BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 1143 (Liu) - Independent Study
Amended: April 30, 2014 Policy Vote: Education 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 23, 2014 Consultant: Jacqueline
Wong-Hernandez
SUSPENSE FILE.
Bill Summary: SB 1143 makes various changes to independent study
(IS), including authorizing a school district, county office of
education (COE), or charter school to offer IS courses to pupils
enrolled in Kindergarten through 12th grade, in accordance with
prescribed conditions. This bill specifies the computation of
average daily attendance (ADA) for IS courses, and prohibits
local educational agencies (LEAs) from having to sign and date
pupil work products when assessing their time value of pupil
work products for apportionment purposes. The bill would also
revise the pupil-to-teacher ratios by grade span, as specified.
Fiscal Impact:
ADA: Potentially significant state costs (General Fund), to
the extent that the increased flexibility allows LEAs to
increase ADA through definitional flexibility, increased IS
program offerings, and/or increased success in meeting audit
requirements.
Workload: Significant local savings, due to changes that
update and streamline the accounting and record-keeping
process for LEAs offering IS courses.
Background: Existing law provides for independent study, which
is provided as an alternative instructional strategy.
Independent study students work independently, according to a
written agreement and under the general supervision of a
credentialed teacher or teachers. While independent study
students follow the district-adopted curriculum and meet the
district graduation requirements, independent study offers
flexibility to meet individual student needs, interests, and
styles of learning. Because students in independent study work
closely with their teachers, in one-on-one meetings or small
group instruction, independent study can be a highly
personalized form of instruction. In all cases, students are
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supervised by a certificated teacher who assigns and evaluates
student work on a periodic basis. Since IS students do not
attend school on a daily basis, funding for IS programs is based
on students' academic work products. For each assignment, the
supervising teacher equates a students' work to an equivalent
amount of seat time. An IS program can claim full per-pupil
funding if the seat-time equivalent of the students' work is the
same as the time the students would have spent in a classroom
setting. (Education Code � 51745 et. seq.)
Under existing law, the Charter Schools Act of 1992 provides for
the establishment of charter schools in California for the
purpose, among other things, of improving student learning and
expand learning experiences for pupils who are identified as
academically low achieving. A charter school that does not meet
the requirements set forth for classroom-based instruction is
considered to be providing nonclassroom-based instruction and
must have a funding determination approved by the State Board of
Education (SBE). Classroom-based instruction occurs only when
pupils are under the immediate supervision and control of a
certificated teacher. The charter school must offer at least 80
percent of its instructional time at the school site
(principally for classroom instruction) and attendance must be
required at the school site for at least 80 percent of the
minimum instructional time required to be offered. (EC � 47601
et seq.)
Proposed Law: This bill makes various changes to IS, including
authorizing a school district, COE, or charter school to offer
IS courses to pupils enrolled in Kindergarten through 12th
grade, in accordance with prescribed conditions. More
specifically, this bill:
1) Specifies that only those units of ADA that reflect a
pupil-teacher ratio that does not exceed the applicable
grade span ratio, shall be eligible for state apportionment
funding. For charter schools, the applicable ratio of
pupils-to-teacher shall be a fixed 25:1, or a ratio of less
than that.
2) Eliminates the requirement that all student assignments be
signed and dated by a supervising teacher.
3) Authorizes LEAs to offer a new course-based IS option
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beginning with the 2015-16 school year for K-12 pupils,
pursuant to the following conditions:
a) The local governing board adopts policies, at
a public hearing, that comply with the requirements of
this section, as specified.
b) A signed learning agreement is completed, as
specified.
c) Courses are taught under the general
supervision of certificated employees, as specified;
and are employed by the school district, COE, or
charter school or by an LEA that has a memorandum of
understanding to provide the instruction, as
specified.
d) Courses are annually certified by the local
governing board, as specified, to be of the same rigor
and educational quality as equivalent classroom-based
courses, including all relevant local and state
content standards, as specified.
e) Pupils enrolled in courses authorized by this
measure must meet applicable residency, enrollment and
age requirements, as specified.
f) Requires at least once per week pupil /
teacher communication, as specified, assessing whether
each pupil is making satisfactory educational
progress, as specified.
g) Examinations given to pupils must include a
proctor or other reliable method to ensure exam
integrity.
h) Pupil shall not be required to enroll in a
course based IS.
i) Pupil-to-certificated employee ratio
limitations identified in #1 above apply.
j) For each pupil, the combined equivalent daily
instructional minutes for enrolled courses authorized
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by this section and enrolled courses authorized by all
other laws and regulations must meet the applicable
minimum instructional day requirements. Pupils
enrolled in courses authorized by this section shall
be offered the minimum annual total equivalent
instructional minutes, as specified.
aa) ADA for each pupil enrolled in one or more
courses authorized by this section shall be computed
based on daily instructional minutes, as specified.
This bill defines an electronic copy to include a computer or
electronic stored image of an original document, including, but
not limited to, portable document format (PDF), JPEG, or other
digital image file type, that may be sent via fax machine,
e-mail, or other electronic means.
Staff Comments: This bill's modifications to IS accountability
structures and documentation requirements are expected to result
in significant local savings for LEAs that elect to offer IS
courses. The administrative changes are not expected to result
in any direct implementation or administrative costs at the
state level, but could indirectly increase state costs to the
extent that the bill's reduction in paperwork and record-keeping
results in fewer LEA audit findings, in which case LEAs would
likely have to return less disallowed ADA funding to the state.
The potential for additional state costs hinges on the bill's
impact on ADA. The changes to IS rules could increase ADA
funding to LEAs, if they respond by: (a) developing new IS
programs, or expanding existing programs, to serve students who
would have otherwise dropped out or been habitually truant; or,
(b) finding ways to "game" their attendance reporting. For
example, an LEA might enroll high school students in at least
one IS course, base their ADA reporting on attendance in that
course, and use the "satisfactory academic progress" standard
for an IS course to ensure full ADA for all students enrolled in
any IS courses.
The extent to which those actions would occur, the degree to
which gaming occurs in the current system, and the amount of ADA
that would be affected, are all unclear. Whether students will
be more likely to enroll in IS courses under the new rules is
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unclear, as is what particular students would do (whether stay
in traditional school, enroll in existing IS programs, or enroll
in continuation or county schools) absent this bill.