BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-2012 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1246
AUTHOR: Brownley
AMENDED: January 23, 2012
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 27, 2012
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lynn Lorber
SUBJECT : Instructional materials.
SUMMARY
This bill establishes a new process for the submission and
review of instructional materials by requiring the
Superintendent of Public Instruction and authorizing school
districts to review and recommend materials for adoption by
the State Board of Education.
BACKGROUND
Academic content standards define the knowledge, concepts and
skills that pupils should learn at each grade level.
Curricular frameworks serve as the blueprint for how to
implement the standards and provide guidance to publishers,
along with evaluation criteria, for the development of
instructional materials. The processes for the revision of
curricular frameworks and adoption of instructional materials
have been suspended since July 2009 and are suspended until
the 2015-16 school year. (EC � 60200.7)
Notwithstanding the suspension, current law requires the
development of frameworks specific to the common core
standards in English language arts and mathematics, and
evaluation criteria relative to supplemental instructional
materials that are aligned to the common core standards.
(EC � 60207 and � 60605.86)
The role of the Curriculum Development and Supplemental
Materials Commission (Curriculum Commission) was recently
revised, and renamed the Instructional Quality Commission, to
focus on the development of frameworks and professional
development opportunities relative to the common core
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standards in English language arts and mathematics.
(EC � 33530, � 60204, and � 60207)
The currently suspended process for the review and adoption
of instructional materials involved the submission of
materials by publishers to the formerly-named
Curriculum Commission for review by committees of the
Commission, public hearings of both the Commission and the
State Board of Education (SBE), and adoption by the SBE.
That process typically took 30 months.
The SBE is required to adopt instructional materials for
grades 1-8, pursuant to Article IX, Section 7.5 of the
California Constitution. The SBE adopts materials for K-8.
Current law requires school districts to adopt instructional
materials for use in their high schools. Only instructional
materials of those publishers who comply with specified
requirements (basic academic and social content reviews, and
requirements for publishers) may be locally adopted. (EC �
60400)
ANALYSIS
This bill establishes a new process for the submission and
review of instructional materials by requiring the
Superintendent of Public Instruction and authorizing school
districts to review and recommend materials for adoption by
the State Board of Education. Specifically, this bill:
Review of instructional materials
1) Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI)
and authorizes school districts to review instructional
materials for recommendation to the State Board of
Education (SBE) for adoption and use in grades K-8.
2) Requires SBE to adopt procedures for the review of
instructional materials submitted by the SPI and school
districts.
3) Requires a school district choosing to recommend
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instructional materials to the SBE to ensure that a
majority of a review committee convened by the school
district for the selection of the materials to be
composed of classroom teachers who are assigned to teach
the grade in which the instructional materials are to be
used.
4) Requires the process for review of instructional
materials (by experts convened by the SPI) to involve
review committees which must include volunteer content
experts and instructional material reviewers, and be
composed of a majority of classroom teachers from a wide
variety of affected grade levels and subject areas.
5) Deletes the role of the Instructional Quality Commission
in studying and evaluating instructional materials
submitted for adoption, and instead requires the
Commission to review reports of finding made by the SPI
or school districts, at the request of the SBE, and
review instructional materials as necessary.
6) Requires the Instructional Quality Commission to give
independent advice to the SBE about whether
instructional materials meet the evaluation criteria.
Recommend instructional materials to the State Board of
Education
1) Requires the SPI and authorizes school districts to
recommend to the SBE instructional materials for its
adoption and use in grades K-8.
2) Removes the role of the Instructional Quality Commission
in recommending to the SBE instructional materials for
adoption, and instead requires the Commission to review
findings of evaluated materials and hear appeals at the
request of the SBE.
3) Authorizes the SPI or a school district to recommend
only instructional materials that meet academic content
standards and frameworks, and social content
requirements, and any other criteria established by the
SBE.
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4) Requires the SPI and school districts, when recommending
instructional materials to the SBE, to include reports
of findings that include information regarding alignment
of standards, program organization, pupil assessments,
teacher support, and support for English learners and
pupils with disabilities.
Adoption of instructional materials
Requires the rules and procedures for adoption of
instructional materials by the SBE to be transparent and
consistently applicable regardless of the format of the
instructional materials, which may include print, digital,
and open-source instructional materials.
Development of instructional materials
Authorizes instructional materials submitted by school
districts to be developed by either a district or by
publishers of instructional materials.
Submission of instructional materials for review by the SPI
and school districts
Authorizes publishers of instructional materials to submit
instructional materials to either school districts or the
SPI.
Cycle for review of instructional materials by the SBE
1) Requires the SPI, and authorizes school districts, to
submit instructional materials in any subject for review
by the SBE on an eight year cycle.
2) Requires the CDE to impose a fee upon a publisher who
submits instructional materials for review after the
timeframe specified by the SBE. The fee must not exceed
the reasonable costs to CDE to conduct a review of the
materials.
Posting of adoption list
Requires the CDE to make the lists of adopted instructional
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materials to be available to school districts and post the
lists on its website, and include information from the
reports of finding (information regarding alignment of
standards, program organization, pupil assessments, teacher
support, and support for English learners and pupils with
disabilities).
Implementation date
Prohibits any requirements imposed upon the Instructional
Quality Commission from being implemented unless funds are
available in the Budget Act for the Instructional Quality
Commission.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author, "With the
adoption of the common core academic content standards,
the state must ensure all students have access to these
recently adopted standards. AB 250 (Brownley, Ch. 608,
2011) recently started a comprehensive process for
implementing the common core standards through the
development of curriculum frameworks and model
professional development. This bill will give school
districts the opportunity to participate in the process
of reviewing and adopting instructional materials and in
turn would provide more flexibility and options for
school districts. The existing process involves content
experts and field reviewers that make recommendations
based on the extensive reviews they conduct. The intent
of this bill is to continue a similar open and public
process that the SPI would coordinate. Together the SPI
and school districts would have the opportunity to make
recommendations that would in turn potentially result in
a comprehensive list of state-adopted instructional
materials that gives several program options for school
districts to choose from."
2) New roles for the review and recommendation of
instructional materials . This bill removes the role of
the Instructional Quality Commission in the process to
review and recommend instructional materials for
adoption by the State Board of Education (SBE).
Instead, this bill requires the Superintendent of Public
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Instruction (SPI) and authorizes school districts to
review instructional materials and submit
recommendations to the SBE for adoption. Removing a
state-level body from the instructional materials
adoption process could simplify and streamline this
process, and allows districts to have a larger role in
developing and selecting instructional materials for use
in their schools.
This bill authorizes the Instructional Quality Commission to
review instructional materials and hear appeals upon
request of the SBE. It appears appropriate to allow the
SBE to determine if and when it is necessary for further
state-level review of materials rather than require a
state-level review after the SPI's reviewers and school
district reviewers have already completed specific and
public reviews.
3) Locally reviewed instructional materials . The SBE is
required to adopt instructional materials for grades
K-8, and did so based on recommendations of the former
Curriculum Commission's review of materials. School
districts currently review and adopt instructional
materials for grades 9-12 but do not have the authority
to adopt their own choice of materials for K-8. This
bill increases districts participation in the selection
of instructional materials by expanding the authority of
school districts to review instructional materials for
all grades and allows districts to recommend to the SBE
those materials for adoption. This bill authorizes the
Instructional Quality Commission to review the findings
made by school districts and review instructional
materials submitted to the SBE upon the SBE's request to
do so. The responsibility to adopt instructional
materials for use in K-8 schools is retained by the SBE
which balances increased local control with state
oversight.
This bill authorizes school districts to develop
instructional materials, as well as review and submit to
the SBE those instructional materials for adoption.
This bill requires any materials recommended to the SBE
for adoption to meet the same criteria that
instructional materials must currently meet. This bill
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requires school districts, and the SPI, to make public
the criteria used to review instructional materials.
This ensures oversight and accountability (including
meeting the needs of English learners and pupils with
exceptional needs), and also allows other school
districts to use that information in determining which
instructional materials best meet the needs of their
pupils.
The local review approach contained in this bill is similar
to one currently underway with regard to supplemental
instructional materials that bridge the gap between
materials currently used by schools and the new common
core academic content standards in English language arts
and mathematics. (See Comment #4.)
4) Current activities regarding instructional materials .
The process for the review, recommendation and adoption
of instructional materials has been suspended since July
2009, and is statutorily suspended until the 2015-16
school year. Notwithstanding that suspension, SB 140
(Lowenthal, Ch. 623, 2011) required the California
Department of Education (CDE), on a one-time basis, to
develop a list of K-8 supplemental instruction materials
that are aligned with California's common core academic
content standards in language arts for K-8 and in
mathematics for grades K-7. SB 140 allows school
districts to approve supplemental materials not on CDE's
list if the district-convened content review experts and
is aligned to the common core standards.
The CDE has begun the implementation of SB 140. Publishers
recently submitted instructional materials for review by
the content review experts; it is anticipated that the
review of materials will continue through September
2012. However, on June 19, the CDE notified publishers
that it has cancelled the Category 2 component of the
review of mathematics materials (materials that
supplement any program used by schools, while Category 1
is for materials that supplement current state-adopted
programs used by schools). The CDE cites a high volume
of submissions and a lack of sufficient reviewers, and
points to the statutory timelines as preventing the CDE
from recruiting additional reviewers. The Legislature
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is working to find ways to ensure the CDE can complete
this work to meet the immediate needs of schools, prior
to a full adoption of instructional materials.
The submission of mathematics instructional materials for
Category 1, as well as the entire review of English
language arts materials are unaffected by the
cancellation of the mathematics materials in Category 2.
5) Does not resume adoption of instructional materials .
Current law suspends the process for the adoption of
instructional materials until the 2015-16 school year.
This bill establishes the process for the review and
recommendation of instructional materials for adoption
but does not implement that process. This delay allows
for the full implementation of the approval of common
core bridge materials (as described in Comment #4), the
review and modification of the 8th grade math common
core standards, and the development of the frameworks
and criteria for evaluating materials for the common
core standards in English language arts and mathematics.
(See comments below.)
6) Fiscal impact . According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill would impose on-going General Fund
administrative costs to the California Department of
Education (CDE), likely between $150,000 and $250,000,
to review instructional materials submitted by the SPI
and school districts and to conduct an appeals process.
Actual costs will depend on the number of instructional
materials submitted and the number of appeals. This
bill prohibits CDE from implementing the new
requirements associated with the Instructional Quality
Commission until funding is provided for these purposes.
7) Technical amendments . Staff recommends the following
amendments:
a) On page 8, lines 32-35, clarify that the
Instructional Quality Commission is to review
reports of findings or review instructional
materials only at the request of the SBE.
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b) On page 8, lines 37-39, clarify that the
Instructional Quality Commission is to give
independent advice to the SBE about whether
instructional materials meet the evaluation
criteria only at the request of the SBE.
c) On page 4, line 3, clarify that a publisher
may submit instructional materials to either a
school district, the SPI, or both.
8) Related legislation . SB 1200 (Hancock) authorizes the
review and modification of the common core standards for
grade 8 mathematics and the adoption of the common core
college and career readiness standards. SB 1200 is
scheduled to be heard by the Assembly Education
Committee on June 27, 2012.
9) Prior legislation . AB 250 (Brownley, Ch. 608, 2011),
when passed by this Committee on 8-2 vote on July 6,
2011, included provisions relative to instructional
materials that were nearly identical to the contents of
this bill. The instructional materials provisions were
later removed from AB 250 at the request of the
Administration, citing the need for additional
consideration.
SUPPORT
Association of California School Administrators
California School Boards Association
California State PTA
California Teachers Association
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Los Angeles County Office of Education
OPPOSITION
None on file.