Public Act 102-1077
 
HB5506 EnrolledLRB102 22403 CMG 31543 b

    AN ACT concerning education.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Dual Credit Quality Act is amended by
changing Sections 16 and 20 and by adding Section 16.5 as
follows:
 
    (110 ILCS 27/16)
    Sec. 16. High school and community college partnership
agreements; dual credit. A community college district shall,
upon the request of a school district within the jurisdiction
of the community college district, enter into a partnership
agreement with the school district to offer dual credit
coursework.
    A school district may offer any course identified in the
Illinois Articulation Initiative General Education Core
Curriculum package under the Illinois Articulation Initiative
Act as a dual credit course on the campus of a high school of
the school district and may use a high school instructor who
has met the academic credential requirements under this Act to
teach the dual credit course.
    The partnership agreement shall include all of the
following:
        (1) The establishment of the school district's and the
    community college district's respective roles and
    responsibilities in providing the program and ensuring the
    quality and instructional rigor of the program. This must
    include an assurance that the community college district
    has appropriate academic control of the curriculum,
    consistent with any State or federal law and as required
    or negotiated with the Higher Learning Commission or other
    applicable accrediting agency.
        (2) The dual credit courses that the school district
    will offer its students and whether those courses will be
    offered on the high school or community college campus or
    through an online platform established by the Illinois
    Community College Board.
        (3) The establishment of academic criteria for
    granting eligibility for high school students to enroll in
    dual credit coursework. The academic criteria shall be
    evidence-based and shall include multiple appropriate
    measures to determine whether a student is prepared for
    any dual credit coursework in which the student enrolls.
        (4) The establishment of any limitations that the
    school district or community college district may put on
    course offerings due to availability of instructors, the
    availability of students for specific course offerings, or
    local board policy.
        (5) The requirement that the dual credit instructor
    meet the academic credential requirements to teach a dual
    credit course, consistent with paragraphs (1), (2), and
    (3) of Section 20 of this Act, but shall not be required to
    exceed those credentials.
        (6) The collaborative process and criteria by which
    the school district shall identify and recommend and the
    community college district shall review and approve high
    school instructors of dual credit courses taught on the
    campus of a high school. This provision shall require that
    the school district be responsible for hiring and
    compensating the instructor.
        (7) The requirement that a community college district
    take the appropriate steps to ensure that dual credit
    courses are equivalent to those courses offered at the
    community college in quality and rigor to qualify for
    college credit. The dual credit programs shall encompass
    the following characteristics:
            (A) Student learning outcomes expected for dual
        credit courses in General Education Core Curriculum
        courses and the professional and career and technical
        disciplines shall be the same as the student learning
        outcomes expected for the same courses taught on the
        postsecondary campus.
            (B) Course content, course delivery, and course
        rigor shall be evaluated by the community college
        chief academic officer or his or her designee, in
        consultation with the school district's superintendent
        or his or her designee. The evaluation shall be
        conducted in a manner that is consistent with the
        community college district's review and evaluation
        policy and procedures for on-campus adjunct faculty,
        including visits to the secondary class. This
        evaluation shall be limited to the course and the
        ability of the instructor to deliver quality, rigorous
        college credit coursework. This evaluation shall not
        impact the instructor's performance evaluation under
        Article 24A of the School Code.
            (C) The academic supports and, if applicable,
        guidance that will be provided to students
        participating in the program by the high school and
        the community college district.
        (8) Identify all fees and costs to be assessed by the
    community college district for dual credit courses. This
    provision shall require that any fees and costs assessed
    for dual credit courses shall be reasonable and promote
    student access to those courses, and may take into account
    regional considerations and differences.
        (8.5) The collaborative process and criteria by which
    a school district and a community college district shall
    work to ensure that individual students with disabilities
    have access to dual credit courses, provided that those
    students are able to meet the criteria for entry into a
    dual credit course. Through this process and criteria, the
    student shall have access to the supplementary aids and
    accommodations included in the student's individualized
    education program under Article 14 of the School Code or
    Section 504 plan under the federal Rehabilitation Act of
    1973 while the student is accessing a dual credit course
    on a high school campus, in accordance with established
    practices at the high school for providing these services.
    A student who accesses a dual credit course on a community
    college campus shall have access to supplementary aids and
    accommodations provided in the partnership agreement,
    including access to the community college's disability
    services. A school district and community college district
    shall work together to provide seamless communication
    about the student's progress.
        (9) The community college district shall establish a
    mechanism for evaluating and documenting on a regular
    basis the performance of students who complete dual credit
    courses, consistent with paragraph (9) of Section 20 and
    Section 30 of this Act, and for sharing that data in a
    meaningful and timely manner with the school district.
    This evaluation shall be limited to the course and the
    coursework. This evaluation shall not impact the
    instructor's performance evaluation under Article 24A of
    the School Code.
        (10) The expectations for maintaining the rigor of
    dual credit courses that are taught at the high school and
    including students not deemed ready for college-level
    coursework according to the standards of the community
    college.
        (11) A requirement that the school district and
    community college annually assess disaggregated data
    pertaining to dual credit course enrollments, completions,
    and subsequent postsecondary enrollment and performance to
    the extent feasible. If applicable, this assessment shall
    include an analysis of dual credit courses with credit
    sections for dual credit and for high school credit only
    pursuant to subsection (a) of Section 16.5 that reviews
    student characteristics by credit section in relation to
    gender, race and ethnicity, and low-income status.
    If, within 180 calendar days of the school district's
initial request to enter into a partnership agreement with the
community college district, the school district and the
community college district do not reach agreement on the
partnership agreement, then the school district and community
college district shall jointly implement the provisions of the
Model Partnership Agreement established under Section 19 of
this Act for which local agreement could not be reached. A
community college district may combine its negotiations with
multiple school districts to establish one multi-district
partnership agreement or may negotiate individual partnership
agreements at its discretion.
(Source: P.A. 102-516, eff. 8-20-21.)
 
    (110 ILCS 27/16.5 new)
    Sec. 16.5. High school and community college partnership
agreements; student enrollment eligibility.
    (a) A partnership agreement under Section 16 that is
entered into, amended, renewed, or extended after the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General
Assembly shall allow a high school student who does not
otherwise meet the community college district's academic
eligibility requirements to enroll in a dual credit course
taught at the high school, but only for high school credit.
Instructors, in coordination with their higher learning
partner, may differentiate instruction by credit section.
    (b) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to allow
the award of dual credit to a student who does not meet the
requirements of the partnership agreement.
    (c) High schools shall establish procedures, prior to the
first day of class, to notify all individual high school
students enrolled in a mixed enrollment dual credit course
that includes students who have and have not met the criteria
for dual credit coursework of whether or not they are eligible
to earn college credit for the course.
 
    (110 ILCS 27/20)
    Sec. 20. Standards. All institutions offering dual credit
courses shall meet the following standards:
        (1) High school instructors teaching credit-bearing
    college-level courses for dual credit must meet any of the
    academic credential requirements set forth in this
    paragraph or paragraph (2) or (3) of this Section and need
    not meet higher certification requirements or those set
    out in Article 21B of the School Code:
            (A) Approved instructors of dual credit courses
        shall meet any of the faculty credential standards
        allowed by the Higher Learning Commission to determine
        minimally qualified faculty. At the request of an
        instructor, an instructor who meets these credential
        standards shall be provided by the State Board of
        Education with a Dual Credit Endorsement, to be placed
        on the professional educator license, as established
        by the State Board of Education and as authorized
        under Article 21B of the School Code and promulgated
        through administrative rule in cooperation with the
        Illinois Community College Board and the Board of
        Higher Education.
            (B) An instructor who does not meet the faculty
        credential standards allowed by the Higher Learning
        Commission to determine minimally qualified faculty
        may teach dual credit courses if the instructor has a
        professional development plan, approved by the
        institution and shared with the State Board of
        Education no later than January 1, 2025 , within 4
        years of January 1, 2019 (the effective date of Public
        Act 100-1049), to raise his or her credentials to be in
        line with the credentials under subparagraph (A) of
        this paragraph (1). The institution shall have 30 days
        to review the plan and approve an instructor
        professional development plan that is in line with the
        credentials set forth in paragraph (2) of this
        Section. The institution shall not unreasonably
        withhold approval of a professional development plan.
        These approvals shall be good for as long as
        satisfactory progress toward the completion of the
        credential is demonstrated, but in no event shall a
        professional development plan be in effect for more
        than 3 years from the date of its approval or after
        January 1, 2028, whichever is sooner. A high school
        instructor whose professional development plan is not
        approved by the institution may appeal to the Illinois
        Community College Board or the Board of Higher
        Education, as appropriate.
            (C) The Illinois Community College Board and Board
        of Higher Education shall report yearly on its
        Internet website the following:
                (i) the number of teachers presently enrolled
            in an who have approved professional development
            plan plans under this Section; .
                (ii) the number of instructors who
            successfully completed an approved professional
            development plan;
                (iii) the number of instructors who did not
            successfully complete an approved professional
            development plan after 3 years;
                (iv) a breakdown of the information in
            subdivisions (i), (ii), and (iii) of this
            subparagraph (C) by subject area; and
                (v) a summary, by community college district,
            of professional development plans that are in
            progress, that were successfully completed, or
            that have expired.
        (2) For a high school instructor entering into a
    professional development plan prior to January 1, 2023,
    the A high school instructor shall qualify for a
    professional development plan if the instructor:
            (A) has a master's degree in any discipline and
        has earned 9 graduate hours in a discipline in which he
        or she is currently teaching or expects to teach; or
            (B) has a bachelor's degree with a minimum of 18
        graduate hours in a discipline that he or she is
        currently teaching or expects to teach and is enrolled
        in a discipline-specific master's degree program; and
            (C) agrees to demonstrate his or her progress
        toward completion to the supervising institution, as
        outlined in the professional development plan.
        (2.5) For a high school instructor entering into a
    professional development plan on or after January 1, 2023,
    the high school instructor shall qualify for a
    professional development plan if the instructor:
            (A) has a master's degree in any discipline, has
        earned 9 graduate hours in a discipline in which he or
        she currently teaches or expects to teach, and agrees
        to demonstrate his or her progress toward completion
        to the supervising institution, as outlined in the
        professional development plan; or
            (B) is a fully licensed instructor in career and
        technical education who is halfway toward meeting the
        institution's requirements for faculty in the
        discipline to be taught and agrees to demonstrate his
        or her progress toward completion to the supervising
        institution, as outlined in the professional
        development plan.
        (3) An instructor in career and technical education
    courses must possess the credentials and demonstrated
    teaching competencies appropriate to the field of
    instruction.
        (4) Course content must be equivalent to
    credit-bearing college-level courses offered at the
    community college.
        (5) Learning outcomes must be the same as
    credit-bearing college-level courses and be appropriately
    measured.
        (6) A high school instructor is expected to
    participate in any orientation developed by the
    institution for dual credit instructors in course
    curriculum, assessment methods, and administrative
    requirements.
        (7) Dual credit instructors must be given the
    opportunity to participate in all activities available to
    other adjunct faculty, including professional development,
    seminars, site visits, and internal communication,
    provided that such opportunities do not interfere with an
    instructor's regular teaching duties.
        (8) Every dual credit course must be reviewed annually
    by faculty through the appropriate department to ensure
    consistency with campus courses.
        (9) Dual credit students must be assessed using
    methods consistent with students in traditional
    credit-bearing college courses.
        (10) Within 15 days after entering into or renewing a
    partnership agreement, the institution shall notify its
    faculty of the agreement, including access to copies of
    the agreement if requested.
(Source: P.A. 102-558, eff. 8-20-21.)