82R12361 CAE-D
By: Shapiro S.B. No. 1704
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to educator preparation programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 21.044, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 21.044. EDUCATOR PREPARATION. (a) The board shall
propose rules establishing the training requirements a person must
accomplish to obtain a certificate, enter an internship, or enter
an induction-year program. The board shall specify the minimum
academic qualifications required for a certificate.
(b) In proposing rules as required by Subsection (a), the
board shall provide minimum content standards regarding the content
that must be included in an educator preparation program
administered by an undergraduate university for the following
subject areas:
(1) English language arts;
(2) mathematics;
(3) science; and
(4) social studies.
(c) If the board does not propose rules regarding the
minimum content standards for educator preparation programs as
required by Subsection (b) on or before June 1, 2012, the minimum
content standards recommended by the task force and adopted by the
State Board of Education under Section 21.0453 take effect as rules
of the State Board for Educator Certification.
SECTION 2. Section 21.045, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) The agency in cooperation with the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board shall conduct a review of all educator
preparation programs at least once each year. Not less than once
every three years, the agency and the coordinating board shall
conduct a review of an educator preparation program at the
program's campus.
SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
amended by adding Sections 21.0453, 21.0454, 21.0455, and 21.0456
to read as follows:
Sec. 21.0453. TASK FORCE ON EDUCATOR PREPARATION PROGRAMS.
(a) A task force is established under this section to recommend
standards for educator preparation programs and the implementation
of those standards.
(b) The commissioner of education and the commissioner of
higher education shall jointly appoint a presiding officer of the
task force. The Joint Select Committee for Teacher and Principal
Excellence established under Section 21.0455 must approve the
presiding officer. The presiding officer must:
(1) be a nationally recognized expert in teacher
education and preparation;
(2) have served as a presiding officer of a state or
national board or task force addressing teachers and the education
of teachers; and
(3) be an experienced and effective leader of an
educator preparation program or a college of education of a public
or private institution of higher education.
(c) The task force consists of members appointed jointly by
the commissioner of education and the commissioner of higher
education on the recommendation of the presiding officer of the
task force. The task force must include representatives of
educator preparation programs. The commissioners shall appoint the
members of the task force not later than December 1, 2011.
(d) Chapter 2110, Government Code, does not apply to the
task force.
(e) The task force shall recommend program standards for
educator preparation programs. The standards must include:
(1) educating a prospective teacher in a manner that
enables the prospective teacher to graduate with:
(A) an ability to deliver information and
instruction to students in a comprehensible manner; and
(B) detailed and specialized knowledge in the
academic content the teacher will teach;
(2) providing a range of settings that provide a
prospective teacher with an opportunity to practice the art of
teaching and receive feedback and coaching on the prospective
teacher's effectiveness, including learning in a laboratory
setting; and
(3) developing and administering a highly credible and
predictive assessment of professional knowledge and skill that
ensures each teacher enters the profession with a fundamental
capacity for effective performance as a beginning teacher.
(f) The task force shall recommend an implementation plan
for the standards adopted under Subsection (e). The plan must
include:
(1) developing a cooperative and collaborative
response from educator preparation programs for implementation of
the new standards;
(2) providing technical assistance to educator
preparation programs in implementing the standards;
(3) providing illustrative examples to educator
preparation programs for implementing the standards; and
(4) providing methods to evaluate educator
preparation programs for compliance with the standards.
(g) The task force shall develop the recommended standards
and implementation plan required by Subsections (e) and (f) and,
not later than June 1, 2012, shall submit the proposed standards and
plan to the State Board of Education for review. The State Board of
Education may reject the standards and plan by a vote of at least
two-thirds of the members of the board present and voting. If the
State Board of Education fails to reject the standards and plan
before the 90th day after the date on which it receives the
standards and plan, the standards and plan take effect as rules of
the State Board for Educator Certification as provided by Chapter
2001, Government Code, except as provided by Section 21.044. The
State Board of Education may not modify the standards and plan
proposed by the task force.
(h) Not later than January 1, 2013, the task force shall
submit to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the
house of representatives, the presiding officer of each legislative
standing committee with primary jurisdiction over higher
education, and the presiding officer of each legislative standing
committee with primary jurisdiction over primary and secondary
education a written report that contains:
(1) the standards and the implementation plan
recommended by the task force and, if applicable, adopted by the
State Board of Education; and
(2) task force recommendations concerning statutory
changes necessary or appropriate to implement the standards and
plan.
(i) This section expires September 1, 2015.
Sec. 21.0454. IMPLEMENTATION OF TASK FORCE STANDARDS. (a)
Not later than January 1, 2013, the board shall implement the
standards recommended by the task force and adopted by the State
Board of Education under Section 21.0453. The board may not propose
to the State Board of Education a rule that does not comply with the
standards recommended by the task force.
(b) Not later than June 1, 2014, an educator certification
program must comply with the standards recommended by the task
force and adopted by the State Board of Education under Section
21.0453.
(c) Not later than June 1, 2015, the agency in cooperation
with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall conduct a
review of all educator preparation programs to determine compliance
with the standards implemented under this section. A review under
this section must be conducted on the campus of the educator
preparation program. Not later than the 90th day after the date a
review under this section is completed, the agency and the
coordinating board must notify a program whether the program
complies with the standards implemented under this section.
(d) An educator preparation program that does not comply
with the standards implemented under this section may request a
second review. The educator preparation program requesting review
is responsible for all costs associated with the second review. Not
later than January 1, 2016, an educator preparation program must
comply with the standards or the program is assigned an
accreditation status of not accredited-revoked and the program
shall be closed by the board.
(e) This section expires September 1, 2016.
Sec. 21.0455. JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE FOR TEACHER AND
PRINCIPAL EXCELLENCE. (a) In this section, "committee" means the
Joint Select Committee for Teacher and Principal Excellence.
(b) The Joint Select Committee for Teacher and Principal
Excellence is established to oversee and monitor the implementation
of statutes relating to teacher and principal effectiveness.
(c) The committee is composed of 15 members as follows:
(1) the presiding officers of the legislative standing
committees of each house of the legislature with primary
jurisdiction over public education;
(2) the presiding officers of the legislative standing
committees of each house of the legislature with primary
jurisdiction over higher education;
(3) the commissioner of education;
(4) the commissioner of higher education;
(5) one dean of a college of education of an
institution of higher education, as defined by Section 61.003, one
classroom teacher, and one representative from an alternative
certification program, each currently employed in this state and
each appointed jointly by the lieutenant governor and the speaker
of the house of representatives;
(6) two educators currently employed in this state and
each appointed jointly by the lieutenant governor and the speaker
of the house of representatives;
(7) one member who represents the business community
or the public, appointed by the lieutenant governor;
(8) one member who represents the business community
or the public, appointed by the speaker of the house of
representatives; and
(9) two members who represent the business community
or the public, appointed by the governor, one of whom has at least
one child who attends a public school in this state.
(d) The governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the
house of representatives shall make the appointments required by
Subsection (c) in a timely manner.
(e) The agency shall periodically report to the committee
regarding any statutory initiative adopted by the 82nd Legislature,
Regular Session, 2011, relating to teacher and principal quality.
The report must be:
(1) prepared by the person at the agency charged with
overseeing the implementation of the initiative; and
(2) submitted in writing, unless the committee
requests the person providing the report to appear in person at a
hearing of the committee.
(f) This section expires September 1, 2016.
Sec. 21.0456. TEXAS INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATOR EXCELLENCE. (a)
In this section, "institute" means the Texas Institute for Educator
Excellence.
(b) The commissioner of education and the commissioner of
higher education shall develop and implement the Texas Institute
for Educator Excellence.
(c) The commissioners shall adopt a plan for the selection
and design of the institute. The plan developed by the
commissioners must be submitted for approval to the Joint Select
Committee for Teacher and Principal Excellence established under
Section 21.0455.
(d) After the plan is adopted and approved as provided by
Subsection (c), the commissioners shall issue a request for
proposal to select a college of education of an institution of
higher education, as defined by Section 61.003, to serve as the
institute.
(e) Not later than June 1, 2013, the institute shall
implement the standards recommended by the task force and adopted
by the State Board of Education under Section 21.0453. The
institute will serve as a demonstration site for the educator
preparation standards recommended by the task force.
(f) Subsections (c), (d), (e), and this subsection expire
September 1, 2016.
(g) After the educator preparation standards are
implemented, the institute will serve as the state's center for
reform-oriented and innovative practice, high-quality research,
and model programs relating to educator quality and effectiveness.
SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 21.0501 to read as follows:
Sec. 21.0501. ACCEPTANCE AND GRADUATION IN MASTER'S DEGREE
PROGRAM. (a) Before January 1, 2012, the commissioner, in
consultation with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board,
shall evaluate:
(1) admission requirements for master's degree
programs in teaching; and
(2) graduation requirements for master's degree
programs in teaching.
(b) Before June 1, 2012, the commissioner, in consultation
with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, shall adopt
rules:
(1) increasing the academic standards for admission to
a master's degree program in teaching;
(2) increasing the graduation requirements for a
master's degree program in teaching; and
(3) providing for the applicability of the increased
standards and requirements to students enrolled in a master's
degree program in teaching.
(c) This section expires September 1, 2012.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.