HB3769 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB102 14628 CMG 19981 b

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.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning education.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section 21B-120 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/21B-120 new)

Sec. 21B-120. Culturally responsive teaching standards.

(a) Beginning October 21, 2021, culturally responsive teaching standards shall apply to the issuance of all Professional Educator Licenses endorsed in teaching, school support personnel, and administrative fields. The standards set forth in this Section shall apply both to candidates for licensure and to educator preparation programs.

(b) The culturally responsive teaching standards shall include all of the following:

(1) Self-awareness and relationships to others. Culturally responsive teachers and leaders are reflective and gain a deeper understanding of themselves and how they impact others, leading to more cohesive and productive student development as it relates to academic and social-emotional development for all students. The culturally responsive teacher and leader shall do all of the following:

(A) Understand and value the notion that multiple lived experiences exist, that there is not one correct way of doing or understanding something, and that what is seen as correct is most often based on our lived experiences.

(B) Approach their work and students with an asset-based mindset, affirming the students' backgrounds and identities.

(C) Know about their students and their lives outside of school and use this knowledge to build instruction that leverages prior knowledge and skills.

(D) Include representative, familiar content in the curriculum to legitimize what students bring to class while also exposing them to new ideas and worldviews that are different from their own.

(E) Engage in self-reflection about their own actions and interactions and what ideas motivated those actions.

(F) Explore their own intersecting identities, how they were developed, and how they impact daily experience of the world.

(G) Recognize how their identity, including such factors as race and ethnicity, national origin, language, sex and gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical, developmental, and emotional ability, socioeconomic class, and religion affects their perspectives and beliefs about pedagogy and students.

(H) Educate themselves about their students' communities, cultures, and histories.

(I) Critically think about the institutions in which they find themselves and work to reform these institutions whenever and wherever necessary.

(J) Assess how biases and perceptions affect their teaching practice and how they access tools to mitigate their own behavior, such as racism, sexism, homophobia, unearned privilege, and Eurocentrism.

(2) Systems of oppression. Culturally responsive teachers and leaders understand that there are systems in our society that create and reinforce inequities, thereby creating oppressive conditions. Educators work actively against these systems in their everyday roles in educational institutions. The culturally responsive teacher and leader shall do all of the following:

(A) Understand the difference between prejudice, discrimination, racism, and how to operate at the interpersonal, intergroup, and institutional levels.

(B) Collaborate with colleagues to determine how students from different backgrounds experience the classroom, school, or district.

(C) Understand how the system of inequity has impacted them as an educator.

(D) Know and understand how current curriculum and approaches to teaching impact students who are not a part of the dominant culture.

(E) Is aware of the effects of power and privilege and the need for social advocacy and social action to better empower diverse students and communities.

(F) Know and understand how a system of inequity creates rules regarding student punishment that negatively impacts students of color.

(G) Know and understand how a system of inequity reinforces certain truths as the norm.

(3) Students as individuals. Culturally responsive teachers and leaders view and value their students as individuals within the context of their families and communities. The culturally responsive teacher and leader shall do all of the following:

(A) Learn from and about their students' culture, language, and learning styles to make instruction more meaningful and relevant to their students' lives.

(B) Engage with students' families and community members outside of the classroom to develop a more holistic understanding of the students' lived experiences.

(C) Develop positive, strength-based partnerships with students and their families by learning about them, soliciting their opinions, and valuing their expectations, especially with those marginalized by schools in the past.

(D) Provide parents with information about what their child is expected to learn, know, and do at the child's grade level and ways to reinforce concepts at home.

(E) Share the classroom systems and policies, such as expectations, agreements, recognition, and incentive practices, used in the classroom with students' families and align them to the values and cultural norms of those families.

(F) Provide multiple opportunities for parents to communicate in their language and method of preference.

(G) Set holistic goals for students that accommodate multiple ways of demonstrating strengths and success, including alternate academic achievement metrics, growth indicators, leadership, character development, social-emotional learning competencies, and school values.

(4) Students as co-creators. Culturally responsive teachers and leaders are those who fundamentally believe all students are capable and center learning around students' experiences and position them as co-creators, with an emphasis on prioritizing historically marginalized students. The culturally responsive teacher and leader shall do all of the following:

(A) Encourage and affirm the personal experiences, such as family, community, and cultural experience, of students to share in the classroom.

(B) Make authentic connections between academic learning and students' prior knowledge, native language, culture, and values.

(C) Consistently solicit students' input on the curriculum, interests, people, or concepts.

(D) Co-create with students the collective expectations and agreements regarding the physical space and social-emotional culture of the classroom and school.

(E) Create and embed student leadership opportunities into the student experience, such as peer-led discussion, student-led workshops, and student-run schoolwide initiatives.

(F) Persistently solicit student feedback, value that feedback by resisting defensiveness, and adjust based on that feedback.

(5) Leveraging student advocacy. Culturally responsive teachers and leaders support and create opportunities for student advocacy and representation in the content and classroom. The culturally responsive teacher and leader shall do all of the following:

(A) Emphasize and connect with students about their identities, advocacies, and self-interest.

(B) Offer guidance to students on how to develop a self-advocacy plan to inform decisions and choices.

(C) Include students in the creation of an inclusive learning community with more opportunities for student expression.

(D) Help students identify actions that can be taken to apply learning to develop opportunities and relationships for alliances.

(E) Create a risk-taking space that promotes student advocacy.

(F) Research and offer student advocacy content with real world implications.

(G) Hold high expectations in which all students can participate and lead as student advocates.

(H) Give students space to solve their own problems, negotiate their advocacy needs, and present their perspectives.

(6) Family and community collaboration. Culturally responsive teachers and leaders partner with families and communities to build rapport, form collaborative and mutual relationships, and engage in effective cross-cultural communication. The culturally responsive teacher and leader shall do all of the following:

(A) Regularly interact with students, families, and communities in both English and a home language through methods of their preference.

(B) Actively seek multiple perspectives and contribution from families and the community and invite them to actively share their opinions, feedback, and concerns that impact the school community.

(C) Forge ongoing participation with families and community members to meet the diverse needs and interests of students.

(D) Continuously learn and build cultural knowledge that families and the community bring to the school community to nurture and foster relationships and inform student learning experiences.

(E) Use best practices that are culturally responsive to value students and their families' cultural traditions when recognizing, motivating, encouraging, and supporting student success and growth.

(F) Develop relationships with families and the community outside of the classroom setting.

(G) Foster students' cultural understanding and connection to the surrounding community.

(H)Invite family and community members to teach about topics that are culturally specific and aligned to the classroom curriculum or content area.

(I) Welcome communication from parents and reply in a timely manner.

(J) Communicate and provide appropriate techniques and materials to support and enrich student learning at home.

(K) Collaborate effectively over time with the local community and community agencies, as appropriate, to promote a positive environment for student learning.

(7) Content selections in all curricula. Culturally responsive teachers and leaders intentionally embrace student identities and prioritize representation in the curriculum. In turn, students are not only given a chance to identify with the curriculum, they become exposed to other cultures within their schools and both their local and global communities. The culturally responsive teacher and leader shall do all of the following:

(A) Curate the curriculum.

(B) Identify and articulate the purposeful ways in which marginalized communities are represented in curriculum, including print, digital media, and other classroom resources.

(C) Employ authentic and modern technology usage inspiring digital literacy through an equity lens.

(D) Ensure assessments reflect the enriched curriculum that has embedded student identities.

(E) Embrace and encourage inclusive viewpoints and perspectives that leverage asset thinking toward traditionally marginalized populations.

(F) Assess one's story through multiple vantage points to gain a whole narrative that includes all sides of parties involved.

(G) Implement and integrate the wide spectrum and fluidity of identities in the curriculum.

(H) Ensure text selections reflect students' classroom, community, and family culture.

(I) Ensure teacher and students co-create content to include a counter-narrative to dominant culture.

(J) Use a resource tool to assess the curriculum and assessments for biases.

(K) Promote robust discussion with the intent of raising consciousness that reflects modern society and the ways in which cultures and communities intersect.

(L) Consider a broader modality of student assessments, such as performance portfolios, essays, multiple choice, state exams, oral examination, community assessments, social justice work, action research projects, and recognition beyond academia.

(8) Student representation in the learning environment. Culturally responsive teachers and leaders ensure the diversity of their student population is equally represented within the learning environment. In turn, all members of the student population feel seen, heard, and affirmed. Exceptionally well-versed culturally responsive teachers and leaders provide exposure to under or misrepresented minority groups even when they are not present within the population of their school and community at large. The culturally responsive teacher and leader shall do all of the following:

(A) Uphold systems of support that create, promote, and sustain a welcoming and inclusive community.

(B) Ensure linguistic diversity is represented throughout the building and seek ways to reflect representation of world languages.

(C) Verify that course materials are representative of all students, including materials for centers, stations, labs, and classroom libraries.

(D) Ensure classroom and building decorations are inclusive of all students throughout the building or within the community or city at large.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 2021.