Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H658 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 89 FILED ON: 1/6/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 658
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Kelly W. Pease
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to educator training to create educational equity for gifted and beyond grade-
13	13	level children.
14	14	_______________
15	15	PETITION OF:
16	16	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Kelly W. Pease4th Hampden1/6/2025 1 of 3
17	17	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 89 FILED ON: 1/6/2025
18	18	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 658
19	19	By Representative Pease of Westfield, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 658) of Kelly
20	20	W. Pease relative to educator training for gifted and beyond grade-level children. Education.
21	21	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
22	22	_______________
23	23	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
24	24	(2025-2026)
25	25	_______________
26	26	An Act relative to educator training to create educational equity for gifted and beyond grade-
27	27	level children.
28	28	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
29	29	of the same, as follows:
30	30	1 SECTION 1. Chapter 70 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition,
31	31	2is hereby amended by inserting the following new section:
32	32	3 “Section 16. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education shall establish a
33	33	4professional development program in gifted and talented education which will provide access to
34	34	5certain educators across the Commonwealth, fifteen hours of professional development in the
35	35	6specific field of the education of beyond grade-level and/or gifted students. Fifteen hours of such
36	36	7professional development shall be completed in any five year period for the renewal of licensure
37	37	8for any educators, including administrators, whose classrooms, schools, or districts contain one
38	38	9or more students who achieve ro have the potential to achieve beyond the age-average grade-
39	39	10level or are identified, or who could be identified as gifted and talented as defined by federal law,
40	40	11or as determined by a school district professional or any other professional working in the field
41	41	12of psychology, gifted education or who regularly provides services of educational assessments.” 2 of 3
42	42	13 SECTION 2. Chapter 71 Section 38G of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
43	43	14Official Edition, shall be amended by inserting after the sentence, “In addition to any other
44	44	15requirements in this section, in order to receive a provisional or standard educator certificate,
45	45	16persons applying for such certification shall have completed such courses or training sessions as
46	46	17the board shall require in second language acquisition.” the following words:
47	47	18 “ In addition to any other requirements of this section, in order to receive a provisional or
48	48	19standard educator certificate, persons applying for such certification shall have completed such
49	49	20courses or training sessions as the board shall require in the education of beyond grade-level
50	50	21and/or gifted students. The board shall establish such requirements as recommended by
51	51	22generally-accepted standards in the field of gifted and talented education. This shall include
52	52	23training in talent development framework to find and cultivate strengths of a student’s latent and
53	53	24emergent potential; and training to address biases in the educational environment that lead to low
54	54	25expectations, missed talents, and lack of opportunities for students based on factors such as race,
55	55	26ethnicity, geography, gender, religion, EL or socioeconomic status.
56	56	27 In addition to any other requirements of this section, the board shall require, as a
57	57	28provision of an administrator's or an educator's initial certification, that all such educators and
58	58	29administrators shall have training in strategies for the effective education of beyond-grade-level
59	59	30and gifted and talented students as they are defined by federal law.”
60	60	31 SECTION 3. Chapter 71 Section 38Q of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
61	61	32Official Edition, shall be amended by inserting the following text in the first paragraph, after the
62	62	33sentence, “In any school district with limited English proficient students, the plan shall provide 3 of 3
63	63	34training for teachers in second language acquisition techniques for the re-certification of teachers
64	64	35and administrators.”
65	65	36 “ In any school district containing gifted and talented students as defined by federal law,
66	66	37the plan shall provide training for administrators and teachers in gifted education, and shall state
67	67	38how such training will support the needs of beyond grade-level and/or gifted students. Each
68	68	39school district shall report to the department, on an annual basis, the gifted education training
69	69	40provided by the district, the number of educators in the district receiving such training and the
70	70	41total number of hours received. Each school district shall report to the department, on an annual
71	71	42basis, the specific ways in which its Title II Part A programs and activities address the learning
72	72	43needs of beyond grade-level and/or gifted students and is improving the education of beyond
73	73	44grade-level and/or gifted students.”
74	74	45 SECTION 4. Chapter 71 Section 38Q of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016
75	75	46Official Edition, shall be amended by inserting the following sentence after the second sentence
76	76	47of the second paragraph, which ends with the words “limited English proficient students.” the
77	77	48following text:
78	78	49 “ The plan shall include data that demonstrates, statewide and by school district, the types
79	79	50of professional development provided for educators who work with beyond-grade-level, gifted
80	80	51and talented, highly or profoundly gifted, including those with one or more disabilities.”