Bill Text: CA AB1238 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Advanced placement program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-02 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB1238 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AB1238-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1238 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 6, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 31, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Hernandez
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to amend Section 52240 of the Education Code, relating to
pupils.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1238, as amended, Hernandez. Advanced placement program.
(1) Existing law contains legislative findings and declarations
regarding advanced placement courses. Existing law states the intent
of the Legislature that certain state funding that is currently
provided to school districts be made available to provide financial
assistance to economically disadvantaged pupils in the payment of
advanced placement examination fees. Existing law further states the
intent of the Legislature that a competitive grant program also be
established for the purpose of awarding grants to economically
disadvantaged pupils to cover the costs of advanced placement
examination fees, thereby creating a second source of financial
assistance for economically disadvantaged pupils taking advanced
placement examinations.
This bill would require school districts maintaining any of grades
9 to 12, inclusive, to offer at each of these schools
advanced placement courses in certain areas of study, including
English literature and composition, United States history,
Spanish language, calculus, and chemistry. The bill would authorize
small rural school districts, as defined, to offer online courses for
the purposes of fulfilling this requirement. Because the bill would
require school districts to provide a higher level of service, it
would impose a state-mandated local program English,
history, foreign language, mathematics, and science. The bill would
state the intent of the Legislature that school districts consider
alternative means of providing advanced placement courses if an
advanced placement certified teacher is not available or if fewer
than 10 pupils are enrolled in any given course. The bill would
authorize these alternative means to include high-quality
online courses, and would require that these high-quality online
courses meet certain requirements and specifications .
(2) 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.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 52240 of the Education Code is amended to read:
52240. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) Advanced placement courses, for which school credit is
awarded, provide rigorous academic coursework opportunities for high
school pupils and help to improve the overall curriculum at schools
where they are provided.
(2) The successful completion of advanced placement courses and
subsequent advanced placement examinations, which are conducted by
the College Entrance Examination Board and for which college credit
is awarded, provide a cost-effective means for high school pupils to
obtain college-level coursework experience.
(3) To the extent that economically disadvantaged pupils are
provided financial assistance to take advanced placement
examinations, they will be provided with successful college-level
experience and be encouraged to pursue postsecondary education
opportunities.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature, therefore, that certain
state funding that currently is provided to school districts be made
available to provide financial assistance to economically
disadvantaged pupils in the payment of advanced placement examination
fees. It is further the intent of the Legislature that a competitive
grant program also be established for the purpose of awarding grants
to economically disadvantaged pupils to cover the costs of advanced
placement examination fees, thereby creating a second source of
financial assistance for economically disadvantaged pupils taking
advanced placement examinations.
(c) (1) School districts
maintaining any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, shall offer advanced
placement courses in the following areas of study:
(A) English literature and composition.
(B) United States history.
(C) Spanish language.
(D) Calculus.
(E) Chemistry.
(2) A small rural school district, as defined in paragraph (3),
may offer online courses in order to fulfill the requirements of
paragraph (1).
(3) For purposes of
this section, a "small rural school district" means a school
district that has an annual enrollment of fewer than 600 pupils based
on prior school year CBEDS data and is, for the purposes of this
section, designated a rural school by the Superintendent based on the
appropriate school locale codes, as used by the National Center for
Education Statistics of the United States Department of Education.
each of the following areas of study at each school in
the district maintaining any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive:
(1) English.
(2) History.
(3) Foreign language.
(4) Mathematics.
(5) Science.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that school districts
consider alternative means of providing advanced placement courses
if an advanced placement certified teacher is not available or if
fewer than 10 pupils are enrolled in any given course. Alternative
means may include, but are not limited to, high-quality online
courses. For purposes of this section, a high-quality online course
means a course that meets all of the following requirements:
(1) The online course is approved by the governing board of
the school district, and is certified through board resolution, to
meet the requirements of this section.
(2) The online course contains identical subject matter to
the classroom-based course.
(3) The online course is offered by a high school. A school
district offering an online course may contract with another school
district to provide the online course to pupils of the offering
school district. Contract terms shall be determined by mutual
agreement of the school districts. School districts that provide
online courses pursuant to the contract shall contract directly with
the school district of the schoolsite offering the online course, and
shall not enter into direct contracts with the pupils of the
offering school district.
(4) The online course is taught by an instructor who meets
the following requirements:
(A) The instructor is accessible to the pupil on a daily
basis to respond to pupil queries, assign tasks, and dispense
information, though the instructor's interaction with the pupil may
be asynchronous in nature.
(B) The instructor holds the appropriate subject matter
credential.
(C) The instructor concurrently teaches the same course to
pupils in a classroom-based setting in the school district, or did so
at any time within the immediately preceding two-year period.
(e) For purposes of online courses offered pursuant to
subdivision (d), all of the following shall apply:
(1) For each school, the ratio of full-time equivalent
certificated teachers to pupils shall be substantially equivalent for
online courses and in-class courses.
(2) Statewide testing results for online pupils shall be
reported to the school district in which the pupil is enrolled for
classroom-based courses.
(3) The school district of a schoolsite that offers online
courses pursuant to this section shall verify that pupils take
examinations by proctor or that other reliable methods are used to
ensure test integrity.
(4) The school district of a schoolsite that offers online
courses pursuant to this section shall ensure that the same methods
of documentation and assessment used to record pupil work for
classroom-based courses are used for online courses.
(5) The school district of a schoolsite that offers online
courses pursuant to this section shall maintain records to verify the
time that pupils and instructors spend online and involved in
course-related activities. (6) A
pupil shall not be assigned to an online course pursuant to this
section unless he or she voluntarily elects to participate. Prior to
participation, the pupil's parent or guardian shall
provide written consent.
SEC. 2. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.
