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Public Act 096-0144
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| HB0392 Enrolled |
LRB096 07692 NHT 17793 b |
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AN ACT concerning education.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 5. The Grow
Your Own Teacher Education Act is |
amended by changing Sections 5, 10, 20, and 25 as follows:
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(110 ILCS 48/5)
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Sec. 5. Purpose. The Grow Your Own Teacher preparation
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programs established under this Act shall comprise a major new
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statewide initiative, known as the Grow Your Own Teacher
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Education Initiative, to prepare highly skilled, committed
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teachers who will teach in hard-to-staff schools and
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hard-to-staff teaching positions and who will remain in these
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schools for substantial periods of time. |
The Grow Your Own Teacher Education Initiative shall
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effectively recruit and prepare parent and community leaders
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and paraeducators to become effective teachers statewide in |
hard-to-staff schools serving a substantial percentage of |
low-income students and
hard-to-staff teaching positions in |
schools
serving a substantial percentage of low-income |
students.
Further, the Initiative shall increase the diversity |
of
teachers, including diversity based on race and , ethnicity, |
and
disability.
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The Grow Your Own Teacher Education Initiative shall ensure
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educational rigor by effectively preparing candidates in
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accredited bachelor's degree programs in teaching, through
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which graduates shall meet the requirements to secure an
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Illinois initial teaching certificate.
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The goal of the Grow Your Own Teacher Education Initiative |
is to add 1,000 teachers to low-income, hard-to-staff Illinois |
schools by 2016 with an average retention period of 7 years, as |
opposed to the current rate of 2.5 years for new teachers in |
such areas.
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(Source: P.A. 94-979, eff. 6-30-06; 95-476, eff. 1-1-08.)
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(110 ILCS 48/10)
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Sec. 10. Definitions. In this Act: |
"Accredited teacher preparation program" means a State or
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regionally accredited, Illinois approved teacher education |
higher education program authorized to
prepare individuals to |
fulfill all of the requirements to
receive an Illinois initial |
teaching certificate. |
"Cohort" means a group of teacher education candidates who |
are enrolled in and share experiences in the same program and |
are linked by their desire to become Illinois teachers in |
hard-to-staff schools and by their need for the services and |
supports offered by the Initiative. |
"Community organization" means a nonprofit organization |
that has a demonstrated capacity to train, develop, and |
organize parents and community leaders into a constituency that |
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will hold the school and the school district accountable for |
achieving high academic standards; in addition to |
organizations with a geographic focus, "community |
organization" includes general parent organizations, |
organizations of special education or bilingual education |
parents, and school employee unions. |
"Developmental classes" means classes in basic skill |
areas, such as mathematics and language arts that are |
prerequisite to, but not counted towards, degree requirements |
of a teacher preparation program.
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"Eligible school" means a public elementary, middle, or |
secondary school in this State that serves a substantial |
percentage of low-income students and that is either hard to |
staff or has hard-to-staff teaching positions.
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"Hard-to-staff school" means a public elementary, middle, |
or secondary school in this State that, based on data compiled |
by the State Board of Education, serves a substantial |
percentage of low-income students, as defined by the State |
Board
ranks in the upper third among public schools of its type |
(elementary, middle, or secondary) in terms of rate of |
attrition of its teachers. |
"Hard-to-staff teaching position" means a teaching
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category (such as special education, bilingual education, |
mathematics, or science)
in which statewide data compiled by |
the State Board of Education
indicates a multi-year pattern of |
substantial
teacher shortage or that has been identified as a |
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critical need by the local school board.
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"Initiative" means the Grow Your Own Teacher Education
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Initiative created under this Act.
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"Paraeducator" "Paraeducators" means an individual |
individuals with a history of
demonstrated accomplishments in |
school staff positions (such
as teacher assistants, |
school-community liaisons, school
clerks, and security aides) |
in schools that meet the definition of a hard-to-staff school |
under this Section serving a substantial
percentage of |
low-income students.
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"Parent and community leader leaders" means an individual |
who has or had a child enrolled in a school or schools that |
meet the definition of a hard-to-staff school under this |
Section and who has a history of active involvement in the |
school or who has individuals with a history of working to |
improve schools serving a
substantial percentage of low-income |
students, including membership in a community organization. |
"Community organization" means a nonprofit organization |
that has a demonstrated capacity to train, develop, and |
organize parents and community leaders into a constituency that |
will hold the school and the school district accountable for |
achieving high academic standards; in addition to |
organizations with a geographic focus, "community |
organization" includes general parent organizations, |
organizations of special education or bilingual education |
parents, and school employee unions.
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"Program" means a Grow Your Own Teacher preparation program
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established by a consortium under this Act.
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"Schools serving a substantial percentage of low-income
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students" means schools that maintain any of grades |
pre-kindergarten through 8, in which at least 35% of the |
students are eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunches |
and schools that maintain any of grades 9 through 12, in which |
at least 25% of the students are eligible to receive free or |
reduced price lunches. |
"State Board" means the State Board of Education.
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(Source: P.A. 94-979, eff. 6-30-06; 95-476, eff. 1-1-08.)
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(110 ILCS 48/20)
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Sec. 20. Selection of grantees. The State Board shall award |
grants to qualified consortia that reflect the distribution and |
diversity of hard-to-staff schools and hard-to-staff positions |
across this State. In awarding grants, the State Board shall |
select programs that successfully address Initiative criteria |
and that reflect a diversity of strategies in terms of serving |
urban areas, serving rural areas, the nature of the |
participating institutions of higher education, and the nature |
of hard-to-staff schools and
hard-to-staff teaching positions |
on which a program is focused.
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The State Board shall select consortia that meet the |
following requirements:
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(1) A consortium shall be composed of at least one |
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4-year institution of higher education with an Illinois |
approved accredited teacher preparation program, at least |
one school district or group of schools, and one or more |
community organizations. The consortium membership may |
also include a 2-year institution of higher education, or a |
school employee union, or a regional office of education or |
both.
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(2) The 4-year institution of higher education |
participating in the consortium shall have past, |
demonstrated success in preparing teachers for elementary |
or secondary schools serving a substantial percentage of |
low-income students. |
(3) The consortium shall focus on a clearly defined set |
of eligible schools that will participate in the program. |
The consortium shall articulate the steps that it will |
carry out in preparing teachers for its participating
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schools and in preparing teachers for one or more |
hard-to-staff teaching positions in those
schools. |
(4) A candidate in a program under the Initiative must |
hold a high school diploma or its equivalent, and must meet |
either the definition of "parent and community leader |
leaders" or the definition of "paraeducator" |
"paraeducators" contained in Section 10 of this Act, must |
not have attended college right after high school or must |
have experienced an interruption in his or her college |
education, and does not hold a bachelor's degree. |
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(5) The consortium shall employ effective procedures |
for teaching the skills and knowledge needed to prepare |
highly competent teachers. Professional preparation shall |
include on-going direct experience in target schools and |
evaluation of this experience. |
(6) The consortium shall offer the program to cohorts |
of candidates, as defined in Section 10 of this Act, who |
begin by moving through the program together. The program |
shall be offered on a schedule that enables candidates to |
work full time while participating in the program and |
allows paraeducators to continue in their current |
positions. In any fiscal year in which an appropriation for |
the Initiative is made, the
consortium shall guarantee that |
support will be available to an admitted cohort for the |
cohort's education training for that fiscal year. At the |
beginning of the Initiative, programs that are already |
operating and existing cohorts of candidates under this |
model shall be eligible for funding. |
(7) The institutions of higher education participating |
in the consortium shall document and agree to expend the |
same amount of funds in implementing the program that these |
institutions spend per student on similar educational |
programs. Grants received by the consortium shall |
supplement and not supplant these amounts. |
(8) The State Board shall establish additional |
criteria for review of proposals, including criteria that |
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address the following issues: |
(A) Previous experience of the institutions of |
higher education in preparing candidates for |
hard-to-staff schools and positions and in working |
with students with non-traditional backgrounds. |
(B) The quality of the implementation plan, |
including strategies for overcoming institutional |
barriers to the progress of non-traditional |
candidates. |
(C) If a community college is a participant, the |
nature and extent of existing articulation agreements |
and guarantees between the community college and the |
4-year institution of higher education. |
(D) The number of candidates to be educated trained |
in the planned cohort or cohorts and the capacity of |
the consortium for adding cohorts in future cycles. |
(E) Experience of the community organization or |
organizations in organizing parents and community |
leaders to achieve school improvement and a strong |
relational school culture. |
(F) The qualifications of the person or persons |
designated by the 4-year institution of higher |
education to be responsible for cohort support and the |
development of a shared learning and social |
environment among candidates. |
(G) The consortium's plan for collective |
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consortium decision-making, involving all consortium |
members, including mechanisms for community and |
candidate input. |
(H) The consortium's plan for direct impact of the |
program on the quality of education in the eligible |
schools. |
(I) The relevance of the curriculum to the needs of |
the eligible schools and positions, and the use in |
curriculum and instructional planning of principles |
for effective education for adults. |
(J) The availability of classes under the program |
in places and times accessible to the candidates. |
(K) Provision of a level of performance to be |
maintained by candidates as a condition of continuing |
in the program. |
(L) The plan of the 4-year institution of higher |
education to ensure that candidates take advantage of |
existing financial aid resources before using the loan |
funds described in Section 25 of this Act. |
(M) The availability of supportive services, |
including, but not limited to, counseling, tutoring, |
transportation, technology and technology support, and |
child care. |
(N) A plan for continued participation of |
graduates of the program in a program of support for at |
least 2 years, including mentoring and group meetings. |
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(O) A plan for testing and qualitative evaluation |
of candidates' teaching skills that ensures that |
graduates of the program are as prepared for teaching |
as other individuals completing the institution of |
higher education's preparation program for the |
certificate sought. |
(P) A plan for internal evaluation that provides |
reports at least yearly on the progress of candidates |
towards graduation and the impact of the program on the |
target schools and their communities. |
(Q) Contributions from schools, school districts, |
and other consortia members to the program, including |
stipends for candidates during their student teaching. |
(R) Consortium commitment for sustaining the |
program over time, as evidenced by plans for reduced |
requirements for external funding, in subsequent |
cycles.
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(S) The inclusion in the planned program of |
strategies derived from community organizing that will |
help candidates develop tools for working with parents |
and other community members.
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(Source: P.A. 94-979, eff. 6-30-06; 95-476, eff. 1-1-08.)
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(110 ILCS 48/25)
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Sec. 25. Expenditures under the Initiative. |
(a) Every program under the Initiative shall implement a |
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program of forgivable loans to cover any portion of tuition, |
books, and fees and direct expenses of candidates under the |
program in excess of the candidates' grants-in-aid and other |
forgivable loans received. All students admitted to a cohort |
shall be eligible for a forgivable student loan such loans. |
Loans shall be fully forgiven if a graduate completes 5 years |
of service in hard-to-staff schools
or hard-to-staff teaching |
positions, with partial forgiveness for shorter periods of |
service. The State Board shall establish standards for the |
approval of requests for waivers or deferrals from individuals |
to waive of this obligation for individual candidates. The |
State Board shall also define standards for the fiscal |
management of these loan funds. |
(b) The State Board shall award grants Grants under the |
Initiative shall be awarded in such a way as to provide the |
required support for a cohort of candidates for any fiscal year |
in which an appropriation for the Initiative is made. Program |
budgets must show expenditures and needed funds for the entire |
period that candidates are expected to be enrolled. |
(c) No funds under the Initiative may be used to supplant |
the average per-capita expenditures by the institution of |
higher education for candidates. |
(d) Where necessary, program budgets shall include the |
costs of child care and other indirect expenses, such as |
transportation, tutoring, technology, and technology support, |
that are necessary to permit candidates to maintain their class |
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schedules. Grant funds may be used by any member of a |
consortium to offset such costs, and the services may be , |
whether the needed services are provided by the community |
organization or organizations, by any other are provided by |
another member of the consortium, or by independent contractors |
are independently contracted for. |
(e) The institution of higher education may expend grant |
funds to cover the additional costs of offering classes in |
community settings and for tutoring services. |
(f) The community organization or organizations may |
receive a portion of the grant money for the expenses of |
recruitment, community orientation, and counseling of |
potential candidates, for providing space in the community, and |
for working with school personnel to facilitate individual work |
experiences and support of candidates. |
(g) The school district or school employee union or both |
may receive a portion of the grant money for expenses of |
supporting the work experiences of candidates and providing |
mentors for graduates.
Notwithstanding the provisions of |
Section 10-20.15 of the School Code, school districts may also |
use these or other applicable public funds to pay participants |
in programs under the Initiative for student teaching required |
by an accredited teacher preparation program. |
(h) One or more members member of the consortium may expend |
funds to cover the salary of a site-based cohort coordinator. |
(i) Grant funds may also be expended to pay directly for |