S.B. 278
- *SB278*
SENATE BILL NO. 278–SENATORS CRUZ-CRAWFORD,
OHRENSCHALL; DOÑATE, FLORES AND NGUYEN
MARCH 5, 2025
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JOINT SPONSORS: ASSEMBLYMEMBERS
GONZÁLEZ AND TORRES-FOSSETT
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Referred to Committee on Education
SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to education.
(BDR 34-788)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
Effect on the State: Yes.
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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to education; prohibiting the board of trustees of a
school district from requiring a prospective school
administrator to complete a preservice program for
aspiring administrators under certain circumstances;
authorizing a person to simultaneously enroll in multiple
programs for an alternative route to licensure for teachers
and administrators; revising provisions relating to plans to
monitor the growth of pupils in the subject area of
reading; and providing other matters properly relating
thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Existing law authorizes the board of trustees of a school district to employ a 1
superintendent of schools of the school district, teachers, teacher aides, 2
paraprofessionals and all other necessary employees. (NRS 391.100) Section 2 of 3
this bill prohibits the board of trustees of a school district from requiring a 4
prospective school administrator to complete a preservice program for aspiring 5
administrators as a condition precedent to applying for employment as a school 6
administrator. 7
Existing law creates the Commission on Professional Standards in Education 8
and requires the Commission to adopt regulations prescribing the qualifications for 9
licensing teachers and other educational personnel. (NRS 391.011, 391.019) 10
Among other requirements, existing law requires the regulations adopted by the 11
Commission to set forth the qualifications for licensing teachers and administrators 12
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through an alternative route to licensure. (NRS 391.019) Section 1 of this bill 13
requires such regulations to authorize a person to simultaneously enroll in multiple 14
programs for an alternative route to licensure. 15
Existing law requires a public elementary school to: (1) establish a plan to 16
monitor the growth of certain pupils who have a deficiency in the subject area of 17
reading; and (2) regularly assess the growth of a pupil for whom a plan is 18
established. (NRS 392.755) Section 3 of this bill requires a plan to monitor the 19
growth of such a pupil to use, to the greatest extent possible, assessments 20
administered on a school-wide or grade level-wide basis for the purpose of 21
regularly assessing the growth of a pupil. 22
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. NRS 391.019 is hereby amended to read as follows: 1
391.019 1. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 391.027, 2
the Commission shall adopt regulations: 3
(a) Prescribing the qualifications for licensing teachers and other 4
educational personnel and the procedures for the issuance and 5
renewal of those licenses. The regulations: 6
(1) Must include, without limitation, the qualifications for 7
licensing teachers and administrators pursuant to an alternative route 8
to licensure which provides that the required education and training 9
may be provided by any qualified provider which has been approved 10
by the Commission, including, without limitation, institutions of 11
higher education and other providers that operate independently of 12
an institution of higher education. The regulations adopted pursuant 13
to this subparagraph must: 14
(I) Establish the requirements for approval as a qualified 15
provider; 16
(II) Require a qualified provider to be selective in its 17
acceptance of students; 18
(III) Authorize a person to simultaneously enroll in 19
multiple programs for an alternative route to licensure; 20
(IV) Require a qualified provider to provide in-person or 21
virtual supervised, school-based experiences and ongoing support 22
for its students, such as mentoring and coaching; 23
[(IV)] (V) Significantly limit the amount of course work 24
required or provide for the waiver of required course work for 25
students who achieve certain scores on tests; 26
[(V)] (VI) Allow for the completion in 2 years or less of 27
the education and training required under the alternative route to 28
licensure; 29
[(VI)] (VII) Provide that a person who has completed the 30
education and training required under the alternative route to 31
licensure and who has satisfied all other requirements for licensure 32
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may apply for a regular license pursuant to sub-subparagraph [(VII)] 1
(VIII) regardless of whether the person has received an offer of 2
employment from a school district, charter school or private school; 3
and 4
[(VII)] (VIII) Upon the completion by a person of the 5
education and training required under the alternative route to 6
licensure and the satisfaction of all other requirements for licensure, 7
provide for the issuance of a regular license to the person pursuant 8
to the provisions of this chapter and the regulations adopted 9
pursuant to this chapter. 10
(2) Must require an applicant for a license to teach middle 11
school or junior high school education or secondary education to 12
demonstrate proficiency in a field of specialization or area of 13
concentration by successfully completing course work prescribed by 14
the Department or completing a subject matter competency 15
examination prescribed by the Department with a score deemed 16
satisfactory. 17
(3) Must not prescribe qualifications which are more 18
stringent than the qualifications set forth in NRS 391.0315 for a 19
licensed teacher who applies for an additional license in accordance 20
with that section. 21
(b) Identifying fields of specialization in teaching which require 22
the specialized training of teachers. 23
(c) Except as otherwise provided in NRS 391.125, requiring 24
teachers to obtain from the Department an endorsement in a field of 25
specialization to be eligible to teach in that field of specialization. 26
(d) Setting forth the educational requirements a teacher must 27
satisfy to qualify for an endorsement in each field of specialization. 28
(e) Setting forth the qualifications and requirements for 29
obtaining a license or endorsement to teach American Sign 30
Language, including, without limitation, being registered with the 31
Aging and Disability Services Division of the Department of Health 32
and Human Services pursuant to NRS 656A.100 to engage in the 33
practice of sign language interpreting in a primary or secondary 34
educational setting. 35
(f) Requiring teachers and other educational personnel to be 36
registered with the Aging and Disability Services Division pursuant 37
to NRS 656A.100 to engage in the practice of sign language 38
interpreting in a primary or secondary educational setting if they: 39
(1) Provide instruction or other educational services; and 40
(2) Concurrently engage in the practice of sign language 41
interpreting, as defined in NRS 656A.060. 42
(g) Prescribing course work on parental involvement and family 43
engagement. The Commission shall: 44
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(1) Work in cooperation with the Office of Parental 1
Involvement and Family Engagement created by NRS 385.630 in 2
developing the regulations required by this paragraph. 3
(2) Establish standards for professional development training 4
which may be used to satisfy any course work requirement 5
prescribed pursuant to this paragraph. 6
(h) Establishing the requirements for obtaining an endorsement 7
on the license of a teacher, administrator or other educational 8
personnel in cultural competency. 9
(i) Authorizing the Superintendent of Public Instruction to issue 10
a license by endorsement to an applicant who holds an equivalent 11
license or authorization issued by a governmental entity in another 12
country if the Superintendent determines that the qualifications for 13
the equivalent license or authorization are substantially similar to 14
those prescribed pursuant to paragraph (a). 15
(j) Establishing the requirements for obtaining an endorsement 16
on the license of a teacher, administrator or other educational 17
personnel in teaching courses relating to financial literacy. 18
(k) Authorizing a person who is employed as a paraprofessional 19
and enrolled in a program to become a teacher to complete an 20
accelerated program of student teaching in the same or a 21
substantially similar area in which the person is employed as a 22
paraprofessional while remaining employed as a paraprofessional. 23
(l) Requiring the Department to accept a program of student 24
teaching or other teaching experience completed in another state or 25
foreign country by an applicant for a license if the Department 26
determines that the program or experience substantially fulfills the 27
standards of a program of student teaching in this State. 28
(m) Authorizing a person who is employed by a public school to 29
provide support or other services relating to school psychology, if 30
the person does not hold a license or endorsement as a school 31
psychologist but is enrolled in a program that would allow the 32
person to obtain such a license or endorsement, to complete a 33
program of internship in school psychology while remaining 34
employed in such a position. 35
(n) To carry out the provisions of NRS 391B.010. 36
2. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 391.027, the 37
Commission may adopt such other regulations as it deems necessary 38
for its own government or to carry out its duties. 39
3. Any regulation which increases the amount of education, 40
training or experience required for licensing: 41
(a) Must, in addition to the requirements for publication in 42
chapter 233B of NRS, be publicized before its adoption in a manner 43
reasonably calculated to inform those persons affected by the 44
change. 45
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(b) Must not become effective until at least 1 year after the date 1
it is adopted by the Commission. 2
(c) Is not applicable to a license in effect on the date the 3
regulation becomes effective. 4
Sec. 2. NRS 391.100 is hereby amended to read as follows: 5
391.100 1. The board of trustees of a school district [may] : 6
(a) May employ a superintendent of schools, teachers and all 7
other necessary employees. 8
(b) Shall not require a prospective school administrator to 9
complete a preservice program for aspiring administrators as a 10
condition precedent to applying for employment as a school 11
administrator. 12
2. The board of trustees of a school district: 13
(a) May employ teacher aides and paraprofessionals to assist 14
licensed personnel in the instruction or supervision of children, 15
either in the classroom or at any other place in the school or on the 16
grounds thereof. A person who is employed as a paraprofessional by 17
a school district to work in a program supported with Title I money 18
must possess the requirements prescribed by the State Board 19
pursuant to NRS 391.094. 20
(b) Shall establish policies governing the duties and 21
performance of teacher aides. 22
3. As used in this section “preservice program for aspiring 23
administrators” means a structured training program designed to 24
prepare a prospective administrator to become a school leader by 25
equipping the prospective administrator with the necessary skills 26
and knowledge to manage a school effectively. The term includes, 27
without limitation, an aspiring administrator or assistant principal 28
development program. The term does not include a course of study 29
in administration required to receive a license or endorsement as a 30
professional administrator of a school. 31
Sec. 3. NRS 392.755 is hereby amended to read as follows: 32
392.755 1. A public elementary school that has notified the 33
parent or legal guardian of a pupil that, based upon the results of 34
state or local assessments, it has been determined that the pupil has a 35
deficiency in the subject area of reading pursuant to NRS 392.750 36
shall, within 30 days after providing such notice, establish a plan to 37
monitor the growth of the pupil in the subject area of reading. 38
2. A plan to monitor the growth of a pupil in the subject area of 39
reading must be established by a licensed teacher and any other 40
relevant licensed school personnel and approved by the principal of 41
the school and the parent or legal guardian of the pupil. The plan 42
must include a description of any intervention services and intensive 43
instruction that will be provided to the pupil to correct the area of 44
deficiency and must include that the pupil will receive intensive 45
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instruction in reading until the pupil achieves adequate proficiency 1
in the requisite reading skills and reading comprehension skills 2
necessary to perform at a level determined by a statewide 3
assessment to be within a level established by the State Board of 4
Education for a pupil enrolled in the same grade in which the pupil 5
is enrolled. Such instruction must include, without limitation, the 6
programs and services included in the plan to improve the literacy of 7
pupils enrolled in elementary school approved by the Department 8
pursuant to NRS 388.157. 9
3. A school that establishes a plan to monitor the growth of a 10
pupil in the subject area of reading shall regularly assess the growth 11
of the pupil in any area of deficiency in the subject area of reading 12
to ensure that the programs and services provided to the pupil 13
pursuant to subsection 1 of NRS 392.750 continue to increase the 14
proficiency of the pupil in the subject area of reading until the pupil 15
performs at a level determined by a statewide assessment to be 16
within a level established by the State Board for a pupil enrolled in 17
the same grade in which the pupil is enrolled. To the greatest extent 18
possible, a plan to monitor the growth of a pupil in the subject 19
area of reading must use assessments administered on a school-20
wide or grade level-wide basis for the purpose of regularly 21
assessing the growth of a pupil. 22
4. As used in this section, the term “assessments administered 23
on a school-wide or grade level-wide” includes, without limitation, 24
the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment published 25
by the Northwest Evaluation Association or its successor 26
organization. 27
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