Public Act 098-0581
 
SB2199 EnrolledLRB098 06402 NHT 36444 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 Sections 
21B-30 and 21B-35 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. No score on a test required under this Section, other 
than a test of basic skills, shall be more than 5 years old at 
the time that an individual makes application for an educator 
license or endorsement.
    (c)  Applicants seeking a Professional Educator License or 
an Educator License with Stipulations shall be required to pass 
a test of basic skills, unless the endorsement the individual 
is seeking does not require passage of the test.
    No candidate may be fully admitted into an educator 
preparation program at a recognized Illinois institution until 
he or she has passed a test of basic skills. 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, 
or begin an internship or residency required for licensure 
until he or she has passed the applicable content area test.
    (e) All applicants seeking a State license endorsed in a 
teaching field shall pass the assessment of professional 
teaching (APT). Passage of the APT is required for completion 
of an approved Illinois educator preparation program.
    (f) Beginning on September 1, 2015, all candidates 
completing teacher preparation programs in this State 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 
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. 97-607, eff. 8-26-11.)
 
    (105 ILCS 5/21B-35)
    Sec. 21B-35. Minimum requirements for educators trained in 
other states or countries.
    (a) All out-of-state applicants applying for a 
Professional Educator License must meet all of the following 
requirements:
        (1) Have completed a comparable state-approved 
    education program, as defined by the State Superintendent 
    of Education.
        (2) Have a degree from a regionally accredited 
    institution of higher education and the degreed major or a 
    constructed major must directly correspond to the license 
    or endorsement sought.
        (3) Except for school service personnel prepared by 
    out-of-state programs, have  Have completed a minimum of one 
    course in the methods of instruction of the exceptional 
    child. School service personnel prepared by out-of-state 
    programs shall meet the same requirements concerning 
    courses in the methods of instruction of the exceptional 
    child as in-State candidates in school service personnel 
    areas, as defined by rules. 
        (4) Except for school service personnel prepared by 
    out-of-state programs, have Have completed a minimum of 6 
    semester hours of coursework in methods of reading and 
    reading in the content area. School service personnel 
    prepared by out-of-state programs shall meet the same 
    requirements concerning coursework in methods of reading 
    and reading in the content area as in-State candidates in 
    school service personnel areas, as defined by rules. 
        (5) Except for school service personnel prepared by 
    out-of-state programs, have Have completed a minimum of one 
    course in instructional strategies for English language 
    learners. School service personnel prepared by 
    out-of-state programs shall meet the same requirements 
    concerning courses in instructional strategies for English 
    language learners as in-State candidates in school service 
    personnel areas, as defined by rules.
        (6) Have successfully met all Illinois examination 
    requirements. 
        (7) Have completed student teaching or an equivalent 
    experience.
    If one or more of the criteria in subsection (a) of this 
Section are not met, then out-of-state applicants who hold a 
valid, comparable certificate from another state and have 
passed a test of basic skills and content area test, as 
required by Section 21B-20 of this Code, may qualify for a 
provisional educator endorsement on an Educator License with 
Stipulations, in accordance with Section 21B-20 of this Code, 
with the exception that an individual shall not serve as a 
principal or assistant principal  while holding the provisional 
educator endorsement.
    (b)  In order to receive a Professional Educator License, 
applicants trained in another country must meet all of the 
following requirements:
        (1) Have completed a comparable education program in 
    another country.
        (2) Have had transcripts evaluated by an evaluation 
    service approved by the State Superintendent of Education.
        (3) Hold a degreed major that must directly correspond 
    to the license or endorsement sought.
        (4) Have completed a minimum of one course in the 
    methods of instruction of the exceptional child.
        (5) Have completed a minimum of 6 semester hours of 
    coursework in methods of reading and reading in the content 
    area.
        (6) Have completed a minimum of one course in 
    instructional strategies for English language learners.
        (7) Have successfully met all State licensure 
    examination requirements.
        (8) Have completed student teaching or an equivalent 
    experience.
    If one or more of these criteria are not met, then an 
applicant trained in another country who has passed a test of 
basic skills and content area test, as required by Section 
21B-20 of this Code, may qualify for a provisional educator 
endorsement on an Educator License with Stipulations, with the 
exception that an individual shall not serve as a principal or 
assistant principal while holding the provisional educator 
endorsement.
    (c)  The State Board of Education, in consultation with the 
State Educator Preparation and Licensure Board, may adopt such 
rules as may be necessary to implement this Section.

(Source: P.A. 97-607, eff. 8-26-11.)
 
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.