BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1060
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 11, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
SB 1060 (Liu) - As Amended: May 27, 2014
SENATE VOTE : 35-0
SUBJECT : School employees: professional growth.
SUMMARY : Specifies that if a local educational agency (LEA)
offers a program of professional growth for teachers,
administrators, paraprofessional educators, or other classified
employees involved in the direct instruction of pupils, the LEA
shall consider high quality professional development that meets
specified criteria. Specifically, this bill :
1)Specifies that if a LEA offers a program of professional
growth for teachers, administrators, paraprofessional
educators, or other classified employees involved in the
direct instruction of pupils, the LEA shall consider high
quality professional development that meets all of the
following criteria:
a) Helps attract, grow, and retain effective educators.
b) Is a part of every educator's experience in order to
accelerate instructional improvement and support pupil
learning.
c) Is based on needs assessment of educators and tied to
supporting pupil learning.
d) Emphasizes the importance of meeting the needs of all
pupils.
e) Is grounded in a description of effective practice, as
articulated in the California Standards for the Teaching
Profession.
f) Affords educators opportunities to engage with others to
develop their craft, including, but not limited to,
opportunities to increase their content knowledge.
g) Ensures educators have adequate time to learn about,
practice, reflect, adjust, critique, and share what
educators need to ensure that all pupils, especially
high-needs pupils, develop knowledge and lifelong learning
skills that will help the pupils to be successful.
h) Recognizes and utilizes expert teacher and leader
skills.
i) Attends to collective growth needs as well as educators'
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individual growth needs.
j) Contributes to a positive, collaborative, and supportive
adult learning environment.
aa) Contributes to cycles of inquiry and improvement.
bb) Is not limited to a single instance, but supports
educators through multiple iterations or engagements.
cc) Is based on a coherent and focused plan.
2)Authorizes professional development activities to also include
collaboration time for teachers to develop new instructional
lessons, to select or develop common formative assessments, to
analyze pupil data, for mentoring projects for new teachers,
or for extra support for teachers to improve practice; and,
specifies that appropriate professional development may be
part of a coherent plan that combines school activities within
the school, including, but not limited to, lesson study or
co-teaching, and external learning opportunities that meet all
of the following criteria:
a) Are related to the academic subjects taught.
b) Provide time to meet and work with other teachers.
c) Support instruction and pupil learning to improve
instruction in a manner that is consistent with academic
content standards.
3)Defines "local educational agency" to mean a school district,
county office of education, or charter school.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Declares Legislative intent to encourage teachers to engage in
an individual program of professional growth that extends
their content knowledge and teaching skills and for school
districts to establish professional growth programs that give
individual teachers a wide range of options to pursue as well
as significant roles in determining the course of their
professional growth. (Education Code 44277)
2)Specifies that an individual program of professional growth
may consist of activities that are aligned with the California
Standards for the Teaching Profession that contribute to
competence, performance, or effectiveness in the profession of
education and the classroom assignments of the teacher.
Specifies that acceptable activities may include, the
completion of courses offered by regionally accredited
colleges and universities, including instructor-led
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interactive courses delivered through online technologies;
participation in professional conferences, workshops, teacher
center programs, staff development programs, or a California
Reading Professional Development Program; service as a mentor
teacher; participation in school curriculum development
projects; participation in systematic programs of observation
and analysis of teaching; service in a leadership role in a
professional organization; and, participation in educational
research or innovation efforts. Authorizes employing agencies
and the bargaining agents of employees to negotiate to agree
on the terms of programs of professional growth within their
jurisdictions. (Education Code 44277)
3)Establishes the Professional Development Block Grant and
authorizes a school district to expend funds received for
either of the following:
a) Any purpose authorized by the programs listed in Section
41531, as the statutes governing those programs read on
January 1, 2004.
b) To compensate new and existing mathematics, science, and
special education teachers in schools ranked, in the
2008-09 school year or any subsequent school year, in
decile 1, 2, or 3 of the Academic Performance Index, in a
manner separate from the uniform allowance for years of
training and years of service. (Education Code 41530)
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal.
COMMENTS : In years past, the state required specific
professional development (PD) for certificated employees and
funded the Professional Development Block Grant to fund both
state mandated PD, and to give LEAs discretion to provide PD
that was most appropriate for their workforce. The
implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF)
defunded the Professional Development Block Grant and folded
those funds into the LCFF. While the statutes are still valid,
they are no longer relevant in light of the LCFF, and SB 971
(Huff) from 2014, which is pending in the Assembly, and was
introduced to repeal these irrelevant code sections. Under
LCFF, LEAs have the discretion to provide PD in the manner and
amount of their choosing, as it is no longer required under
existing state law. This bill requires LEAs that choose to
provide PD, to consider several attributes when choosing a PD
program.
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PD and QEIA : This bill authorizes PD to include collaboration
time for teachers to develop common assessments, analyze data
and work together to improve practice, among other things.
Collaboration time as part of PD has been a priority for the
state for several years. For example, under the Quality
Education Investment Act (QEIA), the required PD specifically
included collaboration time for teachers as one option to meet
the required 40 hours of PD per year. According to the
California Department of Education, the QEIA program defined PD
to include all of the following: collaboration time for
teachers; mentoring projects for new teachers; extra support for
teachers to improve practice; and, rigorous, in-depth PD on
pedagogical practices to extend subject matter knowledge. Much
of the language in this bill mirrors the language used to
describe collaboration time in the QEIA program.
According to the author, "As a result of budget cuts that school
districts have endured since 2009 and due to categorical
flexibility provisions that have been put in place, funding for
professional development activities has been severely reduced
and diverted to fill other budget gaps. According to a May 2012
report from the Legislative Analyst (Year-Three Survey: Update
on School District Finance in California), more than half of
school districts report that they have eliminated or
significantly reduced professional development offered to
teachers and principals, and one-third of districts have reduced
paid professional development days. As a consequence, the
continued professional training and knowledge base that is
needed for effective teaching has suffered, negatively impacting
not only educators, but students as well. Even worse, the lack
of professional training may have persuaded some teachers to
leave the profession. With the implementation of common core
standards and the upcoming roll out of the Smarter Balanced
Assessment Consortium (SBAC) assessments in 2014-15, it is
imperative more now than ever, that teachers, administrators,
and paraprofessionals have the necessary, up-to-date training to
adequately prepare students."
Further the author states, "SB 1060 seeks to help LEAs attract,
grow, and retain effective educators and encourages them to
provide high quality professional growth opportunities for
school employees involved in the direct instruction of students.
Further, the bill provides criteria guidelines for LEAs in
developing meaningful and effective professional development
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programs for education professionals that embody collaboration,
continuous improvement, a focus on instruction, capacity
building, and expanding content knowledge."
Professional Learning Standards : According to the State
Superintendent's 2013 Quality Professional Learning Standards
publication, " Professional learning standards are the
cornerstone of quality professional learning, identifying
essential elements of quality professional learning that cut
across specific content knowledge, pedagogical skills, and
dispositions. The Superintendent's Quality Professional Learning
Standards (QPLS) serve as a foundation for the content,
processes, and conditions essential to all educator professional
learning. The Superintendent has identified the following seven
interdependent professional learning standards to promote
quality teacher learning and development:
Data - Quality professional learning uses varied sources
and kinds of information to guide priorities, design and
assessments.
Content and Pedagogy - Quality professional learning
enhances educators' expertise to increase students'
capacity to learn and thrive.
Equity - Quality professional learning focuses on
equitable access, opportunities, outcomes for all students,
with an emphasis on addressing achievement and opportunity
disparities between student groups.
Design and Structure - Quality professional learning
reflects evidence-based approaches, recognizing that
focused, sustained learning enables educators to acquire,
implement, and assess improved practices.
Collaboration and Shared Accountability - Quality
professional learning facilitates the development of a
shared purpose for student learning and collective
responsibility for achieving it.
Resources - Quality professional learning dedicates
resources that are adequate, accessible, and allocated
appropriately toward established priorities and outcomes.
Alignment and Coherence - Quality professional learning
contributes to a coherent system of educator learning and
support that connects district, school, and individual
priorities and needs with state and federal requirements
and resources.
The seven QPLS represent essential components of a
comprehensive, research-based, quality
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professional learning system that is appropriate for California.
Each broadly stated standard is
made more concrete by identifying three to five major elements
that are building blocks of the
standard. For each element, indicators further detail what
quality professional learning looks
like in practice."
Committee Amendments : Staff recommends the bill be amended to
clarify that if an LEA provides professional development, the
LEA shall evaluate professional development programs based on
all the listed attributes, and specify that LEAs are encouraged
to choose professional development programs that meet any or all
the listed attributes. Staff further recommends the bill be
amended to change the term "professional development" to
"professional learning" to bring this code section up to date
with commonly used terminology.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Federation of Teachers
California Teachers Association
The Education Trust - West
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087