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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 977
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 4303
Referred to Committee on EDUCATION
Introduced by:
(ED)
AN ACT CONCERNING VI RTUAL LEARNING.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) As used in this section and 1
section 10-4 of the general statutes, as amended by this act, "virtual 2
learning" means the provision of instruction on a virtual platform or as 3
part of a remote learning model that is in accordance with the uniform 4
virtual learning standards adopted by the State Board of Education 5
pursuant to this section. 6
(b) Not later than July 1, 2021, the State Board of Education shall 7
adopt uniform standards for virtual learning. Such uniform standards 8
shall be used by local and regional boards of education for the 9
authorized provision of virtual learning, and shall be developed, and 10
updated as necessary, with consideration given to best practices, 11
technological capabilities and equity. 12
(c) The state board shall make such uniform standards available on 13
its Internet web site. 14
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 10-4 of the general statutes is repealed 15 Raised Bill No. 977
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and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 16
(a) Said board shall have general supervision and control of the 17
educational interests of the state, which interests shall include 18
preschool, elementary and secondary education, special education, 19
vocational education and adult education; shall provide leadership and 20
otherwise promote the improvement of education in the state, including 21
research, planning and evaluation and services relating to the provision 22
and use of educational technology, including telecommunications, by 23
school districts; shall adopt state-wide subject matter content standards, 24
provided such standards are reviewed and revised at least once every 25
ten years; shall prepare such courses of study and publish such 26
curriculum guides including recommendations for textbooks, materials, 27
instructional technological resources and other teaching aids as it 28
determines are necessary to assist school districts to carry out the duties 29
prescribed by law; shall adopt uniform standards for virtual learning, in 30
accordance with the provisions of section 1 of this act; shall conduct 31
workshops and related activities, including programs of intergroup 32
relations training, to assist teachers in making effective use of such 33
curriculum materials and in improving their proficiency in meeting the 34
diverse needs and interests of pupils; shall keep informed as to the 35
condition, progress and needs of the schools in the state; shall develop 36
or cause to be developed evaluation and assessment programs designed 37
to measure objectively the adequacy and efficacy of the educational 38
programs offered by public schools and shall selectively conduct such 39
assessment programs annually and report, pursuant to subsection (b) of 40
this section, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly 41
having cognizance of matters relating to education, on an annual basis; 42
and shall establish and keep an inventory account, in accordance with 43
the provisions of section 4-36, of all property owned and in the custody 44
of the Department of Education, secure such inventory to prevent theft 45
or loss and establish controls over the disposal of such inventory. 46
Sec. 3. (Effective from passage) (a) The Department of Education shall 47
conduct a comprehensive audit of the virtual learning provided by local 48
and regional boards of education as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic 49 Raised Bill No. 977
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during the school years commencing July 1, 2019, and July 1, 2020. As 50
used in this section, "virtual learning" means the provision of instruction 51
on a virtual platform or as part of a remote learning model. 52
(b) Such comprehensive audit shall include, but need not be limited 53
to, an examination of (1) whether and how local and regional boards of 54
education initially provided virtual learning during the beginning of the 55
COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on the technological capabilities or 56
limitations at such time, (2) the curriculum used as part of virtual 57
learning and whether students were able to complete the grade level 58
curriculums, (3) the level of preparation or training in virtual learning 59
that educators received prior to and during the provision of virtual 60
learning during such school years, including the nature of such training 61
and whether it was offered as part of a program of professional 62
development, pursuant to section 10-148a of the general statutes, as 63
amended by this act, or as part of in-service training program, pursuant 64
to section 10-220a of the general statutes, as amended by this act, and (4) 65
the level of improvement, if any, of the provision of virtual learning 66
from the school year commencing July 1, 2019, to the school year 67
commencing July 1, 2020. 68
(c) Following the completion of such comprehensive audit, the 69
department shall develop a report that uses the results of such 70
comprehensive audit to (1) evaluate the efficacy of virtual learning, and 71
hybrid learning models, and the potential to leverage technology for 72
teaching in other scenarios and rethinking the delivery of instruction, 73
(2) identify a system of metrics to hold local and regional boards of 74
education accountable for virtual learning access and equity, and (3) 75
review and make recommendations regarding ongoing public 76
education requirements, including what defines a "school day", by 77
aligning technology and how virtual learning may be optimally 78
integrated into the program of study and the provision of public 79
education. 80
(d) Not later than January 1, 2022, the department shall submit such 81
comprehensive audit and report, and any recommendations for 82 Raised Bill No. 977
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legislation, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly 83
having cognizance of matters relating to education, in accordance with 84
the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes. 85
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) As used in this section and 86
sections 10-148a and 10-220a of the general statutes, as amended by this 87
act, "virtual learning" means the provision of instruction on a virtual 88
platform or as part of a remote learning model that is in accordance with 89
the uniform virtual learning standards adopted by the State Board of 90
Education pursuant to this section. 91
(b) Not later than July 1, 2021, the Department of Education shall 92
develop guidelines for the provision of training in virtual learning 93
offered as part of a program of professional development, pursuant to 94
section 10-148a of the general statutes, as amended by this act, or as part 95
of in-service training program, pursuant to section 10-220a of the 96
general statutes, as amended by this act. Such guidelines shall be used 97
by local and regional boards of education, and shall be developed, and 98
updated as necessary, with consideration given to best practices, 99
technological capabilities and equity. 100
(c) The department shall make such guidelines available on its 101
Internet web site. 102
Sec. 5. Subsection (a) of section 10-148a of the general statutes is 103
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 104
passage): 105
(a) For the school year commencing July 1, 2019, and each school year 106
thereafter, each certified employee shall participate in a program of 107
professional development. Each local and regional board of education 108
shall make available, annually, at no cost to its certified employees, a 109
program of professional development that is not fewer than eighteen 110
hours in length, of which a preponderance is in a small group or 111
individual instructional setting. Such program of professional 112
development shall (1) be a comprehensive, sustained and intensive 113
approach to improving teacher and administrator effectiveness in 114 Raised Bill No. 977
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increasing student knowledge achievement, (2) focus on refining and 115
improving various effective teaching methods that are shared between 116
and among educators, (3) foster collective responsibility for improved 117
student performance, (4) be comprised of professional learning that (A) 118
is aligned with rigorous state student academic achievement standards, 119
(B) is conducted among educators at the school and facilitated by 120
principals, coaches, mentors, distinguished educators, as described in 121
section 10-145s, or other appropriate teachers, (C) occurs frequently on 122
an individual basis or among groups of teachers in a job-embedded 123
process of continuous improvement, and (D) includes a repository of 124
best practices for teaching methods developed by educators within each 125
school that is continuously available to such educators for comment and 126
updating, [and] (5) include training in culturally responsive pedagogy 127
and practice, and (6) include training in the provision of virtual learning, 128
in accordance with the guidelines developed pursuant to section 4 of 129
this act. Each program of professional development shall include 130
professional development activities in accordance with the provisions 131
of subsection (b) of this section. 132
Sec. 6. Subsection (a) of section 10-220a of the general statutes is 133
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 134
passage): 135
(a) Each local or regional board of education shall provide an in-136
service training program for its teachers, administrators and pupil 137
personnel who hold the initial educator, provisional educator or 138
professional educator certificate. Such program shall provide such 139
teachers, administrators and pupil personnel with information on (1) 140
the nature and the relationship of alcohol and drugs, as defined in 141
subdivision (17) of section 21a-240, to health and personality 142
development, and procedures for discouraging their abuse, (2) health 143
and mental health risk reduction education that includes, but need not 144
be limited to, the prevention of risk-taking behavior by children and the 145
relationship of such behavior to substance abuse, pregnancy, sexually 146
transmitted diseases, including HIV-infection and AIDS, as defined in 147
section 19a-581, violence, teen dating violence, domestic violence and 148 Raised Bill No. 977
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child abuse, (3) school violence prevention, conflict resolution, the 149
prevention of and response to youth suicide and the identification and 150
prevention of and response to bullying, as defined in subsection (a) of 151
section 10-222d, except that those boards of education that implement 152
any evidence-based model approach that is approved by the 153
Department of Education and is consistent with subsection (c) of section 154
10-145a, sections 10-222d, 10-222g and 10-222h, subsection (g) of section 155
10-233c and sections 1 and 3 of public act 08-160, shall not be required 156
to provide in-service training on the identification and prevention of 157
and response to bullying, (4) cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other 158
emergency life saving procedures, (5) the requirements and obligations 159
of a mandated reporter, (6) the detection and recognition of, and 160
evidence-based structured literacy interventions for, students with 161
dyslexia, as defined in section 10-3d, [and] (7) culturally responsive 162
pedagogy and practice, and (8) include training in the provision of 163
virtual learning, in accordance with the guidelines developed pursuant 164
to section 4 of this act. Each local or regional board of education may 165
allow any paraprofessional or noncertified employee to participate, on 166
a voluntary basis, in any in-service training program provided pursuant 167
to this section. 168
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 from passage 10-4(a)
Sec. 3 from passage New section
Sec. 4 from passage New section
Sec. 5 from passage 10-148a(a)
Sec. 6 from passage 10-220a(a)
Statement of Purpose:
To require the Department of Education to develop uniform standards
for the provision of virtual learning in public schools, conduct a
comprehensive audit of virtual learning programs in the state and
develop guidelines for training educators in the provision of virtual
learning. Raised Bill No. 977
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[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]