Pupil instruction: Blended Learning Pilot Program.

Existing law establishes an adopted course of study for pupils in grades 1 to 6, inclusive, and in grades 7 to 12, inclusive. This bill would establish, commencing with the 2015–16 school year and continuing through the 2017–18 school year, the Blended Learning Pilot Program, to be administered by the State Board of Education for the purpose of exploring various models of innovation and documenting best and promising practices in blended learning, as defined. The bill would authorize school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, or charter school management organizations to apply to the state board to participate in the pilot program, would require the state board to select 20 to 30 schools to participate in the program based on specified application criteria, and would authorize the state board to solicit and receive grants from private entities for purposes of funding the administration of the pilot program. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to contract with an educational research organization to study the pilot program, and to submit the results of the study to the state board no later than September 28, 2017. The bill would require the state board, no later than December 31, 2018, to submit a report to the Legislature on the results of the pilot program, as specified.