Plain English Breakdown
The effective date is not listed in the provided metadata, so it is unknown when these rules officially begin.
AB-2158: Outdoor Learning in Schools
This law encourages schools to use outdoor learning and requires the state education department to create guidance resources, establish a funding account for donations, and run a three-year pilot program if money is approved.
What This Bill Does
- Encourages school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to add outdoor learning to their classes across all grades and subjects that follow state standards.
- Requires the State Department of Education to create and keep guidance resources for teachers on its website by July 1, 2028.
- Asks the department to work with educators, tribal partners, health professionals, researchers, experts in environmental literacy, and community groups when creating these resources.
- Creates a new account called the Outdoor Learning and Environmental Literacy Account to hold voluntary donations for this purpose.
- Establishes a three-year pilot program that gives grants to six school sites across northern, southern, and central California if the Legislature approves funding.
- Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to publish a final report on the results of the pilot program by December 31 of its last year.
Who It Names or Affects
- School districts, county offices of education, and charter schools in California
- The State Department of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction
- Six selected school sites that may receive pilot program grants if funding is approved
Terms To Know
- Standards-aligned instruction
- Teaching methods that follow the official learning goals set by the state.
- Appropriation
- Money officially approved and given to a program by the Legislature.
- Pilot Program
- A test project used to study how well something works before making it permanent or larger.
Limits and Unknowns
- The pilot program and resource funding only happen if the Legislature approves money for them.
- Schools are encouraged but not required by this bill to use outdoor learning in their classes.
- The final report on student outcomes will be published at the end of the three-year test period.