By: Taylor of Galveston S.B. No. 1278
(In the Senate - Filed March 3, 2017; March 13, 2017, read
first time and referred to Committee on Education; May 1, 2017,
reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
following vote: Yeas 10, Nays 1; May 1, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1278 By: Taylor of Galveston
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 21.045, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1), (a-2), (d),
and (e) to read as follows:
(a) The board shall propose rules necessary to establish
standards to govern the continuing accountability of all educator
preparation programs based on the following information that is
disaggregated with respect to race, sex, and ethnicity:
(1) except as provided by Subsections (a-1) and (a-2),
results of the certification examinations prescribed under Section
21.048(a) and required for certification in a subject area in which
a candidate has completed or is completing student teaching or an
internship or practicum;
(2) performance based on the appraisal system for
beginning teachers adopted by the board;
(3) achievement, including improvement in
achievement, of students taught by beginning teachers for the first
three years following certification, to the extent practicable;
(4) compliance with board requirements regarding the
frequency, duration, and quality of structural guidance and ongoing
support provided by field supervisors to candidates completing
student teaching, clinical teaching, or an internship, provided
that the board:
(A) must permit a program to comply with at least
three of any field supervisor visit requirements through visits
provided by video, the Internet, or another remote technological
method if the program also provides at least two in-person visits;
and
(B) may not require more than five support visits
by a field supervisor during the course of an internship; and
(5) results from a teacher satisfaction survey,
developed by the board with stakeholder input, of new teachers
performed at the end of the teacher's first year of teaching.
(a-1) At least two unsuccessful attempts by a candidate to
perform satisfactorily on a content examination required for
certification in a subject area in which the candidate serves as a
teacher of record must be excluded for purposes of Subsection
(a)(1) if the subject area is determined by the agency, based on
information maintained by the agency and subject to approval by the
United States Department of Education, to be a teacher shortage
area.
(a-2) At least one unsuccessful attempt by a candidate to
perform satisfactorily on a content examination required for
certification in a subject area in which the candidate serves as a
teacher of record must be excluded for purposes of Subsection
(a)(1) if the subject area is not determined to be a teacher
shortage area as described by Subsection (a-1).
(d) Subject to Subsection (e), a video or audio recording of
a classroom recorded for purposes of a field supervisor visit
described by Subsection (a)(4)(A) is confidential, may only be used
for teacher training by an educator preparation program, and may
only be viewed by the candidate recorded, a school district
employee with a supervisory role with respect to the candidate, an
employee of the educator preparation program, or another person
authorized by law.
(e) Subsection (d) does not limit the access of a student's
parent to a record regarding the student under the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section
1232g) or other law.
SECTION 2. Section 21.051(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) Before a school district may employ a candidate for
certification as a teacher of record, the candidate must complete
at least 15 hours of field-based experience, which may occur after
the candidate's admission to an educator preparation program or
during the two years preceding admission. The candidate may
satisfy the experience requirement through serving as a substitute
teacher or teacher's aide for at least five school days or through
other experience requiring the candidate's active engagement in
instructional or educational activities. The experience must be
obtained [in which the candidate is actively engaged in
instructional or educational activities under supervision] at:
(1) a public school campus accredited or approved for
the purpose by the agency; or
(2) a private school recognized or approved for the
purpose by the agency.
SECTION 3. Section 26.009(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) An employee of a school district is not required to
obtain the consent of a child's parent before the employee may make
a videotape of a child or authorize the recording of a child's voice
if the videotape or voice recording is to be used only for:
(1) purposes of safety, including the maintenance of
order and discipline in common areas of the school or on school
buses;
(2) a purpose related to a cocurricular or
extracurricular activity;
(3) a purpose related to regular classroom
instruction;
(4) media coverage of the school; [or]
(5) a purpose related to the promotion of student
safety under Section 29.022; or
(6) a purpose related to the provision of support to a
beginning teacher by a field supervisor under Section 21.045.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect only if a specific
appropriation for the Act is provided in a general appropriations
act of the 85th Legislature. Any portion of this Act that does not
require a specific appropriation for implementation takes effect
immediately, provided that this Act receives the vote necessary for
immediate effect.
SECTION 5. Subject to Section 4 of this Act, this Act takes
effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the
members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article
III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote
necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1,
2017.
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