Bill Text: CA AB2999 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Pupil instruction: homework policy.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Passed) 2024-09-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 751, Statutes of 2024. [AB2999 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB2999-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  March 21, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2999

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Introduced by Assembly Member Schiavo

February 16, 2024

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An act relating to pupil instruction. An act to add Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 52000) to Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2999, as amended, Schiavo. Educational programs: homework. Pupil instruction: homework policy.

Existing law grants pupils, parents, and guardians certain rights regarding the delivery of educational services, including, among others, rights regarding primary supplemental instruction materials. Existing law provides that none of these rights shall be construed as restricting teachers in the assignment of homework.

This bill would require each school district, county office of education, and charter school, on or before January 1, 2026, to develop and adopt, across at least 2 public meetings, a homework policy to create guidelines for clearer practices on assigning homework in transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, and any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, as specified. The bill would, among other things, require the adopted homework policy to be annually distributed at the beginning of the school year to all certificated staff and administrators, to all pupils and parents or legal guardians, as specified, and by publication on the local educational agency’s internet website and on the internet websites of the individual schools operated by the local educational agency. The bill would require the adopted policy to be updated at least once every 5 years. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill also would encourage private schools to adopt homework policies with guidelines consistent with these provisions.

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.

Existing law requires the governing board of every school district to evaluate its educational program and make revisions as it deems necessary.

This bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to enact future legislation relating to school district homework policies.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   Local Program: NOYES  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) In light of the current mental health crisis, it is critical that local educational agencies, while in keeping with local control, act with intention regarding homework, which, studies show, is the highest cause of stress for pupils.

(b) Additionally, homework has a heavier burden on low-income pupils, influencing equity in education.

(c) In the Challenge Success-Stanford Survey of School Experiences, administered to over 11,500 high school pupils in the 2022–23 school year, 45 percent selected “overall workload and homework” as a major sources of stress in their lives right now, and of the more than 11,500 pupils that answered this question, 56 percent indicated grades, tests, and other assessments as a major source of stress, 45 percent indicated workload and homework as a major source of stress, 42 percent indicated procrastination or time management as a major source of stress, 40 percent indicated lack of sleep as a major source of stress, 33 percent indicated a specific class as a major source of stress, 33 percent indicated a lack of time to spend with friends or as downtime as a major source of stress, and 32 percent indicated getting into college/university as a major source of stress.

(d) Lack of access to a computer and internet may further tax pupils from lower income families, especially as the homework load increases. A 2018 analysis of United States Census Bureau data, in combination with research from authors from the Pew Research Center, found that one in five teens cannot regularly complete their homework due to a lack of necessary technology, and that these pupils are disproportionately Black and Latinx.

(e) For elementary school pupils, research has found no correlation between time spent on homework and achievement; that is, pupils who completed more homework were no more likely than their peers to earn higher grades and scores in school. For middle and high school pupils, research has found an increase in academic performance when middle school pupils did up to one hour of homework and high school pupils did up to two hours daily. But, significantly, these effects began to fade as pupils did more work, and more time spent on homework did not necessarily equate to higher academic achievement. Other studies have further challenged the assumption that more time spent doing homework leads to higher achievement, including research that investigated whether time spent on math homework in particular would lead to higher scores on a standardized math achievement test. In a study of nearly 5,000 15-year-old pupils, researchers found that, after controlling for prior math achievement, pupils who did more math homework on average earned worse scores on the standardized test, as more time spent on homework in this case correlated with lower achievement.

(f) Other research has found that too much homework is associated with:

(1) Greater stress, where 56 percent of the pupils considered homework a primary source of stress, according to the survey data, and 43 percent viewed tests as a primary stressor, while 33 percent put the pressure to get good grades in that category. Fewer than 1 percent of the pupils said homework was not a stressor.

(2) Reductions in health, as many pupils, in their open-ended answers, said their homework load led to sleep deprivation and other health problems, and researchers asked pupils whether they experienced health issues such as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss, and stomach problems.

(3) Less time for friends, family, and extracurricular pursuits, as both the survey data and pupils’ responses indicate that spending too much time on homework meant that pupils were “not meeting their developmental needs or cultivating other critical life skills,” according to the researchers, and pupils were more likely to drop activities, not see friends or family, and not pursue hobbies they enjoy.

SEC. 2.

 Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 52000) is added to Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:

CHAPTER  6. Homework Policies

52000.

 (a) On or before January 1, 2026, each local educational agency shall develop, adopt, and update at least once every five years, a homework policy to create guidelines for clearer practices on assigning homework in transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, and any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, maintained by the local educational agency.

(b) In developing the homework policy, the governing board or body of the local educational agency shall do all of the following:

(1) Consider recent research on homework’s impact on each of the following:

(A) Pupil mental health.

(B) Pupil physical health.

(C) Equity in education.

(D) Appropriate uses of homework at each grade level that allow for experimentation or preparation, along with being beneficial to pupils and that enhance the educational program.

(2) Consider all of the following:

(A) The meaningful input with shared leadership of teachers, educators, administrators, parents, school counselors and social workers, and pupils.

(B) The reasonable amount of time spent on homework per pupil that should not be exceeded.

(C) The lack of universal access to the internet, computers, and learning tools.

(D) Language barriers.

(E) Pupils with learning disabilities.

(F) The significant investment of staff time on homework.

(G) Using homework strategically when it is most impactful.

(H) Whether homework should be assigned or required in transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, or in any elementary school grade, inclusive, with appropriate exceptions.

(I) Whether homework should be optional and not graded.

(J) Appropriate accommodations, if needed, to address the mental health impacts of homework.

(c) The homework policy shall be publicly discussed, with public comment, and considered for adoption at a minimum of two separate regularly scheduled public meetings conducted pursuant to the Ralph M. Brown Act (Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 54950) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code).

(d) Local educational agencies shall annually distribute the adopted homework policy at the beginning of the school year to all certificated staff and administrators, to all pupils and parents or legal guardians as part of the notification pursuant to Section 48980 or upon enrollment, and by publication on the local educational agency’s internet website and on the internet websites of the individual schools operated by the local educational agency.

(e) Each private school is encouraged to adopt a homework policy with guidelines consistent with this section.

(f) For purposes of this section, “local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school.

SEC. 3.

 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.

SECTION 1.

It is the intent of the Legislature to enact future legislation relating to school district homework policies.