HF 3326

1st Engrossment - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to education; granting qualified teachers licensure in additional subject
areas; amending Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 122A.09, subdivision 4.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 122A.09, subdivision 4, is amended to
read:

Subd. 4.

License and rules.

(a) The board must adopt rules to license public school
teachers and interns subject to chapter 14.

(b) The board must adopt rules requiring a person to successfully complete a skills
examination in reading, writing, and mathematics as a requirement for initial teacher
licensure. Such rules must require college and universities offering a board-approved
teacher preparation program to provide remedial assistance to persons who did not
achieve a qualifying score on the skills examination, including those for whom English is
a second language.

(c) The board must adopt rules to approve teacher preparation programs. The board,
upon the request of a postsecondary student preparing for teacher licensure or a licensed
graduate of a teacher preparation program, shall assist in resolving a dispute between the
person and a postsecondary institution providing a teacher preparation program when the
dispute involves an institution's recommendation for licensure affecting the person or the
person's credentials. At the board's discretion, assistance may include the application
of chapter 14.

(d) The board must provide the leadership and shall adopt rules for the redesign of
teacher education programs to implement a research based, results-oriented curriculum
that focuses on the skills teachers need in order to be effective. The board shall implement
new systems of teacher preparation program evaluation to assure program effectiveness
based on proficiency of graduates in demonstrating attainment of program outcomes.

(e) The board must adopt rules requiring successful completion of an examination
of general pedagogical knowledge and examinations of licensure-specific teaching
skills. The rules shall be effective on the dates determined by the board but not later
than September 1, 2001.

(f) The board must adopt rules requiring teacher educators to work directly with
elementary or secondary school teachers in elementary or secondary schools to obtain
periodic exposure to the elementary or secondary teaching environment.

(g) The board must grant licenses to interns and to candidates for initial licenses.

(h) The board must design and implement an assessment system which requires a
candidate for an initial license and first continuing license to demonstrate the abilities
necessary to perform selected, representative teaching tasks at appropriate levels.

(i) The board must receive recommendations from local committees as established
by the board for the renewal of teaching licenses.

(j) The board must grant life licenses to those who qualify according to requirements
established by the board, and suspend or revoke licenses pursuant to sections 122A.20 and
214.10. The board must not establish any expiration date for application for life licenses.

(k) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing
their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further preparation in
the areas of using positive behavior interventions and in accommodating, modifying, and
adapting curricula, materials, and strategies to appropriately meet the needs of individual
students and ensure adequate progress toward the state's graduation rule.

(l) In adopting rules to license public school teachers who provide health-related
services for disabled children, the board shall adopt rules consistent with license or
registration requirements of the commissioner of health and the health-related boards who
license personnel who perform similar services outside of the school.

(m) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing
their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further reading
preparation, consistent with section 122A.06, subdivision 4. The rules do not take effect
until they are approved by law. Teachers who do not provide direct instruction including, at
least, counselors, school psychologists, school nurses, school social workers, audiovisual
directors and coordinators, and recreation personnel are exempt from this section.

(n) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing
their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further preparation
in understanding the key warning signs of early-onset mental illness in children and
adolescents.

new text begin (o) An otherwise qualified teacher who holds a Minnesota professional classroom
teaching license, including secondary career and technical teaching licenses, is
recommended by the superintendent of the district in which the teacher is employed to
pursue licensure in an additional subject area, and receives a qualifying score on the
appropriate Praxis II subject area exam must be licensed by the board to teach in that
additional subject area. A license to teach in an additional subject area is valid only for
the grade levels for which the teacher was licensed to teach before taking a Praxis II
exam under this paragraph unless the superintendent recommends to the board that
the additional subject area license allows the teacher to teach other grade levels. A
professional classroom teaching license is a nonvocational license to teach elementary or
secondary school subjects, kindergarten to grade 12 subjects, or a secondary vocational
license based on degree requirements in home economics education, industrial education,
agriculture education, business education, or marketing education and excludes special
education, English language learning, and any other license not specifically listed in this
paragraph. The teacher who seeks to be licensed in an additional subject area under this
paragraph must pay the actual costs of taking the Praxis II exam.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective for the 2006-2007 school year and
later.
new text end