H. B. 2528
(By Delegates Campbell, Williams, Perry and Beach)
[Introduced
February 21, 2005
; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact
§18A-3-1a
of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to alternative programs for the
education of teachers; providing for alternative program
certificate, eligibility, issuance, scope and renewal
limitation; changing activities, components and phases of
training for alternative programs; providing for program
coordination, training and approval.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That
§18A-3-1a
of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. TRAINING, CERTIFICATION, LICENSING, PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT.
§18A-3-1a. Alternative programs for the education of teachers.
(a) By the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-one two thousand five, the State Board of Education, after consultation with the Secretary of Education and the Arts, shall
adopt rules in accordance with the provisions of article three-b,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code for the approval and operation
of teacher education programs which are an alternative to the
regular college or university programs for the education of
teachers. To participate in an approved alternative teacher
education program, the candidate must hold an alternative program
teacher certificate issued by the Superintendent and endorsed for
the instructional field in which the candidate seeks certification.
An alternative program teacher certificate is a temporary
certificate issued for one year to a candidate who does not meet
the standard educational requirements for certification.
The
certificate may be renewed no more than two times. No individual
may hold an alternative program teacher certificate for a period
exceeding three years. The alternative program teacher certificate
shall be considered a professional teaching certificate for the
purpose of the issuance of a continuing contract.
To be eligible
for such a certificate, an applicant shall must:
(1) Possess at least a bachelor's degree from an a regionally
accredited institution of higher education in a discipline taught
in the public schools; except that the rules established by the
board may exempt candidates in selected vocational and technical
areas who have at least ten years experience in the subject field
from this requirement;
(2) Pass an appropriate state board approved basic skills and
subject matter test or complete three years of successful
experience within the last seven years in the area for which
licensure is being sought;
(3) Be a citizen of the United States, be of good moral
character and physically, mentally and emotionally qualified to
perform the duties of a teacher, and have attained the age of
eighteen years on or before the first day of October of the year in
which the alternative program teacher certificate is issued; and
(4) Have been offered employment in a school included in an
alternative teacher education plan approved by the board to offer
an alternative teacher education program. by a county board in an
area of critical need and shortage; and
(5) Qualify following a criminal history check pursuant to
section ten of this article.
Persons who pass the appropriate test as set forth in
subdivision (2) above satisfy the requirements set forth in
subdivisions (1) through (5) of this subsection shall be granted a
formal document which will enable them to seek employment be
employed as an alternative program teacher in a public school
approved to offer an alternative teacher education program.
(b) The rules adopted by the board shall include provisions
for the approval of alternative teacher education programs which
may be offered by schools, school districts, consortia of schools or regional educational service agency and for the setting of
tuition charges to offset the program costs. An approved
alternative teacher education program shall be in effect for a
school, school district, consortium of schools or regional
educational service agency before an alternative program teacher
may be employed in that school, school district, consortium of
schools or regional educational service agency. Approximately two
hundred hours of formal instruction shall be provided in all of the
three following phases combined. An approved alternative program
shall provide essential knowledge and skills to alternative program
teachers through the following phases of training:
(1) A full-time seminar/practicum of no less than twenty and
no more than thirty days duration which is accomplished before the
alternative program teacher has full responsibility for a
classroom. The seminar/practicum shall provide formal instruction
in the essential areas for professional study which shall emphasize
the topics of student assessment, development and learning,
curriculum, classroom management, and the use of educational
computers and other technology and shall introduce basic teaching
skills through supervised teaching experiences with students. The
seminar and practicum components shall be integrated and shall
include an orientation to the policies, organization and curriculum
of the employing district;
(2) A period of intensive on-the-job supervision beginning the first day on which the alternative program teacher assumes full
responsibility for a classroom and continuing for a period of at
least ten weeks. During this time, the alternative program teacher
shall be visited and critiqued no less than one time per week by
members of a professional support team and shall be observed and
formally evaluated at the end of five weeks and at the end of ten
weeks by the appropriately certified members of the team. During
the same period, formal instruction shall be continued in the
essential areas for professional study which shall emphasize the
topics of teaching skills, student assessment, development and
learning, curriculum, classroom management, and the use of
educational computers and other technology. At the end of the
ten-week period, the alternative program teacher shall receive a
formal written progress report from the chairperson of the support
team; and
(3) An additional period of continued supervision and
evaluation of no less than twenty weeks duration. During this
period, the alternative program teacher shall be visited and
critiqued at least twice per month and shall be observed formally
and evaluated at least twice. No more than two months shall pass
without a formal evaluation. Formal instruction shall continue in
the essential areas for professional study. Opportunities shall be
provided for the alternative program teacher to observe the
teaching of experienced colleagues.
(1) Instruction. -- The alternative preparation program must
provide a minimum of eighteen semester hours of instruction in the
areas of student assessment, development and learning, curriculum,
classroom management, the use of educational computers and other
technology, and special education/diversity. All programs must
contain a minimum of three semester hours of instruction in special
education/diversity out of the minimum eighteen required semester
hours.
(2) Phase I. -- Phase I shall consist of a period of intensive
on-the-job supervision by an assigned mentor and the school
administrator for a period of not less than two weeks and no more
than four weeks. During this time, the teacher shall be observed
daily. This phase shall include an orientation to the policies,
organization and curriculum of the employing district. The
alternative program teacher shall begin to receive formal
instruction in those areas listed above under Instruction.
(3) Phase II. -- Phase II shall consist of a period of
intensive on-the-job supervision beginning the first day following
the completion of Phase I and continuing for a period of at least
ten weeks. During Phase II, the alternative program teacher shall
be visited and critiqued no less than one time per week by members
of a professional support team, defined in subsection (c) of this
section, and shall be observed and formally evaluated at the end of
five weeks and at the end of ten weeks by the appropriately certified members of the team. At the end of the ten-week period,
the alternative program teacher shall receive a formal written
progress report from the chairperson of the support team. The
alternative program teacher shall continue to receive formal
instruction in those areas listed above under subdivision (1) of
this subsection, "Instruction."
(4) Phase III. -- Phase III shall consist of an additional
period of continued supervision and evaluation of no less than
twenty weeks duration. The professional support team will
determine the requirements of this phase with at least one formal
evaluation being conducted at the completion of the phase. The
alternative program teacher shall continue to receive formal
instruction in those areas listed above under subdivision (1) of
this subsection, "Instruction," and receive opportunities to
observe the teaching of experienced colleagues.
(c) Training and supervision of alternative program teachers
shall be provided by a professional support team comprised of a
school principal, an experienced classroom teacher, a college or
university education faculty member and a curriculum supervisor.
Districts or schools which do not employ curriculum supervisors or
have been unable to establish a relationship with a college or
university shall provide for comparable expertise on the team. The
school principal shall serve as chairperson of the team.
(d) The training efforts of the districts shall be coordinated by the center for professional development and the center shall
provide an orientation and training program for professional
support team members
shall be coordinated and provided by the
school district, consortium of schools, regional educational
service agency, center for professional development, and
institution of higher education, or any combination of these
agencies as set forth in the plan approved by the state board
pursuant to subsection (e) of this section
.
(e) A school, school district, consortium of schools or
regional educational service agency seeking to employ an
alternative program teacher must submit a plan to the State Board
of Education and receive approval. in accordance with the same
procedures used for approval of collegiate preparation programs.
Each plan shall describe how the proposed training program will
accomplish the key elements of an alternative program for the
education of teachers as set forth in this section. Each school,
school district, consortium of schools or regional educational
service agency shall show evidence in its plan of having sought
joint sponsorship of their training program with institutions of
higher education.
House Education Tittle Amendment Pending
The Committee on Education moved to amend the bill on page one by striking the title of the bill and inserting in lieu thereof a new
title to read as follows:
"A BILL to amend and reenact §18A-3-1a of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to alternative programs for
the education of teachers; providing for alternative program
certificate, eligibility, issuance, scope and renewal limitation;
changing activities, components and phases of training for
alternative programs; providing for program coordination, training
and approval; authorizing rule for separate program for special
education teachers; and specifying certain employment status of
alternative program teachers.
House Education Amendment Pending
Your Committee on Education moves to amend the bill on page one by
striking everything after the enacting section and inserting in
lieu thereof a new bill to read as follows:
"That §18A-3-1a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. TRAINING, CERTIFICATION, LICENSING, PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT.
§18A-3-1a. Alternative programs for the education of teachers.
(a) By the first day of July,
one thousand nine hundred
ninety-one two thousand five, the State Board,
of Education, after
consultation with the Secretary of Education and the Arts, shall
adopt rules in accordance with the provisions of article three-b,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code for the approval and operation
of teacher education programs which are an alternative to the
regular college or university programs for the education of
teachers. To participate in an approved alternative teacher
education program, the candidate must hold an alternative program
teacher certificate issued by the Superintendent and endorsed for
the instructional field in which the candidate seeks certification.
An alternative program teacher certificate is a
temporary
certificate issued for one year to a candidate who does not meet
the standard educational requirements for certification.
The
certificate may be renewed no more than two times. No individual
may hold an alternative program teacher certificate for a period
exceeding three years. The alternative program teacher certificate
shall be considered a professional teaching certificate for the
purpose of the issuance of a continuing contract. To be eligible
for such a certificate, an applicant
shall must:
(1) Possess at least a bachelor's degree from
an a regionally
accredited institution of higher education in a discipline taught
in the public schools;
except that the rules established by the board may exempt candidates in selected vocational and technical
areas who have at least ten years experience in the subject field
from this requirement;
(2) Pass an appropriate state board approved basic skills and
subject matter test
or complete three years of successful
experience within the last seven years in the area for which
licensure is being sought;
(3) Be a citizen of the United States, be of good moral
character and physically, mentally and emotionally qualified to
perform the duties of a teacher, and have attained the age of
eighteen years on or before the first day of October of the year in
which the alternative program teacher certificate is issued;
and
(4) Have been offered employment
in a school included in an
alternative teacher education plan approved by the board to offer
an alternative teacher education program. by a county board in an
area of critical need and shortage; and
(5) Qualify following a criminal history check pursuant to
section ten of this article.
Persons who
pass the appropriate test as set forth in
subdivision (2) above satisfy the requirements set forth in
subdivisions (1) through (5) of this subsection shall be granted a
formal document which will enable them to
seek employment be
employed as an alternative program teacher in a public school
approved to offer an alternative teacher education program.
(b) The rules adopted by the board shall include provisions
for the approval of alternative teacher education programs which
may be offered by schools, school districts, consortia of schools
or regional educational service agency and for the setting of
tuition charges to offset the program costs. An approved
alternative teacher education program shall be in effect for a
school, school district, consortium of schools or regional
educational service agency before an alternative program teacher
may be employed in that school, school district, consortium of
schools or regional educational service agency.
Approximately two
hundred hours of formal instruction shall be provided in all of the
three following phases combined. An approved alternative program
shall provide essential knowledge and skills to alternative program
teachers through the following phases of training:
(1) A full-time seminar/practicum of no less than twenty and
no more than thirty days duration which is accomplished before the
alternative program teacher has full responsibility for a
classroom. The seminar/practicum shall provide formal instruction
in the essential areas for professional study which shall emphasize
the topics of student assessment, development and learning,
curriculum, classroom management, and the use of educational
computers and other technology and shall introduce basic teaching
skills through supervised teaching experiences with students. The
seminar and practicum components shall be integrated and shall include an orientation to the policies, organization and curriculum
of the employing district;
(2) A period of intensive on-the-job supervision beginning the
first day on which the alternative program teacher assumes full
responsibility for a classroom and continuing for a period of at
least ten weeks. During this time, the alternative program teacher
shall be visited and critiqued no less than one time per week by
members of a professional support team and shall be observed and
formally evaluated at the end of five weeks and at the end of ten
weeks by the appropriately certified members of the team. During
the same period, formal instruction shall be continued in the
essential areas for professional study which shall emphasize the
topics of teaching skills, student assessment, development and
learning, curriculum, classroom management, and the use of
educational computers and other technology. At the end of the
ten-week period, the alternative program teacher shall receive a
formal written progress report from the chairperson of the support
team; and
(3) An additional period of continued supervision and
evaluation of no less than twenty weeks duration. During this
period, the alternative program teacher shall be visited and
critiqued at least twice per month and shall be observed formally
and evaluated at least twice. No more than two months shall pass
without a formal evaluation. Formal instruction shall continue in the essential areas for professional study. Opportunities shall be
provided for the alternative program teacher to observe the
teaching of experienced colleagues.
(1) Instruction. -- The alternative preparation program must
provide a minimum of eighteen semester hours of instruction in the
areas of student assessment, development and learning, curriculum,
classroom management, the use of educational computers and other
technology, and special education/diversity. All programs must
contain a minimum of three semester hours of instruction in special
education/diversity out of the minimum eighteen required semester
hours.
(2) Phase I. -- Phase I shall consist of a period of intensive
on-the-job supervision by an assigned mentor and the school
administrator for a period of not less than two weeks and no more
than four weeks. During this time, the teacher shall be observed
daily. This phase shall include an orientation to the policies,
organization and curriculum of the employing district. The
alternative program teacher shall begin to receive formal
instruction in those areas listed above under Instruction.
(3) Phase II. -- Phase II shall consist of a period of
intensive on-the-job supervision beginning the first day following
the completion of Phase I and continuing for a period of at least
ten weeks. During Phase II, the alternative program teacher shall
be visited and critiqued no less than one time per week by members of a professional support team, defined in subsection (c) of this
section, and shall be observed and formally evaluated at the end of
five weeks and at the end of ten weeks by the appropriately
certified members of the team. At the end of the ten-week period,
the alternative program teacher shall receive a formal written
progress report from the chairperson of the support team. The
alternative program teacher shall continue to receive formal
instruction in those areas listed above under subdivision (1) of
this subsection, "Instruction."
(4) Phase III. -- Phase III shall consist of an additional
period of continued supervision and evaluation of no less than
twenty weeks duration. The professional support team will
determine the requirements of this phase with at least one formal
evaluation being conducted at the completion of the phase. The
alternative program teacher shall continue to receive formal
instruction in those areas listed above under subdivision (1) of
this subsection, "Instruction," and receive opportunities to
observe the teaching of experienced colleagues.
(c) Training and supervision of alternative program teachers
shall be provided by a professional support team comprised of a
school principal, an experienced classroom teacher
who satisfies
the requirements for mentor for the Beginning Educator Internship
as specified in section two-b of this article, a college or
university education faculty member and a curriculum supervisor. Districts or schools which do not employ curriculum supervisors or
have been unable to establish a relationship with a college or
university shall provide for comparable expertise on the team. The
school principal shall serve as chairperson of the team.
In
addition to other duties assigned to it under this section and
section one-b of this article, the professional support team shall
submit a written evaluation of the alternative program teacher
to
the county superintendent in a form and upon a date prior to the
first Monday of May specified by the county superintendent. The
evaluation shall report the progress of the alternative program
teacher
toward meeting the academic and performance requirements of
the program.
(d) The training efforts of the districts shall be coordinated
by the center for professional development and the center shall
provide an orientation and training program for professional
support team members shall be coordinated and provided by the
school district, consortium of schools, regional educational
service agency, center for professional development, and
institution of higher education, or any combination of these
agencies as set forth in the plan approved by the state board
pursuant to subsection (e) of this section.
(e) A school, school district, consortium of schools or
regional educational service agency seeking to employ an
alternative program teacher must submit a plan to the State Board of Education and receive approval. in accordance with the same
procedures used for approval of collegiate preparation programs.
Each plan shall describe how the proposed training program will
accomplish the key elements of an alternative program for the
education of teachers as set forth in this section. Each school,
school district, consortium of schools or regional educational
service agency shall show evidence in its plan of having sought
joint sponsorship of their training program with institutions of
higher education.
(f) The state board shall adopt a rule for the approval and
operation of alternative education programs to prepare highly
qualified special education teachers that are separate from the
programs established under the other provisions of this section and
are applicable only to teachers who have at least a Bachelor's
degree in a program for the preparation of teachers from a
regionally accredited institution of higher education. These
programs are subject to the other provisions of this section only
to the extent specifically provided for in the rule. These
programs may be an alternative to the regular college and
university programs for the education of special education teachers
and may also address the content area preparation of certified
special education teachers. The programs shall incorporate
professional development to the maximum extent possible to help
teachers who are currently certified in special education to obtain the required content area preparation. Participation in an
alternative education program pursuant to this subsection shall not
affect any rights
,
privileges or benefits to which the participant
would otherwise be entitled as a regular employee, nor does it
alter any rights
,
privileges or benefits of participants on
continuing contract status. The state board shall report to the
legislative oversight commission on education accountability on the
programs authorized under this subsection at its July, two thousand
five, interim meetings or as soon thereafter as practical prior to
implementation of the programs.
(g) The following conditions apply to all teachers employed
under an alternative education program, except teachers who hold a
valid West Virginia professional teaching certificate in special
education and who are employed under a program operated pursuant to
subsection (f) of this section:
(1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection,
an alternative education program teacher has the same status as
persons employed under a temporary or first class/full time permit
pursuant to subsection (j), section seven-a, article four of this
chapter for the purposes of reductions in professional personnel;
and
(2) An alternative education program teacher is a probationary
teacher and subject to the provisions of section eight-a, article
two of this chapter with the following exceptions:
(i) The recommendation to rehire an alternative education
program teacher is subject to the position being posted and no
fully qualified applicant being employed;
(ii) The superintendent shall consider the recommendations of
the professional support team made pursuant to subsection (c) of
this section in making the recommendation to the board to rehire
the alternative education program teacher; and
(iii) If the recommendation of the professional support team
is that the alternative education program teacher is not making
satisfactory progress toward completion of the minimum semester
hours of instruction required under the program, the superintendent
may not make a recommendation to the board to rehire the teacher.
(h) For the purposes of this section, "area of critical need
and shortage" means an opening in an established, existing or newly
created position which has been posted in accordance with the
provisions of section seven-a, article four of this chapter, and
for which no fully qualified applicant has been employed."