BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1764
AUTHOR: Olsen
AMENDED: April 24, 2014
FISCAL COMM: No HEARING DATE: June 18, 2014
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Lynn Lorber
SUBJECT : A-G course requirements: computer science.
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes school districts that require more
than two years of mathematics for high school graduation to
award credit for a "category C" approved computer science
course.
BACKGROUND
High school graduation requirements
Current law:
1) Requires a pupil to pass both the English language
arts and mathematics portions of the California High
School Exit Exam and complete the following courses as
a condition of graduating from high school:
a) Three years of English.
b) Two years of mathematics, one year of which
must be Algebra I.
c) Two years of science, including biological
and physical sciences.
d) Three years of social studies, including
United States history and geography; world
history, culture, and geography; one semester of
American government and civics, and one semester
of economics.
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e) One year of visual or performing arts,
foreign language, or until July 1, 2017, career
technical education.
f) Two years of physical education. (Education
Code � 60851, � 51225.3, and � 51224.5)
2) Authorizes school districts to impose additional
coursework requirements as a condition of graduation
from high school. (EC�51225.3)
A-G course requirements
Current law requires the California State University (CSU)
and requests the University of California (UC) to establish
a model uniform set of academic standards for high school
courses that satisfy university admission requirements. In
addition, both the CSU and the UC are directed to implement
a speedy process whereby schools may obtain approval of
their courses for admission purposes, and requires that
this process notify applicant schools whether a submitted
course has been approved or denied by August 1 each school
year. (Education Code � 66205.5)
The UC and the CSU have established common high school
course requirements for undergraduate admissions to ensure
that potential university students are prepared to engage
and be successful in university-level coursework. Students
who follow the articulated sequence of courses in each of
the subject areas listed below and who meet other specified
criteria are eligible to apply and be considered for
admission. The following list is commonly referred to as
the "a-g" subject area requirements:
a) 2 years of history-social science.
b) 4 years of college preparatory English.
c) 3 years of college preparatory mathematics.
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d) 2 years of laboratory science.
e) 2 years of the same language other than English.
f) 1 year visual and performing arts.
g) 1 year college preparatory electives.
ANALYSIS
This bill authorizes school districts that require more
than two years of mathematics for high school graduation to
award credit for a "category C" approved computer science
course. Specifically, this bill:
1) Authorizes school districts that require more than two
courses (years) in mathematics for graduation to award
up to one mathematics course credit for successful
completion of a "category C" approved computer science
course.
2) Prohibits the school district from awarding
mathematics course credit for a "category C" approved
computer science course if the district also awards
credit for that course in science or arts, foreign
language or career technical education.
3) Provides that "category C" refers to the "A-G"
admission requirements for the California State
University and the University of California.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Necessary ? This bill authorizes action that can
already be taken by school districts. School districts
currently grant mathematics credit for computer
science courses that meet mathematics standards,
regardless of whether the district requires more than
two years of mathematics for high school graduation.
Further, the California State University (CSU) and
University of California (UC) currently recognize
computer science courses as meeting admission
requirements for mathematics ("category C") or
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electives ("category G").
While permissive, and intended to incentivize completion of
high school computer science coursework that meets
"A-G" requirements, it is possible that this bill
could be misconstrued to limit the awarding of credit
for computer science courses to only those districts
that require more than 2 years of mathematics to
graduate (even though the CSU and UC require three
years of mathematics for freshman admission), or if
the computer science course is not approved for
"category C" by the UC. Should this bill state that
nothing precludes districts from awarding credit
toward graduation for computer science if the district
does not require more than two years of mathematics,
or if the course is not "A-G" approved (whether for
mathematics or elective credit)?
Staff recommends an amendment that encourages the governing
board of a school district to ensure that computer
science courses determined to satisfy mathematics
subject area requirements build upon fundamental
mathematics content.
2) Author's amendments . The author wishes to amend this
bill as follows:
a) Delete language that specifically prohibits
districts from awarding mathematics credit for a
computer science course if credit was awarded for
science or visual performing arts, foreign
language or career technical education.
b) Encourage school districts to submit
computer science courses to the University of
California for "A-G" review.
3) How are high school courses approved for A-G ?
Generally, the process of assessing the suitability of
specific courses for meeting subject area requirements
has been in the purview of the faculty of the
University of California (UC), through the Board of
Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS) which
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oversees all matters relating to the admissions of
undergraduate students. A course's "A-G" approval is
based on the "A-G" course evaluation guidelines and
the subject-specific course criteria established by UC
faculty. While CSU ultimately has the final decision
regarding the acceptance of these courses, the UC has
generally taken the lead on "A-G" subject matter
requirements.
California high schools may submit their courses to UC for
"A-G" certification and once approved, the "A-G"
course is added to the school's "A-G" course list.
According to the UC Office of the President, all
approved courses in the mathematics "category C"
requirement are expected to satisfy specified
criteria, as outlined in the "Statement of
Competencies in Mathematics Expected of Entering
College Students."
4) Current computer science courses . The UC Office of
the President issued a status report on high school
computer science courses in January 2014. According
to the UC, in 2013-14 over 400 high schools (about
20%) offered at least one UC approved computer science
course. The majority of these courses will satisfy
the "G" elective requirement for admissions purposes.
In its status report, the UC noted that some of the
challenges of expanding computer science education in
high schools include identifying appropriate
instructors and institutional resource limitations.
5) Related legislation . SB 1200 (Padilla) (2014),
requires the California State University, and requests
the UC, to develop guidelines for high school computer
science courses that may be approved for admission.
SB 1200 is pending in the Assembly Higher Education
Committee.
ACR 108 (Wagner, Chapter 42, 2014) designates the week of
December 8, 2014, as Computer Science Education Week.
AB 1530 (Chau) (2014), encourages the Superintendent of
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Public Instruction to develop or revise a model
curriculum on computer science by July 1, 2017. AB
1530 is pending referral in the Senate Rules
Committee.
AB 1539 (Hagman) (2014), requires the Instructional Quality
Commission to develop computer science content
standards by July 31, 2016. AB 1539 is
pending referral in the Senate Rules Committee.
AB 2110 (Ting) (2014), requires the Instructional Quality
Commission to incorporate computer science curriculum
content into the mathematics, science, history-social
science, and language arts curriculum frameworks, as
it deems appropriate. AB 2110 is pending referral in
the Senate Rules Committee.
SUPPORT
Alliance for California Computing Education for Students
and Schools
California Chamber of Commerce
California STEM Learning Network
California Teachers Association
Code.org
Computer Science Teachers Association
Computing in the Core
County of San Diego
Microsoft
Mountain View Chamber of Commerce
San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
San Diego Regional EDC
San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce
StudentsFirst
TechNet
OPPOSITION
None on file.
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