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AB-2097 Pupil instruction: high schools: computer science courses: implementation guide.(2023-2024)

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Date Published: 06/03/2024 09:00 PM
AB2097:v95#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Senate  June 03, 2024
Amended  IN  Assembly  May 16, 2024
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 29, 2024
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 01, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2097

Introduced by Assembly Member Berman
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Wilson)
(Principal coauthor: Senator Becker)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Muratsuchi)(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bennett and Muratsuchi)

February 05, 2024

An act to add Section 51220.7 to, and to add Chapter 19 (commencing with Section 53310) to Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of, the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2097, as amended, Berman. Pupil instruction: high schools: computer science courses: implementation guide.
(1) Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to offer courses in specified areas of study, including, among others, science and mathematics.
This bill would require the governing board of each school district, and the governing body of each charter school, maintaining any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, by January 1, 2026, to (A) adopt a plan at a regularly scheduled public meeting to offer at least one course in computer science in each of its high schools in accordance with a specified timeline, (B) post the plan to its internet website, and (C) review, on or before May 31, 2026, and annually thereafter, the plan at a regularly scheduled public meeting and report to the public on the plan’s implementation, as provided. The bill would require school districts and charter schools to describe in the adopted plan their planned efforts to increase the computer science course enrollment of female pupils, pupils with disabilities, pupils who belong to ethnic and racial groups, and pupils eligible for free or reduced-priced meals that are underrepresented in the field of computer science. By imposing additional duties on school districts and charter schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the State Department of Education, on or before June 30, 2027, and annually thereafter, to publicly post specified computer science course-related data on its internet website, as specified.
(2) Existing law creates the California Computer Science Coordinator, as a position within the department, to provide statewide coordination in, among other things, implementing the computer science content standards and leading the implementation of the Computer Science Strategic Implementation Plan, as provided.
This bill would require the department, by July 1, 2025, and under the direction of the California Computer Science Coordinator, to develop a computer science implementation guide that would include specified information regarding computer science standards-aligned courses, as provided, and would encourage school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to review the computer science implementation guide developed by the department.
(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 the statutory provisions noted above.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

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


SECTION 1.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) In 2014, Assembly Member Curt Hagman authored, and Governor Jerry Brown signed, Assembly Bill 1539 of the 2013–14 Regular Session, directing the Instructional Quality Commission to consider developing, and recommending to the State Board of Education, computer science content standards, on or before July 31, 2019, pursuant to recommendations developed by a group of computer science experts. The Instructional Quality Commission recommended computer science standards to the State Board of Education in July 2018, and that state board adopted those standards in September 2018.
(2) In 2016, Assembly Member Susan Bonilla authored, and Governor Jerry Brown signed, Assembly Bill 2329 of the 2015–16 Regular Session, to require the State Board of Education to create a California Computer Science Strategic Implementation Plan (CSSIP). The CSSIP was developed by 23 CSSIP Advisory Panel members, appointed or designated by a variety of entities, including the Governor, the Senate Committee on Rules, the Speaker of the Assembly, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The CSSIP Advisory Panel members had expertise in computer science and included educators from higher education and K–12 educational entities, superintendents, researchers, representatives from industry, and others. The CSSIP recommendations were submitted to the State Department of Education, the State Board of Education, and the Legislature in September 2018 and approved by the State Board of Education in May 2019. The vision statement of the CSSIP states, “California’s vision is to ensure that all students develop foundational knowledge and skills in computer science to prepare them for college, careers, and civic engagement.” The mission statement of the CSSIP states, “All schools offer rigorous and relevant computer science education equitably and sustainably throughout grades K–12. All teachers are adequately prepared to teach rigorous and relevant computer science aligned with the California K–12 Computer Science Standards (CA K–12 CS Standards).”
(3) Studies on computer science education prove that computer science education develops computational, critical thinking, and problem solving skills that are foundational knowledge for all pupils, regardless of their ultimate field of study or occupation. The Computer Science Standards for California Public Schools, Kindergarten through Grade Twelve, were adopted unanimously by the State Board of Education in 2018, and the Computer Science Strategic Implementation Plan states, “computer science for all ensures each and every student develops foundational conceptual knowledge and proficiency in computer science practices to provide the skills to responsibly and productively participate in a world in which digital technologies are broadly integrated.”
(4) Despite the value of computer science education, the most recent available data shows that:
(A) Fifty-five percent of high schools in California do not offer a single course in computer science.
(B) Just 5 percent of the 1,930,000 high school pupils in California are enrolled in a computer science course.
(C) Only 34 percent of schools serving high proportions of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Pacific Islander pupils offer computer science courses, compared to 52 percent of schools serving a greater proportion of White and Asian pupils.
(D) While female pupils comprise 49 percent of the high school population, just 30 percent of pupils taking computer science courses are female.
(E) Schools serving low-income communities are three times less likely to offer core computer science courses, and over two times less likely to offer Advanced Placement courses, than schools serving high-income communities.
(F) Rural schools are two times less likely to offer computer science courses than urban schools.
(5) California lags behind the national average, and behind 40 other states, in the percentage of high schools offering at least one computer science course.
(6) Thirty-one other states currently require high schools to offer a computer science course, with eight of those states requiring a computer science course for graduation.
(7) As of January 2023, California has 45,245 open computing jobs that have an average salary of $153,544, yet there were only 9,339 graduates in computer science in 2020. California has the highest number of open computing jobs in the nation.
(8) California has made significant investments in in-service professional development education opportunities in computer science for teachers throughout California. To date, California has invested $20,000,000 for professional learning for educators through the Educator Workforce Investment Grant Program for computer science. An additional $15,000,000 has been invested in the Computer Science Supplementary Authorization Incentive Grant Program to support educators in credentialing. The $50,000,000 Mathematics, Science, and Computer Science Professional Learning Grant reflects further investment in computer science, and Assembly Bill 1251 (Chapter 834, Statutes of 2023), requires the Commission on Teaching Credentialing to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, convene a workgroup to discuss options for expanding credentialing options for computer science.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure all California public high schools operated by school districts and charter schools offer computer science.

SEC. 2.

 Section 51220.7 is added to the Education Code, to read:

51220.7.
 (a) (1) By January 1, 2026, the governing board of each school district, and the governing body of each charter school, maintaining any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, shall adopt a plan at a regularly scheduled public meeting to offer at least one course in computer science in accordance with all of the following:
(A) (i) Commencing with the 2026–27 school year, at least one high school per school district offers a computer science course.
(ii) Notwithstanding clause (i), school districts maintaining only one high school instead offer a computer science course by no later than the 2027–28 school year.
(B) Commencing with the 2027–28 school year, all charter schools maintaining any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, offer a computer science course.
(C) Commencing with the 2027–28 school year, at least 50 percent of the high schools per school district offer a computer science course.
(D) Commencing with the 2028–29 school year, all high schools in a school district offer a computer science course.
(2) School districts and charter schools shall post the required plan adopted pursuant to paragraph (1) on their respective internet website and shall otherwise make them available upon the request of the department.
(3) On or before May 31, 2026, and annually thereafter until each high school in a school district or each charter school maintaining any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, as applicable, offers a computer science course, the governing board of a school district and the governing body of a charter school shall review the required plan adopted pursuant to paragraph (1) at a regularly scheduled public meeting and report to the public on its progress in implementing the plan.
(b) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Computer science” means the study of computers and algorithmic processes, including their principles, hardware and software designs, implementation, and impact on society, as described in the computer science academic content standards adopted by the state board pursuant to Section 60605.4.
(2) “Computer science course” means a computer science course that is aligned to the computer science academic content standards adopted by the state board pursuant to Section 60605.4 and in which pupils do not merely use technology as passive consumers, but understand why and how computing technologies work, and then build upon that conceptual knowledge by creating computational artifacts.
(c) If a traditional classroom setting for a computer science course is not feasible, the school district or charter school shall include its plan to offer a virtual or distance course option in the require required plan adopted pursuant to subdivision (a). The computer science course shall be listed as an option in the school’s course catalog.
(d) School districts and charter schools shall describe, in the required plan adopted pursuant to subdivision (a), its planned efforts to increase the computer science course enrollment of female pupils, pupils with disabilities, pupils who belong to ethnic and racial groups, and pupils eligible for free or reduced-priced meals, as defined in Section 42238.01, that are underrepresented in the field of computer science.
(e) On or before June 30, 2027, and annually thereafter, the department shall publicly post the following course-related data for grades 9 to 12, inclusive, on its internet website, disaggregated at the state, county, school district, and school levels, for computer science courses that are submitted and certified by local educational agencies as part of the annual Fall 2 submission to the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System pursuant to Section 60900:
(1) The names and course codes of computer science courses offered in that pupils are enrolled in at each school.
(2) The number and percentage of pupils who enrolled in each computer science course, disaggregated by each of the following:
(A) Gender.
(B) Race and ethnicity.
(C) Special education status.
(D) English learner status.
(E) Socioeconomically disadvantaged status, including pupils who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, as defined in Section 42238.01.
(F) Grade level.

SEC. 3.

 Chapter 19 (commencing with Section 53310) is added to Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:
CHAPTER  19. Computer Science Implementation Guide

53310.
 (a) (1) By July 1, 2025, the department, under the direction of the California Computer Science Coordinator, established pursuant to Section 84 of Chapter 51 of the Statutes of 2019, shall develop a computer science implementation guide, which shall include information on all of the following regarding computer science standards-aligned courses:
(A) Varied computer science course options to best meet local capacity and context, including, but not limited to, computer science courses taught as part of a course that may satisfy an A–G requirement or that may be integrated into another content area. area, which may include career technical education.
(B) Credentialing pathways.
(C) Existing funding sources for professional learning.
(D) Case studies and best practices from California high schools.
(E) References to computer science standards-aligned curriculum resources, including, but not limited to, open-source options.
(F) Open source teacher-ready resources for utilization in computer science courses.
(2) In developing the guide pursuant to paragraph (1), the department shall seek input from stakeholders with relevant expertise and experience in computer science education.
(b) School districts, county offices of education, and charter schools are encouraged to review the computer science implementation guide developed by the department.

SEC. 4.

 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.