BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 532
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 22, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
SB 532 (Hernandez) - As Amended: June 15, 2011
SENATE VOTE : 37-0
SUBJECT : Pupil instruction: high school curriculum.
SUMMARY : Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI) to annually communicate with and support high schools that
offer advanced placement (AP) courses and International
Baccalaureate (IB) programs, as specified; and, encourages the
California Community Colleges (CCC), California State University
(CSU) and the University of California (UC) to adopt system wide
guidelines for accepting credit for IB Diploma Program courses.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the SPI to annually update information regarding AP
courses on the California Department of Education's (CDE)
website to include current information on the various means
available to school districts to offer or access AP courses,
including online courses; and, requires the SPI to annually
communicate with high schools that offer AP courses in fewer
than five subjects and inform them of the various options for
making AP and other rigorous courses available to pupils who
may benefit from them.
2)Requires the SPI to annually update information regarding IB
programs on CDE's website; and, requires the SPI to provide
support to high schools that offer IB programs to facilitate
communication with the CCCs and academic senates about the
rigors of the IB programs and to ensure college credit is
given so that students benefit from successful efforts in IB
programs.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Declares Legislative intent that certain state funding that
currently is provided to school districts be made available to
provide financial assistance to economically disadvantaged
pupils in the payment of advanced placement examination fees.
Expresses the intent of the Legislature that a competitive
grant program also be established for the purpose of awarding
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grants to economically disadvantaged pupils to cover the costs
of advanced placement examination fees, thereby creating a
second source of financial assistance for economically
disadvantaged pupils taking advanced placement examinations.
(Education Code 52240)
2)Authorizes a school district to use Economic Impact Aid
funding for this purpose and also establishes a program, to be
administered by the California Department of Education (CDE),
for the purpose of awarding grants to cover the costs of AP
fees or IB exam fees, or both, for eligible economically
disadvantaged high school pupils and sunsets this grant
program on January 1, 2013. (Education Code 52240-52244)
3)Declares Legislative intent to establish incentives to
encourage high schools to offer, and students to enroll in,
and complete IB Diploma programs. Requires the SPI to
annually allocate up to $25,000 for school districts for each
participating high school and middle school for professional
development costs and to pay testing fees for financially
needy students, pursuant to annual Budget Act funding.
(Education Code 52920-52922)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : The AP program, sponsored by the College Board, a
private non-profit education agency, is a cooperative
educational effort between secondary schools and colleges and
universities that allows high school pupils to enroll in
college-level courses and take national tests developed by the
College Board in a high school setting. Because AP courses are
introductory college-level courses, most colleges and
universities provide college credit or advanced placement status
to students who score a 3 or better (out of 5) on an AP exam
taken at the end of the course. A pupil may take an exam
without completing the corresponding AP course. Enrolling in an
AP course also adds points to a pupil's grade point average
(GPA) for each AP course taken. According to the College Board
over 90 percent of four-year institutions in the United States
provide college credit, advanced placement or both on the basis
of successful AP exam scores. Access to AP courses is important
if a student wants access to the most competitive schools and
the college credit received may assist students in graduating
early and saving on costly tuition.
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IB Course Credit at the UC, CSU and CCC . In June 2003, the UC
Academic Senate reviewed and compared all IB and AP curriculum
guides and developed a list of honors designations for IB
classes. In May 2009, the Academic Senate of the CSU adopted a
resolution to encourage its faculty to develop system wide
standards for acceptance of IB courses and exams for
baccalaureate and general education credit. In 2009, the
Academic Senate of the CCC adopted a resolution to develop a
system wide policy regarding the use of IB exams for meeting
general education requirements, to encourage local academic
senates to adopt the policy and, in fall 2010, to make this
information available in college catalogs, schedules and
websites.
Status of AP Course Offerings in California High Schools .
According to the CDE, 36 different kinds of AP courses were
offered in over 1,000 California high schools in 2008-09.
Approximately 470,000 students statewide enrolled in over 17,000
classes. While the number and type of courses offered vary
across the state and within schools, courses in AP English
Language, English Literature and Composition, Spanish, Calculus,
Biology, U.S. Government and Politics and U.S. History, were
offered by over 500 schools.
Online Advanced Placement: Some school districts that are
unable to offer AP courses directly in the classroom have been
able to utilize online AP course programs to serve their
students. Universities offer online teaching programs that
include AP courses and there are private companies that
specialize in teaching online AP courses as well. Students
enrolled in online classes will then take a traditionally
administered AP exam at a physical test site the same way as all
other AP students.
Committee Amendment : Staff recommends the bill be amended to
clarify that the Superintendent shall provide support to high
schools that offer International Baccalaureate (IB) courses to
facilitate communication with the Academic Senate for the
California Community Colleges, the Academic Senate of the
California State University, and the Academic Senate of the
University of California about the rigor of those courses and to
ensure that college credit is given to pupils who participate so
that they benefit from successful efforts in IB programs.
Previous Legislation : AB 2434 (Hernandez) from 2010, which was
held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee, would have
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required, commencing with the 2012-13 school year, a school
district maintaining any of grades 9-12, inclusive, to offer AP
courses in math and science at each high school in the district
that did not offer any AP courses during the 2011-12 school
year.
AB 1238 (Hernandez) from 2009, which was held on the Assembly
Appropriations Committee, would have required school districts
maintaining any of grades 9-12 to offer AP courses in English,
history, foreign language, mathematics, and science at each
school in the district maintaining grades 9-12.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Association of California School Administrators
California Association of the Gifted
California Immigrant Policy Center
California Language Teachers Association
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087