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AN ACT relating to the establishment of the Kentucky Early Entry Initiative pilot 1
program and declaring an emergency. 2
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 3
SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 161 IS CREATED TO 4
READ AS FOLLOWS: 5
(1) As used in this section: 6
(a) "Early career teacher" means a Kentucky public school teacher with zero 7
(0) to three (3) years of experience teaching grades one (1) through three (3) 8
in the areas of English, reading, language arts, or mathematics; and 9
(b) "National board" means the National Board for Professional Teaching 10
Standards. 11
(2) The General Assembly does hereby establish the Kentucky Early Entry Initiative 12
pilot program to begin with the 2022-2023 school year and continue until the end 13
of the 2024-2025 school year. The pilot program shall be administered by the 14
Kentucky Department of Education to: 15
(a) Give Kentucky public school teachers the opportunity to begin the process 16
of certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards 17
within their first three (3) years in the classroom and to achieve certification 18
early in their careers; 19
(b) Create awareness of national board certification specifically among early 20
career teachers, teachers of color, and teachers in high-need schools and 21
rural schools through awareness campaigns; 22
(c) Increase the number of teachers earning national board certification in the 23
state; and 24
(d) Embed national board certification as an assumed and achievable part of 25
the professional pathway for all teachers. 26
(3) The Kentucky Early Entry Initiative pilot program shall pursue a comprehensive 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 220
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set of objectives that shall include: 1
(a) Founding and implementing a system that supports expanded candidate 2
eligibility; 3
(b) Developing and launching awareness campaigns targeting early career 4
teachers and the educational professionals who provide them support or 5
supervision; 6
(c) Reinforcing structures that ensure early career teachers have the resources 7
and assistance they need to realistically pursue and achieve national board 8
certification; 9
(d) Establishing and conducting a robust research and learning agenda to 10
ensure that the pilot program results in useful data to inform Kentucky 11
education leaders on the benefits, challenges, and impact of investing in 12
early career teachers' national board certifications; and 13
(e) Contributing to long-term state goals with measurable results in: 14
1. Increased numbers of national board certification candidates; 15
2. Improved teacher retention; 16
3. Increased diversity and numbers of teachers of color; 17
4. Improved student learning outcomes in reading and mathematics due 18
to better early support programs for early career teachers; 19
5. Increased diversity of teachers with national board certification due to 20
growing the pool of candidates; and 21
6. Increased numbers of teachers with national board certification. 22
(4) The Kentucky Early Entry Initiative shall be structured and grown over the three 23
(3) year pilot program. The Kentucky Department of Education shall appoint a 24
statewide national board coordinator to direct the pilot program and to 25
coordinate with local national board coordinators and national board facilitators. 26
The Kentucky Department of Education and the statewide national board 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 220
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coordinator, in partnership with the national board, shall: 1
(a) Before the start of the 2022-2023 school year: 2
1. Implement the foundational systems and awareness campaigns to 3
recruit a first cohort of one hundred (100) early career teachers in a 4
manner that promotes a broad geographic and racial representation of 5
the state; and 6
2. Develop resources for postsecondary institutions and educator 7
preparation programs to promote national board certification; 8
(b) Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year: 9
1. Oversee the first cohort of teachers throughout the year as they begin 10
professional learning, engage with the national board standards and 11
resources, and reflect on their practice, culminating in the completion 12
of the national board's Components 2 and 3; 13
2. Recruit a second cohort of two hundred (200) early career teachers in 14
a manner that promotes a broad geographic and racial representation 15
of the state; 16
3. Introduce resources to postsecondary institutions and educator 17
preparation programs; and 18
4. Conduct ongoing implementation evaluation; 19
(c) Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year: 20
1. Continue the professional learning and candidacy of the first cohort 21
of teachers as they develop and submit the national board's 22
Component 4 and the Component 1 assessment; 23
2. Oversee the second cohort of teachers throughout the year as they 24
begin professional learning, engage with the national board standards 25
and resources, and reflect on their practice, culminating in the 26
completion of the national board's Components 2 and 3; 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 220
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3. Promote and encourage the ongoing use of resources by 1
postsecondary institutions and educator preparation programs; and 2
4. Conduct ongoing implementation evaluation; and 3
(d) Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year: 4
1. Continue the professional learning and candidacy of the second 5
cohort of teachers as they develop and submit the national board's 6
Component 4 and the Component 1 assessment; 7
2. Promote and encourage the ongoing use of resources by 8
postsecondary institutions and educator preparation programs; 9
3. Conduct summative research and evaluation; and 10
4. Submit a report to the Legislative Research Commission by December 11
1, 2025, that includes: 12
a. An evaluation of the implementation of the pilot components; 13
b. An evaluation of the impact of the pilot program on objectives 14
identified in subsection (3)(e) of this section; and 15
c. A plan for nationwide dissemination of the project results. 16
Section 2. Section 1 of this Act shall be known and may be cited as the 17
Kentucky Early Career Teachers Act. 18
Section 3. Whereas schools across the state need access to highly qualified 19
education professionals and additional resources for retaining early career teachers, an 20
emergency is declared to exist, and this Act takes effect upon its passage and approval by 21
the Governor or upon its otherwise becoming a law. 22