Full Text of SB2481 95th General Assembly
SB2481 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008 SB2481
Introduced 2/15/2008, by Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
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105 ILCS 5/21-1a |
from Ch. 122, par. 21-1a |
105 ILCS 5/21-10 |
from Ch. 122, par. 21-10 |
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Amends the Teacher Certification Article of the School Code. Removes a provision that provides that a person who holds a valid and comparable out-of-state certificate is not required to take the tests of basic skills and subject matter knowledge. Removes a provision that requires a provisional certificate holder to pass the examinations set forth by the State Board of Education within 9 months. Removes a provision that provides that a failure to pass the tests of basic skills and subject matter knowledge shall result in cancellation of a provisional certificate. Effective July 1, 2008.
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A BILL FOR
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SB2481 |
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LRB095 15748 NHT 41755 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 Sections | 5 |
| 21-1a and 21-10 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 |
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SB2481 |
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LRB095 15748 NHT 41755 b |
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| the State Teacher
Certification Board and may be tests prepared | 2 |
| by an educational testing
organization or tests designed by the | 3 |
| State Board of Education in
consultation with the State Teacher | 4 |
| Certification Board. The areas to be
covered by the test of | 5 |
| basic skills shall include the basic skills of
reading, | 6 |
| writing, grammar and mathematics. The test of subject matter
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| knowledge shall assess content knowledge in the specific | 8 |
| subject field. The
tests shall be designed to be racially | 9 |
| neutral to assure that no
person in taking the tests is thereby | 10 |
| discriminated against on the basis of
race, color, national | 11 |
| origin or other factors unrelated to the person's
ability to | 12 |
| 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 | 14 |
| fixed by
the State Board of Education in consultation with the | 15 |
| State Teacher
Certification Board. The tests shall be held not | 16 |
| fewer than 3 times a year
at such time and place as may be | 17 |
| designated by the State Board of Education
in consultation with | 18 |
| the State Teacher Certification Board.
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| (b) Except as provided in Section 34-6, the provisions of | 20 |
| subsection
(a) of this Section shall apply equally in any | 21 |
| school district subject to
Article 34, provided that the State | 22 |
| Board of Education shall determine
which certificates issued | 23 |
| under Sections 34-8.1 and 34-83 prior to July 1,
1988 are | 24 |
| comparable to any early childhood certificate, elementary | 25 |
| school
certificate, special certificate, high school | 26 |
| certificate, school service
personnel certificate or |
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LRB095 15748 NHT 41755 b |
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| administrative certificate issued under this
Article as of July | 2 |
| 1, 1988.
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| (c) A person who holds an early childhood, elementary, | 4 |
| special, high
school or school service personnel certificate | 5 |
| issued under this Article on
or at any time before July 1, | 6 |
| 1988, including a person who has been
issued any such | 7 |
| certificate pursuant to Section 21-11.1 or in exchange for
a | 8 |
| comparable certificate theretofore issued under Section 34-8.1 | 9 |
| or Section
34-83, shall not be required to take or pass the | 10 |
| tests in order to
thereafter have such certificate renewed.
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| (d) The State Board of Education in consultation with the | 12 |
| State Teacher
Certification Board shall conduct a pilot | 13 |
| administration of the tests by
administering the test to | 14 |
| students completing teacher education programs in
the 1986-87 | 15 |
| 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 | 18 |
| not enroll
in a teacher preparation program at a recognized | 19 |
| teacher training
institution until he or she has passed the | 20 |
| basic skills test.
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| Beginning on the effective date of this amendatory Act of | 22 |
| the 94th General Assembly, prior to completing an approved | 23 |
| teacher preparation program, a preservice education candidate | 24 |
| must satisfactorily pass the test of subject matter knowledge | 25 |
| in the discipline in which he or she will be certified to | 26 |
| teach. The teacher preparation program may require passage of |
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LRB095 15748 NHT 41755 b |
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| the test of subject matter knowledge at any time during the | 2 |
| program, including prior to student teaching.
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| (e) The rules and regulations developed to implement the | 4 |
| required test
of basic skills and subject matter knowledge | 5 |
| shall include the requirements
of subsections (a), (b), and (c) | 6 |
| and shall include specific regulations to
govern test | 7 |
| selection; test validation and determination of a passing
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| score; administration of the tests; frequency of | 9 |
| administration; applicant
fees; frequency of applicants' | 10 |
| taking the tests; the years for which a
score is valid; and, | 11 |
| waiving certain additional tests for additional
certificates | 12 |
| to individuals who have satisfactorily passed the test of
basic | 13 |
| skills and subject matter knowledge as required in subsection | 14 |
| (a).
The State Board of Education shall provide, by rule, | 15 |
| specific policies that
assure uniformity in the difficulty | 16 |
| level of each form of the basic skills
test and each subject | 17 |
| matter knowledge test from test-to-test and
year-to-year. The | 18 |
| State Board of Education shall also set a passing
score for the | 19 |
| tests.
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| (f) The State Teacher Certification Board may issue a | 21 |
| nonrenewable
temporary certificate between July 1, 1988 and | 22 |
| August 31, 1988 to
individuals who have taken the tests of | 23 |
| basic skills and subject matter
knowledge prescribed by this | 24 |
| Section but have not received such test scores
by August 31, | 25 |
| 1988. Such temporary certificates shall expire on
December 31, | 26 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Certification Board,
shall implement and administer a new | 4 |
| system of certification for teachers in
the State of Illinois. | 5 |
| The State Board of Education, in consultation with the
State | 6 |
| Teacher Certification Board, shall design
and implement a | 7 |
| system of examinations and various other criteria which
shall | 8 |
| be required prior to the issuance of Initial Teaching | 9 |
| Certificates and
Standard Teaching Certificates. These | 10 |
| examinations and indicators shall be
based on national and | 11 |
| State professional teaching standards,
as determined by
the | 12 |
| State Board of Education, in consultation with the State | 13 |
| Teacher
Certification Board. The State
Board of Education may | 14 |
| 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 | 17 |
| Illinois
General Assembly and the Governor with | 18 |
| recommendations for further changes and
improvements to the | 19 |
| teacher certification system no later than July 1,
1999
and on | 20 |
| an annual basis until July 1, 2001.
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| (Source: P.A. 93-679, eff. 6-30-04; 94-208, eff. 7-14-05.)
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| (105 ILCS 5/21-10) (from Ch. 122, par. 21-10)
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| Sec. 21-10. Provisional certificate.
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| (A) Until July 1, 1972, the
State Teacher Certification | 25 |
| Board may issue a provisional certificate
valid for teaching in |
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| elementary, high school or special subject fields
subject to | 2 |
| the following conditions:
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| A provisional certificate may be issued to a person who | 4 |
| presents
certified evidence of having earned a bachelor's | 5 |
| degree from a
recognized institution of higher learning. The | 6 |
| academic and
professional courses offered as a basis of the | 7 |
| provisional certificate
shall be courses approved by the State | 8 |
| Board of Education in
consultation with the State Teacher | 9 |
| Certification Board.
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| A certificate earned under this plan may be renewed at the | 11 |
| end of
each two-year period upon evidence filed with the State | 12 |
| Teacher
Certification Board that the holder has earned 8 | 13 |
| semester hours of
credit within the period; provided the | 14 |
| requirements for the certificate
of the same type issued for | 15 |
| the teaching position for which the teacher
is employed shall | 16 |
| be met by the end of the second renewal period. A
second | 17 |
| provisional certificate shall not be issued. The credits so
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| earned must be approved by the State Board of Education in
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| consultation with the State Teacher Certification Board and | 20 |
| must meet
the general pattern for a similar type of certificate | 21 |
| issued on the
basis of credit. No more than 4 semester hours | 22 |
| shall be chosen from
elective subjects.
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| (B) After July 1, 1972, the State Teacher Certification | 24 |
| Board may
issue a provisional certificate valid for teaching in | 25 |
| early childhood,
elementary, high school or special subject | 26 |
| fields, or for providing service as
school service personnel or |
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LRB095 15748 NHT 41755 b |
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| for administering schools subject to the following
conditions: | 2 |
| A provisional certificate may be issued to a person who meets | 3 |
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requirements for a regular teaching, school service | 4 |
| personnel or administrative
certificate in another State and | 5 |
| who
presents certified evidence of having earned a bachelor's | 6 |
| degree from a
recognized institution of higher learning. The | 7 |
| academic and
professional courses offered as a basis of the | 8 |
| provisional certificate
shall be courses approved by the State | 9 |
| Board of Education in
consultation with the State Teacher | 10 |
| Certification Board. A certificate
earned under this plan is | 11 |
| valid for a period of 2 years and
shall not be renewed ; | 12 |
| however, the individual to whom this certificate is
issued | 13 |
| shall have passed or shall pass the examinations
set forth by | 14 |
| the State Board of Education within 9 months of the date of | 15 |
| issuance
of the provisional certificate. Failure to pass the | 16 |
| tests,
required in Section 21-1a, shall result in the | 17 |
| cancellation of the
provisional certificate .
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| (C) The State Teacher Certification Board may also issue a
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| provisional vocational certificate and a temporary provisional
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| vocational certificate.
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| (1) The requirements for a provisional vocational | 22 |
| certificate shall
be determined by the State Board of | 23 |
| Education in
consultation with the State Teacher | 24 |
| Certification Board; provided, the
following
minimum | 25 |
| requirements are met: (a) after July 1, 1972, at least 30
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| semester hours of credit from a recognized institution of |
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LRB095 15748 NHT 41755 b |
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| higher
learning; and (b) after July 1, 1974, at least 60 | 2 |
| semester hours of
credit from a recognized institution of | 3 |
| higher learning.
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| (2) The requirements for a temporary provisional | 5 |
| vocational
certificate shall be determined by the State | 6 |
| Board of Education in consultation
with the State Teacher | 7 |
| Certification Board;
provided, the following minimum | 8 |
| requirements are met: (a) after July 1,
1973, at least | 9 |
| 4,000 hours of work experience in the skill to be
certified | 10 |
| for teaching; and (b) after July 1, 1975, at least 8,000 | 11 |
| hours
of work experience in the skill to be certified for | 12 |
| teaching. Any
certificate issued under the provisions of | 13 |
| this paragraph shall expire
on June 30 following the date | 14 |
| of issue. Renewals may be granted on a
yearly basis, but | 15 |
| shall not be granted to any person who does not file
with | 16 |
| the State Teacher Certification Board a transcript showing | 17 |
| at least
3 semester hours of credit earned during the | 18 |
| previous year in a
recognized institution of learning. No | 19 |
| such certificate shall be issued
except upon certification | 20 |
| by the employing board, subject to the
approval of the | 21 |
| regional superintendent of schools, that no qualified
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| teacher holding a regular certificate or a provisional | 23 |
| vocational
certificate is available and that actual | 24 |
| circumstances and need require
such issuance.
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| The courses or work experience offered as a basis for the | 26 |
| issuance of
the provisional vocational certificate or the |
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LRB095 15748 NHT 41755 b |
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| temporary provisional
vocational certificate shall be approved | 2 |
| by the State Board of Education
in consultation with the State | 3 |
| Teacher
Certification Board.
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| (D) Until July 1, 1972, the State Teacher Certification | 5 |
| Board may
also issue a provisional foreign language certificate | 6 |
| valid for 4 years
for teaching the foreign language named | 7 |
| therein in all grades of the
common schools and shall be issued | 8 |
| to persons who have graduated from a
recognized institution of | 9 |
| higher learning with not fewer than 120
semester hours of | 10 |
| credit and who have met other requirements as
determined by the | 11 |
| State Board of Education in consultation
with the State Teacher | 12 |
| Certification Board. If the holder of a
provisional foreign | 13 |
| language certificate is not a citizen of the United
States | 14 |
| within 6 years of the date of issuance of the original
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| certificate, such certificate shall be suspended by the | 16 |
| regional
superintendent of schools of the region in which the | 17 |
| holder is engaged
to teach and shall not be reinstated until | 18 |
| the holder is a citizen of
the United States.
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| (E) Notwithstanding anything in this Act to the contrary, | 20 |
| the State
Teacher Certification Board shall issue part-time | 21 |
| provisional certificates to
eligible individuals who are | 22 |
| professionals and craftsmen.
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| The requirements for a part-time provisional teachers | 24 |
| certificate shall be
determined by the State Board of Education | 25 |
| in consultation with the State
Teacher Certification Board, | 26 |
| provided the following minimum
requirements are met: 60 |
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LRB095 15748 NHT 41755 b |
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| semester hours of credit from a recognized
institution of | 2 |
| higher learning or 4000
hours of work experience in the skill | 3 |
| to be certified for teaching.
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| A part-time provisional certificate may be issued for | 5 |
| teaching no more than 2
courses of study for grades 6 through | 6 |
| 12.
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| A part-time provisional teachers certificate shall be | 8 |
| valid for 2 years and
may be renewed at the end of each 2 year | 9 |
| period.
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| (Source: P.A. 90-548, eff. 1-1-98; 91-357, eff. 7-29-99.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, | 12 |
| 2008.
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