BILL ANALYSIS �
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Date of Hearing: May 16, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1988 (Davis) - As Amended: May 2, 2012
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:6-3
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires the criteria for English language arts (ELA)
instructional materials (IM) to include directions to publishers
to incorporate instructional strategies to address the language
and literacy needs of pupils who use African American vernacular
English (AAVE), in both lessons and teacher editions, as
appropriate, at every grade level and subject. Specifically,
this bill:
Requires the State Board of Education (SBE) to ensure the ELA
curriculum frameworks for grades K-12 and IM for grades K-8
include strategies to address the language and literacy needs of
pupils who use AAVE.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Potential GF administrative costs, likely between $200,000 and
$700,000, to the State Department of Education's (SDE)
Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) to complete the
requirements of this measure. This assumes IQC's funding is
restored. Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed all GF funding
($700,000) for the Curriculum Development and Supplemental
Materials Commission (now the IQC) in 2009. To date, this
funding has not been restored.
2)One of the purposes of this measure is to provide additional
instructional support to pupils who use AAVE. This purpose
will likely require additional state resources to be
successful. By indicating in statute that pupils who speak
AAVE require additional instructional support, there is GF/98
cost pressure, likely in the tens of millions, to provide
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additional funding for these pupils via state categorical
programs.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . The author feels that African American students who
speak AAVE are not receiving the appropriate instruction
strategies to excel in ELA and other core academic areas. As
such, he feels the need to seek state remedies to address this
issue.
This bill requires the criteria for ELA IM to include
directions to publishers to incorporate instructional
strategies to address the language and literacy needs of
pupils who use AVVE, in both lessons and teacher editions, as
appropriate, at every grade level and subject.
2)Background . Existing law requires the SBE to adopt statewide
academically rigorous content standards in the core curriculum
areas. These content standards are implemented through the
curriculum frameworks, as adopted by SBE. The adopted IM must
be consistent with the criteria and standards of quality
prescribed in the adopted curriculum frameworks. The
development of curriculum frameworks is a multi-year process.
3)African American vernacular English (AAVE) . According to the
Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL), AAVE or "African
American English is a dialect of American English used by many
African Americans in certain settings and circumstances. Like
other dialects of English, �AAVE] is a regular, systematic
language variety that contrasts with other dialects in terms
of its grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary."
CAL further states: AAVE "is a systematic language variety,
with patterns of pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and usage
that extend far beyond slang. Because it has a set of rules
that is distinct from those of Standard American English,
characterizations of the variety as bad English are incorrect;
speakers of AAVE do not fail to speak Standard American
English, but succeed in speaking African American English with
all its systematicity. Linguists are less concerned with
whether or not AAVE is a language or a dialect (terms that are
more important socially and politically than linguistically)
than with recognizing the systematic nature of AAE."
The CAL notes that AAVE become more widely discussed as an
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issue in K-12 education as a result of discussions in Oakland
Unified School District (OUSD). Specifically, OUSD passed a
resolution in December 1996 (as amended by another resolution
passed in January 1997) recognizing the role of Ebonics
(another term for AAVE) in its schools. OUSD's 1997
resolution states: "The Superintendent in conjunction with her
staff shall immediately devise and implement the best possible
academic program for the combined purposes of facilitating the
acquisition and mastery of English language skills, while
respecting and embracing the legitimacy and richness of the
language patterns whether they are known as 'Ebonics,'
'African Language Systems,' 'Pan African Communication
Behaviors?'"
In 1997, Charles J. Fillmore, a University of California
linguistic professor, summarized the intent of OUSD's
resolution in the following manner: "The pedagogically
relevant assumptions behind the "Ebonics' resolution are as
follows: The way some African American children speak when
they show up in Oakland's schools is so different from
standard English that teachers often can't understand what
they are saying. Such children perform poorly in school and
typically fail to acquire the ways of speaking that they'll
need in order to succeed in the world outside their
neighborhoods. Schools have traditionally treated the speech
of these children as simply sloppy and wrong, not as
evidencing skills and knowledge the children can build on. The
proposed new instructional plan would assist children in
learning standard English by encouraging them to compare the
way they speak with what they need to learn in school, and
this cannot be accomplished in a calm and reasoned way unless
their teachers treat what they already have, linguistically,
as a worthy possession rather than as evidence of carelessness
and ignorance."
4)The 2008 ELA/English language development curriculum framework
and AAVE . This framework (the latest available) states its
purpose is to "provide guidelines and selected research-based
approaches for implementing instruction to ensure optimal
benefits for all students, including those with special
learning needs (e.g., English learners, students who use
African American vernacular English, students with learning
disabilities and reading difficulties, and advanced
learners)."
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The framework further details its purpose to be the basis for
the development of IM that provide "comprehensive guidance for
teachers and effective, efficient, and explicit instruction
for struggling readers (any student experiencing difficulty
learning to read; may include students who use African
American vernacular English, English learners, and students
with disabilities)."
The framework also includes specific instructions in its
intervention program for teachers regarding the needs of
pupils who speak AAVE. In essence, the 2008 ELA framework
meets the requirements of this bill.
5)Moratorium on the adoption of IM and curriculum frameworks .
AB 2 X4 (Evans), Chapter 2, Statutes of 2009, specified that
local education agencies (LEAs) are not required to purchase
IM through the 2012-13 FY. Consistent with the non-purchasing
requirement, Chapter 2 also suspended the requirement for SBE
to adopt IM or conduct other procedures associated with
adoption (i.e., adopting curriculum frameworks) until the
2013-14 school year. SB 70 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal
Review), Chapter 7, Statutes of 2011, extended this suspension
until the 2014-15 FY.
AB 250 (Brownley), Chapter 608, Statues of 2011, renamed the
Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission
the IQC and lifted the moratorium on the development of
curriculum frameworks only for the purposes of developing
frameworks for the Common Core Standards in ELA and
mathematics. This bill would require the Common Core ELA
frameworks to include strategies to address the language and
literacy needs of pupils who use African American vernacular
English.
According to SDE, the CC mathematics curriculum framework is
expected to be finished by the end of 2013 and the CC ELA
curriculum framework is expected to be completed in the Winter
2013.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
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