BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 140
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 140 (Alan Lowenthal)
As Amended August 26, 2011
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :26-12
EDUCATION 7-3 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Brownley, Ammiano, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Buchanan, Butler, Carter, | |Bradford, Charles |
| |Eng, Williams | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| | | |Gatto, Hall, Hill Lara, |
| | | |Mitchell, Solorio |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Norby, Beth Gaines, |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, |
| |Wagner | |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the California Department of Education (CDE),
on a one-time basis, to develop a list, on or before July 1, 2012,
of supplemental instructional materials (SIMs) for use in
kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, (K-8) that are aligned
with California's common core (CCC) academic content standards in
language arts and for kindergarten and grades 1 to 7, inclusive,
that are aligned with CCC standards in mathematics.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the CDE to recommend and the State Board of Education
(SBE) to approve evaluation criteria to guide the development
and review of SIMs.
2)Requires the SIMs to provide a bridge between the CCC academic
content standards and the instructional materials currently
being used by local educational agencies (LEAs).
3)Requires, on or before September 30, 2012, the SBE to do the
following:
a) Approve all, or a portion, of the list of SIMs proposed by
the CDE, taking into consideration the review of the content
review experts and any other relevant information, as
appropriate; or,
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b) Reject all, or a portion, of the list of SIMs proposed by
the CDE, taking into consideration the review of the content
review experts and any other relevant information, as
appropriate.
4)Authorizes the SBE to add an item to the list of SIMs proposed
by the CDE.
5)Specifies that if the SBE rejects all, or a portion, of the list
of SIMs proposed by the CDE, or adds an item to the list, the
SBE, in a public meeting held pursuant to the Bagley-Keene Open
Meeting Act shall provide written reasons for the removal or
addition of an item on the list, and prohibits the SBE from
approving a SIM it adds to the list at the same time it provides
its written reason for adding the material; and instead,
requires the SBE to approve the added material at a subsequent
public meeting.
6)Authorizes governing boards of school districts to approve SIMs
other than those approved by the SBE pursuant to this bill if
specified requirements are met.
7)Stipulates that publishers choosing to submit supplemental
instructional materials for approval by the SBE shall submit
standards maps.
8)Requires the SBE to review SIMs for academic content, social
content, and instructional support to teachers and pupils, and
requires the SIMs to meet required program criteria for
grade-level programs, intervention programs, and English
learners and to include materials for use by teachers.
9)Requires a school district that chooses to approve SIMs other
than those approved by the SBE to review materials for academic
content and instructional support to teachers and pupils, and
requires the SIMs to meet required program criteria for
grade-level programs, intervention programs, and English
learners and to include materials for use by teachers.
10)Requires CDE to maintain on its Internet Web site the list of
supplemental instructional materials approved by the SBE
pursuant to this bill.
11)Specifies that the CDE shall use federal carryover funds
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received pursuant to Title I of the federal No Child Left Behind
Act of 2001 to implement this bill.
12)Repeals the provisions of this bill on July 1, 2014.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, federal fund costs to CDE, of approximately $100,000,
to conduct a supplemental adoption of common core standards in
English language arts (ELA) and mathematics, as specified. Of
this cost, approximately $300,000 is attributed to the full
adoption process. This bill requires CDE to use federal Title I
funds for this purpose. The 2011 Budget Act allocates $3.5
million in carryover federal Title I funds (poor/needy pupil)
pursuant to legislation enacted in the 2011-12 legislative session
to support initial implementation of the common core standards.
Specifically, the funding is identified for three purposes, one of
which is establishing a state-level process for approval of SIMs
aligned to the common core standards. This bill is the vehicle
that implements this language.
COMMENTS : This bill creates a temporary process whereby CDE will
review SIMs for alignment with California's common core state
standards. The purpose is for these materials to be used with
instructional materials currently in use by school districts for
language arts and math in an effort to provide temporary tools for
pupils to access the recently adopted content standards. This
process also allows school districts to approve SIMs other than
those approved by the SBE, if the district finds that other SIMs
are aligned with the common core standards and meet the needs of
its students.
Due to the fiscal climate in the state, the process for adopting
curriculum frameworks and instructional materials has been
suspended for the next three years, however the state has adopted
new content standards in language arts and math and the curriculum
and instruction system is not aligned to those standards. The
development of the list of SIMs is a one-time activity and a
short-term solution to dealing with the budget restrictions on
instructional materials while still providing pupils with tools to
access the common core standards. Typically SIMs do not undergo a
state-level review process, except to ensure compliance with
social content requirements. The process established by this bill
is relatively unique and is developed to assist districts in
identifying materials that meet the recently-adopted common core
standards.
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Even though the current categorical flexibility provides districts
flexibility in the use of various categorical programs, including
instructional materials funding, the flexibility is limited when
districts choose to purchase instructional materials. The budget
provisions require any instructional materials purchased by a LEA
to be SBE-adopted for grades K-8 and standards-aligned for grades
9-12. It is not certain that districts will be able to use
categorical funds currently in flexibility to purchase the SIMs
that would be developed and reviewed pursuant to this bill. This
bill does not require school districts to purchase instructional
materials but rather will ensure that those materials are
available to districts.
Previous legislation that authorized the adoption of the common
core state standards, allowed for the adoption of up to 15% of
additional standards to supplement the common core standards. One
of the areas where additional standards were adopted was in grade
8 math. California essentially adopted two sets of grade 8 math
standards, the common core grade 8 standards and a set that
combined elements of the common core grade 8 with California's
algebra standards. Some arguments have been made that having two
sets of standards in the grade 8 will result in some
implementation challenges. For example, the national assessment
consortia in which California is participating will be developing
assessments aligned to the common core standards and not
necessarily the standards variation adopted in California, and
therefore it has been argued that having two sets of grade 8 math
standards may result in misalignment with any common assessments
that may be adopted in the future. This bill does not allow for
the review and approval of grade 8 math SIMs, however it does
express intent to review the standards in 8th grade math to ensure
they are rigorous, clear, and concise for classroom purposes
before developing a process for adopting instructional materials
that are aligned to the CCC standards.
The author states, "California has adopted the common core
standards in English and math but has no process in place for the
development of instructional materials that are aligned to the
common core standards. Development of curricular frameworks,
instructional materials, professional development and assessments
will be time consuming and require significant resources. K-8
schools are not currently authorized to adopt their own
instructional materials that meet the common core standards. This
bill provides a streamlined approach to quickly provide schools
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with instructional materials that meet the common core standards.
It's possible that a new assessment will be implemented during the
2014-15 school year; California's schools need to prepare pupils
well in advance of any assessment that is linked to the common
core."
Related Legislation : AB 250 (Brownley) establishes a process for
the implementation of the common core academic content standards
by developing and adopting curriculum frameworks, and professional
development opportunities that are aligned to the common core
academic content standards and are appropriate for all pupils. AB
250 also extends the operative date of the Standardized Testing
and Reporting (STAR) assessment system by one year, to July 2014.
AB 250 is pending on the Senate Floor.
AB 124 (Fuentes) establishes the English Language Development
Standards Advisory Committee for the purpose of aligning the
English Language Development standards with the common core
standards in English language arts. AB 124 is pending on the
Senate Floor.
Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avi�a / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN:
0002261