BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 342
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 15, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 342 (Blumenfield) - As Amended: April 29, 2013
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill makes changes to provisions governing independent
study (IS) programs and legislation enacted last year regarding
on-line synchronous pupil instruction, as specified.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Deletes the reference to synchronous, online and replaces it
with technology-based synchronous. Further requires a
technology-based synchronous instruction course to be approved
by a governing board of the school district or county office
of education (COE), be as rigorous as a classroom-based
course, and meet or exceed all relevant state content
standards.
2)Requires attendance for pupils participating in an opportunity
school or continuation high school IS program to be calculated
by prior year average daily attendance (ADA).
3)Authorizes the student teacher ratios for IS programs to be
different than regular school district programs, if this ratio
is established through a local collective bargaining
agreement.
4)Authorizes charter schools to receive IS apportionments and
requires periodic contact between a certificated employee
providing instruction and a pupil to assess whether
satisfactory educational progress is being made by the pupil.
FISCAL EFFECT
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To the extent the streamlining of IS program requirements make
it easier to comply and offer pupils this program, there will be
GF/98 cost pressure of approximately $2.6 million to provide
additional ADA funding for this purpose. There will likely be
an indeterminate amount of local school district and COE savings
- less than $250,000 statewide - due to the streamlined
requirements in this measure, such as authorizing electronic
documentation.
SUMMARY CONTINUED
5)Defines "periodic contact" as communication that occurs at
least twice per month and consists of either in-person
interaction or interaction through electronic means,
including, but not limited to, the use of real-time,
Internet-based collaborative software that combines audio,
video, file sharing, and other forms of interaction.
6)Requires a certificated employee to notify a pupil and his or
her parent/guardian if satisfactory educational progress is
not made in an IS program. Further prohibits a pupil from
continuing in an IS program without evidence of satisfactory
educational progress unless the IS program is determined by
the district or COE or charter school administrator to be in
the best interest of the pupil.
7)Defines "satisfactory educational progress" as meeting
measures such as applicable statewide accountability measures
and assessments, the completion of assignments, locally
approved or state-approved formative assessments, required
laboratories or online workgroups, or other indicators the
pupils is working on assignments and learning required
concepts, as determined by the supervising certificated
employee.
8)Requires a current written agreement for each IS pupil to be
maintained in a paper or electronic copy and requires the
written agreement to include a copy of the governing board's
IS authorization, as specified.
9)Repeals IS program provisions specifying the maximum length of
time allowed between assignments and completion of these
assignments and allowed missed assignments prior to an
evaluation of whether or not the pupil continues in the
program. Instead, this bill requires a statement regarding
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periodic contact between the pupil and certificated employee
and the identification of the accountability and assessment
measures used to determine satisfactory educational progress,
as specified.
10)Authorizes IS to commence upon receipt of an electronic copy
of a written agreement. Further requires local education
agencies (LEAs), as a condition of apportionment, to retain
written or electronic documentation that demonstrates
satisfactory educational progress for IS pupils.
COMMENTS
1)Background . Existing law requires the majority of the state's
revenue limit funding (general purpose) allocated to LEAs
(i.e., districts, COEs) be based on ADA. ADA is the average
amount of time a pupil attends class under the immediate
supervision of a certificated employee. As a result, the more
the pupil attends class the more ADA the LEA receives, which
leads to increased revenue limit funding.
IS programs are an alternative instructional strategy for
pupils attending a school district or COE. IS pupils work
independently, according to a written agreement and under the
general supervision of a credentialed teacher or teachers.
While IS pupils follow the LEA adopted curriculum and meet its
graduation requirements, this program offers flexibility to
meet individual student needs, interests, and styles of
learning. According to the State Department of Education
(SDE), IS programs were established in the late 1970s to
accommodate child actors, Olympic athletes, and other children
whose scheduled precluded regular attendance. The purpose of
these programs has expanded to any child whom the LEA deems
appropriate to be educated in this manner. Likewise, prior to
the enactment of AB 644 (Blumenfield), Chapter 579, Statutes
of 2012, it was the only method in which LEAs could receive
ADA funding for online instruction.
2)Purpose . According to the author, "For those schools seeking
to provide better education alternatives for students, but
hampered by the inflexibility of the traditional classroom,
online learning is proving to be a crucial complement to
classroom instruction."
The author further contends existing statute creates barriers
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for school districts to offer asynchronous online instruction
(a certificated teacher is not required to be online at the
same time as the pupil). Currently, districts offer this
instruction primarily through IS programs. According to the
author, "Running asynchronous online education classes through
an independent study model has been a band-aid approach to
attendance accounting for online courses, one that comes with
significant auditing requirements designed for paperwork
compliance rather than for quality of the program. These
auditing requirements drive-up costs and increase the
uncertainty of funding, creating a stark disincentive for
schools to offer online courses."
3)IS programs may operate as a program within a school or as a
stand-alone alternative school of choice or charter school.
Current law requires the education pupils receive in these
programs to be at least equal in quality and quantity to that
offered in the classroom, including alignment to the state's
content standards. For grades K-12, the ratio of IS students
to IS teachers cannot exceed the ratio of classroom-based
students to classroom-based teachers, as specified. This bill
authorizes an alternative ratio if agreed to in a local
collective bargaining agreement.
Existing law requires LEA governing boards to adopt an
instructional policy for IS programs. Statute also requires
each participating pupil to have a master agreement, which
includes information related to instruction and performance.
Furthermore, an IS student is required to produce a work
product, which is assessed by a certificated employee of the
LEA.
4)Charter schools and IS programs . Under current law, charter
schools are required to comply with IS program requirements.
However, charter schools that provide non-classroom based
instruction (online) receive funding under the SB 740 formula.
SB 740, Chapter 892, Statutes of 2001, was enacted due to
concerns over profiteering and misuse of funds in charter
schools offering non-classroom based instruction. Chapter 892
required the State Board of Education (SBE) to establish a
system for determining the appropriate funding level for these
charter schools. In order for a charter school providing at
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least 20% of its instruction in a non-classroom based setting
to receive 100% of its ADA, the school must specified
conditions related to certificated personnel supervision and
minimum instructional time as specified under the IS program.
This bill authorizes charter schools to receive apportionments
under the IS program. Currently charter schools receive
non-classroom based funds under the SB 740 formula. The
committee recommends this authorization be removed from the
bill.
5)Technical amendments . This bill authorizes charter schools to
claim IS apportionment funding. In the relevant code section,
however, it does not update all of the language to reflect
this. Specifically, the committee proposes the following
amendments to enact this change:
a) On page 13, line 9, delete "governing board" and replace
it with: school district or county office of education
governing board or charter school governing authority.
b) On page 13, line 19, delete "local education agency" and
replace it with: school district, county office of
education, or charter school.
c) On page 14, line 24, delete "local education agency" and
replace it with: school district, county office of
education, or charter school.
6)AB 644 (Blumenfield), Chapter 579, Statues of 2012 , authorized
a school district or COE to claim, for revenue limit funding
purposes (general purpose funding), the attendance for pupils
in grades 9-12 who are participating in synchronous, online
courses, commencing with the 2014-15 school year.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081