Sen. Chuck Weaver

Filed: 4/20/2018

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 2693

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 2693 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 institution of higher learning, as
15defined in the Higher Education Student Assistance Act, may not
16require an applicant to complete the State Board's recognized
17test of basic skills prior to the semester before student
18teaching or prior to the semester before starting the final
19semester of an internship. An individual who passes a test of
20basic skills does not need to do so again for subsequent
21endorsements or other educator licenses.
22    (d) All applicants seeking a State license shall be
23required to pass a test of content area knowledge for each area
24of endorsement for which there is an applicable test. There
25shall be no exception to this requirement. No candidate shall
26be allowed to student teach or serve as the teacher of record

 

 

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1until he or she has passed the applicable content area test.
2    (e) (Blank). and completing their student teaching
3experience no later than August 31, 2015 Prior to September 1,
42015, passage The APT shall be available through August 31,
52020.
6    (f) Except as otherwise provided in this Article, beginning
7on September 1, 2015, all candidates completing teacher
8preparation programs in this State and all candidates subject
9to Section 21B-35 of this Code are required to pass an
10evidence-based assessment of teacher effectiveness approved by
11the State Board of Education, in consultation with the State
12Educator Preparation and Licensure Board. All recognized
13institutions offering approved teacher preparation programs
14must begin phasing in the approved teacher performance
15assessment no later than July 1, 2013.
16    (g) Tests of basic skills and content area knowledge and
17the assessment of professional teaching shall be the tests that
18from time to time are designated by the State Board of
19Education, in consultation with the State Educator Preparation
20and Licensure Board, and may be tests prepared by an
21educational testing organization or tests designed by the State
22Board of Education, in consultation with the State Educator
23Preparation and Licensure Board. The areas to be covered by a
24test of basic skills shall include reading, language arts, and
25mathematics. The test of content area knowledge shall assess
26content knowledge in a specific subject field. The tests must

 

 

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

 

 

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1accommodations. The State Board of Education shall develop such
2rules as may be needed to ensure uniformity from year to year
3in the level of difficulty for each form of an assessment.
4(Source: P.A. 98-361, eff. 1-1-14; 98-581, eff. 8-27-13;
598-756, eff. 7-16-14; 99-58, eff. 7-16-15; 99-657, eff.
67-28-16; 99-920, eff. 1-6-17; revised 1-23-17.)
 
7    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
8becoming law.".