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SB-577 Public postsecondary education: California Community College Teacher Credentialing Partnership Pilot Program.(2017-2018)

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Date Published: 09/20/2018 09:00 PM
SB577:v90#DOCUMENT

Senate Bill No. 577
CHAPTER 603

An act to amend Section 44259 of, and to add Article 5 (commencing with Section 78060) to Chapter 1 of Part 48 of Division 7 of Title 3 of, the Education Code, relating to public postsecondary education.

[ Approved by Governor  September 20, 2018. Filed with Secretary of State  September 20, 2018. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 577, Dodd. Public postsecondary education: California Community College Teacher Credentialing Partnership Pilot Program.
Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law requires the board of governors to appoint a chief executive officer, to be known as the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges. Existing law establishes community college districts, administered by governing boards, throughout the state, and authorizes these districts to provide instruction to students at the community college campuses maintained by the districts.
Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to, among other duties, establish standards for the issuance and renewal of credentials, certificates, and permits. Existing law establishes minimum requirements for the preliminary multiple or single subject teaching credential, including satisfactory completion of a program of professional preparation, as provided.
This bill would establish the California Community College Teacher Credentialing Partnership Pilot Program under which the commission, in coordination with the chancellor, would award up to 3 grants, in the amount of $500,000 each, to collaboratives, that would be comprised of at least one accredited degree-granting institution of higher education with a physical presence in this state and at least one community college, for the purpose of offering teacher credential coursework remotely at participating community college or colleges. The bill would require these degree programs to be accredited by the commission’s Committee on Accreditation on the basis of standards of program quality and effectiveness. The bill would authorize priority for the receipt of grants to be given to a collaborative that is located in areas of the state with low rates of K–12 credentialed public school teachers, demonstrates that its degree program or programs meet the documented labor market demand of its target region, and identifies the resources necessary to offer its degree program or programs. The bill would provide that grants shall be awarded only to the extent that funding for the statewide pilot program is provided in the annual Budget Act. The bill would require the Legislative Analyst’s Office to submit a report on the implementation of the statewide pilot program to the Legislature and the Department of Finance on or before April 1, 2023.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The National Center for Education Statistics predicts the school-going population will increase by roughly three million students in the next decade.
(b) Districts are looking to reinstate classes and programs that were cut or reduced during the Great Recession, which would require hiring an additional 145,000 teachers, on top of standard hiring needs, over the next decade.
(c) Our teaching workforce continues to lose hundreds of thousands of teachers each year, with the majority of them leaving before retirement age. Reducing attrition would change the projected shortages more than any other single factor.
(d) Attracting and keeping quality teachers in California classrooms is a constant challenge. It has reached crisis proportions in some areas, and is a particularly acute challenge in urban and rural schools.
(e) Teacher compensation is a significant deterrent to recruitment. Teachers are still paid less than other professions that require comparable education, training, and skills. In addition to bringing more young people into the profession, we must also find ways to keep the quality teachers we have.
(f) The statistics for turnover among new teachers are startling. Some 20 percent of all new hires leave the classroom within three years. In urban districts, the numbers are worse: close to 50 percent of newcomers leave the profession during their first five years of teaching.
(g) Currently, community colleges do not credential teachers on their own.
(h) The California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the nation, with 2.1 million students attending 113 colleges.
(i) While our state’s universities host extensive and innovative teacher credentialing programs, many communities are not close to a four-year university that offers a teacher credentialing program, at a detriment to those communities that seek to attract and retain high-quality teachers.
(j) Of the 58 counties in California, 20 have no approved institutions with an active teacher credentialing program.

SEC. 2.

 Section 44259 of the Education Code is amended to read:

44259.
 (a) Except as provided in subparagraphs (A) and (C) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b), each program of professional preparation for multiple or single subject teaching credentials shall not include more than two years of full-time study of professional preparation.
(b) The minimum requirements for the preliminary multiple or single subject teaching credential are all of the following:
(1) A baccalaureate degree or higher degree from a regionally accredited institution of postsecondary education. Except as provided in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 44225 and subdivision (c) of Section 44227, the baccalaureate degree shall not be in professional education. The commission shall encourage accredited institutions to offer undergraduate minors in education and special education to students who intend to become single subject credentialed teachers.
(2) Passage of the state basic skills proficiency test that is developed and administered by the commission pursuant to Section 44252.5.
(3) Satisfactory completion of a program of professional preparation that has been accredited by the Committee on Accreditation on the basis of standards of program quality and effectiveness that have been adopted by the commission. In accordance with the commission’s assessment and performance standards, each program shall include a teaching performance assessment as set forth in Section 44320.2 that is aligned with the California Standards for the Teaching Profession. The commission shall ensure that each candidate recommended for a credential or certificate has demonstrated satisfactory ability to assist pupils to meet or exceed academic content and performance standards for pupils adopted by the state board pursuant to Section 60605. Programs that meet this requirement for professional preparation shall include any of the following:
(A) Integrated programs of subject matter preparation and professional preparation pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 44259.1.
(B) Postbaccalaureate programs of professional preparation, pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 44259.1.
(C) Internship programs of professional preparation, pursuant to Section 44321, Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 44325), Article 11 (commencing with Section 44380), and Article 3 (commencing with Section 44450) of Chapter 3.
(D) Degree programs offered pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 78060) of Chapter 1 of Part 48 of Division 7 of Title 3.
(4) Study of alternative methods of developing English language skills, including the study of reading as described in subparagraphs (A) and (B), among all pupils, including those for whom English is a second language, in accordance with the commission’s standards of program quality and effectiveness. The study of reading shall meet the following requirements:
(A) Commencing January 1, 1997, satisfactory completion of comprehensive reading instruction that is research based and includes all of the following:
(i) The study of organized, systematic, explicit skills including phonemic awareness, direct, systematic, explicit phonics, and decoding skills.
(ii) A strong literature, language, and comprehension component with a balance of oral and written language.
(iii) Ongoing diagnostic techniques that inform teaching and assessment.
(iv) Early intervention techniques.
(v) Guided practice in a clinical setting.
(B) For purposes of this section, “direct, systematic, explicit phonics” means phonemic awareness, spelling patterns, the direct instruction of sound/symbol codes and practice in connected text, and the relationship of direct, systematic, explicit phonics to the components set forth in clauses (i) to (v), inclusive, of subparagraph (A).
A program for the multiple subjects credential also shall include the study of integrated methods of teaching language arts.
(5) Completion of a subject matter program that has been approved by the commission on the basis of standards of program quality and effectiveness pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 44310) or passage of a subject matter examination pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 44280). The commission shall ensure that subject matter standards and examinations are aligned with the academic content and performance standards for pupils adopted by the state board pursuant to Section 60605.
(6) Demonstration of a knowledge of the principles and provisions of the Constitution of the United States pursuant to Section 44335.
(7) Commencing January 1, 2000, demonstration, in accordance with the commission’s standards of program quality and effectiveness, of basic competency in the use of computers in the classroom as determined by one of the following:
(A) Successful completion of a commission-approved program or course.
(B) Successful passage of an assessment that is developed, approved, and administered by the commission.
(c) The minimum requirements for the clear multiple or single subject teaching credential shall include all of the following requirements:
(1) Possession of a valid preliminary teaching credential, as prescribed in subdivision (b), possession of a valid equivalent credential or certificate, or completion of equivalent requirements as determined by the commission.
(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3), completion of a program of beginning teacher induction, including one of the following:
(A) A program of beginning teacher support and assessment approved by the commission and the Superintendent pursuant to Section 44279.1, a provision of the Marian Bergeson Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment System.
(B) An alternative program of beginning teacher induction that is provided by one or more local educational agencies and has been approved by the commission and the Superintendent on the basis of initial review and periodic evaluations of the program in relation to appropriate standards of credential program quality and effectiveness that have been adopted by the commission, the Superintendent, and the state board pursuant to this subdivision. The standards for alternative programs shall encourage innovation and experimentation in the continuous preparation and induction of beginning teachers. An alternative program of beginning teacher induction that has met state standards pursuant to this subdivision may apply for state funding pursuant to Sections 44279.1 and 44279.2.
(C) An alternative program of beginning teacher induction that is sponsored by a regionally accredited college or university, in cooperation with one or more local school districts, that addresses the individual professional needs of beginning teachers and meets the commission’s standards of induction. The commission shall ensure that preparation and induction programs that qualify candidates for professional credentials extend and refine each beginning teacher’s professional skills in relation to the California Standards for the Teaching Profession and the academic content and performance standards for pupils adopted by the state board pursuant to Section 60605.
(3) (A) If a candidate satisfies the requirements of subdivision (b), including completion of an accredited internship program of professional preparation, and if that internship program fulfills induction standards and is approved as set forth in this subdivision, the commission shall determine that the candidate has fulfilled the requirements of paragraph (2).
(B) If an approved induction program is verified as unavailable to a beginning teacher, or if the beginning teacher is required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.) to complete subject matter coursework to be qualified for a teaching assignment, the commission shall accept completion of an approved clear credential program after completion of a baccalaureate degree at a regionally accredited institution as fulfilling the requirements of paragraph (2). The commission shall adopt regulations to implement this subparagraph.
(4) Experience that includes the application of knowledge and skills previously acquired in a preliminary credential program, in accordance with commission standards, that addresses the following:
(A) Health education, including study of nutrition, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and the physiological and sociological effects of abuse of alcohol, narcotics, and drugs and the use of tobacco. Training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation shall also meet the standards established by the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross.
(B) Field experience in methods of delivering appropriate educational services to pupils with exceptional needs in regular education programs.
(C) Advanced computer-based technology, including the uses of technology in educational settings.
(d) The commission shall develop and implement standards of program quality and effectiveness that provide for the areas of application listed in subparagraphs (A) to (C), inclusive, of paragraph (4) of subdivision (c), starting in professional preparation and continuing through induction.
(e) A credential that was issued before January 1, 1993, shall remain in force as long as it is valid under the laws and regulations that were in effect on the date it was issued. The commission shall not, by regulation, invalidate an otherwise valid credential, unless it issues to the holder of the credential, in substitution, a new credential authorized by another provision in this chapter that is no more restrictive than the credential for which it was substituted with respect to the kind of service authorized and the grades, classes, or types of schools in which it authorizes service.
(f) A credential program that is approved by the commission shall not deny an individual access to that program solely on the grounds that the individual obtained a teaching credential through completion of an internship program when that internship program has been accredited by the commission.
(g) Notwithstanding this section, persons who were performing teaching services as of January 1, 1999, pursuant to the language of this section that was in effect before that date, may continue to perform those services without complying with any requirements that may be added by the amendments adding this subdivision.
(h) Subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) do not apply to any person who, as of January 1, 1997, holds a multiple or single subject teaching credential, or to any person enrolled in a program of professional preparation for a multiple or single subject teaching credential as of January 1, 1997, who subsequently completes that program. It is the intent of the Legislature that the requirements of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) be applied only to persons who enter a program of professional preparation on or after January 1, 1997.

SEC. 3.

 Article 5 (commencing with Section 78060) is added to Chapter 1 of Part 48 of Division 7 of Title 3 of the Education Code, to read:
Article  5. California Community College Teacher Credentialing Partnership Pilot Act

78060.
 This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the California Community College Teacher Credentialing Partnership Pilot Act.

78061.
 (a) The California Community College Teacher Credentialing Partnership Pilot Program is hereby established for both of the following purposes:
(1) To encourage accredited degree-granting institutions of higher education with a physical presence in this state to collaborate with one or more community colleges to offer teacher credentialing coursework remotely at the participating community college or colleges.
(2) To bring opportunities to earn teacher credentialing degrees to areas with low college-going rates or limited access to teacher-credentialing, degree-granting higher education institutions.
(b) (1) The Commission on Teacher Credentialing, in coordination with the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, may award up to three grants, not to exceed five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) each, to collaboratives formed for the purpose of offering teacher credential coursework remotely at a participating community college or colleges. For the purposes of this section, a collaborative shall be comprised of at least one community college and at least one accredited degree-granting institution of higher education.
(2) (A) Priority for the receipt of grant funds may be given to a collaborative that meets all of the following:
(i) Is located in areas of the state with low rates of K–12 credentialed public school teachers.
(ii) Demonstrates that its teacher credentialing degree program or programs meet a documented labor market demand of the collaborative’s target region.
(iii) Identifies the resources necessary to offer a teacher credentialing degree program or programs.
(B) The funds granted under this subdivision shall be for one-time startup costs of the collaborative for the purposes of developing and implementing its pilot program. These costs may include any, or any combination, including all, of the following:
(i) Professional development for effective distance learning.
(ii) Deploying a teaching assistant for the community college classroom or classrooms where courses are offered via distance learning.
(iii) Technology upgrades for the community college classroom or classrooms where the distance learning courses are offered.
(iv) Student retention, outreach, or engagement.
(v) Data monitoring and systems infrastructure.
(vi) Cross system alignment.
(vii) Other startup costs that are necessary for developing and implementing its pilot program.
(C) Each pilot program implemented under this section shall do all of the following:
(i) Utilize courses currently offered by the collaborating accredited degree-granting institution or institutions of higher education, which may be one or more California State University or University of California campuses, or one or more independent institutions of higher education, as defined in Section 66010, with a physical presence in this state.
(ii) Include, as a primary target population to take courses under the pilot program, teachers who hold a baccalaureate degree and are currently teaching on a short-term staff permit or a provisional internship permit.
(iii) Charge no more than the standard tuition and fees of the collaborating accredited teacher-credentialing, degree-granting institution or institutions of higher education.
(iv) Involve current faculty from the collaborating accredited degree-granting institution or institutions of higher education as faculty for courses offered under the pilot program, which shall be current courses of that institution or institutions.
(c) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that no collaborative funded under this section may be terminated abruptly, thus leaving its enrolled students without a way to earn a teaching credential under this section.
(2) As a condition of an agreement for the receipt of a grant under this section, each collaborative shall ensure that every student who enrolls in its pilot program before an announcement of the termination of the collaborative has an opportunity to complete the coursework necessary to obtain a teaching credential under this section.
(d) A collaborative shall not offer a teacher credentialing degree program under this section unless that program has been accredited by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing’s Committee on Accreditation on the basis of standards of program quality and effectiveness.
(e) Grants awarded under this section shall be awarded only to the extent that funding for this section is provided in the annual Budget Act.
(f) (1) On or before April 1, 2023, the Legislative Analyst’s Office shall submit a report to the Legislature, pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code, and to the Department of Finance on the implementation of the program established pursuant to this section.
(2) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under paragraph (1) is inoperative on April 1, 2027, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.