Public Act 100-0932
 
SB2693 EnrolledLRB100 17543 AXK 32713 b

    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 changing Section
21B-30 as follows:
 
    (105 ILCS 5/21B-30)
    Sec. 21B-30. Educator testing.
    (a) This Section applies beginning on July 1, 2012.
    (b) The State Board of Education, in consultation with the
State Educator Preparation and Licensure Board, shall design
and implement a system of examinations, which shall be required
prior to the issuance of educator licenses. These examinations
and indicators must be based on national and State professional
teaching standards, as determined by the State Board of
Education, in consultation with the State Educator Preparation
and Licensure Board. The State Board of Education may adopt
such rules as may be necessary to implement and administer this
Section.
    (c) Applicants seeking a Professional Educator License or
an Educator License with Stipulations shall be required to pass
a test of basic skills before the license is issued, unless the
endorsement the individual is seeking does not require passage
of the test. All applicants completing Illinois-approved,
teacher education or school service personnel preparation
programs shall be required to pass the State Board of
Education's recognized test of basic skills prior to starting
their student teaching or starting the final semester of their
internship, unless required earlier at the discretion of the
recognized, Illinois institution in which they are completing
their approved program. An institution of higher learning, as
defined in the Higher Education Student Assistance Act, may not
require an applicant to complete the State Board's recognized
test of basic skills prior to the semester before student
teaching or prior to the semester before starting the final
semester of an internship. An individual who passes a test of
basic skills does not need to do so again for subsequent
endorsements or other educator licenses.
    (d) All applicants seeking a State license shall be
required to pass a test of content area knowledge for each area
of endorsement for which there is an applicable test. There
shall be no exception to this requirement. No candidate shall
be allowed to student teach or serve as the teacher of record
until he or she has passed the applicable content area test.
    (e) (Blank). and completing their student teaching
experience no later than August 31, 2015 Prior to September 1,
2015, passage The APT shall be available through August 31,
2020.
    (f) Except as otherwise provided in this Article, beginning
on September 1, 2015, all candidates completing teacher
preparation programs in this State and all candidates subject
to Section 21B-35 of this Code are required to pass an
evidence-based assessment of teacher effectiveness approved by
the State Board of Education, in consultation with the State
Educator Preparation and Licensure Board. All recognized
institutions offering approved teacher preparation programs
must begin phasing in the approved teacher performance
assessment no later than July 1, 2013.
    (g) Tests of basic skills and content area knowledge and
the assessment of professional teaching shall be the tests that
from time to time are designated by the State Board of
Education, in consultation with the State Educator Preparation
and Licensure Board, and may be tests prepared by an
educational testing organization or tests designed by the State
Board of Education, in consultation with the State Educator
Preparation and Licensure Board. The areas to be covered by a
test of basic skills shall include reading, language arts, and
mathematics. The test of content area knowledge shall assess
content knowledge in a specific subject field. The tests must
be designed to be racially neutral to ensure that no person
taking the tests is discriminated against on the basis of race,
color, national origin, or other factors unrelated to the
person's ability to perform as a licensed employee. The score
required to pass the tests shall be fixed by the State Board of
Education, in consultation with the State Educator Preparation
and Licensure Board. The tests shall be administered not fewer
than 3 times a year at such time and place as may be designated
by the State Board of Education, in consultation with the State
Educator Preparation and Licensure Board.
    The State Board shall implement a test or tests to assess
the speaking, reading, writing, and grammar skills of
applicants for an endorsement or a license issued under
subdivision (G) of paragraph (2) of Section 21B-20 of this Code
in the English language and in the language of the transitional
bilingual education program requested by the applicant.
    (h) Except as provided in Section 34-6 of this Code, the
provisions of this Section shall apply equally in any school
district subject to Article 34 of this Code.
    (i) The rules developed to implement and enforce the
testing requirements under this Section shall include without
limitation provisions governing test selection, test
validation and determination of a passing score,
administration of the tests, frequency of administration,
applicant fees, frequency of applicants taking the tests, the
years for which a score is valid, and appropriate special
accommodations. The State Board of Education shall develop such
rules as may be needed to ensure uniformity from year to year
in the level of difficulty for each form of an assessment.
(Source: P.A. 98-361, eff. 1-1-14; 98-581, eff. 8-27-13;
98-756, eff. 7-16-14; 99-58, eff. 7-16-15; 99-657, eff.
7-28-16; 99-920, eff. 1-6-17; revised 1-23-17.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.