BILL NUMBER: AB 1315 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 26, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 31, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Furutani
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to add and repeal Chapter 20 (commencing with Section
11900) of Part 7 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code,
relating to education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1315, as amended, Furutani. Education: Gateway
Demonstration Project. Centers.
Existing law provides that certain agencies and educational
entities are to make various reports or certifications or to submit
information to specified entities or agencies. These reports,
certifications, and submittals encompass numerous areas of the
Education Code.
This bill would create the Gateway Council comprised of the
Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges, and the Secretary of Labor and
Workforce Development, or their designees.
The bill would require individual demonstration projects
Gateway Centers to focus on developing
models for improving the transition of individuals with weak basic
skills to postsecondary education that provides opportunities for
employment in high-demand fields where there is career advancement
potential, leverage multiple education and workforce
investment funding streams and improve the transition of adult
learners into entry-level degree or certificate training programs
that are linked to employment and the reform of the delivery of adult
basic education services in California, as specified, as well
as perform specified functions relating to this goal. The council
would be required to identify state and federal resources, as well as
potential philanthropic support, to fund gateway
demonstration projects Gateway Centers , develop
a request for proposal process to fund projects in different
geographic areas of the state, provide project oversight and report
outcomes of the projects. The council would have various specific
duties including developing a request for application to participate
process no later than April 15, 2012, and funding at least 3
demonstration project Gateway Center sites no
later than September 1, 2012. The bill would require the
council to submit a report to the Legislature by January 15, 2016, on
the outcomes of the demonstration project
Gateway Centers , and make the report provision inoperative on
January 15, 2020.
This bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2017, unless
a later enacted statute enacted on or before January 1, 2017 ,
deletes or extends that date.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 20 (commencing with Section 11900) is added to
Part 7 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, to read:
CHAPTER 20. GATEWAY DEMONSTRATION PROJECT
CENTERS
11900. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) A college degree or industry-recognized vocational certificate
is the principal pathway to personal economic security.
(2) Remedial English and mathematics, including
English-as-a-second-language programs, are the gateway to college and
skills training for many Californians.
(3) A range of basic skills programs are offered by the State
Department of Education and the California Community Colleges, but
historically these programs have not been well connected or
coordinated, and current institutional practices impede the effective
transition of students across systems from basic skills courses into
postsecondary education and training programs.
(4) Basic skills programs serve a diverse group of students,
including recent high school graduates with weak English or math
skills, high school dropouts, and students who need English-as-a
second language skills.
(4)
(5) Many adult learners make no or minimal progress
with only an extremely small percentage attaining a postsecondary
certificate or degree or transferring to a four-year college.
(5)
(6) Recent budget cutbacks and changes to categorical
program funding have resulted in decreased funding for basic skills
offerings, necessitating a reexamination of California's basic skills
system and how it meets the needs of all Californians, especially
for low-skilled adult learners and underrepresented students of
color.
(6)
(7) As policymakers consider broad, statewide reform,
local service providers are best equipped to develop and identify
effective program models to accelerate student progress, improve
program outcomes, and serve greater numbers of students with limited
funding.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to create the
Gateway Demonstration Project to leverage multiple
funding streams and promote innovative and successful practices to
improve the Centers to improve the transition of
adult learners into entry-level degree or certificate training
programs that are linked to employment, as a building block toward
wider reform of the delivery of adult basic education
services in California. The project would pilot innovative models to
create seamless transitions across adult education, postsecondary
education, and employment. Demonstration sites would develop and test
models that improve alignment, accelerate student progress, leverage
resources across basic skills providers, deliver high-quality
curriculum and instruction, provide student support services and
educator professional development, and lead to improved student
education and employment outcomes. These models would build upon and
leverage the curricula and faculty strengths of the State Department
of Education's adult education programs and the California Community
Colleges' programs to meet the needs of students from low-income and
underserved communities. services in California.
11901. (a) The Gateway Council is created to identify state and
federal resources, as well as potential philanthropic support, to
fund gateway demonstration projects, develop a request for proposal
process to fund projects in different geographic areas of the state,
provide project oversight and report outcomes. The Gateway Council
shall be comprised of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the
Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, and the Secretary of
Labor and Workforce Development, or their designees. The Gateway
Council shall do all of the following:
(1) Identify funding for demonstration projects from sources such
as, but not limited to, the federal Workforce Investment Act, the
federal Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006,
career technical education funds, community college and adult
education funds, and other grant or philanthropic sources.
(2) Develop a request for application to participate in the
demonstration project no later than April 15, 2012.
(3) Fund a minimum of three demonstration project sites beginning
no later than September 2012.
(4) Prepare a final report or evaluation to the Legislature as
specified in subdivision (c).
11901. (a) The Legislature hereby creates Gateway
Centers operated by local adult schools and community colleges to
leverage multiple education and workforce investment funding streams
and improve the transition of adult learners into entry-level degree
or certificate training programs that are linked to employment.
(b) Gateway Centers will serve as learning laboratories for wider
reform of the delivery of adult basic education services in
California by creating innovative service models that provide
seamless transitions across adult education, postsecondary education,
and employment. Gateway Centers would develop and test models that
improve course alignment, accelerate student progress toward
certificate and degree attainment, leverage resources across basic
skills providers, deliver high-quality curriculum and instruction,
provide student support services and educator professional
development, and lead to improved student education and employment
outcomes. These models will build upon and leverage the curricula and
faculty strengths of the department's adult education programs and
the California Community Colleges' programs to meet the needs of
students from low-income and underserved communities.
(b) Gateway demonstration projects
(c) Gateway Centers shall focus
on developing models for improving the transition of individuals with
weak basic skills to postsecondary education that provides
opportunities for employment in high-demand fields where there is
career advancement potential. Gateway demonstration projects
Centers shall do all of the following:
(1) Be jointly designed by local and regional partners including
adult education and community college program providers and other
stakeholders with input from including
business and industry.
(2) Work together to align Align or
redesign regional assessment systems to provide more consistent and
improved diagnostic services to identify needs of adult students and
connect them to learning strategies that prepare them for success in
academic and career technical courses.
(3) Utilize evidence-based instructional practices,
such as contextualized teaching, accelerated
coursework, that accelerates student progress toward skill
attainment, customized and modularized instruction, peer group
support, and remediation , that is
provided while the student is concurrently enrolled in credit-bearing
college work.
(4) Develop program options that move adult learners toward
postsecondary credentials, including as concurrent enrollment in
adult education and community college, joint instructional offerings,
and team teaching.
(5)
(4) Equip learners with the workplace competencies and
college-ready skills to prepare them for certificate and degree
programs.
(6)
(5) Provide a range of student support services, such
as academic tutoring, counseling, and financial aid.
(7)
(6) Offer professional development opportunities and
incentives to gateway instructors to enhance their pedagogical skills
and instruction practices.
(8)
(7) Report on program outcomes for the purpose of
continuous program improvement and program evaluation.
(9) Provide
(8) Secure matching funds from
local workforce investment boards, community-based organizations,
regional industry partners, philanthropic or other sources.
(d) A Gateway Council is created to identify state and federal
resources, as well as potential philanthropic support, to fund the
Gateway Centers, develop a request for proposal process to fund
projects in different geographic areas of the state, provide project
oversight and report outcomes. The Gateway Council shall be comprised
of the Superintendent, the Chancellor of the California Community
Colleges, and the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, or
their designees. The Gateway Council shall do all of the following:
(1) Identify funding for Gateway Centers from sources such as, but
not limited to, the federal Workforce Investment Act, the federal
Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006, career
technical education funds, community college and adult education
funds, and other grant or philanthropic sources.
(2) Develop a request for application to participate in the
Gateway Centers no later than April 15, 2012.
(3) Fund a minimum of three Gateway Center sites beginning no
later than September 1, 2012.
(4) Prepare a final report or evaluation to the Legislature as
specified in subdivision (e).
(c)
(e) The Gateway Council shall submit a final report to
the Legislature by January 15, 2016, on the outcomes of the
demonstration project. Based on demonstration project outcomes
and lessons learned from the Gateway Centers.
Based on these outcomes and an analysis of policy and
institutional barriers to wider implementation, the council shall
make recommendations to the Legislature regarding how the State
Department of Education and the California Community Colleges can
align institutions and programs more effectively, increase the
quality of instruction, and improve student outcomes, particularly
for underrepresented students of color.
(d)
(f) This chapter is repealed on January 1, 2017, unless
a later enacted statute enacted on or before January 1, 2017,
deletes or extends that date.
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