Sen. Iris Y. Martinez

Filed: 3/22/2004

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1550

2     AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1550 by replacing
3 everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4     "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Grow
5 Our Own Teacher Education Act.
 
6     Section 5. Purpose. The Grow Our Own Teacher preparation
7 programs established under this Act shall comprise a major new
8 statewide initiative, known as the Grow Our Own Teacher
9 Education Initiative, to prepare highly skilled, committed
10 teachers who will teach in hard-to-staff schools and
11 hard-to-staff teaching positions and who will remain in these
12 schools for substantial periods of time.
13      The Grow Our Own Teacher Education Initiative shall
14 effectively recruit and prepare parent and community leaders
15 and paraeducators to become effective teachers and teacher
16 leaders statewide in hard-to-staff schools and hard-to-staff
17 teaching positions in schools serving a substantial percentage
18 of low-income students. Further, the Initiative shall increase
19 the diversity of teachers, including diversity based on race,
20 ethnicity, and disability.
21     The Grow Our Own Teacher Education Initiative shall ensure
22 educational rigor by effectively preparing students in
23 accredited bachelor's degree programs in teaching, through
24 which graduates shall meet the requirements to secure an

 

 

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1 Illinois standard teaching certificate.
2     The goal of the Grow Our Own Teacher Education Initiative
3 is to add 1,000 teachers to low-income and other hard-to-staff
4 Illinois schools by 2016 with an average retention period of 7
5 years, as opposed to the current rate of 2.5 years for new
6 teachers in such areas.
 
7     Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
8      "Accredited teacher preparation program" means a State or
9 regionally accredited higher education program authorized to
10 prepare individuals to fulfill all of the requirements to
11 receive an Illinois standard teaching certificate.
12      "Hard-to-staff school" means an elementary or secondary
13 school that, based on data compiled by the State Board of
14 Education, ranks in the upper third of schools in this State on
15 a combined index measuring the percentage of the school's
16 teachers who are not fully certified and the percentage of the
17 school's teachers who leave their positions annually.
18      "Hard-to-staff teaching position" means a teaching
19 category (such as special education, mathematics, or science)
20 in which statewide data compiled by the State Board of
21 Education indicates a multi-year pattern of substantial
22 teacher shortage or that has been identified as a critical need
23 by the local school board.
24     "Initiative" means the Grow Our Own Teacher Education
25 Initiative created under this Act.
26     "Paraeducators" means individuals with a history of
27 demonstrated accomplishments in school staff positions (such
28 as teacher assistants, school-community liaisons, school
29 clerks, and security aides) in schools serving a substantial
30 percentage of low-income students.
31     "Parent and community leaders" means individuals with a
32 significant history of involvement in improving schools
33 serving a substantial percentage of low-income students,

 

 

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1 including membership in a community organization.
2      "Community organization" means a nonprofit organization
3 that has a demonstrated capacity to train, develop, and
4 organize parents and community leaders into a constituency that
5 will hold the school and the school district accountable for
6 achieving high academic standards; in addition to
7 organizations with a geographic focus, "community
8 organization" includes general parent organizations,
9 organizations of special education or bilingual education
10 parents, and school employee unions.
11     "Program" means a Grow Our Own Teacher preparation program
12 established by a consortium under this Act.
13     "Schools serving a substantial percentage of low-income
14 students" means schools whose percentage of students receiving
15 free or reduced-price lunches is at or above the
16 district-average percentage.
17      "State Board" means the State Board of Education.
 
18     Section 15. Creation of Initiative. The Grow Our Own
19 Teacher Education Initiative is created. The State Board shall
20 administer the Initiative as a grant competition to fund
21 consortia that will carry out Grow Our Own Teacher preparation
22 programs.
 
23     Section 20. Selection of grantees. The State Board shall
24 award grants to up to 10 qualified consortia that reflect the
25 distribution and diversity of target hard-to-staff schools
26 across this State. In awarding grants, the State Board shall
27 select programs that successfully address Initiative criteria
28 and that reflect a diversity of strategies in terms of serving
29 urban areas, serving rural areas, the nature of the
30 participating institutions of higher education, whether
31 participants will be trained at the baccalaureate or master's
32 level, and the nature of hard-to-staff teaching positions on

 

 

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1 which a program is focused.
2     The State Board shall select consortia that meet the
3 following requirements:
4         (1) A consortium shall be composed of at least one
5 4-year institution of higher education with an accredited
6 teacher preparation program, at least one school district
7 or group of schools, and one or more community
8 organizations. The consortium may also include a 2-year
9 institution of higher education or a school employee union
10 or both.
11         (2) The 4-year institution of higher education
12 participating in the consortium shall have past,
13 demonstrated success in preparing teachers for elementary
14 or secondary schools serving a substantial percentage of
15 low-income students.
16         (3) The consortium shall focus on a clearly defined set
17 of target schools serving a substantial percentage of
18 low-income students that will be the primary focus of the
19 program. The consortium shall articulate the steps that it
20 will carry out in preparing teachers for its target
21 hard-to-staff schools and in preparing teachers for one or
22 more hard-to-staff teaching positions in its target
23 schools.
24         (4) Student participants in a program under the
25 Initiative must hold a high school diploma or its
26 equivalent and must meet either the definition of "parent
27 and community leaders" or the definition of
28 "paraeducators" contained in Section 10 of this Act.
29         (5) The consortium shall employ effective procedures
30 for teaching the skills and knowledge needed to prepare
31 highly competent teachers. Instruction shall include
32 on-going direct experience in target schools and analysis
33 of this experience.
34         (6) The consortium shall offer the program to cohorts

 

 

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1 of students who begin by moving through the program
2 together. The program shall be offered on a schedule that
3 enables students to work full time while participating in
4 the program and allows paraeducators to continue in their
5 current positions. The consortium shall guarantee that
6 support will be available to an admitted cohort through the
7 cohort's full period of training. At the beginning of the
8 Initiative, programs that are already operating and
9 existing cohorts of students under this model shall be
10 eligible for funding.
11         (7) The institutions of higher education participating
12 in the consortium shall document and agree to expend the
13 same amount of funds in implementing the program that these
14 institutions spend per student on similar educational
15 programs. Grants received by the consortium shall
16 supplement and not supplant these amounts.
17         (8) The State Board shall establish additional
18 criteria for review of proposals, including criteria that
19 address the following issues:
20             (A) Previous experience of the institutions of
21 higher education in preparing students for
22 hard-to-staff schools and positions and in working
23 with students with non-traditional backgrounds.
24             (B) The quality of the implementation plan,
25 including strategies for overcoming institutional
26 barriers to the progress of non-traditional students.
27             (C) If a community college is a participant, the
28 nature and extent of existing articulation agreements
29 and guarantees between the community college and the
30 4-year institution of higher education.
31             (D) The number of participants to be trained in the
32 current cohort or cohorts and the capacity of the
33 consortium for adding cohorts in future cycles.
34             (E) Experience of the community organization or

 

 

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1 organizations in organizing parents and community
2 leaders to achieve school improvement and a strong
3 relational school culture.
4             (F) The qualifications of the person or persons
5 designated by the 4-year institution of higher
6 education to be responsible for cohort support and the
7 development of a shared learning and social
8 environment among participants.
9             (G) The consortium's plan for collective
10 consortium decision-making, including mechanisms for
11 community and participant input.
12             (H) The consortium's plan for direct impact of the
13 program on the quality of education in the target
14 schools.
15             (I) The relevance of the curriculum to the needs of
16 targeted schools and positions, and the use in
17 curriculum and instructional planning of principles
18 for effective adult education.
19             (J) The availability of classes under the program
20 in places and times accessible to the participants.
21             (K) Provision of a level of performance to be
22 maintained by participants as a condition of
23 continuing in the program.
24             (L) The plan of the 4-year institution of higher
25 education to ensure that students take advantage of
26 existing financial aid resources before using the loan
27 funds described in Section 25 of this Act.
28             (M) The availability of supportive services,
29 including counseling, tutoring, and child care.
30             (N) A plan for continued participation of
31 graduates of the program in a program of support for at
32 least 2 years, including mentoring and group meetings.
33             (O) A plan for testing and qualitative evaluation
34 of participants' teaching skills that ensures that

 

 

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1 graduates of the program are as prepared for teaching
2 as those from the conventional teacher training
3 program of the 4-year institution of higher education.
4             (P) A plan for internal evaluation that provides
5 reports at least yearly on the progress of participants
6 towards graduation and the impact of the program on the
7 target schools and their communities.
8             (Q) Contributions from schools, school districts,
9 and other consortia members to the program, including
10 stipends for participants during their student
11 teaching.
12             (R) Consortium commitment for sustaining the
13 program over time, as evidenced by plans for reduced
14 requirements for external funding in subsequent
15 cycles.
 
16     Section 25. Expenditures under the Initiative.
17     (a) Every program under the Initiative shall implement and
18 manage a program of forgivable loans to cover any portion of
19 tuition and direct expenses of students under the program in
20 excess of grants-in-aid and other forgivable loans received.
21 All students admitted to a cohort shall be eligible for such
22 loans. Loans shall be fully forgiven if a graduate completes 5
23 years of service in a hard-to-staff school or hard-to-staff
24 teaching position.
25     (b) Grants under the Initiative shall be awarded in such a
26 way as to provide the required support for a cohort of students
27 for the cohort's entire training period. Program budgets must
28 show expenditures for the entire period that participants are
29 expected to be enrolled.
30     (c) No funds under the Initiative may be used to supplant
31 the average per-capita expenditures by the institution of
32 higher education for students in regular education degree
33 programs.

 

 

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1     (d) Where necessary, program budgets shall include the
2 costs of child care to permit parents to maintain a full class
3 schedule. Child care may be provided by the community
4 organization or organizations or be independently contracted
5 for.
6     (e) The institution of higher education may expend grant
7 funds to cover the salary of a site-based cohort coordinator
8 and the additional costs of offering classes in community
9 settings and for tutoring services.
10     (f) The community organization or organizations may
11 receive a portion of the grant money for the expenses of
12 recruitment, community orientation, and counseling of
13 potential participants, for providing space in the community,
14 and for working with school personnel to facilitate individual
15 work experiences and support of participants.
16     (g) The school district or school employee union or both
17 may receive a portion of the grant money for expenses of
18 supporting the work experiences of participants and providing
19 mentors for graduates.
 
20     Section 30. Implementation of Initiative. The State Board
21 shall develop guidelines and application procedures for the
22 Initiative in fiscal year 2005. The State Board may, if it
23 chooses, award a small number of planning grants during fiscal
24 year 2005 to potential consortia using existing resources. The
25 first programs under the Initiative shall be awarded grants in
26 such a way as to allow participants to begin their work at the
27 beginning of the 2005-2006 school year.
 
28     Section 35. Independent program evaluation. The State
29 Board shall contract for an independent evaluation of program
30 implementation by each of its participating consortia and of
31 the impact of each program, including the extent of student
32 persistence in program enrollment, acceptance as an education

 

 

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1 major in a 4-year institution of higher education, completion
2 of a bachelor's degree in teaching, obtaining a teaching
3 position in a target school or similar school, subsequent
4 effectiveness as a teacher, and persistence in teaching in a
5 target school or similar school. The evaluation shall assess
6 the Initiative's overall effectiveness and shall identify
7 particular program strategies that are especially effective.
 
8     Section 40. Funding. Funding of the Initiative is subject
9 to appropriation. $200,000 of the amount appropriated each
10 fiscal year for the Initiative shall be allocated to carry out
11 the independent program evaluation under Section 35 of this
12 Act, and the remainder shall be allocated to participating
13 consortia.
 
14     Section 90. Rules. The State Board may adopt any rules
15 necessary to carry out its responsibilities under this Act.
 
16     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January
17 1, 2005.".