2023 California Code › Education Code - EDC › TITLE 2 - ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION › DIVISION 2 - STATE ADMINISTRATION › PART 20 - STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES › CHAPTER 4 - State Educational Commissions and Committees › ARTICLE 3 - Instructional Quality Commission › Section 33540.4.

33540.4. (a) The department shall, no later than April 1, 2022, in collaboration with, and subject to the approval of, the executive director of the state board, use the funding appropriated pursuant to Section 156 of Chapter 44 of the Statutes of 2021 to enter into a contract with a county office of education or a consortium of county offices of education for the purposes of developing a model curriculum related to Cambodian American history and heritage by September 1, 2024. The model curriculum shall be housed on the platform developed and maintained by the California History-Social Science Project. The designated county office of education or consortium of county offices of education shall work with the California History-Social Science Project and Teaching California to ensure that the curriculum is accessible and compatible with the platform.
(b) The county office of education or consortium of county offices of education shall ensure the inclusion of a myriad of voices and perspectives in the development of the model curriculum and shall provide opportunities for stakeholders’ active engagement and participation across the state, which shall include, but not be limited to, town halls, community forums, and other forms of input. The county office of education or consortium of county offices of education shall consult with, but is not limited to consulting with, Cambodian Americans that span generations and have diverse social backgrounds, including educators, scholars, students, and artistic, creative, cultural, and religious groups.
(c) The model curriculum shall include the incorporation of tangible and intangible expressions, including, but not limited to, writings, media, other artistic, cultural, and historical artifacts, multigenerational storytelling, and oral history that represent Cambodian American history and heritage to ensure quality standards and materials for this area of study.
(d) The model curriculum shall be open source and accessible to educators across the state and shall include curriculum and online instructional modules appropriate for use with pupils in kindergarten and any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive.
(e) The model curriculum shall be written as a guide to allow school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education to adapt their related courses to accommodate the educational needs of their communities. The model curriculum developed for use in high schools shall include examples of courses offered by local educational agencies that have been approved as meeting the A–G admissions requirements of the University of California and the California State University, including, to the extent possible, course outlines for those courses.
(f) The county office of education or consortium of county offices of education may subcontract with nonprofit organizations or institutions of higher education in the development of the model curriculum pursuant to this section.
(g) The county office of education or consortium of county offices of education shall submit a report annually, until the completion of the model curriculum, on its progress in the development of the model curriculum, to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature and to the state board.
(h) Beginning in the school year following the completion of the model curriculum pursuant to subdivision (a), each school district, charter school, or county office of education maintaining kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, that does not otherwise offer standards-based curriculum relative to Cambodian American history and heritage is encouraged to offer to pupils a course of study relative to Cambodian American history and heritage based on the model curriculum. A school district, charter school, or county office of education that serves pupils in any of grades 7 to 12, inclusive, that elects to offer a course of study in Cambodian American history and heritage pursuant to this subdivision, shall offer the course as an elective in the social sciences or world history and shall make the course available in at least one year during a pupil’s enrollment in grades 7 to 12, inclusive.
(i) It is the intent of the Legislature that local educational agencies that maintain high schools submit course outlines for studies relative to Cambodian American history and heritage for approval as A–G courses.
(j) For purposes of this section, “model curriculum” means lesson plans, primary source documents, planning resources, teaching strategies, and professional development activities to assist teachers in teaching about Cambodian American history and heritage.
(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 711, Sec. 2. (SB 369) Effective January 1, 2024.)