H.B. 494

128th General Assembly

(As Introduced)

Reps. Stebelton and Maag, Huffman, Lehner, Gardner

BILL SUMMARY

· Extends the deadline for new statewide academic standards in social studies and science from June 30, 2010 to June 30, 2011, and extends the deadline for new model curricula in those subjects from March 31, 2011, to March 31, 2012.

· Delays the development of new statewide academic standards in financial literacy and entrepreneurship until after the completion of the new social studies academic standards.

· Extends the deadline for the State Board to convene a group of experts and practitioners to provide input on the new graduation assessments and end-of-course examinations from April 30, 2011, to April 30, 2012.

CONTENT AND OPERATION

Science and social studies standards and model curricula

(R.C. 3301.079(A)(1) and (B))

Am. Sub. H.B. 1 of the 128th General Assembly (the general operating budget act for the current fiscal biennium) requires the State Board of Education to adopt new statewide academic standards and model curricula for all grades in the subject areas of English-language arts, math, science, and social studies. The new standards and curricula will update standards and curricula last adopted between 2001 and 2004 and will provide guidance for school districts, community schools, and STEM schools to develop academic content. The current deadline for the new academic standards is June 30, 2010, and the deadline for a new model curriculum in each of the four subjects is March 31, 2011. Once the new standards and model curricula are adopted, the State Board must update them at least once every five years.

The bill extends the deadline for adoption of the new standards in science and social studies by one year, until June 30, 2011. The deadline for English-language arts and math remains June 30, 2010. Correspondingly, the bill also extends the deadline for model curricula in science and social studies until March 31, 2012, while keeping the deadline for model curricula in English-language arts and math at March 31, 2011.

Financial literacy and entrepreneurship standards and model curricula

(R.C. 3301.079(A)(3))

H.B. 1 also requires the State Board to adopt new statewide academic standards and model curricula for all grades in computer literacy, financial literacy and entrepreneurship, fine arts, and foreign language.[1] There is no set deadline for completion of these standards; rather, the law states that they are to be adopted after the standards for the core subjects of English-language arts, math, science, and social studies. The bill delays the development of financial literacy and entrepreneurship standards and model curricula until after the social studies standards are completed, but it allows the State Board to proceed with standards and model curricula in computer literacy, fine arts, and foreign language after it has adopted standards in English-language arts and math. (See COMMENT 1.)

Graduation assessments and end-of-course exams

(R.C. 3313.0712(D))

H.B. 1 requires the State Board to develop a new regimen of assessments that will replace the Ohio Graduation Tests as a requirement for a high school diploma. The new regimen must be a three-tiered system consisting of (a) national standardized tests in English-language arts, math, and science, (b) end-of-course exams in English-language arts, math, science, and social studies, and (c) a senior project. The State Board must convene a group of national experts, state experts, and local practitioners to provide input on how to align the statewide standards and model curricula with the new assessments and end-of-course examinations. The current deadline for convening this group is no later than 30 days after the State Board adopts the model curricula for English-language arts, math, science, and social studies (April 30, 2011, at the latest).

Because of the bill's change in the deadline for standards and model curricula for science and social studies, it also extends the time frame for this requirement, as well. Under the bill, the State Board must convene the group not later than 30 days after the model curricula for science and social studies are developed (April 30, 2012, at the latest). However, nothing in current law or the bill prevents the State Board from convening the group earlier than this deadline.

COMMENT

1. Beginning with the students who enter the 9th grade for the first time after July 1, 2010 (the graduating class of 2014), students generally must complete the Ohio Core Curriculum to graduate from high school. (This is the class entering 9th grade next school year.) Like the prior state minimum high school curriculum, the Ohio Core Curriculum consists of 20 specified units of study, but it is distributed differently across subject areas with an expressed emphasis on rigor. It applies to all public high schools, including community schools and STEM schools, and to all chartered nonpublic schools.[2]

Both the prior minimum curriculum and the Ohio Core Curriculum require three units of social studies, including one-half unit each of American history and American government. The Ohio Core Curriculum also requires high schools to integrate, into one or more of the required social studies credits or into the content of another class, "the study of economics and financial literacy," as expressed in both the state social studies standards and the financial literacy and entrepreneurship standards.[3] The bill's postponement of social studies standards until as late as June 30, 2011, which would be the end of the Class of 2014's 9th-grade year, and the related, indefinite delay of the financial literacy and entrepreneurship standards, might complicate the efforts of high schools to comply with the Ohio Core requirements for the first class or two of students who are subject to it.

2. The bill may affect implementation of new state 5th- and 8th-grade social studies and science achievement assessments. These assessments will replace previous versions of achievement tests in those subjects and must be aligned with the new academic standards and model curricula adopted by the State Board.[4] While there is no set deadline for development of the assessments, any delay in the introduction of social studies and science standards and model curricula could also delay development of the achievement assessments for those subjects.

HISTORY

ACTION	DATE

Introduced	04-15-10

H0494-I-128.docx/jc

[1] Prior law required the State Board to adopt standards and model curricula in computer literacy for grades 3-12 and in fine arts and foreign language for grades K-12. The standards and curricula adopted under H.B. 1 will revise and expand those adopted under prior law. (R.C. 3301.0718(A), as it existed prior to October 16, 2009.)

[2] R.C. 3313.603(C), 3314.03(A)(11)(f), and 3326.15 (latter two sections not in the bill). Students who enter 9th grade on or after July 1, 2010, and before July 1, 2014 (that is, the four graduating classes of 2014 through 2017) may opt not to complete the Ohio Core but may instead complete the prior minimum curriculum under certain conditions. Also, students in an approved dropout prevention and recovery program, regardless of when they entered the 9th grade, may opt not to complete the Ohio Core under specified conditions. (R.C. 3313.603(D) and (F).) Completion of the Ohio Core generally is a requirement for undergraduate admission of Ohio residents to most state universities in Ohio (R.C. 3345.06(B), not in the bill).