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Public Act 094-0208
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| HB0384 Enrolled |
LRB094 06901 RAS 37013 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 |
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 |
preparation.
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(a) After July 1, 1988, in addition to all other |
requirements, early
childhood, elementary, special, high |
school, school service personnel, or,
except as provided in |
Section 34-6, administrative certificates shall be
issued to |
persons who have satisfactorily passed a test of basic skills |
and
subject matter knowledge.
A person who holds a valid and |
comparable out-of-state certificate, however, is not required |
to take a test of basic skills and is not required to take a |
test of subject matter knowledge, provided that the person has |
successfully passed a test of subject matter knowledge in |
another state or territory of the United States that is |
directly related in content to the specific subject area of |
certification. The tests of basic skills and subject matter
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knowledge shall be the tests which from time to time are |
designated by the
State Board of Education in consultation with |
the State Teacher
Certification 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 Teacher |
Certification Board. The areas to be
covered by the test of |
basic skills shall include the basic skills of
reading, |
writing, grammar and mathematics. The test of subject matter
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knowledge shall assess content knowledge in the specific |
subject field. The
tests shall be designed to be racially |
neutral to assure that no
person in taking the tests is thereby |
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discriminated against on the basis of
race, color, national |
origin or other factors unrelated to the person's
ability to |
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 |
fixed by
the State Board of Education in consultation with the |
State Teacher
Certification Board. The tests shall be held 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 Teacher Certification Board.
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(b) Except as provided in Section 34-6, the provisions of |
subsection
(a) of this Section shall apply equally in any |
school district subject to
Article 34, provided that the State |
Board of Education shall determine
which certificates issued |
under Sections 34-8.1 and 34-83 prior to July 1,
1988 are |
comparable to any early childhood certificate, elementary |
school
certificate, special certificate, high school |
certificate, school service
personnel certificate or |
administrative certificate issued under this
Article as of July |
1, 1988.
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(c) A person who holds an early childhood, elementary, |
special, high
school or school service personnel certificate |
issued under this Article on
or at any time before July 1, |
1988, including a person who has been
issued any such |
certificate pursuant to Section 21-11.1 or in exchange for
a |
comparable certificate theretofore issued under Section 34-8.1 |
or Section
34-83, shall not be required to take or pass the |
tests in order to
thereafter have such certificate renewed.
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(d) The State Board of Education in consultation with the |
State Teacher
Certification Board shall conduct a pilot |
administration of the tests by
administering the test to |
students completing teacher education programs in
the 1986-87 |
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 |
not enroll
in a teacher preparation program at a recognized |
teacher training
institution until he or she has passed the |
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basic skills test.
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Beginning on the effective date of this amendatory Act of |
the 94th General Assembly, prior to completing an approved |
teacher preparation program, a preservice education candidate |
must satisfactorily pass the test of subject matter knowledge |
in the discipline in which he or she will be certified to |
teach. The teacher preparation program may require passage of |
the test of subject matter knowledge at any time during the |
program, including prior to student teaching.
Beginning with |
the 2004-2005 academic year, a preservice
education teacher may |
not student teach 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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(e) The rules and regulations developed to implement the |
required test
of basic skills and subject matter knowledge |
shall include the requirements
of subsections (a), (b), and (c) |
and shall include specific regulations to
govern test |
selection; test validation and determination of a passing
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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, |
waiving certain additional tests for additional
certificates |
to individuals who have satisfactorily passed the test of
basic |
skills and subject matter knowledge as required in subsection |
(a).
The State Board of Education shall provide, by rule, |
specific policies that
assure uniformity in the difficulty |
level of each form of the basic skills
test and each subject |
matter knowledge test from test-to-test and
year-to-year. The |
State Board of Education shall also set a passing
score for the |
tests.
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(f) The State Teacher Certification Board may issue a |
nonrenewable
temporary certificate between July 1, 1988 and |
August 31, 1988 to
individuals who have taken the tests of |
basic skills and subject matter
knowledge prescribed by this |
Section but have not received such test scores
by August 31, |
1988. Such temporary certificates shall expire on
December 31, |
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 |
Certification Board,
shall implement and administer a new |
system of certification for teachers in
the State of Illinois. |
The State Board of Education, in consultation with the
State |
Teacher Certification Board, shall design
and implement a |
system of examinations and various other criteria which
shall |
be required prior to the issuance of Initial Teaching |
Certificates and
Standard Teaching Certificates. These |
examinations and indicators shall be
based on national and |
State professional teaching standards,
as determined by
the |
State Board of Education, in consultation with the State |
Teacher
Certification Board. The State
Board of Education may |
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 |
Illinois
General Assembly and the Governor with |
recommendations for further changes and
improvements to the |
teacher certification system no later than July 1,
1999
and on |
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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Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
becoming law.
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