HF 2871

as introduced - 88th Legislature (2013 - 2014) Posted on 03/10/2014 01:05pm

A bill for an act
relating to education; clarifying testing requirements related to teacher licensure;
amending Minnesota Statutes 2013 Supplement, sections 122A.09, subdivision
4; 122A.18, subdivision 2; 122A.23, subdivision 2.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2013 Supplement, 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 deleted text begin pass a skills examination in
reading, writing, and mathematics as a requirement deleted text end new text begin demonstrate levels of proficiency
on career and college readiness tests under section 120B.30, subdivision 1, that are
recommended by the Board of Teaching for admission to a Minnesota teacher preparation
program or to attain an equivalent composite score composed of the average of the scores in
English and writing, reading, and mathematics on the ACT Plus Writing, or an equivalent
composite score composed of the average of the scores in critical reading, mathematics,
and writing on the SAT, new text end for initial teacher licensure, except that the board may issue up to
two deleted text begin additional deleted text end temporary, one-year teaching licenses to an otherwise qualified candidate
who has not yet deleted text begin passed the skills exam deleted text end new text begin demonstrated the requisite levels of proficiency on
state career and college readiness tests or attained the requisite composite score on the
ACT Plus Writing or SAT new text end . Such rules must require college and universities offering a
board-approved teacher preparation program to provide remedial assistance to persons
who did not deleted text begin achieve a qualifying score on the skills examination deleted text end new text begin attain the requisite
composite score on the ACT Plus Writing or SAT new text end , including those for whom English is a
second language. new text begin A person teaching under a temporary license for two consecutive years
who does not attain the requisite composite ACT Plus Writing or SAT score during that
period may receive an initial teaching license if: the person's transcript from an accredited
college or university shows the person received credit for courses in mathematics and
writing; and the school administrator who supervised the person during that two-year
period transmits a signed letter to the board stating that the person is able to perform basic
job responsibilities requiring reading, writing, and mathematics skills. The requirement to
demonstrate the requisite levels of proficiency on state career and college readiness tests
or attain the requisite composite score on the ACT Plus Writing or SAT does not apply to
non-native English speakers, as verified by qualified Minnesota school district personnel
or Minnesota higher education faculty, who, after meeting the content and pedagogy
requirements under this subdivision, apply for a teaching license to provide direct
instruction in their native language or world language instruction under section 120B.022,
subdivision 1. A teacher candidate's official ACT Plus Writing or SAT composite score
report to the board must not be more than ten years old at the time of licensure.
new text end

(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 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. Teacher
preparation programs including alternative teacher preparation programs under section
122A.245, among other programs, must include a content-specific, board-approved,
performance-based assessment that measures teacher candidates in three areas: planning
for instruction and assessment; engaging students and supporting learning; and assessing
student learning. new text begin The board's redesign rules must include creating flexible, specialized
teaching licenses, credentials, and other endorsement forms to increase students'
participation in language immersion programs, world language instruction, career
development opportunities, work-based learning, early college courses and careers, career
and technical programs, Montessori schools, and project and place-based learning, among
other career and college ready learning offerings.
new text end

(e) The board must adopt rules requiring candidates for initial licenses to pass an
examination of general pedagogical knowledge and examinations of licensure-specific
teaching skills. The rules shall be effective by September 1, 2001. The rules under this
paragraph also must require candidates for initial licenses to teach prekindergarten or
elementary students to pass, as part of the examination of licensure-specific teaching
skills, test items assessing the candidates' knowledge, skill, and ability in comprehensive,
scientifically based reading instruction under section 122A.06, subdivision 4, and their
knowledge and understanding of the foundations of reading development, the development
of reading comprehension, and reading assessment and instruction, and their ability to
integrate that knowledge and understanding.

(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
based on appropriate professional competencies that are aligned with the board's licensing
system and students' diverse learning needs. The board must include these licenses in a
statewide differentiated licensing system that creates new leadership roles for successful
experienced teachers premised on a collaborative professional culture dedicated to meeting
students' diverse learning needs in the 21st century and formalizes mentoring and induction
for newly licensed teachers that is provided through a teacher support framework.

(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,
first, in understanding the key warning signs of early-onset mental illness in children
and adolescents and then, during subsequent licensure renewal periods, preparation may
include providing a more in-depth understanding of students' mental illness trauma,
accommodations for students' mental illness, parents' role in addressing students' mental
illness, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, autism, the requirements of section 125A.0942
governing restrictive procedures, and de-escalation methods, among other similar topics.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section applies to persons applying to the Board of
Teaching for their initial teaching license August 1, 2015, or later.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2013 Supplement, section 122A.18, subdivision 2, is
amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Teacher and support personnel qualifications.

(a) The Board of
Teaching must issue licenses under its jurisdiction to persons the board finds to be
qualified and competent for their respective positions.

(b) The board must require a person to deleted text begin pass an examination of skills in reading,
writing, and mathematics deleted text end new text begin demonstrate levels of proficiency on career and college readiness
tests under section 120B.30, subdivision 1, that are recommended by the Board of Teaching
for admission to a Minnesota teacher preparation program or to attain either an equivalent
composite score composed of the average of the scores in English and writing, reading, and
mathematics on the ACT Plus Writing, or an equivalent composite score composed of the
average of the scores in critical reading, mathematics, and writing on the SAT, new text end before being
granted an initial teaching license to provide direct instruction to pupils in prekindergarten,
elementary, secondary, or special education programs, except that the board may issue up
to two deleted text begin additional deleted text end temporary, one-year teaching licenses to an otherwise qualified candidate
who has not yet deleted text begin passed the skills exam deleted text end new text begin demonstrated the requisite levels of proficiency on
state career and college readiness tests or attained the requisite composite score on the ACT
Plus Writing or SAT new text end . The board must require colleges and universities offering a board
approved teacher preparation program to make available upon request remedial assistance
that includes a formal diagnostic component to persons enrolled in their institution who
did not deleted text begin achieve a qualifying score on the skills examination deleted text end new text begin attain the requisite ACT Plus
Writing or SAT composite score new text end , including those for whom English is a second language.
The colleges and universities must make available assistance in the specific academic
areas of deficiency deleted text begin in which the person did not achieve a qualifying score deleted text end . School districts
may make available upon request similar, appropriate, and timely remedial assistance that
includes a formal diagnostic component to those persons employed by the district who
completed their teacher education program, who did not deleted text begin achieve a qualifying score on the
skills examination, including those persons for whom English is a second language and
persons under section 122A.23, subdivision 2, paragraph (h), who completed their teacher's
education program outside the state of Minnesota deleted text end new text begin attain the requisite ACT Plus Writing or
SAT composite score new text end , and who received a temporary license to teach in Minnesota. The
Board of Teaching shall report annually to the education committees of the legislature
on the total number of teacher candidates during the most recent school year deleted text begin taking the
skills examination, the number who achieve a qualifying score on the examination, the
number who do not achieve a qualifying score on the examination, the distribution of all
candidates' scores, the number of candidates who have taken the examination at least once
before, and the number of candidates who have taken the examination at least once before
and achieve a qualifying score deleted text end new text begin who have not attained the requisite composite ACT Plus
Writing or SAT score or have not passed a content or pedagogy exam, disaggregated by
categories of race, ethnicity, and eligibility for financial aid new text end .

(c) The Board of Teaching must grant continuing licenses only to those persons who
have met board criteria for granting a continuing license, which includes deleted text begin passing the skills
examination in reading, writing, and mathematics deleted text end new text begin demonstrating the requisite levels of
proficiency on state career and college readiness tests or attaining the requisite composite
ACT Plus Writing or SAT score new text end consistent with paragraph (b) new text begin , new text end and new text begin the exceptions in
new text end section 122A.09, subdivision 4, paragraph (b) deleted text begin . deleted text end new text begin , that are consistent with this paragraph. A
person teaching under a temporary license for two consecutive years who does not attain
the requisite composite ACT Plus Writing or SAT score during that period may receive an
initial teaching license if: the person's transcript from an accredited college or university
shows the person received credit for courses in mathematics and writing; and the school
administrator who supervised the person during that two-year period transmits a signed
letter to the board stating that the person is able to perform basic job responsibilities
requiring reading, writing, and mathematics skills. The requirement to demonstrate the
requisite levels of proficiency on state career and college readiness tests or to attain the
requisite composite score on the ACT Plus Writing or SAT does not apply to non-native
English speakers, as verified by qualified Minnesota school district personnel or Minnesota
higher education faculty, who, after meeting the content and pedagogy requirements under
this subdivision, apply for a teaching license to provide direct instruction in their native
language or world language instruction under section 120B.022, subdivision 1. A teacher
candidate's official ACT Plus Writing or SAT composite score report to the board must not
be more than ten years old at the time of licensure.
new text end

(d) All colleges and universities approved by the board of teaching to prepare
persons for teacher licensure must include in their teacher preparation programs a common
core of teaching knowledge and skills to be acquired by all persons recommended
for teacher licensure. This common core shall meet the standards developed by the
interstate new teacher assessment and support consortium in its 1992 "model standards for
beginning teacher licensing and development." Amendments to standards adopted under
this paragraph are covered by chapter 14. The board of teaching shall report annually to
the education committees of the legislature on the performance of teacher candidates
on common core assessments of knowledge and skills under this paragraph during the
most recent school year.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section applies to persons applying to the Board of
Teaching for their initial teaching license August 1, 2015, or later.
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2013 Supplement, section 122A.23, subdivision 2, is
amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Applicants licensed in other states.

(a) Subject to the requirements of
sections 122A.18, subdivision 8, and 123B.03, the Board of Teaching must issue a teaching
license or a temporary teaching license under paragraphs (b) to (e) to an applicant who holds
at least a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university and holds
or held a similar out-of-state teaching license that requires the applicant to successfully
complete a teacher preparation program approved by the issuing state, which includes
field-specific teaching methods and student teaching or essentially equivalent experience.

(b) The Board of Teaching must issue a teaching license to an applicant who:

(1) successfully completed all exams and human relations preparation components
required by the Board of Teaching; and

(2) holds or held an out-of-state teaching license to teach the same content field and
grade levels if the scope of the out-of-state license is no more than one grade level less
than a similar Minnesota license.

(c) The Board of Teaching, consistent with board rules and paragraph (h), must
issue up to three one-year temporary teaching licenses to an applicant who holds or held
an out-of-state teaching license to teach the same content field and grade levels, where
the scope of the out-of-state license is no more than one grade level less than a similar
Minnesota license, but has not successfully completed all exams and human relations
preparation components required by the Board of Teaching.

(d) The Board of Teaching, consistent with board rules, must issue up to three
one-year temporary teaching licenses to an applicant who:

(1) successfully completed all exams and human relations preparation components
required by the Board of Teaching; and

(2) holds or held an out-of-state teaching license to teach the same content field
and grade levels, where the scope of the out-of-state license is no more than one grade
level less than a similar Minnesota license, but has not completed field-specific teaching
methods or student teaching or equivalent experience.

The applicant may complete field-specific teaching methods and student teaching
or equivalent experience by successfully participating in a one-year school district
mentorship program consistent with board-adopted standards of effective practice and
Minnesota graduation requirements.

(e) The Board of Teaching must issue a temporary teaching license for a term of
up to three years only in the content field or grade levels specified in the out-of-state
license to an applicant who:

(1) successfully completed all exams and human relations preparation components
required by the Board of Teaching; and

(2) holds or held an out-of-state teaching license where the out-of-state license is
more limited in the content field or grade levels than a similar Minnesota license.

(f) The Board of Teaching must not issue to an applicant more than three one-year
temporary teaching licenses under this subdivision.

(g) The Board of Teaching must not issue a license under this subdivision if the
applicant has not attained the additional degrees, credentials, or licenses required in a
particular licensure field.

(h) The Board of Teaching must require an applicant for a teaching license or a
temporary teaching license under this subdivision to deleted text begin pass a skills examination in reading,
writing, and mathematics deleted text end new text begin demonstrate, consistent with section 122A.09, subdivision 4,
the applicant's attainment of either the requisite ACT Plus Writing or SAT composite
score new text end before the board issues the license new text begin unless, notwithstanding other provisions of this
subdivision, an applicable board-approved National Association of State Directors of
Teacher Education interstate reciprocity agreement exists to allow fully certified teachers
from other states to transfer their certification to Minnesota without need for additional
exams or other preparation requirements new text end . deleted text begin Consistent with section 122A.18, subdivision 2,
paragraph (b), and notwithstanding other provisions of this subdivision, the board may
issue up to two additional temporary, one-year teaching licenses to an otherwise qualified
applicant who has not yet passed the skills exam.
deleted text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective August 1, 2015.
new text end

Sec. 4. new text begin TRANSITION REQUIREMENTS; TEMPORARY TEACHING
LICENSES.
new text end

new text begin A person eligible to receive a one-year temporary teaching license under Laws
2013, chapter 116, article 3, sections 10 and 11 or 12, must satisfy the requirements under
section 1, paragraph (b), and section 2, paragraphs (b) and (c), or section 3, paragraph
(h), to obtain an initial teaching license.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment.
new text end