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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6844
January Session, 2023
LCO No. 5115
Referred to Committee on EDUCATION
Introduced by:
(ED)
AN ACT CONCERNING PARAEDUCATORS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 10-148d of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2
2023): 3
(a) For the school year commencing July 1, [2022] 2023, and each 4
school year thereafter, each paraeducator employed by a local or 5
regional board of education shall participate in a program of 6
professional development. Each local and regional board of education 7
shall make available, annually, at no cost to its paraeducators, a 8
program of professional development that is not fewer than eighteen 9
hours in length, of which a preponderance is in a small group or 10
individual instructional setting. Such program of professional 11
development shall (1) be a comprehensive, sustained and intensive 12
approach to improving paraeducators effectiveness in increasing 13
student knowledge achievement, (2) focus on refining and improving 14
various effective instruction methods that are shared between and 15
among paraeducators, (3) foster collective responsibility for improved 16 Raised Bill No. 6844
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student performance, (4) be comprised of professional learning that (A) 17
is aligned with rigorous state student academic achievement standards, 18
(B) is conducted among paraeducators at the school and facilitated by 19
principals, coaches, mentors, distinguished educators, as described in 20
section 10-145s, or other appropriate teachers, (C) occurs frequently on 21
an individual basis or among groups of paraeducators in a job-22
embedded process of continuous improvement, and (D) includes a 23
repository of best practices for instruction methods developed by 24
paraeducators within each school that is continuously available to such 25
paraeducators for comment and updating, and (5) include training in 26
culturally responsive pedagogy and practice. Each program of 27
professional development shall include professional development 28
activities in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of this 29
section. The [principles and practices of social-emotional learning and 30
restorative practices shall be integrated throughout the] components of 31
such program of professional development described in subdivisions (1) 32
to (5), inclusive, of this subsection shall integrate the principles and 33
practices of social-emotional learning and restorative practices 34
throughout, but may not otherwise include mandated trainings such as 35
trainings regarding blood-borne pathogens, the policies and procedures 36
of the Department of Children and Families and sexual harassment. 37
Sec. 2. Subsections (b) and (c) of section 10-220a of the general statutes 38
are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 39
1, 2023): 40
(b) Not later than a date prescribed by the commissioner, each local 41
and regional board of education shall establish a professional 42
development and evaluation committee. Such professional 43
development and evaluation committee shall consist of (1) at least one 44
teacher, as defined in subsection (a) of section 10-144d, selected by the 45
exclusive bargaining representative for certified employees chosen 46
pursuant to section 10-153b, (2) at least one administrator, as defined in 47
subsection (a) of section 10-144e, selected by the exclusive bargaining 48
representative for certified employees chosen pursuant to section 10-49
153b, [and] (3) at least one paraeducator selected by any exclusive 50 Raised Bill No. 6844
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bargaining representative for paraeducators, and (4) such other school 51
personnel as the board deems appropriate. The duties of such 52
committees shall include, but not be limited to, participation in the 53
development or adoption of a teacher evaluation and support program 54
for the district, pursuant to section 10-151b, and the development, 55
evaluation and annual updating of a comprehensive local professional 56
development plan for certified employees of the district. Such plan shall: 57
(A) Be directly related to the educational goals prepared by the local or 58
regional board of education pursuant to subsection (b) of section 10-220, 59
(B) on and after July 1, 2021, be developed with full consideration of the 60
priorities and needs related to student social-emotional learning and 61
restorative practices, in accordance with the provisions of section 10-62
148a, and student academic outcomes as determined by the State Board 63
of Education, (C) provide for the ongoing and systematic assessment 64
and improvement of both teacher evaluation and professional 65
development of the professional staff members of each such board, 66
including personnel management and evaluation training or experience 67
for administrators, and (D) be related to regular and special student 68
needs and may include provisions concerning career incentives and 69
parent involvement. The State Board of Education shall develop 70
guidelines to assist local and regional boards of education in 71
determining the objectives of the plans and in coordinating staff 72
development activities with student needs and school programs. For the 73
school year commencing July 1, 2022, and each school year thereafter, 74
such committees shall develop, evaluate and annually update a 75
comprehensive local professional development plan for paraeducators 76
of the district in accordance with the provisions of this subsection. 77
(c) (1) The Department of Education, in cooperation with one or more 78
regional educational service centers, is authorized to provide institutes 79
annually for Connecticut educators. Such institutes shall serve as model 80
programs of professional development and shall be taught by 81
exemplary Connecticut teachers and administrators and by other 82
qualified individuals as selected by the Department of Education. The 83
Department of Education shall charge fees for attending such institutes 84 Raised Bill No. 6844
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provided such fees shall be based on the actual cost of such institutes. 85
(2) Not later than January 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, the 86
Department of Education shall (A) in collaboration with the School 87
Paraeducator Advisory Council, develop or update guidance and best 88
practices for programs of professional development provided for 89
paraeducators, and (B) distribute such guidance and best practices to 90
each local and regional board of education. 91
Sec. 3. Subsection (c) of section 10-10a of the general statutes is 92
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 93
2023): 94
(c) The state-wide public school information system shall: 95
(1) Track and report data relating to student, teacher and school and 96
district performance growth and make such information available to 97
local and regional boards of education for use in evaluating educational 98
performance and growth of teachers and students enrolled in public 99
schools in the state. Such information shall be collected or calculated 100
based on information received from local and regional boards of 101
education and other relevant sources. Such information shall include, 102
but not be limited to: 103
(A) In addition to performance on state-wide mastery examinations 104
pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, data relating to students shall 105
include, but not be limited to, (i) the primary language spoken at the 106
home of a student, (ii) student transcripts, (iii) student attendance and 107
student mobility, (iv) reliable, valid assessments of a student's readiness 108
to enter public school at the kindergarten level, and (v) data collected, if 109
any, from the preschool experience survey, described in section 10-515; 110
(B) Data relating to teachers shall include, but not be limited to, (i) 111
teacher credentials, such as master's degrees, teacher preparation 112
programs completed and certification levels and endorsement areas, (ii) 113
teacher assessments, such as whether a teacher is deemed highly 114
qualified pursuant to the No Child Left Behind Act, P.L. 107-110, or 115 Raised Bill No. 6844
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deemed to meet such other designations as may be established by 116
federal law or regulations for the purposes of tracking the equitable 117
distribution of instructional staff, (iii) the presence of substitute teachers 118
in a teacher's classroom, (iv) class size, (v) numbers relating to 119
absenteeism in a teacher's classroom, and (vi) the presence of a teacher's 120
aide. The department shall assign a unique teacher identifier to each 121
teacher prior to collecting such data in the public school information 122
system; 123
(C) Data relating to schools and districts shall include, but not be 124
limited to, (i) school population, (ii) annual student graduation rates, 125
(iii) annual teacher retention rates, (iv) school disciplinary records, such 126
as data relating to suspensions, expulsions and other disciplinary 127
actions, (v) the percentage of students whose primary language is not 128
English, (vi) the number of and professional credentials of support 129
personnel, (vii) information relating to instructional technology, such as 130
access to computers, and (viii) disaggregated measures of school-based 131
arrests pursuant to section 10-233n; and 132
(D) Data related to paraeducators shall include, but not be limited to, 133
(i) total number of paraeducators employed in each school district, (ii) 134
assigned job title, (iii) hourly rate of pay, (iv) number of working days 135
and hours, (v) health care contributions as a percentage of salary, and 136
(vi) annual salary calculated by multiplying working hours and hourly 137
rate of pay. The department shall assign a unique paraeducator 138
identifier to each paraeducator prior to collecting such data in the public 139
school information system. 140
(2) Collect data relating to student enrollment in and graduation from 141
institutions of higher education for any student who had been assigned 142
a unique student identifier pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, 143
provided such data is available. 144
(3) Develop means for access to and data sharing with the data 145
systems of public institutions of higher education in the state. 146
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2023) Not later than December 1, 2023, 147 Raised Bill No. 6844
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and annually thereafter, the Department of Education shall post on the 148
department's Internet web site and submit, in accordance with the 149
provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing 150
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 151
relating to education a report concerning the staffing level of 152
paraeducators in schools. Such report shall include, but need not be 153
limited to, for each school district in the state (1) the number of vacancies 154
for paraeducator positions, (2) paraeducator to student staffing ratios, 155
and (3) the impact of such vacancies on students and student learning. 156
Sec. 5. Subparagraph (I) of subdivision (10) of subsection (a) of section 157
10-76d of the general statutes is repealed and the following is 158
substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2023): 159
(I) Prior to any planning and placement team meeting for a child or 160
pupil in which an educational program for such child or pupil is 161
developed, reviewed or revised, if the parent, guardian, pupil or 162
surrogate parent has requested that the school paraprofessional 163
assigned to such child or pupil attend such meeting, then the 164
responsible local or regional board of education shall provide (i) 165
adequate notice of such meeting to such school paraprofessional so that 166
such school paraprofessional may adequately prepare for such meeting, 167
and (ii) training, upon request of such school paraprofessional, on the 168
role of such school paraprofessional at such meeting. Following such 169
meeting, such school paraprofessional, or any other paraprofessional 170
who is providing special education or related services to such child, 171
shall review such educational program with a supervisor, as needed, 172
and be permitted to view such educational program in order to be able 173
to provide special education or related services to such child or pupil in 174
accordance with such educational program. 175
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2023 10-148d(a)
Sec. 2 July 1, 2023 10-220a(b) and (c)
Sec. 3 July 1, 2023 10-10a(c) Raised Bill No. 6844
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Sec. 4 July 1, 2023 New section
Sec. 5 July 1, 2023 10-76d(a)(10)(I)
Statement of Purpose:
To (1) exclude mandated trainings from professional development
programs for paraeducators, (2) include a paraeducator on professional
development and evaluation committees, (3) require the collection of
data concerning paraeducators on the state-wide public school
information system, (4) require an annual report on paraeducator
staffing levels, and (5) require paraeducators to review a student's
individualized education program with a supervisor, as needed.
[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.]