102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
HB3769

 

Introduced 2/22/2021, by Rep. Rita Mayfield

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/21B-120 new

    Amends the Educator Licensure Article of the School Code. Provides that, beginning October 1, 2021, culturally responsive teaching standards shall apply to the issuance of all professional educator licenses endorsed in teaching, school support personnel, and administrative fields. Provides that the culturally responsive teaching standards shall apply both to candidates for licensure and to educator preparation programs. Provides that the standards shall include (i) self-awareness and relationships to others, (ii) systems of oppression, (iii) students as individuals, (iv) students as co-creators, (v) leveraging student advocacy, (vi) family and community collaboration, (vii) content selections in all curricula, and (viii) student representation in the learning environment. Effective July 1, 2021.


LRB102 14628 CMG 19981 b

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB3769LRB102 14628 CMG 19981 b

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 School Code is amended by adding Section
521B-120 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/21B-120 new)
7    Sec. 21B-120. Culturally responsive teaching standards.
8    (a) Beginning October 21, 2021, culturally responsive
9teaching standards shall apply to the issuance of all
10Professional Educator Licenses endorsed in teaching, school
11support personnel, and administrative fields. The standards
12set forth in this Section shall apply both to candidates for
13licensure and to educator preparation programs.
14    (b) The culturally responsive teaching standards shall
15include all of the following:
16        (1) Self-awareness and relationships to others.
17    Culturally responsive teachers and leaders are reflective
18    and gain a deeper understanding of themselves and how they
19    impact others, leading to more cohesive and productive
20    student development as it relates to academic and
21    social-emotional development for all students. The
22    culturally responsive teacher and leader shall do all of
23    the following:

 

 

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1            (A) Understand and value the notion that multiple
2        lived experiences exist, that there is not one correct
3        way of doing or understanding something, and that what
4        is seen as correct is most often based on our lived
5        experiences.
6            (B) Approach their work and students with an
7        asset-based mindset, affirming the students'
8        backgrounds and identities.
9            (C) Know about their students and their lives
10        outside of school and use this knowledge to build
11        instruction that leverages prior knowledge and skills.
12            (D) Include representative, familiar content in
13        the curriculum to legitimize what students bring to
14        class while also exposing them to new ideas and
15        worldviews that are different from their own.
16            (E) Engage in self-reflection about their own
17        actions and interactions and what ideas motivated
18        those actions.
19            (F) Explore their own intersecting identities, how
20        they were developed, and how they impact daily
21        experience of the world.
22            (G) Recognize how their identity, including such
23        factors as race and ethnicity, national origin,
24        language, sex and gender, gender identity, sexual
25        orientation, physical, developmental, and emotional
26        ability, socioeconomic class, and religion affects

 

 

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1        their perspectives and beliefs about pedagogy and
2        students.
3            (H) Educate themselves about their students'
4        communities, cultures, and histories.
5            (I) Critically think about the institutions in
6        which they find themselves and work to reform these
7        institutions whenever and wherever necessary.
8            (J) Assess how biases and perceptions affect their
9        teaching practice and how they access tools to
10        mitigate their own behavior, such as racism, sexism,
11        homophobia, unearned privilege, and Eurocentrism.
12        (2) Systems of oppression. Culturally responsive
13    teachers and leaders understand that there are systems in
14    our society that create and reinforce inequities, thereby
15    creating oppressive conditions. Educators work actively
16    against these systems in their everyday roles in
17    educational institutions. The culturally responsive
18    teacher and leader shall do all of the following:
19            (A) Understand the difference between prejudice,
20        discrimination, racism, and how to operate at the
21        interpersonal, intergroup, and institutional levels.
22            (B) Collaborate with colleagues to determine how
23        students from different backgrounds experience the
24        classroom, school, or district.
25            (C) Understand how the system of inequity has
26        impacted them as an educator.

 

 

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1            (D) Know and understand how current curriculum and
2        approaches to teaching impact students who are not a
3        part of the dominant culture.
4            (E) Is aware of the effects of power and privilege
5        and the need for social advocacy and social action to
6        better empower diverse students and communities.
7            (F) Know and understand how a system of inequity
8        creates rules regarding student punishment that
9        negatively impacts students of color.
10            (G) Know and understand how a system of inequity
11        reinforces certain truths as the norm.
12        (3) Students as individuals. Culturally responsive
13    teachers and leaders view and value their students as
14    individuals within the context of their families and
15    communities. The culturally responsive teacher and leader
16    shall do all of the following:
17            (A) Learn from and about their students' culture,
18        language, and learning styles to make instruction more
19        meaningful and relevant to their students' lives.
20            (B) Engage with students' families and community
21        members outside of the classroom to develop a more
22        holistic understanding of the students' lived
23        experiences.
24            (C) Develop positive, strength-based partnerships
25        with students and their families by learning about
26        them, soliciting their opinions, and valuing their

 

 

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1        expectations, especially with those marginalized by
2        schools in the past.
3            (D) Provide parents with information about what
4        their child is expected to learn, know, and do at the
5        child's grade level and ways to reinforce concepts at
6        home.
7            (E) Share the classroom systems and policies, such
8        as expectations, agreements, recognition, and
9        incentive practices, used in the classroom with
10        students' families and align them to the values and
11        cultural norms of those families.
12            (F) Provide multiple opportunities for parents to
13        communicate in their language and method of
14        preference.
15            (G) Set holistic goals for students that
16        accommodate multiple ways of demonstrating strengths
17        and success, including alternate academic achievement
18        metrics, growth indicators, leadership, character
19        development, social-emotional learning competencies,
20        and school values.
21        (4) Students as co-creators. Culturally responsive
22    teachers and leaders are those who fundamentally believe
23    all students are capable and center learning around
24    students' experiences and position them as co-creators,
25    with an emphasis on prioritizing historically marginalized
26    students. The culturally responsive teacher and leader

 

 

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1    shall do all of the following:
2            (A) Encourage and affirm the personal experiences,
3        such as family, community, and cultural experience, of
4        students to share in the classroom.
5            (B) Make authentic connections between academic
6        learning and students' prior knowledge, native
7        language, culture, and values.
8            (C) Consistently solicit students' input on the
9        curriculum, interests, people, or concepts.
10            (D) Co-create with students the collective
11        expectations and agreements regarding the physical
12        space and social-emotional culture of the classroom
13        and school.
14            (E) Create and embed student leadership
15        opportunities into the student experience, such as
16        peer-led discussion, student-led workshops, and
17        student-run schoolwide initiatives.
18            (F) Persistently solicit student feedback, value
19        that feedback by resisting defensiveness, and adjust
20        based on that feedback.
21        (5) Leveraging student advocacy. Culturally responsive
22    teachers and leaders support and create opportunities for
23    student advocacy and representation in the content and
24    classroom. The culturally responsive teacher and leader
25    shall do all of the following:
26            (A) Emphasize and connect with students about

 

 

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1        their identities, advocacies, and self-interest.
2            (B) Offer guidance to students on how to develop a
3        self-advocacy plan to inform decisions and choices.
4            (C) Include students in the creation of an
5        inclusive learning community with more opportunities
6        for student expression.
7            (D) Help students identify actions that can be
8        taken to apply learning to develop opportunities and
9        relationships for alliances.
10            (E) Create a risk-taking space that promotes
11        student advocacy.
12            (F) Research and offer student advocacy content
13        with real world implications.
14            (G) Hold high expectations in which all students
15        can participate and lead as student advocates.
16            (H) Give students space to solve their own
17        problems, negotiate their advocacy needs, and present
18        their perspectives.
19        (6) Family and community collaboration. Culturally
20    responsive teachers and leaders partner with families and
21    communities to build rapport, form collaborative and
22    mutual relationships, and engage in effective
23    cross-cultural communication. The culturally responsive
24    teacher and leader shall do all of the following:
25            (A) Regularly interact with students, families,
26        and communities in both English and a home language

 

 

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1        through methods of their preference.
2            (B) Actively seek multiple perspectives and
3        contribution from families and the community and
4        invite them to actively share their opinions,
5        feedback, and concerns that impact the school
6        community.
7            (C) Forge ongoing participation with families and
8        community members to meet the diverse needs and
9        interests of students.
10            (D) Continuously learn and build cultural
11        knowledge that families and the community bring to the
12        school community to nurture and foster relationships
13        and inform student learning experiences.
14            (E) Use best practices that are culturally
15        responsive to value students and their families'
16        cultural traditions when recognizing, motivating,
17        encouraging, and supporting student success and
18        growth.
19            (F) Develop relationships with families and the
20        community outside of the classroom setting.
21            (G) Foster students' cultural understanding and
22        connection to the surrounding community.
23            (H)Invite family and community members to teach
24        about topics that are culturally specific and aligned
25        to the classroom curriculum or content area.
26            (I) Welcome communication from parents and reply

 

 

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1        in a timely manner.
2            (J) Communicate and provide appropriate techniques
3        and materials to support and enrich student learning
4        at home.
5            (K) Collaborate effectively over time with the
6        local community and community agencies, as
7        appropriate, to promote a positive environment for
8        student learning.
9        (7) Content selections in all curricula. Culturally
10    responsive teachers and leaders intentionally embrace
11    student identities and prioritize representation in the
12    curriculum. In turn, students are not only given a chance
13    to identify with the curriculum, they become exposed to
14    other cultures within their schools and both their local
15    and global communities. The culturally responsive teacher
16    and leader shall do all of the following:
17            (A) Curate the curriculum.
18            (B) Identify and articulate the purposeful ways in
19        which marginalized communities are represented in
20        curriculum, including print, digital media, and other
21        classroom resources.
22            (C) Employ authentic and modern technology usage
23        inspiring digital literacy through an equity lens.
24            (D) Ensure assessments reflect the enriched
25        curriculum that has embedded student identities.
26            (E) Embrace and encourage inclusive viewpoints and

 

 

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1        perspectives that leverage asset thinking toward
2        traditionally marginalized populations.
3            (F) Assess one's story through multiple vantage
4        points to gain a whole narrative that includes all
5        sides of parties involved.
6            (G) Implement and integrate the wide spectrum and
7        fluidity of identities in the curriculum.
8            (H) Ensure text selections reflect students'
9        classroom, community, and family culture.
10            (I) Ensure teacher and students co-create content
11        to include a counter-narrative to dominant culture.
12            (J) Use a resource tool to assess the curriculum
13        and assessments for biases.
14            (K) Promote robust discussion with the intent of
15        raising consciousness that reflects modern society and
16        the ways in which cultures and communities intersect.
17            (L) Consider a broader modality of student
18        assessments, such as performance portfolios, essays,
19        multiple choice, state exams, oral examination,
20        community assessments, social justice work, action
21        research projects, and recognition beyond academia.
22        (8) Student representation in the learning
23    environment. Culturally responsive teachers and leaders
24    ensure the diversity of their student population is
25    equally represented within the learning environment. In
26    turn, all members of the student population feel seen,

 

 

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1    heard, and affirmed. Exceptionally well-versed culturally
2    responsive teachers and leaders provide exposure to under
3    or misrepresented minority groups even when they are not
4    present within the population of their school and
5    community at large. The culturally responsive teacher and
6    leader shall do all of the following:
7            (A) Uphold systems of support that create,
8        promote, and sustain a welcoming and inclusive
9        community.
10            (B) Ensure linguistic diversity is represented
11        throughout the building and seek ways to reflect
12        representation of world languages.
13            (C) Verify that course materials are
14        representative of all students, including materials
15        for centers, stations, labs, and classroom libraries.
16            (D) Ensure classroom and building decorations are
17        inclusive of all students throughout the building or
18        within the community or city at large.
 
19    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
202021.