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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 957
January Session, 2019
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E INCLUSION OF COMPU TER SCIENCE
INSTRUCTION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CURRICULUM, P ROGRAMS
OF TEACHER PREPARATI ON AND ALTERNATE ROU TE TO
CERTIFICATION PROGRA MS AND THE CREATION OF AN ADJUNCT
COMPUTER SCIENCE INS TRUCTOR PERMIT AND A COMPUTER
SCIENCE ENDORSEMENT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 10-16b of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 2
1, 2019): 3
(a) In the public schools the program of instruction offered shall 4
include at least the following subject matter, as taught by legally 5
qualified teachers, the arts; career education; consumer education; 6
health and safety, including, but not limited to, human growth and 7
development, nutrition, first aid, including cardiopulmonary 8
resuscitation training in accordance with the provisions of section 10-9
16qq, disease prevention and cancer awareness, including, but not 10
limited to, age and developmentally appropriate instruction in 11
performing self-examinations for the purposes of screening for breast 12
cancer and testicular cancer, community and consumer health, 13
physical, mental and emotional health, including youth suicide 14
prevention, substance abuse prevention, including instruction relating 15
to opioid use and related disorders, safety, which shall include the safe 16 Substitute Bill No. 957
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use of social media, as defined in section 9-601, and may include the 17
dangers of gang membership, and accident prevention; language arts, 18
including reading, writing, grammar, speaking and spelling; 19
mathematics; physical education; science, which may include the 20
climate change curriculum described in subsection (d) of this section; 21
social studies, including, but not limited to, citizenship, economics, 22
geography, government, history and Holocaust and genocide 23
education and awareness in accordance with the provisions of section 24
10-18f; computer science, including, but not limited to, computer 25
programming instruction; and in addition, on at least the secondary 26
level, one or more world languages and vocational education. For 27
purposes of this subsection, world languages shall include American 28
Sign Language, provided such subject matter is taught by a qualified 29
instructor under the supervision of a teacher who holds a certificate 30
issued by the State Board of Education. For purposes of this 31
subsection, the "arts" means any form of visual or performing arts, 32
which may include, but not be limited to, dance, music, art and theatre. 33
Sec. 2. Subsection (d) of section 10-145a of the general statutes is 34
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 35
1, 2019): 36
(d) On and after July 1, [1998] 2019, any [candidate in a] program of 37
teacher preparation leading to professional certification shall [complete 38
a] include, as part of the curriculum, instruction in computer science, 39
and other information technology skills, [component of such program,] 40
as applied to student learning and classroom instruction, 41
communications, [and] data management, programming and coding. 42
Sec. 3. Section 10-155d of the general statutes is repealed and the 43
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 44
(a) The Office of Higher Education shall encourage and support 45
experimentation and research in the preparation of teachers for public 46
elementary and secondary schools. To help fulfill the purposes of this 47
section, the Office of Higher Education shall appoint an advisory 48 Substitute Bill No. 957
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council composed of qualified professionals which shall render 49
assistance and advice to the office. In carrying out its activities 50
pursuant to this section, the office shall consult with the State Board of 51
Education and such other agencies as it deems appropriate to assure 52
coordination of all activities of the state relating to the preparation of 53
teachers for public elementary and secondary schools. 54
(b) The Office of Higher Education, with the approval of the 55
Commissioner of Education, shall expand, within available 56
appropriations, participation in its summer alternate route to 57
certification program and its weekend and evening alternate route to 58
certification program. The office shall expand the weekend and 59
evening program for participants seeking certification in a subject 60
shortage area pursuant to section 10-8b. The office, in collaboration 61
with the Department of Education, shall develop (1) a regional 62
alternate route to certification program targeted to the subject shortage 63
areas, [and] (2) an alternate route to certification program for former 64
teachers whose certificates have expired and who are interested in 65
resuming their teaching careers, and (3) an alternate route to 66
certification program targeted for computer science teachers. 67
(c) The Office of Higher Education, in consultation with the 68
Department of Education, shall develop alternate route to certification 69
programs for (1) school administrators and superintendents, [and] (2) 70
early childhood education teachers, and (3) computer science teachers. 71
The programs shall include mentored apprenticeships and criteria for 72
admission to the programs. 73
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2019) (a) The State Board of 74
Education, upon the request of a local or regional board of education 75
or a regional educational service center, may issue an adjunct 76
computer science instructor permit to any applicant with specialized 77
training, experience or expertise in computer science. Such permit shall 78
authorize a person to hold a part-time position as a teacher of 79
computer science. Such applicant shall (1) hold a bachelor's degree 80
from an institution of higher education accredited by the Board of 81 Substitute Bill No. 957
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Regents for Higher Education or Office of Higher Education or 82
regionally accredited, (2) have a minimum of three years of work 83
experience in computer science, or one year of work experience and 84
two years of specialized schooling related to computer science, and (3) 85
achieve a satisfactory evaluation on the appropriate State Board of 86
Education approved subject area assessment. 87
(b) During the period of employment as a computer science 88
instructor, any person holding an adjunct computer science instructor 89
permit shall be under the supervision of the superintendent of schools 90
or of a principal, administrator or supervisor designated by such 91
superintendent who shall regularly observe, guide and evaluate the 92
performance of assigned duties by such holder of an adjunct computer 93
science instructor permit. 94
(c) Each adjunct computer science instructor permit shall be valid 95
for three years and may be renewed by the Commissioner of 96
Education for good cause upon the request of the superintendent of 97
schools for the district employing such person or the regional 98
educational service center employing such person. 99
(d) Any board of education or regional educational service center 100
employing a person who holds an adjunct computer science instructor 101
permit issued under this section shall provide a program to assist each 102
such person. Such program, developed in consultation with the 103
Department of Education, shall include academic and classroom 104
support service components. 105
(e) No person holding an adjunct computer science instructor 106
permit shall fill a position that will result in the displacement of any 107
person holding a teaching certificate under section 10-145b of the 108
general statutes who is already employed at such school. 109
(f) Any person holding an adjunct computer science instructor 110
permit pursuant to this section shall not be deemed to be eligible for 111
membership in the teachers' retirement system solely by reason of such 112 Substitute Bill No. 957
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permit, provided any such person who holds a regular teacher's 113
certificate issued by the State Board of Education shall not be excluded 114
from membership in said system. 115
Sec. 5. Subsection (e) of section 10-145d of the general statutes is 116
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 117
1, 2019): 118
(e) [The] Not later than July 1, 2020, the State Board of Education 119
shall adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, to provide 120
standards for the certification of computer science teachers. Such 121
regulations shall create a computer science endorsement and make 122
provision for certification requirements to be met by either (1) 123
completion of prescribed courses of study, or (2) such other experience 124
as the state board shall deem appropriate. 125
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2019 10-16b(a)
Sec. 2 July 1, 2019 10-145a(d)
Sec. 3 July 1, 2019 10-155d
Sec. 4 July 1, 2019 New section
Sec. 5 July 1, 2019 10-145d(e)
ED Joint Favorable Subst.
APP Joint Favorable