AB 1705

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law, the Seymour-Campbell Student Success Act of 2012, provides that the purpose of the act is to increase California community college student access and success by providing effective core matriculation services of orientation, assessment and placement, counseling, and other education planning services, and academic interventions. The act requires a community college district or community college to maximize the probability that students will enter and complete transfer-level coursework in English and mathematics within one-year. This bill would, among other things, instead require a community college district or community college to maximize the probability that students will enter and complete transfer-level coursework in English and mathematics within a one-year timeframe of their initial attempt in the discipline, and for a student with a declared academic goal, that the transfer-level coursework satisfies the English and mathematics coursework requirements of the intended certificate or associate degree, or a requirement for transfer within the intended major, within a one-year timeframe of their initial attempt in the discipline. By July 1, 2023, if a community college places and enrolls a student into transfer-level mathematics or English coursework that does not satisfy a requirement for the student's intended certificate or associate degree, or a requirement for transfer within the intended major, the bill would require the community college to verify the benefit of the coursework to the student, as specified. (2) The act requires community college districts or community colleges to use, in the placement of students into English and mathematics courses in order to achieve this goal, one or more of the following: high school coursework, high school grades, and high school grade point average. The act requires colleges to apply multiple measures in the placement of all students to ensure that either low performance on one measure may be offset by high performance on another measure or that the student can demonstrate preparedness based on any one measure and authorizes the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges to establish regulations governing these and other measures, instruments, and placement models that achieve this goal. This bill would require that high school transcript data be used as the primary means for determining placement in transfer-level English and transfer-level mathematics courses and that self-reported high school information be used if there are issues with obtaining or using high school transcript data, as specified. The bill would limit the use of multiple measures and the enrollment into noncredit coursework by colleges in the placement and enrollment of students, as provided. The bill would require the board of governors to establish those placement regulations to achieve the placement goal. The bill would prohibit a community college district or community college from recommending or requiring students to enroll in pretransfer level English or mathematics coursework, except under specified circumstances. (3) This bill would require all new and continuing United States high school graduate students and those who have been issued a high school equivalency certificate, who plan to pursue a certificate, degree, or transfer program offered by a California community college, to be directly placed into, and, when beginning coursework in English or mathematics, enrolled in, transfer-level English and mathematics, as provided. By July 1, 2023, the bill would prohibit a community college district or community college from using specified factors as justification for placing a student in a pretransfer-level course. (4) This bill would require the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, beginning July 1, 2023, to make available on its internet website a dashboard containing multiyear data, beginning from 2015, and updated annually, containing data submitted to the chancellor's office by community colleges on student progression and completion of transfer-level English, mathematics, and English-as-a-second-language courses, disaggregated by college and subgroup, as provided. The bill would require, beginning December 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, the chancellor's office to inform certain legislative committees of the update to the dashboard, as specified. (5) To the extent this bill would impose additional duties on community college districts and community colleges, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (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 the statutory provisions noted above. (7) This bill would make Legislative findings and declarations, and state the intent of the Legislature, relative to these provisions.