Bill Text: MN HF965 | 2013-2014 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Teacher candidates who do not pass the basic skills exam allowed to teach under a temporary license.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-3)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-02-28 - Introduction and first reading, referred to Education Policy [HF965 Detail]
Download: Minnesota-2013-HF965-Introduced.html
1.2relating to education; allowing an otherwise eligible person to teach under a
1.3temporary license without having passed the basic skills test;amending Minnesota
1.4Statutes 2012, sections 122A.09, subdivision 4; 122A.18, subdivision 2.
1.5BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
1.6 Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 122A.09, subdivision 4, is amended to read:
1.7 Subd. 4. License and rules. (a) The board must adopt rules to license public school
1.8teachers and interns subject to chapter 14.
1.9(b) The board must adopt rules requiring a person to pass a skills examination in
1.10reading, writing, and mathematics or attain either minimum SAT scores in critical reading,
1.11mathematics, and writing or comparable minimum ACT scores in English language,
1.12reading, and mathematics as a requirement for initial teacher licensure. Such rules must
1.13require college and universities offering a board-approved teacher preparation program to
1.14provide remedial assistance to persons who did not achieve a qualifying score on the skills
1.15examination, including those for whom English is a second language.
1.16(c) The board must adopt rules to approve teacher preparation programs. The board,
1.17upon the request of a postsecondary student preparing for teacher licensure or a licensed
1.18graduate of a teacher preparation program, shall assist in resolving a dispute between the
1.19person and a postsecondary institution providing a teacher preparation program when the
1.20dispute involves an institution's recommendation for licensure affecting the person or the
1.21person's credentials. At the board's discretion, assistance may include the application
1.22of chapter 14.
1.23(d) The board must provide the leadership and adopt rules for the redesign of teacher
1.24education programs to implement a research based, results-oriented curriculum that
2.1focuses on the skills teachers need in order to be effective. The board shall implement new
2.2systems of teacher preparation program evaluation to assure program effectiveness based
2.3on proficiency of graduates in demonstrating attainment of program outcomes. Teacher
2.4preparation programs including alternative teacher preparation programs under section
2.5122A.245
, among other programs, must include a content-specific, board-approved,
2.6performance-based assessment that measures teacher candidates in three areas: planning
2.7for instruction and assessment; engaging students and supporting learning; and assessing
2.8student learning.
2.9(e) The board must adopt rules requiring candidates for initial licenses to pass an
2.10examination of general pedagogical knowledge and examinations of licensure-specific
2.11teaching skills. The rules shall be effective by September 1, 2001. The rules under this
2.12paragraph also must require candidates for initial licenses to teach prekindergarten or
2.13elementary students to pass, as part of the examination of licensure-specific teaching
2.14skills, test items assessing the candidates' knowledge, skill, and ability in comprehensive,
2.15scientifically based reading instruction under section122A.06 , subdivision 4, and their
2.16knowledge and understanding of the foundations of reading development, the development
2.17of reading comprehension, and reading assessment and instruction, and their ability to
2.18integrate that knowledge and understanding.
2.19(f) The board must adopt rules requiring teacher educators to work directly with
2.20elementary or secondary school teachers in elementary or secondary schools to obtain
2.21periodic exposure to the elementary or secondary teaching environment.
2.22(g) The board must grant licenses to interns and to candidates for initial licenses
2.23based on appropriate professional competencies that are aligned with the board's licensing
2.24system and students' diverse learning needs. The board must include these licenses in a
2.25statewide differentiated licensing system that creates new leadership roles for successful
2.26experienced teachers premised on a collaborative professional culture dedicated to meeting
2.27students' diverse learning needs in the 21st century and formalizes mentoring and induction
2.28for newly licensed teachers that is provided through a teacher support framework.
2.29(h) The board must design and implement an assessment system which requires a
2.30candidate for an initial license and first continuing license to demonstrate the abilities
2.31necessary to perform selected, representative teaching tasks at appropriate levels.
2.32(i) The board must receive recommendations from local committees as established
2.33by the board for the renewal of teaching licenses.
2.34(j) The board must grant life licenses to those who qualify according to requirements
2.35established by the board, and suspend or revoke licenses pursuant to sections122A.20 and
2.36214.10
. The board must not establish any expiration date for application for life licenses.
3.1(k) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing
3.2their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further preparation in
3.3the areas of using positive behavior interventions and in accommodating, modifying, and
3.4adapting curricula, materials, and strategies to appropriately meet the needs of individual
3.5students and ensure adequate progress toward the state's graduation rule.
3.6(l) In adopting rules to license public school teachers who provide health-related
3.7services for disabled children, the board shall adopt rules consistent with license or
3.8registration requirements of the commissioner of health and the health-related boards who
3.9license personnel who perform similar services outside of the school.
3.10(m) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing
3.11their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further reading
3.12preparation, consistent with section122A.06, subdivision 4 . The rules do not take effect
3.13until they are approved by law. Teachers who do not provide direct instruction including, at
3.14least, counselors, school psychologists, school nurses, school social workers, audiovisual
3.15directors and coordinators, and recreation personnel are exempt from this section.
3.16(n) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing
3.17their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further preparation
3.18in understanding the key warning signs of early-onset mental illness in children and
3.19adolescents.
3.20EFFECTIVE DATE.This section applies to persons enrolling in a teacher
3.21preparations program after January 1, 2014.
3.22 Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 122A.18, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
3.23 Subd. 2. Teacher and support personnel qualifications. (a) The Board of
3.24Teaching must issue licenses under its jurisdiction to persons the board finds to be
3.25qualified and competent for their respective positions.
3.26(b) The board must require a person to pass an examination of skills in reading,
3.27writing, and mathematics or attain either minimum SAT scores in critical reading,
3.28mathematics, and writing or comparable minimum ACT scores in English language,
3.29reading, and mathematics before being granted an initial teaching license to provide
3.30direct instruction to pupils in prekindergarten, elementary, secondary, or special education
3.31programs. The board must require colleges and universities offering a board approved
3.32teacher preparation program to provide remedial assistance that includes a formal
3.33diagnostic component to persons enrolled in their institution who did not achieve a
3.34qualifying score on the skills examination, including those for whom English is a
3.35second language. The colleges and universities must provide assistance in the specific
4.1academic areas of deficiency in which the person did not achieve a qualifying score. The
4.2Board of Teaching shall report annually to the education committees of the legislature
4.3on the total number of teacher candidates during the most recent school year taking the
4.4skills examination, the number who achieve a qualifying score on the examination, the
4.5number who do not achieve a qualifying score on the examination, the distribution of all
4.6candidates' scores, the number of candidates who have taken the examination at least once
4.7before, and the number of candidates who have taken the examination at least once before
4.8and achieve a qualifying score.
4.9(c) The Board of Teaching must grant continuing licenses only to those persons who
4.10have met board criteria for granting a continuing license, which includes passing the
4.11skills examination in reading, writing, and mathematics. The board may issue up to three
4.12temporary one-year teaching licenses to a person who is otherwise qualified to receive a
4.13teaching license but who did not attain the requisite minimum SAT or ACT scores and
4.14has not passed the skills examination. A person who passes the skills examination while
4.15holding a temporary one-year teaching license thereby qualifies for a continuing license.
4.16A person who is employed by a district to teach, who has been issued three temporary
4.17one-year teaching licenses, and who has not passed the skills examination may, at the
4.18request of the employing district, continue teaching for that district under a temporary
4.19license issued by the board.
4.20(d) All colleges and universities approved by the board of teaching to prepare
4.21persons for teacher licensure must include in their teacher preparation programs a common
4.22core of teaching knowledge and skills to be acquired by all persons recommended
4.23for teacher licensure. This common core shall meet the standards developed by the
4.24interstate new teacher assessment and support consortium in its 1992 "model standards for
4.25beginning teacher licensing and development." Amendments to standards adopted under
4.26this paragraph are covered by chapter 14. The board of teaching shall report annually to
4.27the education committees of the legislature on the performance of teacher candidates
4.28on common core assessments of knowledge and skills under this paragraph during the
4.29most recent school year.
4.30EFFECTIVE DATE.Paragraph (b) applies to persons enrolling in a teacher
4.31preparations program after January 1, 2014. Paragraph (c) is effective the day following
4.32final enactment and applies to all otherwise qualified teacher candidates who have not yet
4.33passed the skills examination as of that date.
1.3temporary license without having passed the basic skills test;amending Minnesota
1.4Statutes 2012, sections 122A.09, subdivision 4; 122A.18, subdivision 2.
1.5BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
1.6 Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 122A.09, subdivision 4, is amended to read:
1.7 Subd. 4. License and rules. (a) The board must adopt rules to license public school
1.8teachers and interns subject to chapter 14.
1.9(b) The board must adopt rules requiring a person to pass a skills examination in
1.10reading, writing, and mathematics or attain either minimum SAT scores in critical reading,
1.11mathematics, and writing or comparable minimum ACT scores in English language,
1.12reading, and mathematics as a requirement for initial teacher licensure. Such rules must
1.13require college and universities offering a board-approved teacher preparation program to
1.14provide remedial assistance to persons who did not achieve a qualifying score on the skills
1.15examination, including those for whom English is a second language.
1.16(c) The board must adopt rules to approve teacher preparation programs. The board,
1.17upon the request of a postsecondary student preparing for teacher licensure or a licensed
1.18graduate of a teacher preparation program, shall assist in resolving a dispute between the
1.19person and a postsecondary institution providing a teacher preparation program when the
1.20dispute involves an institution's recommendation for licensure affecting the person or the
1.21person's credentials. At the board's discretion, assistance may include the application
1.22of chapter 14.
1.23(d) The board must provide the leadership and adopt rules for the redesign of teacher
1.24education programs to implement a research based, results-oriented curriculum that
2.1focuses on the skills teachers need in order to be effective. The board shall implement new
2.2systems of teacher preparation program evaluation to assure program effectiveness based
2.3on proficiency of graduates in demonstrating attainment of program outcomes. Teacher
2.4preparation programs including alternative teacher preparation programs under section
2.6performance-based assessment that measures teacher candidates in three areas: planning
2.7for instruction and assessment; engaging students and supporting learning; and assessing
2.8student learning.
2.9(e) The board must adopt rules requiring candidates for initial licenses to pass an
2.10examination of general pedagogical knowledge and examinations of licensure-specific
2.11teaching skills. The rules shall be effective by September 1, 2001. The rules under this
2.12paragraph also must require candidates for initial licenses to teach prekindergarten or
2.13elementary students to pass, as part of the examination of licensure-specific teaching
2.14skills, test items assessing the candidates' knowledge, skill, and ability in comprehensive,
2.15scientifically based reading instruction under section
2.16knowledge and understanding of the foundations of reading development, the development
2.17of reading comprehension, and reading assessment and instruction, and their ability to
2.18integrate that knowledge and understanding.
2.19(f) The board must adopt rules requiring teacher educators to work directly with
2.20elementary or secondary school teachers in elementary or secondary schools to obtain
2.21periodic exposure to the elementary or secondary teaching environment.
2.22(g) The board must grant licenses to interns and to candidates for initial licenses
2.23based on appropriate professional competencies that are aligned with the board's licensing
2.24system and students' diverse learning needs. The board must include these licenses in a
2.25statewide differentiated licensing system that creates new leadership roles for successful
2.26experienced teachers premised on a collaborative professional culture dedicated to meeting
2.27students' diverse learning needs in the 21st century and formalizes mentoring and induction
2.28for newly licensed teachers that is provided through a teacher support framework.
2.29(h) The board must design and implement an assessment system which requires a
2.30candidate for an initial license and first continuing license to demonstrate the abilities
2.31necessary to perform selected, representative teaching tasks at appropriate levels.
2.32(i) The board must receive recommendations from local committees as established
2.33by the board for the renewal of teaching licenses.
2.34(j) The board must grant life licenses to those who qualify according to requirements
2.35established by the board, and suspend or revoke licenses pursuant to sections
3.1(k) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing
3.2their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further preparation in
3.3the areas of using positive behavior interventions and in accommodating, modifying, and
3.4adapting curricula, materials, and strategies to appropriately meet the needs of individual
3.5students and ensure adequate progress toward the state's graduation rule.
3.6(l) In adopting rules to license public school teachers who provide health-related
3.7services for disabled children, the board shall adopt rules consistent with license or
3.8registration requirements of the commissioner of health and the health-related boards who
3.9license personnel who perform similar services outside of the school.
3.10(m) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing
3.11their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further reading
3.12preparation, consistent with section
3.13until they are approved by law. Teachers who do not provide direct instruction including, at
3.14least, counselors, school psychologists, school nurses, school social workers, audiovisual
3.15directors and coordinators, and recreation personnel are exempt from this section.
3.16(n) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing
3.17their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further preparation
3.18in understanding the key warning signs of early-onset mental illness in children and
3.19adolescents.
3.20EFFECTIVE DATE.This section applies to persons enrolling in a teacher
3.21preparations program after January 1, 2014.
3.22 Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 122A.18, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
3.23 Subd. 2. Teacher and support personnel qualifications. (a) The Board of
3.24Teaching must issue licenses under its jurisdiction to persons the board finds to be
3.25qualified and competent for their respective positions.
3.26(b) The board must require a person to pass an examination of skills in reading,
3.27writing, and mathematics or attain either minimum SAT scores in critical reading,
3.28mathematics, and writing or comparable minimum ACT scores in English language,
3.29reading, and mathematics before being granted an initial teaching license to provide
3.30direct instruction to pupils in prekindergarten, elementary, secondary, or special education
3.31programs. The board must require colleges and universities offering a board approved
3.32teacher preparation program to provide remedial assistance that includes a formal
3.33diagnostic component to persons enrolled in their institution who did not achieve a
3.34qualifying score on the skills examination, including those for whom English is a
3.35second language. The colleges and universities must provide assistance in the specific
4.1academic areas of deficiency in which the person did not achieve a qualifying score. The
4.2Board of Teaching shall report annually to the education committees of the legislature
4.3on the total number of teacher candidates during the most recent school year taking the
4.4skills examination, the number who achieve a qualifying score on the examination, the
4.5number who do not achieve a qualifying score on the examination, the distribution of all
4.6candidates' scores, the number of candidates who have taken the examination at least once
4.7before, and the number of candidates who have taken the examination at least once before
4.8and achieve a qualifying score.
4.9(c) The Board of Teaching must grant continuing licenses only to those persons who
4.10have met board criteria for granting a continuing license, which includes passing the
4.11skills examination in reading, writing, and mathematics. The board may issue up to three
4.12temporary one-year teaching licenses to a person who is otherwise qualified to receive a
4.13teaching license but who did not attain the requisite minimum SAT or ACT scores and
4.14has not passed the skills examination. A person who passes the skills examination while
4.15holding a temporary one-year teaching license thereby qualifies for a continuing license.
4.16A person who is employed by a district to teach, who has been issued three temporary
4.17one-year teaching licenses, and who has not passed the skills examination may, at the
4.18request of the employing district, continue teaching for that district under a temporary
4.19license issued by the board.
4.20(d) All colleges and universities approved by the board of teaching to prepare
4.21persons for teacher licensure must include in their teacher preparation programs a common
4.22core of teaching knowledge and skills to be acquired by all persons recommended
4.23for teacher licensure. This common core shall meet the standards developed by the
4.24interstate new teacher assessment and support consortium in its 1992 "model standards for
4.25beginning teacher licensing and development." Amendments to standards adopted under
4.26this paragraph are covered by chapter 14. The board of teaching shall report annually to
4.27the education committees of the legislature on the performance of teacher candidates
4.28on common core assessments of knowledge and skills under this paragraph during the
4.29most recent school year.
4.30EFFECTIVE DATE.Paragraph (b) applies to persons enrolling in a teacher
4.31preparations program after January 1, 2014. Paragraph (c) is effective the day following
4.32final enactment and applies to all otherwise qualified teacher candidates who have not yet
4.33passed the skills examination as of that date.
