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| Public Act 100-0932
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| SB2693 Enrolled | LRB100 17543 AXK 32713 b |
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AN ACT concerning education.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section |
21B-30 as follows:
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(105 ILCS 5/21B-30)
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Sec. 21B-30. Educator testing. |
(a) This Section applies beginning on July 1, 2012. |
(b) The State Board of Education, in consultation with the |
State Educator Preparation and Licensure Board, shall design |
and implement a system of examinations, which shall be required |
prior to the issuance of educator licenses. These examinations |
and indicators must be based on national and State professional |
teaching standards, as determined by the State Board of |
Education, in consultation with the State Educator Preparation |
and Licensure Board. The State Board of Education may adopt |
such rules as may be necessary to implement and administer this |
Section. |
(c) Applicants seeking a Professional Educator License or |
an Educator License with Stipulations shall be required to pass |
a test of basic skills before the license is issued, unless the |
endorsement the individual is seeking does not require passage |
of the test. All applicants completing Illinois-approved, |
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teacher education or school service personnel preparation |
programs shall be required to pass the State Board of |
Education's recognized test of basic skills prior to starting |
their student teaching or starting the final semester of their |
internship, unless required earlier at the discretion of the |
recognized, Illinois institution in which they are completing |
their approved program. An institution of higher learning, as |
defined in the Higher Education Student Assistance Act, may not |
require an applicant to complete the State Board's recognized |
test of basic skills prior to the semester before student |
teaching or prior to the semester before starting the final |
semester of an internship. An individual who passes a test of |
basic skills does not need to do so again for subsequent |
endorsements or other educator licenses. |
(d) All applicants seeking a State license shall be |
required to pass a test of content area knowledge for each area |
of endorsement for which there is an applicable test. There |
shall be no exception to this requirement. No candidate shall |
be allowed to student teach or serve as the teacher of record |
until he or she has passed the applicable content area test. |
(e) (Blank). and completing their student teaching |
experience no later than August 31, 2015 Prior to September 1, |
2015, passage The APT shall be available through August 31, |
2020. |
(f) Except as otherwise provided in this Article, beginning |
on September 1, 2015, all candidates completing teacher |
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preparation programs in this State and all candidates subject |
to Section 21B-35 of this Code are required to pass an |
evidence-based assessment of teacher effectiveness approved by |
the State Board of Education, in consultation with the State |
Educator Preparation and Licensure Board. All recognized |
institutions offering approved teacher preparation programs |
must begin phasing in the approved teacher performance |
assessment no later than July 1, 2013. |
(g) Tests of basic skills and content area knowledge and |
the assessment of professional teaching shall be the tests that |
from time to time are designated by the State Board of |
Education, in consultation with the State Educator Preparation |
and Licensure Board, and may be tests prepared by an |
educational testing organization or tests designed by the State |
Board of Education, in consultation with the State Educator |
Preparation and Licensure Board. The areas to be covered by a |
test of basic skills shall include reading, language arts, and |
mathematics. The test of content area knowledge shall assess |
content knowledge in a specific subject field. The tests must |
be designed to be racially neutral to ensure that no person |
taking the tests is discriminated against on the basis of race, |
color, national origin, or other factors unrelated to the |
person's ability to perform as a licensed employee. The score |
required to pass the tests shall be fixed by the State Board of |
Education, in consultation with the State Educator Preparation |
and Licensure Board. The tests shall be administered not fewer |
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than 3 times a year at such time and place as may be designated |
by the State Board of Education, in consultation with the State |
Educator Preparation and Licensure Board. |
The State Board shall implement a test or tests to assess |
the speaking, reading, writing, and grammar skills of |
applicants for an endorsement or a license issued under |
subdivision (G) of paragraph (2) of Section 21B-20 of this Code |
in the English language and in the language of the transitional |
bilingual education program requested by the applicant. |
(h) Except as provided in Section 34-6 of this Code, the |
provisions of this Section shall apply equally in any school |
district subject to Article 34 of this Code. |
(i) The rules developed to implement and enforce the |
testing requirements under this Section shall include without |
limitation provisions governing test selection, test |
validation and determination of a passing score, |
administration of the tests, frequency of administration, |
applicant fees, frequency of applicants taking the tests, the |
years for which a score is valid, and appropriate special |
accommodations. The State Board of Education shall develop such |
rules as may be needed to ensure uniformity from year to year |
in the level of difficulty for each form of an assessment.
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(Source: P.A. 98-361, eff. 1-1-14; 98-581, eff. 8-27-13; |
98-756, eff. 7-16-14; 99-58, eff. 7-16-15; 99-657, eff. |
7-28-16; 99-920, eff. 1-6-17; revised 1-23-17.)
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Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
