1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; ensuring input on board of 
  1.3             teaching rules; providing for a report on the skills 
  1.4             examination for teacher candidates; amending Minnesota 
  1.5             Statutes 1998, section 122A.18, subdivision 2. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 122A.18, 
  1.8   subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subd. 2.  [TEACHER AND SUPPORT PERSONNEL QUALIFICATIONS.] 
  1.10  (a) The board of teaching must issue licenses under its 
  1.11  jurisdiction to persons the board finds to be qualified and 
  1.12  competent for their respective positions. 
  1.13     (b) The board must require a person to successfully 
  1.14  complete an examination of skills in reading, writing, and 
  1.15  mathematics before being granted an initial teaching license to 
  1.16  provide direct instruction to pupils in prekindergarten, 
  1.17  elementary, secondary, or special education programs.  The board 
  1.18  must require colleges and universities offering a board approved 
  1.19  teacher preparation program to provide remedial assistance that 
  1.20  includes a formal diagnostic component to persons enrolled in 
  1.21  their institution who did not achieve a qualifying score on the 
  1.22  skills examination, including those for whom English is a second 
  1.23  language.  The colleges and universities must provide assistance 
  1.24  in the specific academic areas of deficiency in which the person 
  1.25  did not achieve a qualifying score.  School districts must 
  2.1   provide similar, appropriate, and timely remedial assistance 
  2.2   that includes a formal diagnostic component and mentoring to 
  2.3   those persons employed by the district who completed their 
  2.4   teacher education program outside the state of Minnesota, 
  2.5   received a one-year license to teach in Minnesota and did not 
  2.6   achieve a qualifying score on the skills examination, including 
  2.7   those persons for whom English is a second language.  The board 
  2.8   of teaching shall report annually to the education committees of 
  2.9   the legislature on the total number of teacher candidates during 
  2.10  the most recent school year taking the skills examination, the 
  2.11  number who achieve a qualifying score on the examination, the 
  2.12  number who do not achieve a qualifying score on the examination, 
  2.13  the distribution of all candidates' scores, the number of 
  2.14  candidates who have taken the examination at least once before, 
  2.15  and the number of candidates who have taken the examination at 
  2.16  least once before and achieve a qualifying score.  The data must 
  2.17  be disaggregated to the level of the degree-granting institution.
  2.18     (c) A person who has completed an approved teacher 
  2.19  preparation program and obtained a one-year license to teach, 
  2.20  but has not successfully completed the skills examination, may 
  2.21  renew the one-year license for two additional one-year periods.  
  2.22  Each renewal of the one-year license is contingent upon the 
  2.23  licensee: 
  2.24     (1) providing evidence of participating in an approved 
  2.25  remedial assistance program provided by a school district or 
  2.26  post-secondary institution that includes a formal diagnostic 
  2.27  component in the specific areas in which the licensee did not 
  2.28  obtain qualifying scores; and 
  2.29     (2) attempting to successfully complete the skills 
  2.30  examination during the period of each one-year license. 
  2.31     (d) The board of teaching must grant continuing licenses 
  2.32  only to those persons who have met board criteria for granting a 
  2.33  continuing license, which includes successfully completing the 
  2.34  skills examination in reading, writing, and mathematics. 
  2.35     (e) All colleges and universities approved by the board of 
  2.36  teaching to prepare persons for teacher licensure must include 
  3.1   in their teacher preparation programs a common core of teaching 
  3.2   knowledge and skills to be acquired by all persons recommended 
  3.3   for teacher licensure.  This common core shall meet the 
  3.4   standards developed by the interstate new teacher assessment and 
  3.5   support consortium in its 1992 "model standards for beginning 
  3.6   teacher licensing and development."  Amendments to standards 
  3.7   adopted under this paragraph are covered by chapter 14.  The 
  3.8   board of teaching shall report annually to the education 
  3.9   committees of the legislature on the performance of teacher 
  3.10  candidates on common core assessments of knowledge and skills 
  3.11  under this paragraph during the most recent school year. 
  3.12     Sec. 2.  [TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAMS.] 
  3.13     (a) The legislature intends that the implementation and 
  3.14  enforcement of board of teaching rules relating to institution 
  3.15  and teacher preparation program approval respect the rights of 
  3.16  post-secondary faculty to teach in a manner the faculty deems 
  3.17  most appropriate for student achievement, and that the program 
  3.18  approval process involve the least amount of time and paperwork 
  3.19  necessary to meet these rules. 
  3.20     (b) The state board of teaching must consult with 
  3.21  representatives of faculty and administrators from Minnesota 
  3.22  post-secondary institutions that have teacher preparation 
  3.23  programs.  The state board of teaching must report to the 
  3.24  government operations and education committees of the 
  3.25  legislature by January 15, 2001, on these institutions' opinions 
  3.26  on the rules implemented or enforced under paragraph (a). 
  3.27     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.28     Sections 1 and 2 are effective the day following final 
  3.29  enactment.