Bill Text: MN SF144 | 2011-2012 | 87th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Alternative teacher preparation program and limited term teacher license establishment; teacher candidate assessment modifications
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-01-27 - Referred to Education [SF144 Detail]
Download: Minnesota-2011-SF144-Introduced.html
1.2relating to education; establishing an alternative teacher preparation program and
1.3limited term teacher license; amending teacher candidate assessments;amending
1.4Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 122A.09, subdivision 4; proposing coding for
1.5new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 122A.
1.6BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
1.7 Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 122A.09, subdivision 4, is amended to
1.8read:
1.9 Subd. 4. License and rules. (a) The board must adopt rules to license public school
1.10teachers and interns subject to chapter 14.
1.11(b) The board must adopt rules requiring a person to successfully complete a skills
1.12examination in reading, writing, and mathematics as a requirement for initial teacher
1.13licensure. Such rules must require college and universities offering a board-approved
1.14teacher preparation program to provide remedial assistance to persons who did not
1.15achieve a qualifying score on the skills examination, including those for whom English is
1.16a second language.
1.17(c) The board must adopt rules to approve teacher preparation programs. The board,
1.18upon the request of a postsecondary student preparing for teacher licensure or a licensed
1.19graduate of a teacher preparation program, shall assist in resolving a dispute between the
1.20person and a postsecondary institution providing a teacher preparation program when the
1.21dispute involves an institution's recommendation for licensure affecting the person or the
1.22person's credentials. At the board's discretion, assistance may include the application
1.23of chapter 14.
1.24(d) The board must provide the leadership andshall adopt rules for the redesign of
1.25teacher education programs to implement a research based, results-oriented curriculum
2.1that focuses on the skills teachers need in order to be effective. The board shall implement
2.2new systems of teacher preparation program evaluation to assure program effectiveness
2.3based on proficiency of graduates in demonstrating attainment of program outcomes.
2.4Teacher preparation programs including alternative teacher preparation programs under
2.5section 122A.245, among other programs, must include a performance-based assessment
2.6that measures teacher candidates in at least three areas and that requires candidates to:
2.7(1) plan instruction and assessment, and demonstrate their ability to organize
2.8curriculum, instruction, and assessment to help diverse students meet academic content
2.9standards and develop language for that content and to select, adapt, and design learning
2.10tasks and materials that offer students equitable access to content;
2.11(2) demonstrate how to develop students' understanding of academic content, engage
2.12students in meaningful tasks, monitor students' understanding of those tasks, and use
2.13students' response to inform learning; and
2.14(3) develop evaluation criteria aligned with core academic standards and identified
2.15learning objectives, analyze students' performance on assessments in the context of student
2.16needs and identified learning objectives, provide student feedback, and use the analysis
2.17to identify subsequent instructional content for individual students and classrooms of
2.18students.
2.19(e) The board must adopt rules requiring candidates for initial licenses to successfully
2.20complete an examination of general pedagogical knowledge and examinations of
2.21licensure-specific teaching skills. The rules shall be effective by September 1, 2001.
2.22The rules under this paragraph also must require candidates for initial licenses to teach
2.23prekindergarten or elementary students to successfully complete, as part of the examination
2.24of licensure-specific teaching skills, test items assessing the candidates' knowledge,
2.25skill, and ability in comprehensive, scientifically based reading instruction under section
2.26122A.06
, subdivision 4, and their knowledge and understanding of the foundations of
2.27reading development, the development of reading comprehension, and reading assessment
2.28and instruction, and their ability to integrate that knowledge and understanding.
2.29(f) The board must adopt rules requiring teacher educators to work directly with
2.30elementary or secondary school teachers in elementary or secondary schools to obtain
2.31periodic exposure to the elementary or secondary teaching environment.
2.32(g) The board must grant licenses to interns and to candidates for initial licenses.
2.33(h) The board must design and implement an assessment system which requires a
2.34candidate for an initial license and first continuing license to demonstrate the abilities
2.35necessary to perform selected, representative teaching tasks at appropriate levels.
3.1(i) The board must receive recommendations from local committees as established
3.2by the board for the renewal of teaching licenses.
3.3(j) The board must grant life licenses to those who qualify according to requirements
3.4established by the board, and suspend or revoke licenses pursuant to sections122A.20 and
3.5214.10
. The board must not establish any expiration date for application for life licenses.
3.6(k) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing
3.7their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further preparation in
3.8the areas of using positive behavior interventions and in accommodating, modifying, and
3.9adapting curricula, materials, and strategies to appropriately meet the needs of individual
3.10students and ensure adequate progress toward the state's graduation rule.
3.11(l) In adopting rules to license public school teachers who provide health-related
3.12services for disabled children, the board shall adopt rules consistent with license or
3.13registration requirements of the commissioner of health and the health-related boards who
3.14license personnel who perform similar services outside of the school.
3.15(m) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing
3.16their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further reading
3.17preparation, consistent with section122A.06, subdivision 4 . The rules do not take effect
3.18until they are approved by law. Teachers who do not provide direct instruction including, at
3.19least, counselors, school psychologists, school nurses, school social workers, audiovisual
3.20directors and coordinators, and recreation personnel are exempt from this section.
3.21(n) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing
3.22their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further preparation
3.23in understanding the key warning signs of early-onset mental illness in children and
3.24adolescents.
3.25EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective August 1, 2012, and applies to
3.26individuals who first enroll in a teacher preparation program in the 2012-2013 school
3.27year or later.
3.28 Sec. 2. [122A.245] ALTERNATIVE TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAM
3.29AND TEACHER LICENSE FOR QUALIFIED NONTRADITIONAL TEACHER
3.30CANDIDATES.
3.31 Subdivision 1. Requirements. (a) The Board of Teaching may approve teacher
3.32preparation programs that are an alternative to a postsecondary teacher preparation
3.33program and to the preparation program under section 122A.24 as a means of acquiring a
3.34two-year provisional license in order to meet the requirements for acquiring a standard
3.35license. Programs must be sponsored by a school district with a written agreement signed
4.1by the school board and the local representative of the teachers or by a charter school with
4.2the written agreement of its licensed staff, in partnership with either:
4.3(1) a college or university with a board-approved alternative teacher preparation
4.4program; or
4.5(2) a nonprofit corporation formed for an education-related purpose that is subject to
4.6chapter 317A and forms a partnership with a college or university with a board-approved
4.7teacher preparation program.
4.8(b) A program approved under paragraph (a) may only offer this program if one of
4.9the following conditions exists:
4.10(1) a need for teachers exists based on the determination by a participating district or
4.11charter school that in the previous school year too few qualified candidates applied for
4.12the number of posted teacher positions;
4.13(2) the person having administrative control of the district or charter school
4.14determines that a need exists to have school staff more adequately reflect the ethnic and
4.15cultural diversity of the student population; or
4.16(3) a need exists to reduce or eliminate the achievement gap as evidenced by student
4.17growth and achievement data reported under section 120B.35, subdivision 1.
4.18(c) To participate in this program, a candidate must:
4.19(1) have a bachelor's degree with either a minimum 3.0 grade point average or meet
4.20other criteria specified by the Board of Teaching;
4.21(2) pass the reading, writing, and mathematics skills examination under section
4.22122A.09, subdivision 4, paragraph (b); and
4.23(3) obtain qualifying scores on board-approved content area and pedagogy tests
4.24under section 122A.09, subdivision 4, paragraph (e).
4.25 Subd. 2. Characteristics. An alternative teacher preparation program offered by an
4.26eligible college or university or nonprofit corporation under this section must include:
4.27(1) a minimum 200-hour instructional phase that provides intensive preparation
4.28before the teacher candidate assumes classroom responsibilities;
4.29(2) a research-based and results-oriented approach focused on best teaching practices
4.30to increase student proficiency and growth as measured against state academic standards;
4.31(3) strategies to combine pedagogy and best teaching practices to better inform
4.32teachers' classroom instruction;
4.33(4) assessment, supervision, and evaluation of the teacher candidate to determine
4.34the teacher candidate's specific needs throughout the program and to support the teacher
4.35candidate in successfully completing the program;
5.1(5) formal instruction and intensive peer coaching during the school year that
5.2provides structured guidance and regular ongoing support;
5.3(6) high-quality, sustained, intensive, and classroom-embedded staff development
5.4opportunities, conducted by a mentor or by a mentorship team that may include school
5.5administrators, teachers, and postsecondary faculty members, that are directed at
5.6improving student learning and achievement; and
5.7(7) a requirement that teacher candidates demonstrate satisfactory progress toward
5.8receiving a standard license from the Board of Teaching at the time their provisional
5.9teaching license expires.
5.10 Subd. 3. Program approval. The Board of Teaching must approve alternative
5.11teacher preparation programs under this section based on board-adopted criteria that
5.12reflect best practices for alternative teacher preparation programs, consistent with this
5.13section. The board must permit teacher candidates to demonstrate licensure competencies
5.14in school-based settings and through other nontraditional licensure pathways.
5.15 Subd. 4. Employment conditions. Conditions of employment for the teacher
5.16candidate under this section shall be established as part of the agreement under subdivision
5.171, paragraph (a), between the school board and the local representative of the teachers or
5.18the charter school and its licensed staff.
5.19 Subd. 5. Approval for standard license. A local school site team that may include
5.20school administrators, teachers, and postsecondary faculty members must evaluate the
5.21performance of the teacher candidate under Minnesota Rules, part 8710.2000, and submit
5.22to the board an evaluation report recommending whether or not to issue an otherwise
5.23qualified teacher candidate a standard license.
5.24 Subd. 6. Standard license. The Board of Teaching may issue a standard license
5.25to an otherwise qualified teacher candidate under this section who successfully performs
5.26throughout the program and is recommended for licensure under subdivision 4.
5.27 Subd. 7. Qualified teacher. A person with a valid provisional teacher license
5.28under this section is the teacher of record and a qualified teacher within the meaning
5.29of section 122A.16.
5.30 Subd. 8. Reports. The Board of Teaching must submit an interim report on the
5.31efficacy of this program to the committees of the legislature with primary jurisdiction
5.32over kindergarten through grade 12 education policy and finance by February 15, 2013,
5.33and a final report by February 15, 2015.
5.34EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective for the 2011-2012 school year and
5.35later.
1.3limited term teacher license; amending teacher candidate assessments;amending
1.4Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 122A.09, subdivision 4; proposing coding for
1.5new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 122A.
1.6BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
1.7 Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 122A.09, subdivision 4, is amended to
1.8read:
1.9 Subd. 4. License and rules. (a) The board must adopt rules to license public school
1.10teachers and interns subject to chapter 14.
1.11(b) The board must adopt rules requiring a person to successfully complete a skills
1.12examination in reading, writing, and mathematics as a requirement for initial teacher
1.13licensure. Such rules must require college and universities offering a board-approved
1.14teacher preparation program to provide remedial assistance to persons who did not
1.15achieve a qualifying score on the skills examination, including those for whom English is
1.16a second language.
1.17(c) The board must adopt rules to approve teacher preparation programs. The board,
1.18upon the request of a postsecondary student preparing for teacher licensure or a licensed
1.19graduate of a teacher preparation program, shall assist in resolving a dispute between the
1.20person and a postsecondary institution providing a teacher preparation program when the
1.21dispute involves an institution's recommendation for licensure affecting the person or the
1.22person's credentials. At the board's discretion, assistance may include the application
1.23of chapter 14.
1.24(d) The board must provide the leadership and
1.25teacher education programs to implement a research based, results-oriented curriculum
2.1that focuses on the skills teachers need in order to be effective. The board shall implement
2.2new systems of teacher preparation program evaluation to assure program effectiveness
2.3based on proficiency of graduates in demonstrating attainment of program outcomes.
2.4Teacher preparation programs including alternative teacher preparation programs under
2.5section 122A.245, among other programs, must include a performance-based assessment
2.6that measures teacher candidates in at least three areas and that requires candidates to:
2.7(1) plan instruction and assessment, and demonstrate their ability to organize
2.8curriculum, instruction, and assessment to help diverse students meet academic content
2.9standards and develop language for that content and to select, adapt, and design learning
2.10tasks and materials that offer students equitable access to content;
2.11(2) demonstrate how to develop students' understanding of academic content, engage
2.12students in meaningful tasks, monitor students' understanding of those tasks, and use
2.13students' response to inform learning; and
2.14(3) develop evaluation criteria aligned with core academic standards and identified
2.15learning objectives, analyze students' performance on assessments in the context of student
2.16needs and identified learning objectives, provide student feedback, and use the analysis
2.17to identify subsequent instructional content for individual students and classrooms of
2.18students.
2.19(e) The board must adopt rules requiring candidates for initial licenses to successfully
2.20complete an examination of general pedagogical knowledge and examinations of
2.21licensure-specific teaching skills. The rules shall be effective by September 1, 2001.
2.22The rules under this paragraph also must require candidates for initial licenses to teach
2.23prekindergarten or elementary students to successfully complete, as part of the examination
2.24of licensure-specific teaching skills, test items assessing the candidates' knowledge,
2.25skill, and ability in comprehensive, scientifically based reading instruction under section
2.27reading development, the development of reading comprehension, and reading assessment
2.28and instruction, and their ability to integrate that knowledge and understanding.
2.29(f) The board must adopt rules requiring teacher educators to work directly with
2.30elementary or secondary school teachers in elementary or secondary schools to obtain
2.31periodic exposure to the elementary or secondary teaching environment.
2.32(g) The board must grant licenses to interns and to candidates for initial licenses.
2.33(h) The board must design and implement an assessment system which requires a
2.34candidate for an initial license and first continuing license to demonstrate the abilities
2.35necessary to perform selected, representative teaching tasks at appropriate levels.
3.1(i) The board must receive recommendations from local committees as established
3.2by the board for the renewal of teaching licenses.
3.3(j) The board must grant life licenses to those who qualify according to requirements
3.4established by the board, and suspend or revoke licenses pursuant to sections
3.6(k) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing
3.7their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further preparation in
3.8the areas of using positive behavior interventions and in accommodating, modifying, and
3.9adapting curricula, materials, and strategies to appropriately meet the needs of individual
3.10students and ensure adequate progress toward the state's graduation rule.
3.11(l) In adopting rules to license public school teachers who provide health-related
3.12services for disabled children, the board shall adopt rules consistent with license or
3.13registration requirements of the commissioner of health and the health-related boards who
3.14license personnel who perform similar services outside of the school.
3.15(m) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing
3.16their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further reading
3.17preparation, consistent with section
3.18until they are approved by law. Teachers who do not provide direct instruction including, at
3.19least, counselors, school psychologists, school nurses, school social workers, audiovisual
3.20directors and coordinators, and recreation personnel are exempt from this section.
3.21(n) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing
3.22their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further preparation
3.23in understanding the key warning signs of early-onset mental illness in children and
3.24adolescents.
3.25EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective August 1, 2012, and applies to
3.26individuals who first enroll in a teacher preparation program in the 2012-2013 school
3.27year or later.
3.28 Sec. 2. [122A.245] ALTERNATIVE TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAM
3.29AND TEACHER LICENSE FOR QUALIFIED NONTRADITIONAL TEACHER
3.30CANDIDATES.
3.31 Subdivision 1. Requirements. (a) The Board of Teaching may approve teacher
3.32preparation programs that are an alternative to a postsecondary teacher preparation
3.33program and to the preparation program under section 122A.24 as a means of acquiring a
3.34two-year provisional license in order to meet the requirements for acquiring a standard
3.35license. Programs must be sponsored by a school district with a written agreement signed
4.1by the school board and the local representative of the teachers or by a charter school with
4.2the written agreement of its licensed staff, in partnership with either:
4.3(1) a college or university with a board-approved alternative teacher preparation
4.4program; or
4.5(2) a nonprofit corporation formed for an education-related purpose that is subject to
4.6chapter 317A and forms a partnership with a college or university with a board-approved
4.7teacher preparation program.
4.8(b) A program approved under paragraph (a) may only offer this program if one of
4.9the following conditions exists:
4.10(1) a need for teachers exists based on the determination by a participating district or
4.11charter school that in the previous school year too few qualified candidates applied for
4.12the number of posted teacher positions;
4.13(2) the person having administrative control of the district or charter school
4.14determines that a need exists to have school staff more adequately reflect the ethnic and
4.15cultural diversity of the student population; or
4.16(3) a need exists to reduce or eliminate the achievement gap as evidenced by student
4.17growth and achievement data reported under section 120B.35, subdivision 1.
4.18(c) To participate in this program, a candidate must:
4.19(1) have a bachelor's degree with either a minimum 3.0 grade point average or meet
4.20other criteria specified by the Board of Teaching;
4.21(2) pass the reading, writing, and mathematics skills examination under section
4.22122A.09, subdivision 4, paragraph (b); and
4.23(3) obtain qualifying scores on board-approved content area and pedagogy tests
4.24under section 122A.09, subdivision 4, paragraph (e).
4.25 Subd. 2. Characteristics. An alternative teacher preparation program offered by an
4.26eligible college or university or nonprofit corporation under this section must include:
4.27(1) a minimum 200-hour instructional phase that provides intensive preparation
4.28before the teacher candidate assumes classroom responsibilities;
4.29(2) a research-based and results-oriented approach focused on best teaching practices
4.30to increase student proficiency and growth as measured against state academic standards;
4.31(3) strategies to combine pedagogy and best teaching practices to better inform
4.32teachers' classroom instruction;
4.33(4) assessment, supervision, and evaluation of the teacher candidate to determine
4.34the teacher candidate's specific needs throughout the program and to support the teacher
4.35candidate in successfully completing the program;
5.1(5) formal instruction and intensive peer coaching during the school year that
5.2provides structured guidance and regular ongoing support;
5.3(6) high-quality, sustained, intensive, and classroom-embedded staff development
5.4opportunities, conducted by a mentor or by a mentorship team that may include school
5.5administrators, teachers, and postsecondary faculty members, that are directed at
5.6improving student learning and achievement; and
5.7(7) a requirement that teacher candidates demonstrate satisfactory progress toward
5.8receiving a standard license from the Board of Teaching at the time their provisional
5.9teaching license expires.
5.10 Subd. 3. Program approval. The Board of Teaching must approve alternative
5.11teacher preparation programs under this section based on board-adopted criteria that
5.12reflect best practices for alternative teacher preparation programs, consistent with this
5.13section. The board must permit teacher candidates to demonstrate licensure competencies
5.14in school-based settings and through other nontraditional licensure pathways.
5.15 Subd. 4. Employment conditions. Conditions of employment for the teacher
5.16candidate under this section shall be established as part of the agreement under subdivision
5.171, paragraph (a), between the school board and the local representative of the teachers or
5.18the charter school and its licensed staff.
5.19 Subd. 5. Approval for standard license. A local school site team that may include
5.20school administrators, teachers, and postsecondary faculty members must evaluate the
5.21performance of the teacher candidate under Minnesota Rules, part 8710.2000, and submit
5.22to the board an evaluation report recommending whether or not to issue an otherwise
5.23qualified teacher candidate a standard license.
5.24 Subd. 6. Standard license. The Board of Teaching may issue a standard license
5.25to an otherwise qualified teacher candidate under this section who successfully performs
5.26throughout the program and is recommended for licensure under subdivision 4.
5.27 Subd. 7. Qualified teacher. A person with a valid provisional teacher license
5.28under this section is the teacher of record and a qualified teacher within the meaning
5.29of section 122A.16.
5.30 Subd. 8. Reports. The Board of Teaching must submit an interim report on the
5.31efficacy of this program to the committees of the legislature with primary jurisdiction
5.32over kindergarten through grade 12 education policy and finance by February 15, 2013,
5.33and a final report by February 15, 2015.
5.34EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective for the 2011-2012 school year and
5.35later.
