BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 532
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 13, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 532 (Hernandez) - As Amended: June 30, 2011
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:10-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI) to annually update the information on advanced placement
(AP) and the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB) program
availability on the State Department of Education (SDE) Internet
website, as specified. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires SDE to update AP information on its Internet website
to include current information on the various means available
to school districts to offer or access AP courses, including
online courses. This bill also 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
these courses available to pupils, as specified.
2)Requires the SPI to offer support to high schools that offer
IB courses to facilitate communication with the Academic
Senates of the California Community Colleges, the California
State University, and the University of California about the
rigor of those courses and to ensure that college credit is
giving to pupils who participate in these courses, as
specified.
3)Specifies the Legislature's encouragement for the academic
senates of the above mentioned higher education institutions
to continue their efforts to adopt consistent systemwide
guidelines for the acceptance and granting of credit for IB
courses taken by students in high school.
FISCAL EFFECT
SB 532
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Minor, absorbable costs to the SDE to implement this measure.
According to the SDE, it currently collects the data that would
be used to provide information on the AP and IB program, as
specified.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . AP programs, established over 40 years ago by the
College Board, provide incentives for public comprehensive
high schools to provide access to rigorous, college-level
courses for students. These programs allow pupils to pursue
college-level work while still in secondary school and receive
college credit, advanced academic standing, or both. At the
end of the course, students may opt to sit for the
course-related exam, or may take the exam without having
completed the related course. For a score of 3 or higher (out
of 5) on an AP exam, most colleges and universities will award
college credit for an entry-level course in that discipline,
though policies vary from institution to institution.
According to SDE, there were 231,050 AP classes in California
schools in 2008-09. There were not, however, any AP classes
offered to students in Alpine County during this same period.
According to The Annual AP Report to the Nation: California
completed by the College Board (February 2011), 34% of the
graduating class of 2010 took at least one AP class. This
compares to 28.3% for the nation.
IB programs provide pupils with a full diploma program in a
liberal arts course of study which includes a critical
thinking class, a minimum of 150 hours of participation in
extracurricular activities and community services and a
research paper or 4000 words. Students also must pass rigorous
examinations in seven curricula areas. In 2009-10, grant
funding was available for the 56 schools that received grants
in the previous year.
According to the author, "A UCLA study published in 2000
stated that there were 'unequal opportunities for successful
participation in AP courses in many California high schools.'
According to this study, high schools serving predominately
low-income African American and Latino students typically
offered limited AP courses-sometimes these schools offered no
SB 532
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AP courses to students.
This bill requires the SPI to annually update the information
on AP and the IB program availability on the SDE Internet
website, as specified.
2)The AP/IB test fee reimbursement program , administered by the
SDE, removes the financial barriers that prevent many
low-income students in comprehensive high schools from taking
the AP and IB course test. Funding supports the payment of
AP/IB test fees for eligible students. The 2011 Budget Act
allocated a total of $2.44 million for this program.
As part of the February 2009 budget package, SB 4 X3 (Ducheny),
Third Extraordinary Session, Chapter 12, Statutes of 2009,
provided LEAs with unprecedented fiscal and policy flexibility
related to over 40 categorical programs between the 2008-09 FY
and the 2012-13 FY. Specifically, any LEA that received
funding for specified categorical programs (including the
AP/IB test fee reimbursement program) in the 2008-09 FY is
authorized to use this funding for any other educational
purpose until the 2012-13 FY. The LEA may choose to continue
operating the categorical program that it received funding for
or redirect it for any other educational purpose it deems
appropriate.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081