| Amended IN Senate April 25, 2013 |
| Amended IN Senate April 17, 2013 |
| Amended IN Senate April 01, 2013 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2013–2014 REGULAR SESSION
| Senate Bill | No. 520 |
| Introduced by Senator Steinberg (Principal Coauthor(s): Assembly Member Garcia) |
February 21, 2013 |
An act to amend Sections 78910.10 and 78910.30 of, and to add Section
66409.3 to, the Education Code, relating to student instruction.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 520, as amended, Steinberg.
Student instruction: California Online Student Access Platform.
(1) The
Donahoe Higher Education Act authorizes the activities of the 4
segments of the postsecondary education system in the state. These
segments include the 3 public postsecondary segments: 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. Private and independent postsecondary educational institutions
constitute the other segment.
Provisions
of the Donahoe Higher Education Act apply to the University of
California only to the extent that the regents act, by resolution, to
make them applicable.
This bill
would establish the
California Online Student Access Platform under the administration
of the President of the University of California, the Chancellor of the
California State University, and the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges, jointly, with the academic senates of the respective
segments. The bill would require the platform, among other things, to
provide an efficient statewide mechanism for online course providers to
offer transferable courses for credit and to create a pool of these
online courses. The bill would require the President of the University
of California, the Chancellor of the California State University, and
the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, jointly, with the
academic senates of the respective segments, to develop a list of the 50
most impacted lower division courses, as defined, at the University of
California, the California State University, and the California
Community Colleges that are deemed necessary for program completion, or
deemed satisfactory for meeting general education requirements, or
in areas defined as high-demand transferable lower division courses
under the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum and, for each of those 50 courses, to promote the availability of multiple high-quality.
For these causes, the bill would require the president, chancellors,
and senates to jointly facilitate certain intersegmental and
intrasegmental partnerships and partnerships between online course
technology providers and faculty of the University of California, the
California State University, and the California Community Colleges, as a
method to achieve the goal of significantly increasing online course options, as specified
options for students for the fall term of the 2014—15 academic year.
The bill would require the online courses approved
by the President of the University of California, the Chancellor of the
California State University, and the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges, jointly, with the academic senates of the respective
segments, under the bill
through the platform to be placed in the California
Virtual Campus. The bill would require that matriculated students of
campuses of the University of California, California State University,
or California Community Colleges, and California high school pupils, who
complete online courses developed through the platform and achieve a
passing score on corresponding course examinations, be awarded full
academic credit for an equivalent course at the University of
California, the California State University, or the California Community
Colleges, as applicable.
The bill
would provide that funding for the implementation of this provision
would be provided in the annual Budget Act, and express the intent of
the Legislature that the receipt of funding by the University of
California for the implementation of this provision be contingent on its
compliance with its requirements. Because
The
bill would prohibit public funds from being used to fund any private
aspect of a partnership developed under the bill between faculty of the
University of California, California State University, or the California
Community Colleges and an online course technology provider. This bill
would provide that the state would retain all appropriate rights to
intellectual property it creates or develops in the implementation of
the bill.
Because this
provision would require community colleges to award academic credit
under these circumstances, it would constitute a state-mandated local
program.
(2) Existing law, until January 1, 2014, establishes the California
Virtual Campus 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. Existing law, until January 1, 2014, authorizes the California
Virtual Campus grant recipient to convene at least 4 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,
including adult education, local education agencies, 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.
This bill would
extend the provisions establishing the California Virtual Campus until
January 1, 2017. This bill would require the representatives in the
stakeholder group meetings from the California Community Colleges, the
California State University, and the University of California to
include, but not be limited to, faculty members from these institutions.
This bill would make additional nonsubstantive changes in these
provisions. By requiring faculty members from community college
districts to attend these meetings, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
(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.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill 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
recent years, California’s public higher education institutions have
faced skyrocketing demand for enrollment at a time when they lack
capacity to provide students with access to courses necessary for
program completion and success.
(b) In
the 2012–13 academic year, 85 percent of California Community Colleges
(CCC) reported having waiting lists for their fall 2012 course sections,
with a statewide average of more than
7,000 students on waiting lists per college.
(c) Similarly,
impacted courses have contributed significantly to difficulties within
the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU)
systems, with figures indicating that only 60 percent and 16 percent of
students, respectively, are able to earn a degree within four years,
with lack of access to key courses a factor in increased time-to-degree.
(d) With
rapidly developing innovation in online course delivery models,
California’s public institutions of higher education have a unique
opportunity to meet critical demands for enrollment and reduce
time-to-degree by providing students with access to high-quality,
alternative, online pathways to successfully complete and obtain credit
for the most impacted lower
division courses.
(e) California
could significantly benefit from a statutorily enacted, quality-first,
faculty-led framework that increases partnerships between faculty and
online course technology providers aimed at allowing students in
strategically selected lower division areas to take online courses for
credit at the UC, CSU, and CCC systems. While providing easy access to
these courses, these systems could also continually assess the value of
the courses and the rates of student success in utilizing these
alternative online pathways.
SEC. 2.
Section 66409.3 is added to the Education Code, to read:66409.3.
(a) The California Online Student Access Platformis hereby established. The platform shall be developed and administered by the President of the University of California, the Chancellor of the California State University, and the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, jointly, with the academic senates of the respective segments. As used in this section, “platform” means the California Online Student Access Platform established by this section.
(b) The platform shall solicit, develop, and promote facilitate
appropriate partnerships including,
but not necessarily limited to, intersegmental and intrasegmental
partnerships developed pursuant to Section 66950 and partnerships between
online course providers and faculty members of the University of
California, California State University, and the California Community
Colleges for the development and deployment of high-quality online
options for strategically selected lower division courses. The platform
shall accomplish all of the following objectives:
(1) Provide an efficient statewide mechanism for online course providers, in partnership with
facilitation of intersegmental and intrasegmental partnerships
developed pursuant to Section 66950 and appropriate partnerships between
faculty members of the University of California, the California State University, and the California
Community Colleges, and online course technology providers to offer transferable courses for credit.
(2) Create a pool of up to 50
approved and transferable online courses for credit through which
students seeking to enroll may easily access those courses and related
content.
(3) Provide a state-level
faculty-led process that places the highest priority on educational
quality through which online courses can be subjected to high-quality
standards and review.
(4) Allow the state, the public, students, faculty, and other stakeholders to examine student success rates within the platform.
(c) For
purposes of accomplishing all of the objectives of the platform as
specified in subdivision (b), the
President of the University of California, the Chancellor of the
California State University, and the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges, jointly, with the academic senates of the respective
segments, shall do all of the following:
(1) (A) Develop
a list of the 50 most impacted lower division courses at the University
of California, the California State University, and the California
Community Colleges that are deemed necessary for program completion , or deemed satisfactory for meeting general education
requirements, or
in areas defined as high-demand transferable lower division courses
under the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum.
(B) For
purposes of this paragraph, “impacted lower division course” means a
course in which, during most academic terms, the number of students
seeking to enroll in the course exceeds the number of spaces available
in the course.
(2) (A)For each of the 50 courses For any of the courses that meet the
criteria identified under paragraph (1), solicit and promote
appropriate
facilitate partnerships, including, but not necessarily limited to,
intersegmental and intrasegmental partnerships developed pursuant to
Section 66950 and partnerships between online course technology providers and faculty of the University of California, the California State University, and the California Community Colleges which, by with the goal of significantly increasing online course options for students for the fall term of the 2014–15 academic
year, shall result in the availability of multiple high-quality online
course options in which students may enroll in that term.
year.
(3) Create and administer a standardized review and approval process for online courses in which most or all course instruction is delivered online developed
pursuant to paragraph (2) for matriculated students of the University of California, California State University, and California Community Colleges, or and
for California high school pupils. No course shall be approved for
purposes of this section unless the course has associated with it a
faculty sponsor who is a member of the faculty of the University of
California, the California State University, or the California Community
Colleges and is approved by the academic senate of the appropriate segment.
An online course developed pursuant to this paragraph 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.
(4) When online courses are reviewed pursuant to this section, at a
minimum, the extent to which each course does the following shall be
considered:
(A) Provides students with instructional support and related services to promote retention and success.
(B) Provides students with interaction with instructors and other students.
(C) Contains a proctored student assessment and examination process that
ensures academic integrity and satisfactorily measures student learning.
(D) Provides
a student with an opportunity to assess the extent to which he or she
is suited for online learning prior to enrolling.
(E) Utilizes,
as the primary course text or as a wholly acceptable alternative,
content, where it exists, from the California Digital Open Source
Library established pursuant to Section 66408.
(F) Includes
adaptive learning technology systems or comparable technologies that
can provide significant improvement in the learning of students.
(5) Regularly solicit and consider
solicits from each of the respective statewide student
associations of the University of California, the California State
University, and the California Community Colleges, and considers, advice and guidance on implementation of the platform.
(6) Collect,
review, and make public data and other information related to student
success within the platform by gathering and reporting data on accepted
student success metrics, including, but not necessarily limited to,
student enrollment in approved online courses through the platform, and
student retention and completion rates.
(7) Utilize the state’s current common course numbering system for approved
courses so as to simplify the identification and articulation of comparable courses.
(d) Online courses approved
through the platform pursuant to this section shall be placed in
the California Virtual Campus, through which students may access the
courses. A matriculated student of a campus of the University of
California, California State University, or California Community
Colleges, or a California high school pupil, who completes an online
course
developed through the platform and achieves a passing score on the
corresponding course examination shall be awarded full academic credit
for an equivalent course at the University of California, the California
State University, or the California Community Colleges, as applicable.
(e) Funding
for the implementation of this section shall be provided in the annual
Budget Act. It is the intent of the Legislature that, notwithstanding
Section 67400, the receipt of funding by the University of California
for the implementation of this section be contingent on its compliance
with the requirements of this section.
(f) No
public funds shall be used to fund any private aspect of a partnership
developed pursuant
to this section between faculty of the University of California,
the California State University, or the California Community Colleges
and an online course technology provider.
(g) The
state shall retain all appropriate rights to intellectual property it
creates or develops in the implementation of 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.
(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 composed
of representatives from the State Department of Education, the
California Technology Assistance Project, and other related programs
administered through the department,
including adult education, local education agencies, 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. For
purposes of this paragraph, the representatives from the California
Community Colleges,
the California State University, and the University of California
shall include, but not be limited to, faculty members from these
institutions.
(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 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.
