Rep. Monique D. Davis

Filed: 5/29/2011

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 601

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 601 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
521-1a as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/21-1a)  (from Ch. 122, par. 21-1a)
7    Sec. 21-1a. Tests required for certification and teacher
8preparation.
9    (a) After July 1, 1988, in addition to all other
10requirements, early childhood, elementary, special, high
11school, school service personnel, or, except as provided in
12Section 34-6, administrative certificates shall be issued to
13persons who have satisfactorily passed a test of basic skills,
14an assessment of professional teaching, and a test of subject
15matter knowledge, provided that a person who passed another
16state's test of basic skills as a condition of certification or

 

 

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1of admission to a teacher preparation program shall not be
2required to pass this State's test of basic skills. The tests
3of basic skills and subject matter knowledge shall be the tests
4which from time to time are designated by the State Board of
5Education in consultation with the State Teacher Certification
6Board and may be tests prepared by an educational testing
7organization or tests designed by the State Board of Education
8in consultation with the State Teacher Certification Board. The
9areas to be covered by the test of basic skills shall include
10the basic skills of reading, writing, grammar and mathematics.
11The test of subject matter knowledge shall assess content
12knowledge in the specific subject field. The tests shall be
13designed to be racially neutral to assure that no person in
14taking the tests is thereby discriminated against on the basis
15of race, color, national origin or other factors unrelated to
16the person's ability to perform as a certificated employee. The
17score required to pass the tests of basic skills and subject
18matter knowledge shall be fixed by the State Board of Education
19in consultation with the State Teacher Certification Board. The
20tests shall be held not fewer than 3 times a year at such time
21and place as may be designated by the State Board of Education
22in consultation with the State Teacher Certification Board.
23    (b) Except as provided in Section 34-6, the provisions of
24subsection (a) of this Section shall apply equally in any
25school district subject to Article 34, provided that the State
26Board of Education shall determine which certificates issued

 

 

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1under Sections 34-8.1 and 34-83 prior to July 1, 1988 are
2comparable to any early childhood certificate, elementary
3school certificate, special certificate, high school
4certificate, school service personnel certificate or
5administrative certificate issued under this Article as of July
61, 1988.
7    (c) A person who holds an early childhood, elementary,
8special, high school or school service personnel certificate
9issued under this Article on or at any time before July 1,
101988, including a person who has been issued any such
11certificate pursuant to Section 21-11.1 or in exchange for a
12comparable certificate theretofore issued under Section 34-8.1
13or Section 34-83, shall not be required to take or pass the
14tests in order to thereafter have such certificate renewed.
15    (d) The State Board of Education in consultation with the
16State Teacher Certification Board shall conduct a pilot
17administration of the tests by administering the test to
18students completing teacher education programs in the 1986-87
19school year for the purpose of determining the effect and
20impact of testing candidates for certification.
21    Any student who intends to enroll in a teacher preparation
22program at a recognized teacher training institution shall, at
23any time within that student's first 2 years of enrollment at
24an institution of higher learning, take the basic skills test
25and must pass the basic skills test with a score of at least
2655% in all categories. Beginning with the 2002-2003 academic

 

 

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1year, a student may not enroll in a teacher preparation program
2at a recognized teacher training institution until he or she
3has passed the basic skills test.
4    Beginning on the effective date of this amendatory Act of
5the 94th General Assembly, prior to completing an approved
6teacher preparation program, a preservice education candidate
7must satisfactorily pass the test of subject matter knowledge
8in the discipline in which he or she will be certified to
9teach. The teacher preparation program may require passage of
10the test of subject matter knowledge at any time during the
11program, including prior to student teaching.
12    (e) The rules and regulations developed to implement the
13required test of basic skills and subject matter knowledge
14shall include the requirements of subsections (a), (b), and (c)
15and shall include specific regulations to govern test
16selection; test validation and determination of a passing
17score; administration of the tests; frequency of
18administration; applicant fees; frequency of applicants'
19taking the tests; the years for which a score is valid; and,
20waiving certain additional tests for additional certificates
21to individuals who have satisfactorily passed the test of basic
22skills and subject matter knowledge as required in subsection
23(a). The State Board of Education shall provide, by rule,
24specific policies that assure uniformity in the difficulty
25level of each form of the basic skills test and each subject
26matter knowledge test from test-to-test and year-to-year. The

 

 

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1State Board of Education shall also set a passing score for the
2tests.
3    (f) The State Teacher Certification Board may issue a
4nonrenewable temporary certificate between July 1, 1988 and
5August 31, 1988 to individuals who have taken the tests of
6basic skills and subject matter knowledge prescribed by this
7Section but have not received such test scores by August 31,
81988. Such temporary certificates shall expire on December 31,
91988.
10    (g) Beginning February 15, 2000, the State Board of
11Education, in consultation with the State Teacher
12Certification Board, shall implement and administer a new
13system of certification for teachers in the State of Illinois.
14The State Board of Education, in consultation with the State
15Teacher Certification Board, shall design and implement a
16system of examinations and various other criteria which shall
17be required prior to the issuance of Initial Teaching
18Certificates and Standard Teaching Certificates. These
19examinations and indicators shall be based on national and
20State professional teaching standards, as determined by the
21State Board of Education, in consultation with the State
22Teacher Certification Board. The State Board of Education may
23adopt any and all regulations necessary to implement and
24administer this Section.
25    (h) The State Board of Education shall report to the
26Illinois General Assembly and the Governor with

 

 

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1recommendations for further changes and improvements to the
2teacher certification system no later than July 1, 1999 and on
3an annual basis until July 1, 2001.
4(Source: P.A. 96-689, eff. 8-25-09.)".