BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 612
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Date of Hearing: July 6, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
SB 612 (Steinberg) - As Amended: May 4, 2011
�Note: This bill was double referred from the Assembly Higher
Education Committee and was heard as it relates to issues under
its jurisdiction.]
SENATE VOTE : 27-10
SUBJECT : Postsecondary education: instructional strategies.
SUMMARY : Adds new areas of emphasis within the California
Subject Matter Projects (CSMP) professional development programs
including career-oriented, integrated academic and technical
education content; authorizes the establishment of three
additional CSMP, deletes the sunset date on existing projects,
and makes various changes to the concurrence committee and
project advisory boards. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes findings and declarations about the high dropout rate in
California high schools; the need for an educated workforce;
the value of schools offering a more integrated approach to
learning; and, declares that investments in delivering to
pupils the skills and knowledge needed for further education
and employment in California's high-growth, high-demand
industries are investments in the growth of a
knowledge-intensive, innovative economy.
2)Makes further findings and declarations about the role and
purpose of CSMP as a statewide network of subject-specific
professional development programs and how the CSMP
infrastructure may be leveraged to align middle and high
school curricula more closely to the needs of growing and
emerging sectors of the California economy by providing
teachers with the supports and tools necessary to deliver
career-oriented, integrated academic and technical education
content.
3)Adds two new areas of emphasis for CSMP to provide teachers
with:
a) Instructional strategies for delivering career-oriented,
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integrated academic and technical content in a manner that
is linked to high priority industry sectors identified in
the California Career Technical Education Model Curriculum
Standards as adopted by the State Board of Education (SBE).
Requires the CSMP Concurrence Committee, in consultation
with the appropriate state entities, industry leaders, and
representatives of organized labor, educators, and other
parties, to determine the priority of the industry sectors.
b) Instructional strategies for ongoing collaboration on
the delivery of career-oriented, integrated academic and
technical education content.
4)Requires the CSMP to provide support to teachers to develop
and enhance content knowledge and pedagogical skills necessary
to implement the existing state-adopted content standards and
the curriculum frameworks, or any subsequently adopted
standards or curriculum frameworks.
5)Requires the CSMP Concurrence Committee, beginning January 1,
2016, and every three years thereafter, to provide a report,
as specified, on the subject matter projects to the Governor
and to appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the
Legislature. Makes the reporting requirement inoperative on
January 1, 2020, pursuant to the Government Code.
6)Modifies the composition of the nine-member CSMP Concurrence
Committee by reducing the number of representatives selected
by SBE from two to one; and by adding a representative
selected by the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI).
7)Requires the CSMP, in partnership with the University of
California Curriculum Integration Institute or other
appropriate entities, to provide teachers with support in the
implementation of career-oriented, integrated academic and
technical courses that meet course requirements for admission
to the University of California (UC), the California State
University (CSU), and align with high-priority industry
sectors as specified.
8)Adds the following projects to the list of authorized subject
matter projects:
a) The California Physical Education-Health Project;
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b) The California Arts Project; and,
c) The California World Language Project.
9)Modifies the composition of project advisory boards for each
subject matter project by reducing the number of board members
such that the new composition of each advisory board is as
follows:
a) One representative selected by the California
Postsecondary Education Committee (CPEC).
b) One representative, selected by the UC President, who is
a member of the faculty in the discipline addressed by the
project.
c) One representative, selected by the CSU Chancellor, who
is a member of the faculty in the discipline addressed by
the project.
d) One representative, selected by the SPI, who is a
classroom teacher in the subject area addressed by the
project.
e) One representative, selected by the SBE, who is a
classroom teacher in the subject area addressed by the
project.
f) One representative selected by the Governor.
g) One representative selected by the Commission on Teacher
Credentialing.
h) One representative of a statewide professional
organization of teachers in the subject matter addressed by
the project, as specified.
i) One representative of the California Community Colleges,
selected by the Chancellor, one of whom is a faculty member
in the subject matter addressed by the project.
j) One representative of an independent postsecondary
institution selected by the Association of Independent
California Colleges and Universities, one of whom is a
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faculty member in the subject matter addressed by the
project.
aa) One representative who is from an industry
sector that principally utilizes the discipline addressed
by the project and who is selected by the advisory board.
10) Adds pupil drop-out rates above the statewide
average to the criteria each project advisory board must use
in recommending funding for local project sites.
11) Specifies that for purposes of recommending funding
for local project sites that serve middle or high school
teachers, the project advisory board shall give special
consideration to sites that utilize or are preparing to
utilize instructional strategies to deliver career-oriented,
integrated academic and technical content.
12) Deletes the inoperative and repeal dates, thereby
extending the operation of these provisions indefinitely.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes and maintains six California Subject Matter
Projects (CSMP) for the purpose of developing and enhancing
teachers' subject matter knowledge and pedagogical skills.
Authorizes the following subject matter projects:
a) The California Writing Project.
b) The California Reading and Literature Project.
c) The California Mathematics Project.
d) The California Science Project.
e) The California History-Social Science Project.
f) The World History and International Studies project.
(Education Code 99201)
2)Authorizes the UC to establish other subject matter projects
and specifies that no funds allocated in the annual Budget Act
shall be used for subject matter projects in subjects not
specifically authorized in statute. (Education Code 99201.5)
3)Requires the Regents of the UC, with the approval of an
intersegmental Concurrence Committee, to establish and
maintain the projects and specifies the composition of the
concurrence committee to be representatives of the various
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segments of education. Requires the advisory board of each
subject matter project to use specified criteria in
recommending funding for local project sites. (Education Code
99200)
4)Specifies the CSMPs will be inoperative on June 30, 2012, and
repeals the authorizing statute on January 1, 2013, unless a
later enacted statute deletes or extends those dates.
(Education Code 99206)
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, eliminating the sunset date will result in $6-7
million in ongoing cost pressures and adding the three CSMP
subject areas will result in $1.8 million in additional costs
per year when fully implemented. However, UC has stated that
adding these three projects to statute would not create any cost
pressure on the General Fund because there are no plans to
request additional state funds above what CSMP currently
receives ($5 million a year). Existing resources will continue
to be utilized in funding all nine projects.
COMMENTS : This bill was double-referred from the Assembly
Higher Education Committee, which considered issues related to
higher education.
The California Subject Matter Project (CSMP) is a statewide
network of subject-specific professional development programs
for teachers. The UC, Office of the President, administers
CSMP. CSMP sites, typically located on UC, CSU, and independent
university and college campuses. These are collaborative
programs of regional schools and universities, bringing together
K-12, college, and university faculty in a variety of institutes
and yearlong programs. CSMP participants engage in study and
practice of the disciplines and explore effective approaches to
teaching, all within a climate that supports reflection and
critique. Participation in the CSMP is designed to foster the
development, over time, of teachers' capability for leadership
within schools and within a larger educational arena. Each year
the CSMP serves between 25,000-30,000 teachers with an average
of nearly 40 hours of training in a given subject area.
According to the author, teachers are critical to providing
students robust, systemic access to such integrated learning
opportunities. However, California currently lacks a statewide
focus on providing teachers with the requisite training,
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strategies, tools and supports to deliver integrated, career
oriented academic and technical learning. Moreover, the
California Subject Projects are set to expire next year. Given
the proven efficacy of the CSMP along with its broad statewide
reach, the CSMP are uniquely positioned to help teachers deliver
curriculum that is more closely aligned with the needs of
growing and emerging sectors of the California economy. As part
of the reauthorization process, SB 612 seeks to:
Provide teachers with instructional strategies for
delivering career-oriented, integrated academic and
technical content in a manner that is linked to high
priority industry sectors.
Provide teachers with instructional strategies for
ongoing collaboration to deliver career-oriented,
integrated academic and technical content.
Streamline the governance of CSMP while providing
industry representatives an opportunity to participate in
guiding CSMP activities.
Place priority on providing professional development
activities for teachers coming from schools with high
student drop-out rates.
Add three projects-the California Physical
Education-Health Project, the California Arts Project, the
California World Language Project.
Three New Subjects . With the adoption of K-12 academic content
standards in the late 1990s, the state narrowed the focus of the
CSMP to the core content areas of English language arts,
mathematics, science, and history-social science, and subject
matter projects in arts, foreign language, and physical
education-health were deleted from statute. AB 1734 (Mazzoni)
Chapter 333, Statutes of 1998, authorized the six projects
currently specified in statute and authorized UC to establish
additional subject matter projects; however, the legislation
prohibited such projects from receiving funding in the annual
Budget Act. SB 611 (Ducheny) Chapter 857, Statutes of 2003,
expressed legislative intent that maintenance-level funding be
provided for projects in academic fields seeking standards
approval from the SBE. Accordingly, the UC has continued to
operate subject matter projects in the arts, foreign language,
and physical education/health, for which the SBE adopted K-12
academic standards as follows: visual and performing arts
(2001), physical education (2005), health education (2008), and
world languages (2009). According to UC, it currently supports
the three projects with the CSMP maintenance-level funding and
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will not seek additional state funding for the projects;
however, the author notes that establishing these projects in
statute could make it easier for UC to successfully compete for
foundation funding to provide additional support for the
projects.
Elimination of the Sunset. The Legislature established the CSMP
in 1988 and the projects have been providing professional
development to teachers continuously since that time. According
to a 2005 evaluation of the CSMP conducted by SRI International,
teachers reported that the CSMP influenced their instruction
more than other professional development and contributed to
improvements in student learning. Case study evidence gathered
by SRI further suggests that when these changes influence
teaching practice across departments or grade levels, schools
have observed increases in student achievement and made progress
in closing the achievement gap, especially for English learners.
Given the positive evaluations associated with this
long-established program and the fiscal control the Legislature
has over its funding, deleting the sunset date appears to pose
little policy risk to the state.
Committee Amendments : Staff recommends the bill be amended to
insert references to the Common Core standards throughout the
bill where the current language references the existing
curriculum standards. This will allow the CSMP to be updated
when the common core standards are implemented.
Staff further recommends the bill be amended to require the
concurrence committee to be composed of individuals with
expertise on instructional strategies for English learners.
Previous Legislation : SB 199 (Ducheny) from 2009 which was held
on the Senate Appropriations Suspense file, would have
authorized the establishment of subject matter projects in arts,
physical education and health, and foreign languages, deleted
the sunset date for CSMP and authorized projects to provide
assistance to teachers providing instruction in integrated
academic and career technical education programs.
SB 232 (Ducheny), Chapter 292, Statutes of 2007, required the
Concurrence Committee to report to the Governor and the
Legislature on specified elements of the CSMP.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
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Support
University of California (Sponsor)
Assoc. of Independent CA Colleges and Universities
CA Alliance for Arts Education
CA Art Education Association
CA Association for Bilingual Education
CA Association for Music Education
CA Association of Leaders for Career Preparation
CA Chamber of Commerce
CA Federation of Teachers
CA Language Teachers Association
CA Postsecondary Education Commission
CA State PTA
CA State University, Sacramento, Faculty in the Department of
Teacher Education
CA Teachers Association
California Association for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation and Dance
Californians Together
Children Now
CSU Sacramento Teacher Education Department
Fillmore Unified School District
Fresno Unified School District
Genentech
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Los Angeles Unified School District
Magnolia School District
North State Building Industry Association
Orange County Department of Education
San Bernardino County Supt of Schools
San Diego County Office of Education
San Diego Unified School District
San Francisco Unified School District
Temecula Valley Unified School District
Vista Del Lago High CTE/VPA teachers
University of California
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087
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