages, or the
possibility of significant wage increases after a few
years on the job, or both;
iii) Provides a sequence of courses that build upon each
other in knowledge, skill development, and experience and
ends in a capstone course that includes an internship
component;
iv) Prepares pupils for employment and postsecondary
education and requires sequenced courses to be linked to
certificate and degree programs in the region, where
possible;
v) Prepares pupils for industry-recognized
certification, where possible; and,
vi) Offers CTE courses that also meet the A-G UC
requirements whenever possible.
5)Deletes the authority for the Superintendent of Public
Instruction (SPI) to issue a maximum of 155 grants per year
for purposes of planning partnership academies.
6)Requires districts, whenever practical, to provide a second
planning period for the CPA teacher.
7)Allows for the internship or paid job component of the CPA to
be in a school enterprise program and deletes the requirement
for the internship to take place during the summer following
the 11th grade.
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8)Makes various technical non-substantive amendments to CPA
provisions.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the CPA program as a state-school-private sector
partnership to provide combined academic and occupational
training to eligible at-risk students in grades 10-12,
inclusive.
2)Requires districts and participating businesses to each
provide 100% matching funds for all state funds received;
provides that the match may be in the form of direct and
in-kind support; and requires the district to establish an
advisory committee consisting of specified individuals and
representatives.
3)Establishes funding and grant amounts to be awarded to school
districts for purposes of planning, establishing and
maintaining academies, and expresses legislative intent to
expand the CPA program.
4)Requires each district operating academies to annually certify
information to the SPI regarding the number of qualified
students enrolled during the just completed school year, by
grade level, for each academy operated by the district.
5)Establishes the Green Technology Partnership Academies and the
Goods Movement Partnership Academies, commencing with the
2009-10 school year, and requires, when funds become available
for additional partnership academies, the SPI to issue grants
for the establishment of such partnership academies in each of
the nine economic regions established by the state.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, it is unlikely that other provisions of the bill
would result in new state costs, though some of the requirements
related to course offerings may increase local costs of program
operation to the extent that local CPAs are not meeting the new
requirements. To this end, the California Department of
Education (CDE) indicates that these requirements are already
current practice.
COMMENTS : The CPA model is a three-year program in grades
10-12, structured as a school-within-a-school. CPAs serve
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at-risk pupils and the program requires that no less than one
half of each new class must meet the specified at-risk criteria.
The criteria used for student eligibility includes: irregular
attendance, past record of underachievement, low motivation or
disinterest in the regular academic program, and economical
disadvantages. The curriculum of CPAs is focused on a career
theme and is coordinated with related academic classes. The
integration of a standards based academic and career technical
curriculum is a key component of this program. The career
technical focus for a CPA is determined by an analysis of the
local labor market and considering fields that have companies
willing to support the program. Each CPA is focused in one of
the 15 industry sectors established for CTE through the CTE
Model Curriculum Standards. According to information on the
CDE's Internet Web site, there are 480 CPAs currently operating
in the state.
This bill makes several changes to the CPA provisions to update
this section of the Education Code. The most significant
changes include the requirement for CPAs to provide sequences of
courses, changing the criteria for identifying at-risk pupils,
deleting academic criteria for non at risk pupils, and further
specifying what CPA courses should provide to pupils.
This bill will require that CPAs provide sequences of courses
that target comprehensive skills and meet the specified
requirements. According to the author, "While many academies
have sequences in place, there is a lack of consistency across
the programs. By requiring sequences, students will be able to
provide certificates of skills attained while in the academy -
to employers or to community colleges/higher education." In
CTE, sequences of courses are important to ensure that pupils
build upon skills learned as they take a series of CTE courses.
According to the Career Academy Support Network (CASN), "A
quality course sequence scaffolds the courses preparing students
for advanced work as they progress from year to year. Often,
choices will be available to students as they progress through
the sequence and develop a particular career focus. A well
developed course sequence helps students succeed in high school,
think about their career goals, while preparing for
post-secondary education and careers. The course sequence is
also valuable to teachers, especially teacher teams, for
planning and delivering integrated instruction across
disciplines and grade levels."
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This bill also makes changes to the criteria for identifying at
risk pupils for purposes of eligibility to participate in a CPA
and deletes provisions in current law that limit enrollment of
non-at risk students to low-achieving students who meet
specified criteria. The changes to the criteria for
identification of at-risk pupils delete outdated student
performance measures and provide indicators that local education
agencies (LEAs) can use to identify students who might benefit
from participating in a partnership academy program. These
changes proposed by this bill could result in greater
consistency across partnership academies and they may also
result in the identification of more at risk students and
potentially expand the number of pupils currently participating
in CPAs.
The CPA model has demonstrated to be a promising model that
provides rigorous academic and CTE opportunities to pupils. A
study conducted on CPAs showed that the graduation rate for
partnership academy seniors during the 2004-05 school year was
higher than those of the statewide population, and that CPA
students passed the high school exit exam at higher rates than
did the general student population.<1> It can be suggested that
there is some evidence that the concept of combining preparation
for both college and careers is a promising instructional
approach.
Suggested amendments : The bill in amending the definition of
"at risk" adds new factors to be considered in determining
whether a pupil is "at risk," including the demonstration of
"level of coursework, credits achieved, or test scores." Level
of coursework appears to be vague and could create some
inconsistencies and confusion in implementing these provisions
and since the criteria already includes scoring below basic in
mathematics or English language arts in the California Standards
Test, adding "test scores" is duplicative in this provision.
The author wishes to amend the bill on page 3, line 16 and 17,
to strike out "level of coursework" and "or by test scores."
The subject areas and pattern of courses required for minimum
eligibility for freshman admission to the University of
California (UC) are known as the A-G requirements. The A-G
sequence of courses is not defined in state law but rather
---------------------------
<1> Profile of the California Partnership Academies 2004-2005.
ConnectED The California Center for College and Career. March
2007.
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established by the Board of Admissions and Relations with
schools (BOARS). The sequence currently includes 15 courses but
this could change in the future. To avoid any potential
conflict in law should these requirements change and be called
something else in the future, staff recommends the bill be
amended as follows: On page 6, lines 12-13 and lines 33-34,
replace reference to "A-G University of California courses" with
"courses that satisfy the subject requirements for admission to
the California State University and the University of
California."
The section in the bill requiring school districts to provide
specified components as part of a CPA includes "Career technical
education or other appropriate technical courses." As currently
drafted this language raises questions as to what "other
appropriate technical courses" refers to. Staff recommends
amending the bill to either, provide greater clarification, or
delete "or other appropriate technical courses" from page 6,
line 15. Additionally, this section requires the provision of
CTE in high skill, high pay occupations of regional and local
economic need. The requirement for the CPA's course sequence to
be in high pay occupations of regional and local economic need
could result in limited options for CTE as it may be difficult
to ensure that the occupational areas of focus of a CPA are high
paying. Staff recommends the bill be amended on page 6, line
19, to strike out "high pay."
Arguments in support : The California School Boards Association
writes, "SB 1354 seeks to enhance and upgrade the Academy
programs by requiring sequences of courses and by updating the
criteria for identifying students at risk. Students who
complete a certificate program are able to demonstrate skill
proficiency for entry into higher education career technical
education programs and for employment in related-industry
fields. By requiring sequences, Partnership Academies would be
in alignment with Regional Occupational Centers/Programs."
Prior Legislation : AB 2855 (Hancock), Chapter 685, Statutes of
2008, establishes, commencing with the 2009-10 school year, the
Green Technology Partnership Academies and the Goods Movement
Partnership Academies as two new categories of CPAs.
AB 999 (Hancock) of 2007 establishes, commencing with the
2008-09 school year, the Green Technology Partnership Academies
and the Goods Movement Partnership Academies as two new
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categories of CPAs. AB 999 was held in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
SB 830 (Kehoe) of 2007 provides for the expansion of the number
of CPAs, revises funding formulas and requirements for school
districts operating academies, and revises the eligibility
criteria to allow for the participation of ninth graders. SB 830
was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 2529 and AB 1570 (Salinas) of 2006 expand the CPAs; change
the per-pupil and per-academy grant amounts; and revise student
eligibility criteria and district requirements for
participation in the CPA. These bills were held in the Assembly
and Senate Appropriations Committees, respectively.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
State Superintendent of Public Instruction (Sponsor) - On
previous version of the bill
California Association of Leaders of Career Preparation
California Association of Regional Occupational Centers and
Programs
California School Boards Association
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avi?a / ED. / (916) 319-2087