2001 Minnesota Statutes

     120B.13 Advanced placement and international 
  baccalaureate programs. 

    Subdivision 1.    Program structure; training programs for 
 teachers.  (a) The advanced placement and international 
 baccalaureate programs are well-established academic programs 
 for mature, academically directed high school students.  These 
 programs, in addition to providing academic rigor, offer sound 
 curricular design, accountability, comprehensive external 
 assessment, feedback to students and teachers, and the 
 opportunity for high school students to compete academically on 
 a global level.  Advanced placement and international 
 baccalaureate programs allow students to leave high school with 
 the academic skills and self-confidence to succeed in college 
 and beyond.  The advanced placement and international 
 baccalaureate programs help provide Minnesota students with 
 world-class educational opportunity. 

    (b) Critical to schools' educational success is ongoing 
 advanced placement/international baccalaureate-approved teacher 
 training.  A secondary teacher assigned by a district to teach 
 an advanced placement or international baccalaureate course or 
 other interested educator may participate in a training program 
 offered by the college board or International Baccalaureate 
 North America, Inc.  The state may pay a portion of the tuition, 
 room, and board costs a teacher or other interested educator 
 incurs in participating in a training program.  The commissioner 
 shall determine application procedures and deadlines, and select 
 teachers and other interested educators to participate in the 
 training program.  The procedures determined by the commissioner 
 shall, to the extent possible, ensure that advanced placement 
 and international baccalaureate courses become available in all 
 parts of the state and that a variety of course offerings are 
 available in school districts.  This subdivision does not 
 prevent teacher or other interested educator participation in 
 training programs offered by the college board or International 
 Baccalaureate North America, Inc., when tuition is paid by a 
 source other than the state. 

    Subd. 2.    Support programs.  The commissioner shall 
 provide support programs during the school year for teachers who 
 attended the training programs and teachers experienced in 
 teaching advanced placement or international baccalaureate 
 courses.  The support programs shall provide teachers with 
 opportunities to share instructional ideas with other teachers.  
 The state may pay the costs of participating in the support 
 programs, including substitute teachers, if necessary, and 
 program affiliation costs. 

    Subd. 3.    Subsidy for examination fees.  The state may 
 pay all or part of the fee for advanced placement or 
 international baccalaureate examinations for pupils in public 
 and nonpublic schools.  The commissioner shall adopt a schedule 
 for fee subsidies that may allow payment of the entire fee for 
 low-income families, as defined by the commissioner.  The 
 commissioner may also determine the circumstances under which 
 the fee is subsidized, in whole or in part.  The commissioner 
 shall determine procedures for state payments of fees. 

    Subd. 4.    Information.  The commissioner shall submit 
 the following information to the education committees of the 
 legislature each year by February 1: 

    (1) the number of pupils enrolled in advanced placement and 
 international baccalaureate courses in each school district; 

    (2) the number of teachers in each district attending 
 training programs offered by the college board or International 
 Baccalaureate North America, Inc.; 

    (3) the number of teachers in each district participating 
 in support programs; 

    (4) recent trends in the field of advanced placement and 
 international baccalaureate programs; 

    (5) expenditures for each category in this section; and 

    (6) other recommendations for the state program. 

    HIST: 1992 c 499 art 7 s 10; 1993 c 224 art 13 s 46; 1994 c 
 647 art 7 s 9; 1Sp1995 c 3 art 16 s 13; 1998 c 397 art 2 s 
 129,164; 2000 c 489 art 6 s 1; 1Sp2001 c 6 art 2 s 2