96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010
SB3111

 

Introduced 2/8/2010, by Sen. James A. DeLeo

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/14-9.01   from Ch. 122, par. 14-9.01

    Amends the Special Education Article of the School Code. Sets forth specific areas in which special education teacher assistants must be trained. Effective immediately.


LRB096 20341 NHT 35973 b

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB3111 LRB096 20341 NHT 35973 b

1     AN ACT concerning education.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section
5 14-9.01 as follows:
 
6     (105 ILCS 5/14-9.01)  (from Ch. 122, par. 14-9.01)
7     Sec. 14-9.01. Qualifications of teachers, other
8 professional personnel and necessary workers. No person shall
9 be employed to teach any class or program authorized by this
10 Article who does not hold a valid teacher's certificate as
11 provided by law and unless he has had such special training as
12 the State Board of Education may require. No special
13 certificate or endorsement to a special certificate issued
14 under Section 21-4 on or after July 1, 1994, shall be valid for
15 teaching students with visual disabilities unless the person to
16 whom the certificate or endorsement is issued has attained
17 satisfactory performance on an examination that is designed to
18 assess competency in Braille reading and writing skills
19 according to standards that the State Board of Education may
20 adopt. Evidence of successfully completing the examination of
21 Braille reading and writing skills must be submitted to the
22 State Board of Education prior to an applicant's examination of
23 the subject matter knowledge test required under Section 21-1a.

 

 

SB3111 - 2 - LRB096 20341 NHT 35973 b

1 Beginning July 1, 1995, in addition to other requirements, a
2 candidate for a teaching certification in the area of the deaf
3 and hard of hearing granted by the Illinois State Board of
4 Education for teaching deaf and hard of hearing students in
5 grades pre-school through grade 12 must demonstrate a minimum
6 proficiency in sign language as determined by the Illinois
7 State Board of Education. All other professional personnel
8 employed in any class, service, or program authorized by this
9 Article shall hold such certificates and shall have had such
10 special training as the State Board of Education may require;
11 provided that in a school district organized under Article 34,
12 the school district may employ speech and language pathologists
13 who are licensed under the Illinois Speech-Language Pathology
14 and Audiology Practice Act but who do not hold a certificate
15 issued under the School Code if the district certifies that a
16 chronic shortage of certified personnel exists. Nothing
17 contained in this Act prohibits the school board from employing
18 necessary workers to assist the teacher with the special
19 educational facilities, except that all such necessary workers
20 must have had such training as the State Board of Education may
21 require. The training for special education teacher assistants
22 must include, without limitation, the following:
23         (1) Training on the legal requirements of the
24     individualized education program (IEP), including access
25     to general education curriculum and access to general
26     education classrooms for students who receive special

 

 

SB3111 - 3 - LRB096 20341 NHT 35973 b

1     education services. This should include the importance of
2     confidentiality and the legal requirements for individuals
3     who are working within a school system.
4         (2) Training on specific disabilities and the
5     potential impact these disabilities may have on a student's
6     ability to access the various components of their
7     education. This should include the physical needs,
8     academic needs, communication needs, functional needs,
9     health needs, social or emotional needs, and cognitive
10     needs of those specific disabilities. This training should
11     be individualized for the teacher assistant, according to
12     their duties and students. It should also include specific
13     elements of instruction related to the individual students
14     to which that assistant is assigned, and those students'
15     needs.
16         (3) Training on specific curriculum needs and how that
17     curriculum might be modified for individual students. The
18     training should include an understanding of the difference
19     between accommodations that are specific to the needs of
20     students and modifications of the curriculum should be part
21     of that training. The training should provide assistants
22     with information and strategies on how to make those
23     modifications so that they are appropriate for the student
24     and meet the requirements of the teacher. Having a general
25     knowledge about the various types and formats of making
26     modifications is important to the success of that

 

 

SB3111 - 4 - LRB096 20341 NHT 35973 b

1     assistant, and ultimately their students.
2         (4) Training on specific specialized strategies that
3     might be used with an individual student, according to that
4     student's needs. This training on strategies should be
5     specific to the students with whom that assistant is
6     assigned, and their specialized needs. These strategies
7     might be implementation of academic materials and
8     programs, social strategies, behavior strategies, or
9     physical strategies.
10         (5) Training on the medical needs of students as
11     needed. This might include training on the feeding,
12     positioning, lifting, and care of body needs for specific
13     students.
14         (6) Training on the elements of data collection and how
15     it is used within the individualized education program
16     process to document progress. Teacher assistants are often
17     a part of the daily contact with students and are asked to
18     provide feedback and information on progress that might be
19     connected to individualized education program goals. The
20     training on effective data collection is important for
21     teacher assistants to understand. This training should
22     include specific information related to the needs of the
23     students to which that assistant is assigned to teach.
24         (7) Training on the teaming process and how working
25     within a team to be an effective and valued member is
26     important to the success of the student. This training

 

 

SB3111 - 5 - LRB096 20341 NHT 35973 b

1     should include specific information on how the team
2     functions and the expectations and roles that are defined
3     for each individual assistant.
4     No later than January 1, 1993, the State Board of Education
5 shall develop, in consultation with the Advisory Council on the
6 Education of Children with Disabilities and the Advisory
7 Council on Bilingual Education, rules governing the
8 qualifications for certification of teachers and school
9 service personnel providing services to limited English
10 proficient students receiving special education and related
11 services.
12     The employment of any teacher in a special education
13 program provided for in Sections 14-1.01 to 14-14.01,
14 inclusive, shall be subject to the provisions of Sections 24-11
15 to 24-16, inclusive. Any teacher employed in a special
16 education program, prior to the effective date of this
17 amendatory Act of 1987, in which 2 or more districts
18 participate shall enter upon contractual continued service in
19 each of the participating districts subject to the provisions
20 of Sections 24-11 to 24-16, inclusive.
21 (Source: P.A. 92-651, eff. 7-11-02.)
 
22     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
23 becoming law.