Public Act 100-1049
 
SB2838 EnrolledLRB100 18860 AXK 34102 b

    AN ACT concerning education.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Dual Credit Quality Act is amended by
changing Sections 15 and 20 and by adding Sections 16, 17, 18,
19, 30, and 35 as follows:
 
    (110 ILCS 27/15)
    Sec. 15. Student academic standing access, eligibility,
and attainment.
    (a) The Illinois Community College Board and the Board of
Higher Education shall develop policies to permit multiple
appropriate measures using differentiated assessment for
granting eligibility for dual credit to students. The measures
developed shall ensure that a student is prepared for any
coursework in which the student enrolls.
    (b) Institutions may adopt policies to protect the academic
standing of students who are not successful in dual credit
courses, including, but not limited to, options for (i) late
withdrawal from a course, or (ii) taking the course on a
pass-fail basis, or both. All institutional policies relating
to the academic standing of students enrolled in dual credit
courses or the transfer of credit for dual credit courses must
be made publicly available by the institution and provided to
each student enrolled in dual credit courses offered by that
institution.
(Source: P.A. 96-194, eff. 1-1-10.)
 
    (110 ILCS 27/16 new)
    Sec. 16. High school and community college partnership
agreements; dual credit. A community college district shall,
upon the request of a school district within the jurisdiction
of the community college district, enter into a partnership
agreement with the school district to offer dual credit
coursework.
    A school district may offer any course identified in the
Illinois Articulation Initiative General Education Core
Curriculum package under the Illinois Articulation Initiative
Act as a dual credit course on the campus of a high school of
the school district and may use a high school instructor who
has met the academic credential requirements under this Act to
teach the dual credit course.
    The partnership agreement shall include all of the
following:
        (1) The establishment of the school district's and the
    community college district's respective roles and
    responsibilities in providing the program and ensuring the
    quality and instructional rigor of the program. This must
    include an assurance that the community college district
    has appropriate academic control of the curriculum,
    consistent with any State or federal law and as required or
    negotiated with the Higher Learning Commission or other
    applicable accrediting agency.
        (2) The dual credit courses that the school district
    will offer its students and whether those courses will be
    offered on the high school or community college campus or
    through an online platform established by the Illinois
    Community College Board.
        (3) The establishment of academic criteria for
    granting eligibility for high school students to enroll in
    dual credit coursework. The academic criteria shall be
    evidence-based and shall include multiple appropriate
    measures to determine whether a student is prepared for any
    dual credit coursework in which the student enrolls.
        (4) The establishment of any limitations that the
    school district or community college district may put on
    course offerings due to availability of instructors, the
    availability of students for specific course offerings, or
    local board policy.
        (5) The requirement that the dual credit instructor
    meet the academic credential requirements to teach a dual
    credit course, consistent with paragraphs (1), (2), and (3)
    of Section 20 of this Act, but shall not be required to
    exceed those credentials.
        (6) The collaborative process and criteria by which the
    school district shall identify and recommend and the
    community college district shall review and approve high
    school instructors of dual credit courses taught on the
    campus of a high school. This provision shall require that
    the school district be responsible for hiring and
    compensating the instructor.
        (7) The requirement that a community college district
    take the appropriate steps to ensure that dual credit
    courses are equivalent to those courses offered at the
    community college in quality and rigor to qualify for
    college credit. The dual credit programs shall encompass
    the following characteristics:
            (A) Student learning outcomes expected for dual
        credit courses in General Education Core Curriculum
        courses and the professional and career and technical
        disciplines shall be the same as the student learning
        outcomes expected for the same courses taught on the
        postsecondary campus.
            (B) Course content, course delivery, and course
        rigor shall be evaluated by the community college chief
        academic officer or his or her designee, in
        consultation with the school district's superintendent
        or his or her designee. The evaluation shall be
        conducted in a manner that is consistent with the
        community college district's review and evaluation
        policy and procedures for on-campus adjunct faculty,
        including visits to the secondary class. This
        evaluation shall be limited to the course and the
        ability of the instructor to deliver quality, rigorous
        college credit coursework. This evaluation shall not
        impact the instructor's performance evaluation under
        Article 24A of the School Code.
            (C) The academic supports and, if applicable,
        guidance that will be provided to students
        participating in the program by the high school and the
        community college district.
        (8) Identify all fees and costs to be assessed by the
    community college district for dual credit courses. This
    provision shall require that any fees and costs assessed
    for dual credit courses shall be reasonable and promote
    student access to those courses, and may take into account
    regional considerations and differences.
        (9) The community college district shall establish a
    mechanism for evaluating and documenting on a regular basis
    the performance of students who complete dual credit
    courses, consistent with paragraph (9) of Section 20 and
    Section 30 of this Act, and for sharing that data in a
    meaningful and timely manner with the school district. This
    evaluation shall be limited to the course and the
    coursework. This evaluation shall not impact the
    instructor's performance evaluation under Article 24A of
    the School Code.
    If, within 180 calendar days of the school district's
initial request to enter into a partnership agreement with the
community college district, the school district and the
community college district do not reach agreement on the
partnership agreement, then the school district and community
college district shall jointly implement the provisions of the
Model Partnership Agreement established under Section 19 of
this Act for which local agreement could not be reached. A
community college district may combine its negotiations with
multiple school districts to establish one multi-district
partnership agreement or may negotiate individual partnership
agreements at its discretion.
 
    (110 ILCS 27/17 new)
    Sec. 17. Out-of-state dual credit contracts. On or after
the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 100th General
Assembly, a school district may not enter into a new contract
with an out-of-state institution to provide a dual credit
course without first offering the community college district in
the district in which the school district is located the
opportunity to provide the course. Prior to entering into a
contract with an out-of-state institution, the school district
shall notify the Board of Higher Education of its intent to
enter into an agreement with an out-of-state institution. The
Board of Higher Education shall have 30 days to provide the
school district with a list of in-state institutions that can
provide the school district an equivalent dual credit
opportunity. In deciding which dual credit courses to offer, a
school district reserves the right to evaluate any dual credit
course offered by any institution for quality, rigor, and
alignment with the school district's students' needs.
    Agreements to provide dual credit courses between a school
district and an out-of-state institution in existence on the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 100th General
Assembly shall remain in effect and shall not be impacted by
this Section.
 
    (110 ILCS 27/18 new)
    Sec. 18. Recognition of dual credit coursework completion.
Any General Education Core Curriculum dual credit coursework
completed by a high school student under this Act must be
recognized as credit-bearing college-level coursework meeting
General Education Core Curriculum requirements, consistent
with the Illinois Articulation Initiative Act, if the course or
courses have an existing Illinois Articulation Initiative code
at the community college. Dual credit coursework completed by a
high school student under this Act is transferrable to all
public institutions in this State on the same basis as
coursework completed by a public community college student who
has previously earned a high school diploma in the manner set
forth under the Illinois Articulation Initiative Act.
 
    (110 ILCS 27/19 new)
    Sec. 19. Model Partnership Agreement and Dual Credit
Committee. A Model Partnership Agreement shall be developed
through a Dual Credit Committee involving collaboration
between the Illinois Community College Board and the State
Board of Education by June 30, 2019. The Committee shall
consist of 5 members appointed by the State Superintendent of
Education and 5 members appointed by the Executive Director of
the Illinois Community College Board. The Model Partnership
Agreement shall address all of the matters set forth in Section
16 of this Act.
 
    (110 ILCS 27/20)
    Sec. 20. Standards. All institutions offering dual credit
courses shall meet the following standards:
        (1) High school instructors teaching credit-bearing
    college-level courses for dual credit must meet any of the
    academic credential requirements set forth in paragraph
    (1), (2), or (3) of this Section and need not meet higher
    certification requirements or those set out in Article 21B
    of the School Code:
            (A) Approved instructors of dual credit courses
        shall meet any of the faculty credential standards
        allowed by the Higher Learning Commission to determine
        minimally qualified faculty. At the request of an
        instructor, an instructor who meets these credential
        standards shall be provided by the State Board of
        Education with a Dual Credit Endorsement, to be placed
        on the professional educator license, as established
        by the State Board of Education and as authorized under
        Article 21B of the School Code and promulgated through
        administrative rule in cooperation with the Illinois
        Community College Board and the Board of Higher
        Education.
            (B) An instructor who does not meet the faculty
        credential standards allowed by the Higher Learning
        Commission to determine minimally qualified faculty
        may teach dual credit courses if the instructor has a
        professional development plan, approved by the
        institution and shared with the State Board of
        Education, within 4 years of the effective date of this
        amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly, to raise
        his or her credentials to be in line with the
        credentials under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph
        (1). The institution shall have 30 days to review the
        plan and approve an instructor professional
        development plan that is in line with the credentials
        set forth in paragraph (2) of this Section. The
        institution shall not unreasonably withhold approval
        of a professional development plan. These approvals
        shall be good for as long as satisfactory progress
        toward the completion of the credential is
        demonstrated, but in no event shall a professional
        development plan be in effect for more than 3 years
        from the date of its approval. A high school instructor
        whose professional development plan is not approved by
        the institution may appeal to the Illinois Community
        College Board or the Board of Higher Education, as
        appropriate.
            (C) The Illinois Community College Board shall
        report yearly on its Internet website the number of
        teachers who have approved professional development
        plans under this Section.
        (2) A high school instructor shall qualify for a
    professional development plan if the instructor:
            (A) has a master's degree in any discipline and has
        earned 9 graduate hours in a discipline in which he or
        she is currently teaching or expects to teach; or
            (B) has a bachelor's degree with a minimum of 18
        graduate hours in a discipline that he or she is
        currently teaching or expects to teach and is enrolled
        in a discipline-specific master's degree program; and
            (C) agrees to demonstrate his or her progress
        toward completion to the supervising institution, as
        outlined in the professional development plan.
        (3) An instructor in career and technical education
    courses must possess the credentials and demonstrated
    teaching competencies appropriate to the field of
    instruction.
        (4) Course content must be equivalent to
    credit-bearing college-level courses offered at the
    community college.
        (5) Learning outcomes must be the same as
    credit-bearing college-level courses and be appropriately
    measured.
        (6) A high school instructor is expected to participate
    in any orientation developed by the institution for dual
    credit instructors in course curriculum, assessment
    methods, and administrative requirements.
        (1) Instructors teaching credit-bearing college-level
    courses for dual credit must meet the same academic
    credential requirements as faculty teaching on campus and
    need not meet certification requirements set out in Article
    21 of the School Code.
        (2) Instructors in career and technical education
    courses must possess the credentials and demonstrated
    teaching competencies appropriate to the field of
    instruction.
        (3) Students must meet the same academic criteria as
    those enrolled in credit-bearing college courses,
    including taking appropriate placement testing.
        (4) Course content must be the same as that required
    for credit-bearing college courses.
        (5) Learning outcomes must be the same as for
    credit-bearing college courses and be appropriately
    measured.
        (6) Institutions shall provide high school instructors
    with an orientation in course curriculum, assessment
    methods, and administrative requirements before high
    school instructors are permitted to teach dual credit
    courses.
        (7) Dual credit instructors must be given the
    opportunity to participate in all activities available to
    other adjunct faculty, including professional development,
    seminars, site visits, and internal communication,
    provided that such opportunities do not interfere with an
    instructor's regular teaching duties.
        (8) Every dual credit course must be reviewed annually
    by faculty through the appropriate department to ensure
    consistency with campus courses.
        (9) Dual credit students must be assessed using methods
    consistent with students in traditional credit-bearing
    college courses.
(Source: P.A. 96-194, eff. 1-1-10.)
 
    (110 ILCS 27/35 new)
    Sec. 35. Dual Credit Grant. Subject to appropriation, the
Illinois Community College Board shall award funds to community
college districts to expand their service and lower costs for
high school students desiring to take college-level classes
prior to receiving their high school diploma to accelerate
their college coursework.