Full Text of HB0343 94th General Assembly
HB0343 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006 HB0343
Introduced 1/21/2005, by Rep. Monique D. Davis SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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105 ILCS 5/21-1a |
from Ch. 122, par. 21-1a |
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Amends the Teacher Certification Article of the School Code. Removes a provision that prohibits a student from enrolling in a teacher preparation program until he or she has passed the basic skills test. Removes a provision prohibiting a preservice education teacher from student teaching until he or she has passed the subject matter test in the discipline in which he or she will student teach.
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A BILL FOR
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HB0343 |
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LRB094 06673 NHT 36767 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 School Code is amended by changing Section | 5 |
| 21-1a as follows:
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| (105 ILCS 5/21-1a) (from Ch. 122, par. 21-1a)
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| Sec. 21-1a. Tests required for certification and teacher | 8 |
| preparation .
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| (a) After July 1, 1988, in addition to all other | 10 |
| requirements, early
childhood, elementary, special, high | 11 |
| school, school service personnel, or,
except as provided in | 12 |
| Section 34-6, administrative certificates shall be
issued to | 13 |
| persons who have satisfactorily passed a test of basic skills | 14 |
| and
subject matter knowledge.
A person who holds a valid and | 15 |
| comparable out-of-state certificate, however, is not required | 16 |
| to take a test of basic skills and is not required to take a | 17 |
| test of subject matter knowledge, provided that the person has | 18 |
| successfully passed a test of subject matter knowledge in | 19 |
| another state or territory of the United States that is | 20 |
| directly related in content to the specific subject area of | 21 |
| certification. The tests of basic skills and subject matter
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| knowledge shall be the tests which from time to time are | 23 |
| designated by the
State Board of Education in consultation with | 24 |
| the State Teacher
Certification Board and may be tests prepared | 25 |
| by an educational testing
organization or tests designed by the | 26 |
| State Board of Education in
consultation with the State Teacher | 27 |
| Certification Board. The areas to be
covered by the test of | 28 |
| basic skills shall include the basic skills of
reading, | 29 |
| writing, grammar and mathematics. The test of subject matter
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| knowledge shall assess content knowledge in the specific | 31 |
| subject field. The
tests shall be designed to be racially | 32 |
| neutral to assure that no
person in taking the tests is thereby |
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HB0343 |
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LRB094 06673 NHT 36767 b |
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| discriminated against on the basis of
race, color, national | 2 |
| origin or other factors unrelated to the person's
ability to | 3 |
| perform as a certificated employee. The score required to pass
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| the tests of basic skills and subject matter knowledge shall be | 5 |
| fixed by
the State Board of Education in consultation with the | 6 |
| State Teacher
Certification Board. The tests shall be held not | 7 |
| fewer than 3 times a year
at such time and place as may be | 8 |
| designated by the State Board of Education
in consultation with | 9 |
| the State Teacher Certification Board.
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| (b) Except as provided in Section 34-6, the provisions of | 11 |
| subsection
(a) of this Section shall apply equally in any | 12 |
| school district subject to
Article 34, provided that the State | 13 |
| Board of Education shall determine
which certificates issued | 14 |
| under Sections 34-8.1 and 34-83 prior to July 1,
1988 are | 15 |
| comparable to any early childhood certificate, elementary | 16 |
| school
certificate, special certificate, high school | 17 |
| certificate, school service
personnel certificate or | 18 |
| administrative certificate issued under this
Article as of July | 19 |
| 1, 1988.
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| (c) A person who holds an early childhood, elementary, | 21 |
| special, high
school or school service personnel certificate | 22 |
| issued under this Article on
or at any time before July 1, | 23 |
| 1988, including a person who has been
issued any such | 24 |
| certificate pursuant to Section 21-11.1 or in exchange for
a | 25 |
| comparable certificate theretofore issued under Section 34-8.1 | 26 |
| or Section
34-83, shall not be required to take or pass the | 27 |
| tests in order to
thereafter have such certificate renewed.
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| (d) The State Board of Education in consultation with the | 29 |
| State Teacher
Certification Board shall conduct a pilot | 30 |
| administration of the tests by
administering the test to | 31 |
| students completing teacher education programs in
the 1986-87 | 32 |
| school year for the purpose of determining the effect and
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| impact of testing candidates for certification.
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| Beginning with the 2002-2003 academic year, a student may | 35 |
| not enroll
in a teacher preparation program at a recognized | 36 |
| teacher training
institution until he or she has passed the |
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HB0343 |
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LRB094 06673 NHT 36767 b |
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| basic skills test.
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| Beginning with the 2004-2005 academic year, a preservice
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| education teacher may not student teach until he or she has | 4 |
| passed the
subject matter test in the discipline in which he or | 5 |
| she will student
teach.
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| (e) The rules and regulations developed to implement the | 7 |
| required test
of basic skills and subject matter knowledge | 8 |
| shall include the requirements
of subsections (a), (b), and (c) | 9 |
| and shall include specific regulations to
govern test | 10 |
| selection; test validation and determination of a passing
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| score; administration of the tests; frequency of | 12 |
| administration; applicant
fees; frequency of applicants' | 13 |
| taking the tests; the years for which a
score is valid; and, | 14 |
| waiving certain additional tests for additional
certificates | 15 |
| to individuals who have satisfactorily passed the test of
basic | 16 |
| skills and subject matter knowledge as required in subsection | 17 |
| (a).
The State Board of Education shall provide, by rule, | 18 |
| specific policies that
assure uniformity in the difficulty | 19 |
| level of each form of the basic skills
test and each subject | 20 |
| matter knowledge test from test-to-test and
year-to-year. The | 21 |
| State Board of Education shall also set a passing
score for the | 22 |
| tests.
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| (f) The State Teacher Certification Board may issue a | 24 |
| nonrenewable
temporary certificate between July 1, 1988 and | 25 |
| August 31, 1988 to
individuals who have taken the tests of | 26 |
| basic skills and subject matter
knowledge prescribed by this | 27 |
| Section but have not received such test scores
by August 31, | 28 |
| 1988. Such temporary certificates shall expire on
December 31, | 29 |
| 1988.
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| (g) Beginning February 15, 2000, the State Board of
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| Education, in
consultation with the State Teacher | 32 |
| Certification Board,
shall implement and administer a new | 33 |
| system of certification for teachers in
the State of Illinois. | 34 |
| The State Board of Education, in consultation with the
State | 35 |
| Teacher Certification Board, shall design
and implement a | 36 |
| system of examinations and various other criteria which
shall |
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| be required prior to the issuance of Initial Teaching | 2 |
| Certificates and
Standard Teaching Certificates. These | 3 |
| examinations and indicators shall be
based on national and | 4 |
| State professional teaching standards,
as determined by
the | 5 |
| State Board of Education, in consultation with the State | 6 |
| Teacher
Certification Board. The State
Board of Education may | 7 |
| adopt any and all regulations necessary to implement and
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| administer
this Section.
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| (h) The State Board of Education shall report to the | 10 |
| Illinois
General Assembly and the Governor with | 11 |
| recommendations for further changes and
improvements to the | 12 |
| teacher certification system no later than July 1,
1999
and on | 13 |
| an annual basis until July 1, 2001.
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| (Source: P.A. 92-734, eff. 7-25-02; 93-679, eff. 6-30-04.)
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