Public Act 100-0932
 
SB2693 EnrolledLRB100 17543 AXK 32713 b



    AN ACT concerning education.

 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:



 
    Section 5. The School Code is amended  by changing Section 
21B-30 as follows:
 
 

    (105 ILCS 5/21B-30)

 
    Sec. 21B-30. Educator testing.
    (a)  This Section applies beginning on July 1, 2012.
    (b)  The State Board of Education, in consultation with the 
State Educator Preparation and Licensure Board, shall design 
and implement a system of examinations, which shall be required 
prior to the issuance of educator licenses. These examinations 
and indicators must be based on national and State professional 
teaching standards, as determined by the State Board of 
Education, in consultation with the State Educator Preparation 
and Licensure Board. The State Board of Education may adopt 
such rules as may be necessary to implement and administer this 
Section.
    (c)  Applicants seeking a Professional Educator License or 
an Educator License with Stipulations shall be required to pass 
a test of basic skills before the license is issued, unless the 
endorsement the individual is seeking does not require passage 
of the test. All applicants completing Illinois-approved, 
teacher education or school service personnel preparation 
programs shall be required to pass the State Board of 
Education's recognized test of basic skills prior to starting 
their student teaching or starting the final semester of their 
internship, unless required earlier at the discretion of the 
recognized, Illinois institution in which they are completing 
their approved program. An institution of higher learning, as 
defined in the Higher Education Student Assistance Act, may not 
require an applicant to complete the State Board's recognized 
test of basic skills prior to the semester before student 
teaching or prior to the semester before starting the final 
semester of an internship. An individual who passes a test of 
basic skills does not need to do so again for subsequent 
endorsements or other educator licenses.
    (d) All applicants seeking a State license shall be 
required to pass a test of content area knowledge for each area 
of endorsement for which there is an applicable test. There 
shall be no exception to this requirement.  No candidate shall 
be allowed to student teach or serve as the teacher of record 
until he or she has passed the applicable content area test.
    (e) (Blank). and completing their student teaching 
experience no later than August 31, 2015  Prior to September 1, 
2015, passage The APT shall be available through August 31, 
2020.
    (f) Except as otherwise provided in this Article, beginning 
on September 1, 2015, all candidates completing teacher 
preparation programs in this State and all candidates subject 
to Section 21B-35 of this Code are required to pass an 
evidence-based assessment of teacher effectiveness approved by 
the State Board of Education, in consultation with the State 
Educator Preparation and Licensure Board.  All recognized 
institutions offering approved teacher preparation programs 
must begin phasing in the approved teacher performance 
assessment no later than July 1, 2013. 
    (g)  Tests of basic skills and content area knowledge and 
the assessment of professional teaching shall be the tests that 
from time to time are designated by the State Board of 
Education, in consultation with the State Educator Preparation 
and Licensure Board, and may be tests prepared by an 
educational testing organization or tests designed by the State 
Board of Education, in consultation with the State Educator 
Preparation and Licensure Board. The areas to be covered by a 
test of basic skills shall include reading, language arts, and 
mathematics. The test of content area knowledge shall assess 
content knowledge in a specific subject field. The tests must 
be designed to be racially neutral to ensure that no person 
taking the tests is discriminated against on the basis of race, 
color, national origin, or other factors unrelated to the 
person's ability to perform as a licensed employee. The score 
required to pass the tests shall be fixed by the State Board of 
Education, in consultation with the State Educator Preparation 
and Licensure Board. The tests shall be administered not fewer 
than 3 times a year at such time and place as may be designated 
by the State Board of Education, in consultation with the State 
Educator Preparation and Licensure Board.
    The State Board shall implement a test or tests to assess 
the speaking, reading, writing, and grammar skills of 
applicants for an endorsement or a license issued under 
subdivision (G) of paragraph (2) of Section 21B-20 of this Code 
in the English language and in the language of the transitional 
bilingual education program requested by the applicant. 
    (h) Except as provided in Section 34-6 of this Code, the 
provisions of this Section shall apply equally in any school 
district subject to Article 34 of this Code.
    (i) The rules developed to implement and enforce the 
testing requirements under this Section shall include without 
limitation provisions governing test selection, test 
validation and determination of a passing score, 
administration of the tests, frequency of administration, 
applicant fees, frequency of applicants taking the tests, the 
years for which a score is valid, and appropriate special 
accommodations. The State Board of Education shall develop such 
rules as may be needed to ensure uniformity from year to year 
in the level of difficulty for each form of an assessment.

(Source: P.A. 98-361, eff. 1-1-14; 98-581, eff. 8-27-13; 
98-756, eff. 7-16-14; 99-58, eff. 7-16-15; 99-657, eff. 
7-28-16; 99-920, eff. 1-6-17; revised 1-23-17.)
 

    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.