Section 228.35 Personnel Qualifications; Professional Development

a) Each individual assigned to provide instruction in a student's home language shall meet the requirements for bilingual education teachers set forth in 23 Ill. Adm. Code 25 (Certification) and 23 Ill. Adm. Code 1 (Public Schools Evaluation, Recognition and Supervision), as applicable.

b) Each individual assigned to provide instruction in ESL shall meet the requirements for ESL or English as a New Language teachers set forth in 23 Ill. Adm. Code 25 and 23 Ill. Adm. Code 1, as applicable.

c) Preschool Programs

1) Each individual assigned to provide instruction to students in a preschool program shall meet the requirements of 23 Ill. Adm. 235.20(c)(8)(A) (Early Childhood Block Grant).

2) By July 1, 2014, each individual assigned to provide instruction to students in a preschool program also shall meet the applicable requirements of subsection (a) or (b) of this Section, depending on the assignment.

3) Noncertificated staff employed to assist in instruction in a preschool program shall meet the requirements of 23 Ill. Adm. 235.20(c)(8)(B).

d) Administrators

Beginning July 1, 2014, each individual assigned to administer a program under this Part shall meet the applicable requirements of this subsection (d).

1) Except as provided in subsections (d)(2) and (3) of this Section, any person designated to administer either a TBE or a TPI program must hold a valid administrative certificate or a supervisory endorsement issued on an initial or standard teaching certificate by the State Board of Education in accordance with applicable provisions of 23 Ill. Adm. Code 25 (Certification) and 23 Ill. Adm. Code 1 (Public Schools Evaluation, Recognition and Supervision) and must meet the requirements of 23 Ill. Adm. Code 1.783 (Requirements for Administrators of Bilingual Education Programs), as applicable.

2) A person designated to administer a TBE or TPI program in a district with fewer than 200 TBE/TPI students shall be exempt from all but the requirement for an administrative certificate or a supervisory endorsement issued on an initial or standard teaching certificate, provided that he or she annually completes a minimum of two hours of professional development specifically designed to address the needs of students with limited English proficiency. Beginning in the 2012-13 school year, a minimum of eight hours of professional development shall be required. An assurance that this requirement has been met shall be provided annually in a school district's application submitted pursuant to Section 228.50 of this Part. Documentation for this professional development activity shall be made available to a representative of the State Board of Education upon request.

3) A person who has been assigned to administer a TPI program in a district that experiences such growth in the number of students eligible for bilingual education that a TBE program is required shall become subject to the requirements of subsection (d)(1) of this Section at the beginning of the fourth school year of the TBE program's operation. A person who has been assigned to administer a program under subsection (d)(2) of this Section in a district where the number of students eligible for bilingual education reaches 200 shall become subject to the requirements of subsection (d)(1) of this Section at the beginning of the fourth school year in which the eligible population equals or exceeds 200 or more students. That is, each individual may continue to serve for the first three school years on the credentials that qualified him or her to administer the program previously operated.

e) Professional Development for Staff

1) Each school district having a program shall annually plan professional development activities for the certificated and noncertificated personnel involved in the education of students of limited English proficiency. This plan shall be included in the district's annual application and shall be approved by the State Superintendent of Education if it meets the standards set forth in subsections (e)(2) and (e)(3) of this Section.

2) Program staff beginning their initial year of service shall be involved in training activities that will develop their knowledge of the requirements for the program established under this Part and the employing district's relevant policies and procedures.

3) Training activities shall be provided to all bilingual program staff at least twice yearly and shall address at least one of the following areas:

A) current research in bilingual education;

B) content-area and language proficiency assessment of students with limited English proficiency;

C) research-based methods and techniques for teaching students with limited English proficiency;

D) research-based methods and techniques for teaching students with limited English proficiency who also have disabilities; and

E) the culture and history of the United States and of the country, territory or geographic area that is the native land of the students or of their parents.

4) In addition to any other training required under this subsection (e), each individual who is responsible for administering the prescribed screening instrument referred to in Section 228.15(e) of this Part or the annual English language proficiency assessment discussed in Section 228.25(b) of this Part shall be required to complete on-line training designated by the State Superintendent of Education and to pass the test embedded in that material.

5) Beginning in the 2012-13 school year, each district that operates either a TBE or a TPI program for students of Spanish language background in kindergarten and any of grades 1 through 12 shall provide annually at least one training session related to the implementation of the Spanish language arts standards required under Section 228.30(b)(4) of this Part for staff members of that program who are providing instruction in the Spanish language arts.

(Source: Amended at 35 Ill. Reg. 16870, effective September 29, 2011)