Pupil instruction: high school curriculum: advanced placement courses: International Baccalaureate Diploma Program.

(1) Existing law contains legislative findings and declarations stating that advanced placement courses, among other things, help to improve the overall curriculum at schools where they are provided and provide a cost-effective means for high school pupils to obtain college-level coursework experience. This bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to annually update the information on advanced placement available on the Internet Web site of the State Department of Education to include current information on the various means available to school districts to offer or access advanced placement courses, including online courses, and to annually communicate with high schools that offer advanced placement courses in fewer than 5 subjects and inform them of the various options for making advanced placement courses and other rigorous courses available to pupils who may benefit from them. (2) Existing law authorizes a system of incentives to encourage high schools to operate International Baccalaureate Diploma Programs, and to encourage pupils in these schools to enroll in, attempt, and pass the International Baccalaureate course of study and examinations that lead to the International Baccalaureate Diploma. This bill would require the Superintendent to annually update information on the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program available on the department's Internet Web site and to provide support to high schools that offer International Baccalaureate courses, as specified. The bill would encourage the Academic Senate for the California Community Colleges, the Academic Senate of the California State University, and the Academic Senate of the University of California to continue their efforts to adopt consistent systemwide guidelines for the acceptance and granting of credit for International Baccalaureate Diploma Program courses taken by students while they are in high school.