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Public Act 095-0476
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| SB0446 Enrolled |
LRB095 08870 NHT 29056 b |
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AN ACT concerning education.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Grow
Your Own Teacher Education Act is |
amended by changing Sections 5, 10, 20 and 25 as follows:
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(110 ILCS 48/5)
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Sec. 5. Purpose. The Grow Your Own Teacher preparation
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programs established under this Act shall comprise a major new
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statewide initiative, known as the Grow Your Own Teacher
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Education Initiative, to prepare highly skilled, committed
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teachers who will teach in hard-to-staff schools and
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hard-to-staff teaching positions and who will remain in these
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schools for substantial periods of time. |
The Grow Your Own Teacher Education Initiative shall
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effectively recruit and prepare parent and community leaders
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and paraeducators to become effective teachers statewide in |
hard-to-staff schools serving a substantial percentage of |
low-income students and
hard-to-staff teaching positions in |
schools
serving a substantial percentage of low-income |
students.
Further, the Initiative shall increase the diversity |
of
teachers, including diversity based on race, ethnicity, and
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disability.
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The Grow Your Own Teacher Education Initiative shall ensure
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educational rigor by effectively preparing candidates in
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accredited bachelor's degree programs in teaching, through
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which graduates shall meet the requirements to secure an
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Illinois initial teaching certificate.
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The goal of the Grow Your Own Teacher Education Initiative |
is to add 1,000 teachers to low-income,
and other hard-to-staff |
Illinois schools by 2016 with an average retention period of 7 |
years, as opposed to the current rate of 2.5 years for new |
teachers in such areas.
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(Source: P.A. 93-802, eff. 1-1-05; 94-979, eff. 6-30-06.)
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(110 ILCS 48/10)
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Sec. 10. Definitions. In this Act: |
"Accredited teacher preparation program" means a State or
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regionally accredited higher education program authorized to
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prepare individuals to fulfill all of the requirements to
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receive an Illinois initial teaching certificate. |
"Developmental classes" means classes in basic skill |
areas, such as mathematics and language arts that are |
prerequisite to, but not counted towards, degree requirements |
of a teacher preparation program.
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"Eligible school" means a public elementary or secondary |
school in this State that serves a substantial percentage of |
low-income students and that is either hard to staff or has |
hard-to-staff teaching positions.
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"Hard-to-staff school" means a public school in this State
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an elementary or secondary
school that, based on data compiled |
by the State Board of Education,
ranks in the upper third among |
public schools of its type (elementary, middle, or secondary) |
in terms of rate of attrition of its teachers
of schools in |
this State on
a combined index measuring the percentage of the |
school's
teachers who are not fully certified and the |
percentage of the
school's teachers who leave their positions |
annually. |
"Hard-to-staff teaching position" means a teaching
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category (such as special education, mathematics, or science)
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in which statewide data compiled by the State Board of |
Education
indicates a multi-year pattern of substantial
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teacher shortage or that has been identified as a critical need |
by the local school board.
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"Initiative" means the Grow Your Own Teacher Education
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Initiative created under this Act.
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"Paraeducators" means individuals with a history of
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demonstrated accomplishments in school staff positions (such
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as teacher assistants, school-community liaisons, school
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clerks, and security aides) in schools serving a substantial
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percentage of low-income students.
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"Parent and community leaders" means individuals with a |
history of working to improve schools serving a
substantial |
percentage of low-income students, including membership in a |
community organization. |
"Community organization" means a nonprofit organization |
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that has a demonstrated capacity to train, develop, and |
organize parents and community leaders into a constituency that |
will hold the school and the school district accountable for |
achieving high academic standards; in addition to |
organizations with a geographic focus, "community |
organization" includes general parent organizations, |
organizations of special education or bilingual education |
parents, and school employee unions.
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"Program" means a Grow Your Own Teacher preparation program
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established by a consortium under this Act.
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"Schools serving a substantial percentage of low-income
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students" means schools that maintain any of grades |
pre-kindergarten through 8, in which at least 35% of the |
students are eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunches |
and schools that maintain any of grades 9 through 12, in which |
at least 25% of the students are eligible to receive free or |
reduced price lunches. |
"State Board" means the State Board of Education.
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(Source: P.A. 93-802, eff. 1-1-05; 94-979, eff. 6-30-06.)
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(110 ILCS 48/20)
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Sec. 20. Selection of grantees. The State Board shall award |
grants to qualified consortia that reflect the distribution and |
diversity of hard-to-staff schools and hard-to-staff positions |
across this State. In awarding grants, the State Board shall |
select programs that successfully address Initiative criteria |
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and that reflect a diversity of strategies in terms of serving |
urban areas, serving rural areas, the nature of the |
participating institutions of higher education, and the nature |
of hard-to-staff schools and
hard-to-staff teaching positions |
on which a program is focused.
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The State Board shall select consortia that meet the |
following requirements:
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(1) A consortium shall be composed of at least one |
4-year institution of higher education with an accredited |
teacher preparation program, at least one school district |
or group of schools, and one or more community |
organizations. The consortium may also include a 2-year |
institution of higher education or a school employee union |
or both.
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(2) The 4-year institution of higher education |
participating in the consortium shall have past, |
demonstrated success in preparing teachers for elementary |
or secondary schools serving a substantial percentage of |
low-income students. |
(3) The consortium shall focus on a clearly defined set |
of eligible
target schools serving a substantial |
percentage of low-income students that will participate in
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be the primary focus of the program. The consortium shall |
articulate the steps that it will carry out in preparing |
teachers for its participating
target hard-to-staff
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schools and in preparing teachers for one or more |
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hard-to-staff teaching positions in those
its target
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schools. |
(4) A candidate
Candidate in a program under the |
Initiative must hold a high school diploma or its |
equivalent and must meet either the definition of "parent |
and community leaders" or the definition of |
"paraeducators" contained in Section 10 of this Act. |
(5) The consortium shall employ effective procedures |
for teaching the skills and knowledge needed to prepare |
highly competent teachers. Professional preparation shall |
include on-going direct experience in target schools and |
evaluation of this experience. |
(6) The consortium shall offer the program to cohorts |
of candidates who begin by moving through the program |
together. The program shall be offered on a schedule that |
enables candidates to work full time while participating in |
the program and allows paraeducators to continue in their |
current positions. In any fiscal year in which an |
appropriation for the Initiative is made, the
The
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consortium shall guarantee that support will be available |
to an admitted cohort for the cohort's training for that |
fiscal year
through the cohort's full period of training. |
At the beginning of the Initiative, programs that are |
already operating and existing cohorts of candidates under |
this model shall be eligible for funding. |
(7) The institutions of higher education participating |
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in the consortium shall document and agree to expend the |
same amount of funds in implementing the program that these |
institutions spend per student on similar educational |
programs. Grants received by the consortium shall |
supplement and not supplant these amounts. |
(8) The State Board shall establish additional |
criteria for review of proposals, including criteria that |
address the following issues: |
(A) Previous experience of the institutions of |
higher education in preparing candidates for |
hard-to-staff schools and positions and in working |
with students with non-traditional backgrounds. |
(B) The quality of the implementation plan, |
including strategies for overcoming institutional |
barriers to the progress of non-traditional |
candidates. |
(C) If a community college is a participant, the |
nature and extent of existing articulation agreements |
and guarantees between the community college and the |
4-year institution of higher education. |
(D) The number of candidates to be trained in the |
planned cohort or cohorts and the capacity of the |
consortium for adding cohorts in future cycles. |
(E) Experience of the community organization or |
organizations in organizing parents and community |
leaders to achieve school improvement and a strong |
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relational school culture. |
(F) The qualifications of the person or persons |
designated by the 4-year institution of higher |
education to be responsible for cohort support and the |
development of a shared learning and social |
environment among candidates. |
(G) The consortium's plan for collective |
consortium decision-making, including mechanisms for |
community and candidate input. |
(H) The consortium's plan for direct impact of the |
program on the quality of education in the eligible
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target schools. |
(I) The relevance of the curriculum to the needs of |
the eligible
targeted schools and positions, and the |
use in curriculum and instructional planning of |
principles for effective education for adults. |
(J) The availability of classes under the program |
in places and times accessible to the candidates. |
(K) Provision of a level of performance to be |
maintained by candidates as a condition of continuing |
in the program. |
(L) The plan of the 4-year institution of higher |
education to ensure that candidates take advantage of |
existing financial aid resources before using the loan |
funds described in Section 25 of this Act. |
(M) The availability of supportive services, |
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including counseling, tutoring, and child care. |
(N) A plan for continued participation of |
graduates of the program in a program of support for at |
least 2 years, including mentoring and group meetings. |
(O) A plan for testing and qualitative evaluation |
of candidates' teaching skills that ensures that |
graduates of the program are as prepared for teaching |
as other individuals completing the institution of |
higher education's preparation program for the |
certificate sought. |
(P) A plan for internal evaluation that provides |
reports at least yearly on the progress of candidates |
towards graduation and the impact of the program on the |
target schools and their communities. |
(Q) Contributions from schools, school districts, |
and other consortia members to the program, including |
stipends for candidates during their student teaching. |
(R) Consortium commitment for sustaining the |
program over time, as evidenced by plans for reduced |
requirements for external funding in subsequent |
cycles.
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(S) The inclusion in the planned program of |
strategies derived from community organizing that will |
help candidates develop tools for working with parents |
and other community members.
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(Source: P.A. 93-802, eff. 1-1-05; 94-979, eff. 6-30-06.)
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(110 ILCS 48/25)
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Sec. 25. Expenditures under the Initiative. |
(a) Every program under the Initiative shall implement a |
program of forgivable loans to cover any portion of tuition and |
direct expenses of candidates under the program in excess of |
grants-in-aid and other forgivable loans received. All |
students admitted to a cohort shall be eligible for such loans. |
Loans shall be fully forgiven if a graduate completes 5 years |
of service in hard-to-staff schools
or hard-to-staff teaching |
positions, with partial forgiveness for shorter periods of |
service. The State Board shall establish standards for the |
approval of requests for waivers or deferrals of
from programs |
to waive this obligation for individual candidates and for |
deferral of repayment for work interruptions after |
certification. The State Board shall also define standards for |
the fiscal management of these loan funds. |
(b) Grants under the Initiative shall be awarded in such a |
way as to provide the required support for a cohort of |
candidates for any fiscal year in which an appropriation for |
the Initiative is made
the cohort's entire training period. |
Program budgets must show expenditures and needed funds for the |
entire period that candidates are expected to be enrolled. |
(c) No funds under the Initiative may be used to supplant |
the average per-capita expenditures by the institution of |
higher education for candidates. |
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(d) Where necessary, program budgets shall include the |
costs of child care and other indirect expenses, such as |
transportation, tutoring, technology, and technology support, |
that are necessary to permit candidates to maintain their
a |
full class schedules
schedule. Grant funds may be used by any |
member of a consortium to offset such costs, whether the needed |
services are
Child care may be provided by the community |
organization or organizations, are provided by another member |
of the consortium, or are
be independently contracted for. |
(e) The institution of higher education may expend grant |
funds to cover the additional costs of offering classes in |
community settings and for tutoring services. |
(f) The community organization or organizations may |
receive a portion of the grant money for the expenses of |
recruitment, community orientation, and counseling of |
potential candidates, for providing space in the community, and |
for working with school personnel to facilitate individual work |
experiences and support of candidates. |
(g) The school district or school employee union or both |
may receive a portion of the grant money for expenses of |
supporting the work experiences of candidates and providing |
mentors for graduates.
Notwithstanding the provisions of |
Section 10-20.15 of the School Code, school districts may also |
use these or other applicable public funds to pay participants |
in programs under the Initiative for student teaching required |
by an accredited teacher preparation program. |