Sen. Dale A. Righter

Filed: 4/6/2017

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1123

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1123 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
521B-30 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/21B-30)
7    Sec. 21B-30. Educator testing.
8    (a) This Section applies beginning on July 1, 2012.
9    (b) The State Board of Education, in consultation with the
10State Educator Preparation and Licensure Board, shall design
11and implement a system of examinations, which shall be required
12prior to the issuance of educator licenses. These examinations
13and indicators must be based on national and State professional
14teaching standards, as determined by the State Board of
15Education, in consultation with the State Educator Preparation
16and Licensure Board. The State Board of Education may adopt

 

 

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1such rules as may be necessary to implement and administer this
2Section.
3    (c) Applicants seeking a Professional Educator License or
4an Educator License with Stipulations shall be required to pass
5a test of basic skills before the license is issued, unless the
6endorsement the individual is seeking does not require passage
7of the test. All applicants completing Illinois-approved,
8teacher education or school service personnel preparation
9programs shall be required to pass the State Board of
10Education's recognized test of basic skills prior to starting
11their student teaching or starting the final semester of their
12internship, unless required earlier at the discretion of the
13recognized, Illinois institution in which they are completing
14their approved program. An individual who passes a test of
15basic skills does not need to do so again for subsequent
16endorsements or other educator licenses. Applicants shall not
17be required to pass the test of basic skills before issuance of
18the license or prior to starting student teaching or the final
19semester of their internship if the applicant has a grade point
20average of 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale in core educator
21preparation classes at the time the Illinois institution in
22which the applicant is completing his or her approved program
23requires the test of basic skills to be taken.
24    (d) All applicants seeking a State license shall be
25required to pass a test of content area knowledge for each area
26of endorsement for which there is an applicable test. There

 

 

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1shall be no exception to this requirement. No candidate shall
2be allowed to student teach or serve as the teacher of record
3until he or she has passed the applicable content area test.
4    (e) (Blank). and completing their student teaching
5experience no later than August 31, 2015 Prior to September 1,
62015, passage The APT shall be available through August 31,
72020.
8    (f) Except as otherwise provided in this Article, beginning
9on September 1, 2015, all candidates completing teacher
10preparation programs in this State and all candidates subject
11to Section 21B-35 of this Code are required to pass an
12evidence-based assessment of teacher effectiveness approved by
13the State Board of Education, in consultation with the State
14Educator Preparation and Licensure Board. All recognized
15institutions offering approved teacher preparation programs
16must begin phasing in the approved teacher performance
17assessment no later than July 1, 2013.
18    (g) Tests of basic skills and content area knowledge and
19the assessment of professional teaching shall be the tests that
20from time to time are designated by the State Board of
21Education, in consultation with the State Educator Preparation
22and Licensure Board, and may be tests prepared by an
23educational testing organization or tests designed by the State
24Board of Education, in consultation with the State Educator
25Preparation and Licensure Board. The areas to be covered by a
26test of basic skills shall include reading, language arts, and

 

 

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1mathematics. The test of content area knowledge shall assess
2content knowledge in a specific subject field. The tests must
3be designed to be racially neutral to ensure that no person
4taking the tests is discriminated against on the basis of race,
5color, national origin, or other factors unrelated to the
6person's ability to perform as a licensed employee. The score
7required to pass the tests shall be fixed by the State Board of
8Education, in consultation with the State Educator Preparation
9and Licensure Board. The tests shall be administered not fewer
10than 3 times a year at such time and place as may be designated
11by the State Board of Education, in consultation with the State
12Educator Preparation and Licensure Board.
13    The State Board shall implement a test or tests to assess
14the speaking, reading, writing, and grammar skills of
15applicants for an endorsement or a license issued under
16subdivision (G) of paragraph (2) of Section 21B-20 of this Code
17in the English language and in the language of the transitional
18bilingual education program requested by the applicant.
19    (h) Except as provided in Section 34-6 of this Code, the
20provisions of this Section shall apply equally in any school
21district subject to Article 34 of this Code.
22    (i) The rules developed to implement and enforce the
23testing requirements under this Section shall include without
24limitation provisions governing test selection, test
25validation and determination of a passing score,
26administration of the tests, frequency of administration,

 

 

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1applicant fees, frequency of applicants taking the tests, the
2years for which a score is valid, and appropriate special
3accommodations. The State Board of Education shall develop such
4rules as may be needed to ensure uniformity from year to year
5in the level of difficulty for each form of an assessment.
6(Source: P.A. 98-361, eff. 1-1-14; 98-581, eff. 8-27-13;
798-756, eff. 7-16-14; 99-58, eff. 7-16-15; 99-657, eff.
87-28-16; 99-920, eff. 1-6-17; revised 1-23-17.)
 
9    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
10becoming law.".