BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 2110 (Ting) - Computer Science Content: Inclusion in
Curricular Frameworks
Amended: July 2, 2014 Policy Vote: Education 6-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 4, 2014
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 2110 requires the Instructional Quality
Commission (IQC) to consider incorporating computer science
curriculum content into the mathematics, science, history-social
science, and English language arts (ELA) / English language
development (ELD) frameworks.
Fiscal Impact: This bill requires the IQC to "consider"
incorporating computer science curriculum into the mathematics
frameworks, science frameworks, history-social science
frameworks, and ELA/ELD frameworks. If the IQC decides to do so,
the costs and cost pressures are:
Standards: Substantial cost pressure on the California
Department of Education (CDE) to create computer science
skills standards, in order to have something upon which to
base the frameworks revisions. Costs would depend on how
extensive the standards are, and the number of grades with
specific standards. Costs would likely be in the the range
of $500,000 - $550,000 (General Fund).
Curriculum content: Approximately $100,000 (General Fund)
for the CDE to create computer science curriculum content
based on the adopted standards.
Frameworks: Approximately $350,000 (General Fund) in total
for all four frameworks, for the CDE to convene appropriate
advisory committees and integrate computer science content
into each set of frameworks as they are updated.
Background: Academic content standards define the knowledge,
concepts and skills that pupils should learn at each grade
level. Curricular frameworks serve as a blueprint for how to
implement the standards and provide guidance to publishers,
along with evaluation criteria, for the development of
instructional materials. The processes for the revision of
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curricular frameworks and adoption of instructional materials
are suspended until the 2015-16 school year. (Education Code �
60200.7)
The role of the IQC is to recommend curriculum frameworks to the
State Board of Education (SBE), develop criteria for evaluating
instructional materials, study, evaluate and recommend to the
SBE instructional materials for adoption, and make
recommendations to the SBE regarding the use of frameworks and
model curriculum and alignment with the academic content
standards. (EC � 60204)
The revised framework for Common Core mathematics was adopted by
the SBE on November 6, 2013.
The revised framework for Common Core ELA/ELD was adopted by the
SBE on July 9, 2014.
The revised science framework based on the Next Generation
Science Standards was adopted by the SBE on July 9, 2014.
The revised framework for history-social science is expected in
February 2015, with adoption by the SBE expected in May 2015.
Proposed Law: This bill requires the IQC to consider
incorporating computer science curriculum content into the
mathematics, science, history-social science, and ELA/ELD
frameworks. Specifically, this bill:
1) Requires the IQC to consider incorporating computer science
curriculum content into the mathematics, science,
history-social science, and ELA/ELD frameworks, as it deems
appropriate, upon the next revision of those frameworks.
2) Requires the curriculum to focus on foundational concepts
in computer science, as specified, and to be designed to
promote an understanding of all of the following:
a) Computational thinking, including, but
not limited to, using technology resources to solve
age-appropriate problems, understanding and using
basic steps of algorithmic problem solving with
computer-free exercises, demonstrating that a string
of bits can be used to represent alphanumeric
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information, recognizing that software is created to
control computer operations, and understanding the
connections between computer science and other fields.
b) Collaboration, including, but not
limited to, gathering information and communicating
electronically, and using age-appropriate technology
resources and tools to participate in collaborative
problem-solving activities for the purpose of
developing solutions or products.
c) Computer practice, including, but not
limited to, using age-appropriate technology resources
to gather, organize, and manipulate data, using
technology tools for individual and collaborative
writing, communication, and publishing activities,
constructing a set of step-by-step instructions to be
acted out, and identifying a wide range of jobs that
require knowledge or use of computing.
d) Computers and communication devices,
including, but not limited to, demonstrating an
appropriate level of proficiency with input and output
devices, understanding the pervasiveness of computers
in daily life, and identifying factors that
distinguish humans from machines.
e) Community, global, and ethical impacts,
including, but not limited to, practicing responsible
digital citizenship in the use of technology,
identifying the social and ethical impacts of
technology on personal life and society, and
evaluating the accuracy, relevance, and biases of
electronic information sources.
3) Requires the IQC to consult with classroom teacher and
school administrators to ensure the age-appropriateness of
the curriculum.
4) Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, if he or
she chooses to incorporate computer science into the
frameworks, to identify and post on the CDE's website
professional development resources for teaching computer
science curriculum.
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Related Legislation: AB 1530 (Chau) requires the SPI to consider
identifying, developing or revising model curriculum on computer
science for kindergarten - 6th grade. AB 1530 will also be heard
in this Committee on August 4, 2014.
AB 1539 (Hagman) requires the IQC to develop computer science
content standards by July 31, 2016. AB 1539 will also be heard
in this Committee on August 4, 2014.
Staff Comments: This bill requires the IQC to consider
incorporating computer science curriculum content into the
mathematics, science, history-social science, and ELA/ELD
frameworks, and that the curriculum content cover the numerous
concepts outlined in #2 a-e, in the "Proposed Law" section. In
order to responsibly approach altering the frameworks in
distinct subject areas so as to incorporate computer science
curriculum into them, the CDE must facilitate the creation of
computer science content standards.
In order to develop content standards, the CDE would contract
with a writer to draft the standards, and then would convene a
group of computer science experts, required by the bill, to
revise the standards. The CDE estimates this would result in
contract costs of $140,000 (General Fund) over a 2-year period.
Convening a large group of experts, as specified in the bill, to
revise the standards would incur additional costs of
approximately $54,000 (General Fund), primarily to reimburse
their travel costs.
Staffing this process would require personnel specifically
assigned to this activity, to manage the contract and expert
work group, and to staff the IQC throughout the process. While
the exact costs will depend on CDE's interpretation of what it
must do, and how efficiently it completes that work, the
workload is sufficiently extensive as to expect approximately
$300,000 (General Fund) in costs for two .5 PYs over two years
and office technician support throughout the process. There will
likely be additional costs in the tens of thousands of dollars,
if the CDE publishes the new standards in hard copy.
Once the content standards are adopted, the CDE would staff the
IQC (along with contract content experts) to develop computer
science curriculum content based on the standards. The CDE
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estimates that this would cost approximately $100,000.
Only after that work has been completed, could the computer
science curriculum content covering all of the required
concepts, be incorporated into regular updates to each of the
frameworks. Convening IQC and advisory committee meetings
specifically for the purpose of revising the frameworks to
include computer science curriculum content (within a larger
frameworks revision process) will cost approximately $80,000 per
framework.