1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; amending teacher licensure provisions; establishing 
1.3 	an alternative teacher preparation program and limited-term teacher license; 
1.4 	requiring reports;amending Minnesota Statutes 2010, sections 122A.16; 
1.5 	122A.23, subdivision 1; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
1.6 	chapter 122A; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 122A.24.
1.7 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.8 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 122A.16, is amended to read:
1.9 	122A.16 HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHER DEFINED.
1.10 	(a) A qualified teacher is one holding a valid license, under this chapter, to perform 
1.11 	the particular service for which the teacher is employed in a public school.
1.12 	(b) For the purposes of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, a highly qualified 
1.13 	teacher is one who holds a valid license under this chapter, including under section 
1.14 	122A.245, among other sections, to perform the particular service for which the teacher is 
1.15 	employed in a public school or who meets the requirements of a highly objective uniform 
1.16 	state standard of evaluation (HOUSSE).
1.17 	All Minnesota teachers teaching in a core academic subject area, as defined by the 
1.18 	federal No Child Left Behind Act, in which they are not fully licensed may complete the 
1.19 	following HOUSSE process in the core subject area for which the teacher is requesting 
1.20 	highly qualified status by completing an application, in the form and manner described by 
1.21 	the commissioner, that includes:
1.22 	(1) documentation of student achievement as evidenced by norm-referenced test 
1.23 	results that are objective and psychometrically valid and reliable;
1.24 	(2) evidence of local, state, or national activities, recognition, or awards for 
1.25 	professional contribution to achievement;
2.1 	(3) description of teaching experience in the teachers' core subject area in a public 
2.2 	school under a waiver, variance, limited license or other exception; nonpublic school; and 
2.3 	postsecondary institution;
2.4 	(4) test results from the Praxis II content test;
2.5 	(5) evidence of advanced certification from the National Board for Professional 
2.6 	Teaching Standards;
2.7 	(6) evidence of the successful completion of course work or pedagogy courses; and
2.8 	(7) evidence of the successful completion of high quality professional development 
2.9 	activities.
2.10 	Districts must assign a school administrator to serve as a HOUSSE reviewer to 
2.11 	meet with teachers under this paragraph and, where appropriate, certify the teachers' 
2.12 	applications. Teachers satisfy the definition of highly qualified when the teachers receive 
2.13 	at least 100 of the total number of points used to measure the teachers' content expertise 
2.14 	under clauses (1) to (7). Teachers may acquire up to 50 points only in any one clause (1) 
2.15 	to (7). Teachers may use the HOUSSE process to satisfy the definition of highly qualified 
2.16 	for more than one subject area.
2.17 	(c) Achievement of the HOUSSE criteria is not equivalent to a license. A teacher 
2.18 	must obtain permission from the Board of Teaching in order to teach in a public school.

2.19 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 122A.23, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
2.20 		Subdivision 1.Preparation equivalency. When a license to teach is authorized to 
2.21 	be issued to any holder of a diploma or a degree of a Minnesota state university, or of the 
2.22 	University of Minnesota, or of a liberal arts university, or a technical training institution, 
2.23 	such license may also, in the discretion of the Board of Teaching or the commissioner of 
2.24 	education, whichever has jurisdiction, be issued to any holder of a diploma or a degree 
2.25 	of a teacher training institution of equivalent rank and standing of any other state. The 
2.26 	diploma or degree must be granted by virtue of the completion of completing a course in 
2.27 	teacher preparation essentially equivalent in content to that required by such Minnesota 
2.28 	state university or the University of Minnesota or a liberal arts university in Minnesota 
2.29 	or a technical training institution as preliminary to the granting of a diploma or a degree 
2.30 	of the same rank and class. An applicant who holds a diploma or degree that is not 
2.31 	essentially equivalent may satisfy state licensure requirements by successfully completing 
2.32 	content-area and pedagogy examinations under section 122A.09, subdivision 4, paragraph 
2.33 	(e), in the content and pedagogy areas that are not essentially equivalent.

3.1 	Sec. 3. [122A.245] ALTERNATIVE TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAM 
3.2 	AND LIMITED-TERM TEACHER LICENSE.
3.3 		Subdivision 1.Requirements. (a) The Board of Teaching must approve qualified 
3.4 	teacher preparation programs under this section that are a means to acquire a two-year 
3.5 	limited-term license and to prepare for acquiring a standard license. The following entities 
3.6 	are eligible to participate under this section:
3.7 	(1) a school district or charter school that forms a partnership with a college or 
3.8 	university that has a board-approved alternative teacher preparation program;
3.9 	(2) a school district or charter school that forms a partnership with a nonprofit 
3.10 	corporation formed under chapter 317A for an education-related purpose that has a 
3.11 	board-approved teacher preparation program; or
3.12 	(3) a board-approved teacher preparation program within a district.
3.13 	(b) Before participating in this program, a candidate must:
3.14 	(1) have a bachelor's degree;
3.15 	(2) pass the reading, writing, and mathematics skills examination under section 
3.16 	122A.09, subdivision 4, paragraph (b); and
3.17 	(3) obtain qualifying scores on applicable board-approved content area and 
3.18 	pedagogy examinations under section 122A.09, subdivision 4, paragraph (e).
3.19 		Subd. 2.Characteristics. An alternative teacher preparation program under this 
3.20 	section must include:
3.21 	(1) a minimum 200-hour instructional phase that provides intensive preparation 
3.22 	before the teacher candidate assumes classroom responsibilities;
3.23 	(2) a research-based and results-oriented approach focused on best teaching practices 
3.24 	to increase student proficiency and growth measured against state academic standards;
3.25 	(3) strategies to combine pedagogy and best teaching practices to better inform 
3.26 	teacher candidates' classroom instruction;
3.27 	(4) assessment, supervision, and evaluation of teacher candidates to determine 
3.28 	their specific needs throughout the program and to support their efforts to successfully 
3.29 	complete the program;
3.30 	(5) intensive, ongoing, and multiyear professional learning opportunities that 
3.31 	accelerate teacher candidates' professional growth, support student learning, and provide a 
3.32 	workplace orientation, professional staff development, and mentoring and peer review 
3.33 	focused on standards of professional practice and continuous professional growth; and
3.34 	(6) a requirement that teacher candidates demonstrate to the local site team under 
3.35 	subdivision 5 their satisfactory progress toward acquiring a standard license from the 
3.36 	Board of Teaching.
4.1 		Subd. 3.Program approval. The Board of Teaching must approve alternative 
4.2 	teacher preparation programs under this section based on board-adopted criteria that 
4.3 	reflect best practices for alternative teacher preparation programs, consistent with this 
4.4 	section. The board must permit teacher candidates to demonstrate mastery of pedagogy 
4.5 	and content standards in school-based settings and through other nontraditional means.
4.6 		Subd. 4.Employment conditions. Where applicable, teacher candidates with a 
4.7 	limited-term license under this section are members of the local employee organization 
4.8 	representing teachers and subject to the terms of the local collective bargaining agreement 
4.9 	between the exclusive representative of the teachers and the school board. A collective 
4.10 	bargaining agreement between a school board and the exclusive representative of the 
4.11 	teachers must not prevent or restrict or otherwise interfere with a school district's ability to 
4.12 	employ a teacher prepared under this section.
4.13 		Subd. 5.Approval for standard license. A local site team that includes teachers 
4.14 	and school administrators, and that may include postsecondary faculty under subdivision 
4.15 	1, paragraph (a), clause (1), or staff of a participating nonprofit corporation under 
4.16 	subdivision 1, paragraph (a), clause (2), must evaluate the performance of the teacher 
4.17 	candidate. The evaluation must be consistent with board-adopted performance measures, 
4.18 	use the Minnesota state standards of effective practice and subject matter content standards 
4.19 	for teachers established in rule, and include a report to the board recommending whether 
4.20 	or not to issue the teacher candidate a standard license.
4.21 		Subd. 6.Applicants trained in other states. A person who successfully completes 
4.22 	another state's alternative teacher preparation program may apply to the Board of Teaching 
4.23 	for a standard license under subdivision 7. A teacher candidate under this subdivision must 
4.24 	successfully complete two years of classroom teaching before applying for the license. The 
4.25 	teacher candidate must request an evaluation and the local site team in the school where 
4.26 	the teacher candidate last taught must submit to the board a formal performance evaluation 
4.27 	using methodology that the board determines is identical or substantially similar to the 
4.28 	Minnesota state standards of effective practice for teachers, and the local site team must 
4.29 	recommend to the board whether or not to issue the teacher candidate a standard license.
4.30 		Subd. 7.Standard license. The Board of Teaching must issue a standard 
4.31 	license to an otherwise qualified teacher candidate under this section who successfully 
4.32 	performs throughout a program under this section, successfully completes all required 
4.33 	skills, pedagogy, and content area examinations under section 122A.09, subdivision 4, 
4.34 	paragraphs (a) and (e), and is recommended for licensure under subdivision 5 or 6.
5.1 		Subd. 8.Highly qualified teacher. A person holding a valid limited-term license 
5.2 	under this section is a highly qualified teacher and the teacher of record under section 
5.3 	122A.16.
5.4 		Subd. 9.Reports. The Board of Teaching must submit an interim report on the 
5.5 	efficacy of this program to the policy and finance committees of the legislature with 
5.6 	jurisdiction over kindergarten through grade 12 education by February 15, 2013, and a 
5.7 	final report by February 15, 2015.

5.8 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for the 2011-2012 school year and 
5.9 	later.

5.10 	Sec. 4.  REPEALER.
 5.11 	Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 122A.24, is repealed.

5.12 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective August 1, 2011.