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1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Act is
5amended by changing Sections 20 and 25 as follows:
 
6    (110 ILCS 148/20)
7    Sec. 20. Competency-based, high school graduation
8requirements pilot program. In consultation with ICCB and IBHE,
9ISBE shall establish and administer a competency-based, high
10school graduation requirements pilot program with school
11districts selected pursuant to Section 25 of this Act. A school
12district participating in the pilot program may select which of
13the year and course graduation requirements set forth in
14Section 27-22 of the School Code the school district wishes to
15replace with a competency-based learning system. A school
16district may participate in the pilot program for some or all
17of its schools serving grades 9 through 12. The pilot program
18shall include the following components and requirements:
19        (1) The competency-based learning systems authorized
20    through the pilot program shall include all of the
21    following elements:
22            (A) Students shall demonstrate mastery of all
23        required competencies to earn credit.

 

 

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1            (B) Students must demonstrate mastery of Adaptive
2        Competencies defined by the school district, in
3        addition to academic competencies.
4            (C) Students shall advance once they have
5        demonstrated mastery, and students shall receive more
6        time and personalized instruction to demonstrate
7        mastery, if needed.
8            (D) Students shall have the ability to attain
9        advanced postsecondary education and career-related
10        competencies beyond those needed for graduation.
11            (E) Students must be assessed using multiple
12        measures to determine mastery, usually requiring
13        application of knowledge.
14            (F) Students must be able to earn credit toward
15        graduation requirements in ways other than traditional
16        coursework, including learning opportunities outside
17        the traditional classroom setting, such as Supervised
18        Career Development Experiences.
19        (2) A school district participating in the pilot
20    program shall demonstrate that the proposed
21    competency-based learning system is a core strategy
22    supporting the community's efforts to better prepare high
23    school students for college, career, and life. The
24    application must identify the community partners that will
25    support the system's implementation.
26        (3) A school district participating in the pilot

 

 

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1    program must have a plan for educator administrator and
2    educator professional development on the competency-based
3    learning system and must demonstrate prior successful
4    implementation of professional development systems for
5    major district instructional initiatives.
6        (4) A school district participating in the pilot
7    program that is replacing graduation requirements in the
8    core academic areas of mathematics, English language arts,
9    and science with a competency-based learning system shall
10    demonstrate how the competencies can be mastered through
11    Integrated Courses or career and technical education
12    courses.
13        (5) A school district participating in the pilot
14    program shall develop a plan for community engagement and
15    communications.
16        (6) A school district participating in the pilot
17    program shall develop a plan for assigning course grades
18    based on mastery of competencies within the
19    competency-based learning system.
20        (7) A school district participating in the pilot
21    program shall establish a plan and system for collecting
22    and assessing student progress on competency completion
23    and attainment, including for learning opportunities
24    outside of the traditional classroom setting.
25        (8) A school district participating in the pilot
26    program shall establish a system for data collection and

 

 

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1    reporting and must provide ISBE with such reports and
2    information as may be required for administration and
3    evaluation of the program.
4        (9) A school district participating in the pilot
5    program shall partner with a community college and a higher
6    education institution other than a community college for
7    consultation on the development and administration of its
8    competency-based learning system. The plan shall address
9    how high school graduates of a competency-based learning
10    system will be able to provide information normally
11    expected of postsecondary institutions for admission and
12    financial aid.
13        (10) A school district participating in the pilot
14    program shall have a plan for engaging feeder elementary
15    schools with the participating high school or schools on
16    the establishment and administration of the
17    competency-based learning system.
18(Source: P.A. 99-674, eff. 7-29-16.)
 
19    (110 ILCS 148/25)
20    Sec. 25. Competency-based, high school graduation
21requirements pilot program eligibility and application
22process.
23    (a) The pilot program established under Section 20 of this
24Act shall be administered by the State Superintendent of
25Education in 2 phases: (i) an initial application and selection

 

 

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1process phase, and (ii) a subsequent phase for full development
2and implementation of a detailed plan for a competency-based
3learning system for high school graduation requirements.
4    (b) For the initial phase under clause (i) of subsection
5(a) of this Section, the State Superintendent of Education
6shall develop and issue a pilot program application that
7requires:
8        (1) demonstration of commitment from the school
9    district superintendent; the president of the school board
10    of the district; teachers within the school district who
11    will be involved with the pilot program implementation; a
12    community college partner; and a higher education
13    institution other than a community college;
14        (2) an indication of which of the year and course
15    graduation requirements set forth in Section 27-22 of the
16    School Code the school district wishes to replace with a
17    competency-based learning system;
18        (3) a general description of the school district's plan
19    for implementing a competency-based learning system for
20    high school graduation requirements, including how the
21    plan addresses the requirements of Section 20 of this Act
22    and this Section;
23        (4) the school district's prior professional
24    development and stakeholder engagement efforts that will
25    support its successful development and implementation of a
26    competency-based learning system, including, without

 

 

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1    limitation, prior implementation of professional
2    development systems for major district instructional
3    initiatives; and
4        (5) identification of any waivers or modifications of
5    State law or rules for implementation of the proposed plan.
6    The demonstration of commitment from teachers as required
7by paragraph (1) of this subsection (b) must include a
8description of how teachers have been engaged throughout the
9application development process. If the school district has an
10exclusive bargaining representative of its teachers and the
11president of the exclusive bargaining representative does not
12submit a statement of commitment for the application, the
13school district must submit either a statement by the president
14of the position of the exclusive bargaining representative on
15the application or a description of the school district's good
16faith efforts to obtain such a statement.
17    (c) Subject to subsection (g) of this Section, the State
18Superintendent of Education shall select school districts
19meeting the requirements set forth in this Section to
20participate in the pilot program based on the quality of the
21proposed plan, the strength of the local commitments,
22including, without limitation, teachers within the school
23district who will be involved in the program's implementation
24and postsecondary institution partnerships, and demonstration
25of prior professional development and stakeholder engagement
26efforts that will support the proposed system's successful

 

 

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1implementation. The State Superintendent of Education, in
2selecting the participating school districts, shall also
3consider the diversity of school district types and sizes, the
4diversity of geographic representation from across the State,
5and the diversity of plan approaches (such as approaches that
6involve one subject only, multiple subjects, and the types of
7subjects).
8    (d) School districts selected to participate in the pilot
9program shall receive technical assistance coordinated by the
10State Superintendent of Education to develop a full pilot
11program implementation plan. The State Superintendent of
12Education shall have discretion to remove a school district
13from the pilot program during this period if the school
14district does not submit a full pilot program implementation
15plan that meets the State Superintendent of Education's
16specifications.
17    (e) School districts shall, as part of the development of
18their application and participation in the competency-based
19learning system pilot program, establish and maintain a
20standing planning and implementation committee that includes
21representation from administrators and teachers, including
22teachers who will be involved in the competency-based learning
23system's implementation. The teacher representatives shall be
24selected by teachers or, where applicable, the exclusive
25bargaining representative of its teachers, and the number of
26teacher representatives shall be at least equal to

 

 

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1administrator representatives, unless otherwise agreed to by
2the teachers or, where applicable, the exclusive bargaining
3representative of its teachers. The standing planning and
4implementation committee shall develop reports that shall be
5included within the initial application, the full pilot program
6plan, and any subsequent annual submissions to the State
7Superintendent of Education as part of the assessment and
8evaluation of the program. The reports shall describe the
9members' assessment of the school district's plan or
10implementation, as applicable, of the school district's
11competency-based learning system and any recommendations for
12modifications or improvements to the system. If the committee
13does not reach consensus on the report, the administrator
14members shall submit the report and the teacher members may
15provide a position statement that must be included with the
16report submitted to the State Superintendent of Education.
17    (f) Notwithstanding any other provisions of the School Code
18or any other law of this State to the contrary, school
19districts participating in the pilot program may petition the
20State Superintendent of Education for a waiver or modification
21of the mandates of the School Code or of the administrative
22rules adopted by ISBE in order to support the implementation of
23the school district's proposed competency-based learning
24system. However, no waiver shall be granted under this
25subsection (f) relating to State assessments, accountability
26requirements, teacher tenure or seniority, teacher or

 

 

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1principal evaluations, or learning standards or that removes
2legal protections or supports intended for the protection of
3children or a particular category of students, such as students
4with disabilities or English learners. Any waiver or
5modification of teacher educator licensure requirements to
6permit instruction by non-educators or educators without an
7appropriate license must ensure that an appropriately licensed
8teacher and the provider of instruction partner in order to
9verify the method for assessing competency of mastery and
10verify whether a student has demonstrated mastery. All requests
11must be jointly signed by the school district superintendent
12and the president of the school board and must describe the
13position of teachers within the school district that will be
14involved in the competency-based learning system's
15implementation on the application. If the school district has
16an exclusive bargaining representative of its teachers and the
17president of the exclusive bargaining representative does not
18submit a statement of support for the application, the school
19district must submit either a statement by the president that
20describes the position of the exclusive bargaining
21representative on the application or a description of the
22school district's good faith efforts to obtain such a
23statement. The State Superintendent of Education shall approve
24a waiver or modification request meeting the requirements of
25this subsection (f) if the State Superintendent of Education
26determines the request is reasonably necessary to support the

 

 

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1implementation of the school district's proposed
2competency-based learning system, and the request shall not
3diminish the overall support of teachers within the school
4district involved with the system's implementation as
5demonstrated in the school district's initial application to
6participate in the pilot program. An approved request shall
7take effect in accordance with the timeline set forth in the
8school district's application, and an approved waiver or
9modification shall remain in effect for so long as the school
10district participates in the pilot program established by this
11Act. The State Superintendent of Education's approval of a
12school district plan for implementation of competency-based,
13high school graduation requirements shall serve as a waiver or
14modification of any conflicting requirements of Section 27-22
15of the School Code. School districts participating in the pilot
16program may additionally pursue waivers and modifications
17pursuant to Section 2-3.25g of the School Code.
18    (g) For purposes of this subsection (g), "annual cohort"
19means the group of school districts selected by the State
20Superintendent of Education to participate in the pilot program
21during an annual application and selection process. The State
22Superintendent of Education shall limit each annual cohort of
23the pilot program as follows: the first 2 annual cohorts shall
24be limited to no more than 12 school districts, and any
25subsequent annual cohort shall be limited to no more than 15
26school districts. A school district may submit only one

 

 

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1application for each annual cohort of the pilot program. The
2application of a school district having a population exceeding
3500,000 inhabitants may not include more than 6 schools. The
4expansion of a school district's competency-based learning
5system to a new school or new subject area identified in
6Section 27-22 of the School Code shall require a new
7application by the school district.
8    School districts may collaboratively apply to participate
9in the pilot program. Notwithstanding any other provision of
10this subsection (g), the application of a collaborative of
11districts shall be counted as one district application in the
12annual cohort selection process. In the application of a
13collaborative of districts, each district participating in the
14collaborative shall comply with the requirements outlined in
15subsection (b) of this Section as if applying as an individual
16district. The districts participating in the collaborative may
17establish and maintain a standing planning and implementation
18committee individually or collaboratively. If a collaborative
19of districts decides at a later date to participate as
20individual districts in the pilot program, the districts shall
21submit to the State Superintendent of Education a revised
22implementation plan that outlines the changes to their original
23plan, the individual district applications from these
24districts shall be considered as separate district
25applications, and none of these districts may be counted as one
26of the districts that are already part of the cohort

 

 

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1limitation.
2(Source: P.A. 99-674, eff. 7-29-16.)
 
3    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
4becoming law.