Bill Text: CA SB547 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Public postsecondary education: online courses.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-02-03 - Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [SB547 Detail]
Download: California-2013-SB547-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 547 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 1, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator Block
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to amend Sections 78910.10 and 78910.30 of, and to
add Chapter 11.5 (commencing with Section 66950) to Part 40 of
Division 5 of Title 3 of of, the
Education Code, relating to public postsecondary education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 547, as amended, Block. Public postsecondary education: online
courses.
(1) Existing law, the Donahoe Higher Education Act, sets forth the
missions and functions of the segments of the public postsecondary
education system in the state, including the University of California
administered by the Regents of the University of California, the
California State University administered by the Trustees of the
California State University, and the California Community Colleges
administered by the Board of Governors of the California Community
Colleges. Provisions of the act are applicable to the University of
California only to the extent that the regents, by appropriate
resolution, make them applicable.
Existing law requires the Board board
of Governors, governors, the
Trustees, trustees, and the
Regents, regents, with appropriate consultation
with the academic senates of the respective segments, to jointly
develop, maintain, and disseminate a common core curriculum in
general education courses for the purpose of transfer. Existing law
deems any person who completes this transfer core curriculum as
having completed all lower division general education requirements
for the University of California and the California State University.
This bill would require the academic senates of the University of
California, the California State University, and the California
Community Colleges to jointly develop and identify online courses
that would be made available to students of each of the 3 segments
for enrollment by the fall of 2014. The bill would require the online
courses to be in areas defined as high demand transferable lower
division courses under the Intersegmental General Education Transfer
Curriculum and to be deemed to meet the lower division transfer and
degree requirements for the 3 segments. The bill would require the
board of governors to create an Internet portal through the
California Virtual Campus that facilitates enrollment in the online
courses. The bill would require funding for implementation of the
bill to be provided for in the annual Budget Act, and would state the
intent of the Legislature that the University of California's
receipt of this funding be contingent upon its compliance with the
bill's requirements. The bill would require the academic senates
to submit a progress report to the Legislature by January 31, 2014,
and would require the Legislative Analyst's Office to submit a
summary and analysis of the implementation of the bill's provisions
to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature by
October 31, 2015.
Pursuant to existing law, this bill would be applicable to the
University of California only upon the adoption of an appropriate
resolution by the Regents regents .
By placing additional requirements on community college districts,
the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) Existing law, until January 1, 2014, establishes the
California Virtual Campus for various purposes, including, among
others, to enhance the awareness of, and access to, online courses of
study.
This bill would extend the provisions establishing the California
Virtual Campus until January 1, 2017, and would expand the purposes
of the California Virtual Campus to include accomplishing the
objectives established by the bill relating to online courses.
(2)
(3) 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. It is the intent of the Legislature to
provide a means by which students at public postsecondary educational
institutions can successfully access and complete courses that meet
their degree objectives, and that the online courses developed
pursuant to the provisions of this act provide a viable means for
increasing persistence, completion, and graduation rates.
SECTION 1. SEC. 2. Chapter 11.5
(commencing with Section 66950) is added to Part 40 of Division 5 of
Title 3 of the Education Code, to read:
CHAPTER 11.5. ONLINE COURSES
66950. (a) The Academic Senates of the University of California,
the California State University, and the California Community
Colleges shall jointly develop and identify online courses that shall
be made available to students of each of the three segments for
enrollment by the fall of 2014. The online courses shall be in areas
defined as high demand transferable lower division courses under the
Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum.
(b) The online courses developed pursuant to subdivision (a) shall
be deemed to meet the lower division transfer and degree
requirements for the University of California, the California State
University, and the California Community Colleges.
(c) The Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges
shall create an Internet portal through the California Virtual Campus
that facilitates enrollment in the courses developed pursuant to
subdivision (a).
(d) The University of California, the California State University,
and the California Community Colleges shall do both of the
following:
(1) Develop a process for determining and identifying which
students are most likely to succeed in the online courses developed
pursuant to subdivision (a) and target enrollment efforts toward
those students.
(2) Inform students of the technical requirements a student must
satisfy in order to successfully participate in and complete the
online courses developed pursuant to subdivision (a).
(e) (1) Funding for the implementation of this section shall be
provided for in the annual Budget Act.
(2) It is the intent of the Legislature that the University of
California's receipt of funding for the implementation of this
section be contingent upon its compliance with the requirements of
this section, notwithstanding Section 67400.
(f) (1) By January 31, 2014, the academic senates of the
respective segments shall submit a progress report to the Legislature
that includes a timeline and goals for fulfilling the requirements
of this chapter. The report shall be submitted in compliance with
Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(2) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under this
subdivision is inoperative on January 31, 2018, pursuant to Section
10231.5 of the Government Code.
66951. (a) By October 31, 2015, the Legislative Analyst's Office
shall submit a summary and analysis of the implementation of the
provisions of this chapter to the appropriate policy and fiscal
committees of the Legislature. The report shall include information
on enrollment, retention, and completion of online courses identified
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 66950. The data shall be
disaggregated by ethnicity, age, gender, and socioeconomic status.
(b) The academic senates of the University of California, the
California State University, and the California Community Colleges
shall provide any information necessary to the Legislative Analyst's
Office to meet the reporting requirement specified in this section.
SEC. 3. Section 78910.10 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
78910.10. (a) (1) The California Virtual Campus, pursuant to
funding provided to the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges for this purpose in the annual Budget Act, may
pursue all of the following purposes, to the extent funding is
available:
(A) To enrich formal and informal educational experiences and
improve students' academic performance by supporting the development
of highly engaging, research-based innovations in teaching and
learning in K-12 public schools and the California Community
Colleges, the California State University, and the University of
California.
(B) To enhance the awareness of, and access to, highly engaging
online courses of study, emphasizing courses of study that support a
diverse and highly skilled science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics workforce.
(C) To support education research, the implementation of
research-based practices, and promote economic development through
the use of next generation advanced network infrastructure, services,
and network technologies that enable collaboration and resource
sharing between formal and informal educators in K-12 public schools,
the California Community Colleges, the California State University,
the University of California, independent colleges and universities,
public libraries, and community-based organizations at locations
across the state.
(D) To increase access to next generation Internet services, 21st
century workforce development programs, and e-government services for
students and staff served or employed by education entities and
students served primarily online through partnerships with public
libraries and community-based organizations.
(E) To enhance access to health care education and training
programs to current or future health care workers.
(F) To manage digital assets and develop contracts for services
necessary to provide the technical and management support needed to
maximize the benefits of the high-speed, high-bandwidth network
infrastructure available to public higher education entities in
California.
(G) Through the aggregation of demand for network enabled
technologies and related services from public education entities, and
through partnerships with the private sector, to provide education
entities with access to technical support and staff who can
facilitate statewide efforts that support innovations in teaching and
learning that are necessary to provide for a well-educated
citizenry, and economic and 21st century workforce development.
(H) To accomplish the objectives set forth in Chapter 11.5
(commencing with Section 66950) of Part 40 of Division 5.
(2) To accomplish the purposes of paragraph (1), the California
Virtual Campus may partner with local educational agencies, the State
Department of Education, the 11 regional California Technology
Assistance Projects, the California Community Colleges, the
California State University, the University of California,
independent colleges and universities, public libraries, and
community-based organizations to facilitate ongoing collaboration and
joint efforts relating to the use of technology resources and
high-speed Internet connectivity to support teaching, learning,
workforce development, and research.
(3) Efforts conducted as a result of this chapter shall not
prohibit or otherwise exclude the ability of existing or new
educational technology programs from being developed, expanded, or
enhanced.
(b) For purposes of this article, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Online courses of study" means any of the following:
(A) Online teaching, learning, and research resources, including,
but not necessarily limited to, books, course materials, video
materials, interactive lessons, tests, or software, the copyrights of
which have expired, or have been released with an intellectual
property license that permits their free use or repurposing by others
without the permission of the original authors or creators of the
learning materials or resources.
(B) Professional development opportunities for formal and informal
educators who desire to use the resources in subparagraph (A).
(C) Online instruction.
(2) "Online instruction" means technology enabled online real time
(synchronous) interaction between the instructor and the student,
near time (asynchronous) interaction between the instructor and the
student, or any combination thereof.
(c) The California Virtual Campus grant recipient may accomplish
all of the following:
(1) Convene at least four leadership stakeholder group meetings
annually comprised of representatives from the State Department of
Education, the California Technology Assistance Project, and other
related programs administered through the department, local
education educational agencies, including adult
education, the California Community Colleges, the California State
University, the University of California, independent colleges and
universities, the California State Library, and representatives from
community-based organizations to ensure the efforts affecting
segments represented are appropriately meeting the needs of those
segments. The leadership stakeholder group shall also coordinate and
obtain assistance with the implementation of efforts delineated in
this article, to identify and maintain an up-to-date list of the
technology resources and tools that are necessary to support
innovation in teaching and learning, and to identify opportunities
for leveraging resources and expertise for meeting those needs in an
efficient and cost-effective manner.
(2) Lead efforts to make online courses of study available across
the state that include, but are not limited to, the following:
(A) Developing online courses of study that are pedagogically
sound and fully accessible, in compliance with the federal Americans
with Disabilities Act (Public Law 101-336), by students with varying
learning styles and disabilities.
(i) The development of K-12 online courses pursuant to this
subparagraph shall be achieved in partnership with local
education educational agencies and the
California Technology Assistance Project.
(ii) Online courses developed for grades K-12 pursuant to this
subparagraph shall be aligned to the California academic content
standards and guidelines for online courses.
(B) Overseeing the development of at least 12 model online courses
of study that, collectively, would allow students to meet the
requirements of the Intersegmental General Education Transfer
Curriculum (IGETC) and at least two courses that support basic skills
education courses in English, English as a second language, or
mathematics.
(C) Encouraging the entities listed in paragraph (1) to do both of
the following:
(i) Make accessible to each other their courses of study that are
funded by the state.
(ii) Allow their courses of study to be accessible to the general
public if they determine access would not inhibit their ability to
provide appropriate protection of the state's intellectual property
rights.
(3) Ensure that the learning objects created as part of the
California Virtual Campus online courses of study with state General
Fund revenues are linked to digital content libraries that include
information about course content freely available to California
educators and students.
(4) Develop formal partnership agreements between the entities
listed in paragraph (1) and the California Virtual Campus, including
course articulation agreements that allow qualified high school
students to accelerate the completion of requirements for a high
school diploma and a two-year or four-year degree and agreements that
provide opportunities for part-time faculty teaching online to
obtain full-time employment teaching online.
(5) Develop formal partnership agreements with the entities listed
in paragraph (1) and others to enhance access to professional
development courses that introduce faculty, teachers, staff, and
college course developers to the conceptual development, creation,
and production methodologies that underlie the development of online
courses of study and support students' successful completion of those
courses. The professional development opportunities may include, but
not necessarily be limited to, all of the following:
(A) Addressing issues relating to copyright, permission for the
use or reuse of material, use of resources in the public domain, and
other intellectual property concepts.
(B) Accessibility for students with disabilities.
(C) Factors to ensure that content is culturally relevant to a
diverse student body.
(D) Delivery options that incorporate multiple learning styles and
strategies.
(6) Develop formal partnership agreements with entities,
including, but not limited to, those listed in paragraph (1), to
ensure access to online professional learning communities that
incorporate the use of Internet-based collaboration tools and to
support joint discussions between K-12 educators, higher education
faculty and staff, and others to examine student performance data,
student learning objectives, curriculum, and other issues that relate
to students' academic success and preparation for the workforce.
(7) In partnership with entities, including those listed in
paragraph (1), develop an e-portfolio system that allows
participating students to demonstrate their attainment of academic
learning objectives, skills and knowledge that relate to their career
interests, and completion of prerequisites for participation in
courses or training programs. The e-portfolio system may do all of
the following:
(A) Ensure that student privacy is protected in accordance with
existing law.
(B) Comply with accessibility laws for students with disabilities.
(C) Be designed in a manner that supports the use of e-portfolio
content in the accreditation requirements of schools, colleges, and
universities.
(8) In partnership with entities, including those listed in
paragraph (1), identify opportunities to enhance students' access to
medical education and medical services through the use of high-speed
Internet connections to the campuses, and opportunities for education
programs and services to support the telehealth efforts taking place
within the state.
(d) The lead agency for the California Virtual Campus, in
consultation with the leadership stakeholder group described in
paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) if that group is convened by the
California Virtual Campus grant recipient, shall contract with an
independent third party with expertise in online teaching, learning,
and the development of online courses of study, as approved by the
board, to evaluate the California Virtual Campus. The evaluation
shall include, but not be limited to, an assessment of the number of
faculty, teachers, consortia, informal educators, and students that
use the online courses of study, the quality of students'
experiences, student grades earned, and the cost of the online course
content, comparing the online course content with traditional
textbooks. The board may require additional information that it
determines to be necessary to evaluate the effectiveness and
viability of the California Virtual Campus. This evaluation shall be
submitted to the Legislature no later than three years after the
enactment of this act.
SEC. 4. Section 78910.30 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
78910.30. This article shall remain in effect until January 1,
2014, 2017, and as of that date is
repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before
January 1, 2014, 2017, deletes or
extends that date.
SEC. 2. SEC. 5. 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.
