105 ILCS 5/21-7.6

(105 ILCS 5/21-7.6)

(Section scheduled to be repealed on June 30, 2013)

Sec. 21-7.6. Principal preparation programs.

(a) It is the policy of this State that an essential element of improving student learning is supporting and employing highly effective school principals in leadership roles who improve teaching and learning and increase academic achievement and the development of all students.

(b) No later than September 1, 2014, all institutions of higher education and not-for-profit entities approved by the State Board of Education, in consultation with the State Teacher Certification Board, to offer principal preparation programs must do all of the following:

(1) Meet the standards and requirements for such programs in accordance with this Section and any rules adopted by the State Board of Education.

(2) Prepare candidates to meet approved standards for principal skills, knowledge, and responsibilities, which shall include a focus on instruction and student learning and which must be used for principal professional development, mentoring, and evaluation.

(3) Include specific requirements for (i) the selection and assessment of candidates, (ii) training in the evaluation of staff, (iii) an internship, and (iv) a partnership with one or more school districts or State-recognized, non-public schools where the chief administrator is required to have the certification necessary to be a principal in an Illinois public school and where a majority of the instructors are required to have the certification necessary to be instructors in an Illinois public school.

In accordance with subsection (a) of Section 21-7.1 of this Code, any principal preparation program offered in whole or in part by a not-for-profit entity must also be approved by the Board of Higher Education.

(c) No candidates may be admitted to an approved general administrative preparation program after September 1, 2012. Institutions of higher education currently offering general administrative preparation programs may no longer entitle principals with a general administrative endorsement after August 31, 2014.

(d) Candidates successfully completing a principal preparation program established pursuant to this Section shall obtain a principal endorsement on an administrative certificate and are eligible to work in, at a minimum, those capacities set forth in paragraph (2) of subsection (e) of Section 21-7.1 of this Code. Beginning on August 31, 2014, the general administrative endorsement shall no longer be issued. Individuals who hold a valid and registered administrative certificate with a general administrative endorsement prior to July 1, 2014 and who have served for at least one full year during the 5 years prior in a position requiring a general administrative endorsement shall, upon request to the State Board of Education and through July 1, 2015, have their respective general administrative endorsement converted to a principal endorsement. All other individuals holding a valid and registered administrative certificate with a general administrative endorsement prior to August 31, 2014 shall have such general administrative endorsement converted to a principal endorsement upon request to the State Board of Education and by completing one of the following pathways:

(1) Take and pass a State principal assessment developed by the State Board of Education.

(2) Through July 1, 2019, complete an Illinois Administrators' Academy course designated by the State Superintendent of Education.

(3) Complete a principal preparation program established and approved pursuant to this Section and applicable rules.

Nothing in this amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly shall prevent an individual having a general administrative endorsement from serving at any time in any position identified in paragraph (2) of subsection (e) of Section 21-7.1 of this Code.

(e) The State Board of Education may adopt rules necessary to implement and administer principal preparation programs under this Section.

(f) This Section is repealed on June 30, 2013.

(Source: P.A. 96-903, eff. 7-1-10; 97-607, eff. 8-26-11.)