1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; granting qualified teachers licensure in additional subject 
1.3 	areas; amending Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 122A.09, subdivision 4.
1.4 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.5 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 122A.09, subdivision 4, is amended to 
1.6 	read:
1.7 		Subd. 4.License and rules. (a) The board must adopt rules to license public school 
1.8 	teachers and interns subject to chapter 14.
1.9 	(b) The board must adopt rules requiring a person to successfully complete a skills 
1.10 	examination in reading, writing, and mathematics as a requirement for initial teacher 
1.11 	licensure. Such rules must require college and universities offering a board-approved 
1.12 	teacher preparation program to provide remedial assistance to persons who did not 
1.13 	achieve a qualifying score on the skills examination, including those for whom English is 
1.14 	a second language.
1.15 	(c) The board must adopt rules to approve teacher preparation programs. The board, 
1.16 	upon the request of a postsecondary student preparing for teacher licensure or a licensed 
1.17 	graduate of a teacher preparation program, shall assist in resolving a dispute between the 
1.18 	person and a postsecondary institution providing a teacher preparation program when the 
1.19 	dispute involves an institution's recommendation for licensure affecting the person or the 
1.20 	person's credentials. At the board's discretion, assistance may include the application 
1.21 	of chapter 14.
1.22 	(d) The board must provide the leadership and shall adopt rules for the redesign of 
1.23 	teacher education programs to implement a research based, results-oriented curriculum 
1.24 	that focuses on the skills teachers need in order to be effective. The board shall implement 
2.1 	new systems of teacher preparation program evaluation to assure program effectiveness 
2.2 	based on proficiency of graduates in demonstrating attainment of program outcomes.
2.3 	(e) The board must adopt rules requiring successful completion of an examination 
2.4 	of general pedagogical knowledge and examinations of licensure-specific teaching 
2.5 	skills. The rules shall be effective on the dates determined by the board but not later 
2.6 	than September 1, 2001.
2.7 	(f) The board must adopt rules requiring teacher educators to work directly with 
2.8 	elementary or secondary school teachers in elementary or secondary schools to obtain 
2.9 	periodic exposure to the elementary or secondary teaching environment.
2.10 	(g) The board must grant licenses to interns and to candidates for initial licenses.
2.11 	(h) The board must design and implement an assessment system which requires a 
2.12 	candidate for an initial license and first continuing license to demonstrate the abilities 
2.13 	necessary to perform selected, representative teaching tasks at appropriate levels.
2.14 	(i) The board must receive recommendations from local committees as established 
2.15 	by the board for the renewal of teaching licenses.
2.16 	(j) The board must grant life licenses to those who qualify according to requirements 
2.17 	established by the board, and suspend or revoke licenses pursuant to sections  122A.20 and  
2.18 	214.10. The board must not establish any expiration date for application for life licenses. 
2.19 	(k) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing 
2.20 	their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further preparation in 
2.21 	the areas of using positive behavior interventions and in accommodating, modifying, and 
2.22 	adapting curricula, materials, and strategies to appropriately meet the needs of individual 
2.23 	students and ensure adequate progress toward the state's graduation rule.
2.24 	(l) In adopting rules to license public school teachers who provide health-related 
2.25 	services for disabled children, the board shall adopt rules consistent with license or 
2.26 	registration requirements of the commissioner of health and the health-related boards who 
2.27 	license personnel who perform similar services outside of the school.
2.28 	(m) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing 
2.29 	their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further reading 
2.30 	preparation, consistent with section  122A.06, subdivision 4. The rules do not take effect 
2.31 	until they are approved by law. Teachers who do not provide direct instruction including, at 
2.32 	least, counselors, school psychologists, school nurses, school social workers, audiovisual 
2.33 	directors and coordinators, and recreation personnel are exempt from this section. 
2.34 	(n) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing 
2.35 	their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further preparation 
3.1 	in understanding the key warning signs of early-onset mental illness in children and 
3.2 	adolescents.
3.3 	(o) An otherwise qualified teacher who holds a Minnesota professional classroom 
3.4 	teaching license, including secondary career and technical teaching licenses, is 
3.5 	recommended by the superintendent of the district in which the teacher is employed to 
3.6 	pursue licensure in an additional subject area, and receives a qualifying score on the 
3.7 	appropriate Praxis II subject area exam must be licensed by the board to teach in that 
3.8 	additional subject area. A license to teach in an additional subject area is valid only for 
3.9 	the grade levels for which the teacher was licensed to teach before taking a Praxis II 
3.10 	exam under this paragraph unless the superintendent recommends to the board that 
3.11 	the additional subject area license allows the teacher to teach other grade levels. A 
3.12 	professional classroom teaching license is a nonvocational license to teach elementary or 
3.13 	secondary school subjects, kindergarten to grade 12 subjects, or a secondary vocational 
3.14 	license based on degree requirements in home economics education, industrial education, 
3.15 	agriculture education, business education, or marketing education and excludes special 
3.16 	education, English language learning, and any other license not specifically listed in this 
3.17 	paragraph. The teacher who seeks to be licensed in an additional subject area under this 
3.18 	paragraph must pay the actual costs of taking the Praxis II exam.

3.19 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for the 2006-2007 school year and 
3.20 	later.