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, includingEnglish 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 programEnglish, 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 inthe 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.