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S.F. No. 1224 - Clarifying Basic Skills Requirements for Teacher Candidates
 
Author: Senator Kevin Dahle
 
Prepared By: Alexis C. Stangl, Senate Counsel (651/296-4397)
 
Date: March 11, 2013



 

Section 1. Teacher and Support Personnel Qualifications.  Paragraph (b) requires candidates for an initial teaching license, before September 1, 2014, to pass a basic skills exam before being granted that license.  Allows the Board of Teaching to issue a temporary one-year license to a qualified candidate that has not passed the exam at the time they complete their teacher preparation program.  School districts are required to provide remedial assistance to candidates employed by the district who did not pass the skills exam, including teachers for whom English is a second language. 

Paragraph (c) allows for a teacher licensure candidate who obtained a one-year teaching license to renew the temporary license if the candidate does the following:

            (1) provides evidence of participating in an approved remedial assistance program;

            (2) attempts to pass the skills exam during the one-year licensure period; and

            (3) their employing school district requests that the candidate continue to teacher for the district under a temporary license.

Paragraph (f) prohibits the Board of Teaching from requiring a teacher to pass a skill exam in reading, writing, and mathematics before being granted an initial teaching license.

Effective Date.   Makes the section, except for paragraph (f), effective immediately.  Paragraph (f) is effective beginning September 1, 2014.

Section 2. Applicants Licensed in Other States.  Paragraph (h) allows the Board of Teaching to issue a temporary one-year teaching license to an applicant who is licensed in another state and has not passed the skills exam.  Allows the Board to renew the temporary license if the candidate’s employing school district requests that they continue to teach for that district under a temporary license.  Beginning September 1, 2014 applicants are not required to pass a skill exam in order to be granted a continuing license.

Effective Date. Makes the section effective immediately.

Section 3.  Teacher Licensure Advisory Task Force.  Paragraph (a) creates a teacher licensure advisory task force to make recommendations on the requirements for teacher applicants to demonstrate mastery of certain basic skills through nationally normed assessments, a basic skills portfolio or accredited college coursework and an alternative licensure pathway for nonnative English speakers seeking licensure to teach in a language immersion program.

Paragraph (b). The recommendations on how a teacher licensure candidate demonstrates basic skills mastery must encompass the following criteria:

  1. Assessment content relevant to the teacher’s subject area licensure;
  2. The scope of the assessment content must be document to correspond to relevant public school curriculum;
  3. The scope of the assessment content must be publicly available and readily accessible on the Board of Teaching Web site;
  4. If requested, a written review of the scope of the assessment content must be made available to the public;
  5. The Board of Teaching and teacher preparation programs must post longitudinal summary data including passage rates;
  6. Evidence showing the assessment content is not culturally biased;
  7. Accommodations for teacher candidates with documented learning disabilities; and
  8. Give timely feedback to teacher candidates who do not pass the basic skills assessment so that the candidate can target specific areas of deficiency for remediation.

Paragraph (c), the task force must be composed of the following members;

  1. Two members of the Board of Teaching;
  2. Two representatives from the Department of Education;
  3. Two members of the House of Representatives;
  4. Two members of the state Senate;
  5. One elementary school principal and one secondary school principal;
  6. One licensed and practicing elementary school teacher and one licensed and practicing secondary school teacher;
  7. One teacher preparation program faculty member each from the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, and the Minnesota Private Colleges and Universities system;
  8. One member of the nonpublic education council; and
  9. One representative of Minnesota charter schools.

Paragraph (d) directs the Executive Director of the Board of Teaching to convene the first meeting by August 1, 2013.The task force members are not compensated or reimbursed for task force related activities. 

Paragraph (e) requires the task force to submit the written recommendations to the legislature by February 1, 2014.

Effective Date. Makes the section effective immediately.

AMB/syl

 
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