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Description
Passed in 2001, AB
466 (Strom-Martin, Shelley) established the Mathematics and
Reading Professional Development Program, which began implementation
late in FY 2001–02. This voluntary program reimburses districts
for professional development of teachers of reading and mathematics.
Training must be provided by a training provider approved by the
California State Board of Education. The California
Professional Development Institutes (CPDIs) are approved providers.
As of August 2002, there were three additional non-CPDI-approved
providers in math (includes one private company, one local education
agency [LEA] and one county office of education [COE], each approved
for more than one publisher’s instructional materials) and
nine in reading language arts (including a consortium of LEAs, a
few COEs and a few private companies, including Open Court publisher
SRA-McGraw Hill).
Training consists of a 40-hour summer institute
and 80 follow-up hours during the school year and provides teachers
with training that is specific to their grade level and the instructional
program that their school has adopted. Training must include instruction
on the first 10 weeks of the instructional program and follow a
set of very specific content guidelines. To receive AB 466 funds,
schools serving students in grades K–8 must be using standards-aligned
materials that have been adopted by the State Board of Education.
(The State Board does not adopt high school instructional materials.)
Funding
The Mathematics and Reading Professional Development Program was
designed to be a four-year program but now has been remodeled as
a five-year program. In 2001–02, $31.7 million was allocated
to districts for AB 466 training but ultimately not spent and taken
back, in part because few districts were able to gear up and provide
training in the first-year time frame. The 2002–03 budget allocates
$63.5 million for AB 466, essentially two years’ worth of funding.
This program reimburses districts at $2,500 per
trained teacher and $1,000 per paraprofessional. The districts are
paid half of the amount they are due when their teachers have completed
the 40-hour summer institute. The remainder is paid when the teachers
have completed the 80 hours of follow-up training. There is no specified
time line to complete the 80 hours.
Funding
for Mathematics and Reading Professional Development Program
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Year
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Funding (in millions)
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2001–02
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$31.7 allocated, $0 spent
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2002–03
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$63.5 allocated — two year’s worth
of funding
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Participation
In FY 2001–02, 28 districts applied for reimbursement training
provided to teachers in the prior year, and 92 districts applied
to train teachers in the current or future years. In FY 2002–03,
338 districts have applied as of August 2002. These numbers are
not mutually exclusive as the same districts could have applied
in multiple years.
Not all teachers for whom training has been requested
will be trained using AB 466 funds — there isn’t enough
money in the budget. Some of these teachers may be trained using
Reading First money instead. The legislation specifies that LEAs
should prioritize training those teachers who have not yet participated
in a CPDI and those who teach in low-performing schools.
Additional Resources
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