Public Act 098-0361
 
HB0490 EnrolledLRB098 03321 NHT 33336 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. No score on a test required under this Section, other 
than a test of basic skills, shall be more than 5 years old at 
the time that an individual makes application for an educator 
license or endorsement.
    (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. No candidate may be fully admitted into 
an educator preparation program at a recognized Illinois 
institution until he or she has passed a test of basic skills. 
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, serve as the teacher of record, or 
begin an internship or residency required for licensure until 
he or she has passed the applicable content area test.
    (e) All applicants seeking a State license endorsed in a 
teaching field shall pass the assessment of professional 
teaching (APT). Passage of the APT is required for completion 
of an approved Illinois educator preparation program.
    (f) Beginning on September 1, 2015, all candidates 
completing teacher preparation programs in this State 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 
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. 97-607, eff. 8-26-11.)