AB 250

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law requires the State Board of Education to adopt basic instructional materials for use in kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, for governing boards, as defined, and authorizes the state board to establish criteria for that purpose. Existing law sets forth a schedule for the submission of instructional materials to the state board for adoption. Notwithstanding this schedule, existing law prohibits the state board from adopting instructional materials or following the procedures related to that adoption until the 2015–16 school year. This bill would delete the schedule for submission of instructional materials for foreign languages and health and the exception to the requirement that criteria for the evaluation of instructional materials be approved when curriculum frameworks are approved or at least 30 months before the date that the materials are to be approved for adoption. (2) Existing law establishes the Academic Content Standards Commission and requires the commission to develop internationally benchmarked academic content standards, at least 85% of which are required to be the common core academic standards developed by the Common Core State Standards Initiative consortium or another specified interstate collaboration. Existing law requires the state board by August 2, 2010, to either adopt the standards proposed by the commission or reject them. This bill would require the state board to adopt revised curriculum frameworks and evaluation criteria that are aligned to the common core academic content standards developed by the consortium and adopted by the board for mathematics and English language arts no later than May 30, 2013, and May 30, 2014, respectively. The bill would require state board policies to ensure that the English language arts curriculum frameworks for kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and instructional materials for kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, include the English language development standards as adopted by the state board in 1997 and revised thereafter, and English language development strategies in the core subjects of mathematics, science, and history-social science. The bill also would require state board policies to ensure that curriculum frameworks for kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and instructional materials for kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, include strategies to address the needs of pupils with disabilities in the 4 core subjects of mathematics, science, history-social science, and English language arts. The bill would require the curriculum frameworks to describe the manner in which content can be delivered to intentionally build pupil creativity, innovation, critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and communication into and across each content area. (3) Existing law requires the Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission to recommend curriculum frameworks for adoption by the state board, develop criteria for evaluating instructional materials, study and evaluate instructional materials submitted for adoption, recommend to the state board instructional materials that it approves for adoption, and review specified educational films or video recordings. This bill would rename the commission the Instructional Quality Commission and would make conforming changes. The bill also would delete the requirement that the commission review specified educational films or video recordings. The bill would require the criteria developed for evaluating instructional materials to include specified directions to publishers and would require the commission to perform additional prescribed functions. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature to ensure that school districts are provided with as many standards-aligned instructional material options as possible. The bill would require the Superintendent to develop model professional development modules, as specified, and to report to the state board on the development of those modules. (4) Existing law, the Leroy Greene California Assessment of Academic Achievement Act (hereafter the Greene Act) , requires the Superintendent to design and implement a statewide pupil assessment program, and requires school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education to administer to each of its pupils in grades 2 to 11, inclusive, certain achievement tests, including a standards-based achievement test pursuant to the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program. Existing law makes the Greene Act inoperative on July 1, 2013, and repeals it on January 1, 2014. This bill would require the Superintendent to develop recommendations, to be reported to the fiscal and appropriate policy committees of both houses of the Legislature on or before November 1, 2012, for the reauthorization of the statewide pupil assessment program and would require the recommendations to include a plan for transitioning to a system of high-quality assessments. The bill would require the recommendations to consider including specified characteristics in the reauthorized assessment system. The bill would define, for purposes of the Greene Act, formative assessment, high-quality assessment, and interim assessment. The bill would make the Greene Act inoperative on July 1, 2014, and would repeal the act as of January 1, 2015. By extending the time period during which school districts are required to perform various duties relating to the administration of achievement tests, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (5) This bill would require the State Department of Education to use certain federal funds, and any other available state and federal funds, to implement the provisions of this bill. (6) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.