1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; requiring teacher candidates to pass basic skills exam;
1.3 	amending Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 122A.18, subdivision 2.
1.4 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.5 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 122A.18, subdivision 2, is amended to 
1.6 	read:
1.7 		Subd. 2.Teacher and support personnel qualifications. (a) The Board of 
1.8 	Teaching must issue licenses under its jurisdiction to persons the board finds to be 
1.9 	qualified and competent for their respective positions.
1.10 	(b) The board must require a person to successfully complete pass an examination of 
1.11 	skills in reading, writing, and mathematics before being granted an initial teaching license 
1.12 	to provide direct instruction to pupils in prekindergarten, elementary, secondary, or special 
1.13 	education programs. The board must require colleges and universities offering a board 
1.14 	approved teacher preparation program to provide remedial assistance that includes a 
1.15 	formal diagnostic component to persons enrolled in their institution who did not achieve a 
1.16 	qualifying score on the skills examination, including those for whom English is a second 
1.17 	language. The colleges and universities must provide assistance in the specific academic 
1.18 	areas of deficiency in which the person did not achieve a qualifying score. School 
1.19 	districts must provide similar, appropriate, and timely remedial assistance that includes a 
1.20 	formal diagnostic component and mentoring to those persons employed by the district 
1.21 	who completed their teacher education program outside the state of Minnesota, received 
1.22 	a one-year license to teach in Minnesota and did not achieve a qualifying score on the 
1.23 	skills examination, including those persons for whom English is a second language. The 
1.24 	Board of Teaching shall report annually to the education committees of the legislature 
2.1 	on the total number of teacher candidates during the most recent school year taking the 
2.2 	skills examination, the number who achieve a qualifying score on the examination, the 
2.3 	number who do not achieve a qualifying score on the examination, the distribution of all 
2.4 	candidates' scores, the number of candidates who have taken the examination at least once 
2.5 	before, and the number of candidates who have taken the examination at least once before 
2.6 	and achieve a qualifying score.
2.7 	(c) A person who has completed an approved teacher preparation program and 
2.8 	obtained a one-year license to teach, but has not successfully completed the skills 
2.9 	examination, may renew the one-year license for two additional one-year periods. Each 
2.10 	renewal of the one-year license is contingent upon the licensee:
2.11 	(1) providing evidence of participating in an approved remedial assistance program 
2.12 	provided by a school district or postsecondary institution that includes a formal diagnostic 
2.13 	component in the specific areas in which the licensee did not obtain qualifying scores; and
2.14 	(2) attempting to successfully complete the skills examination during the period 
2.15 	of each one-year license.
2.16 	(d) (c) The Board of Teaching must grant continuing licenses only to those persons 
2.17 	who have met board criteria for granting a continuing license, which includes successfully 
2.18 	completing passing the skills examination in reading, writing, and mathematics.
2.19 	(e) (d) All colleges and universities approved by the board of teaching to prepare 
2.20 	persons for teacher licensure must include in their teacher preparation programs a common 
2.21 	core of teaching knowledge and skills to be acquired by all persons recommended 
2.22 	for teacher licensure. This common core shall meet the standards developed by the 
2.23 	interstate new teacher assessment and support consortium in its 1992 "model standards for 
2.24 	beginning teacher licensing and development." Amendments to standards adopted under 
2.25 	this paragraph are covered by chapter 14. The board of teaching shall report annually to 
2.26 	the education committees of the legislature on the performance of teacher candidates 
2.27 	on common core assessments of knowledge and skills under this paragraph during the 
2.28 	most recent school year.