Florida Senate - 2014 SB 950
By Senator Stargel
15-00847-14 2014950__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to educator certification; amending s.
3 1012.56, F.S.; deleting obsolete provisions relating
4 to acceptable means of demonstrating mastery of
5 professional development; revising acceptable means of
6 demonstrating mastery of subject area knowledge;
7 conforming terminology; revising components of a
8 competency-based professional development
9 certification program; amending s. 1012.585, F.S.;
10 revising certain requirements for the renewal or
11 reinstatement of a professional certificate; providing
12 an effective date.
13
14 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15
16 Section 1. Subsections (3), (5), and (6) and paragraph (a)
17 of subsection (8) of section 1012.56, Florida Statutes, are
18 amended to read:
19 1012.56 Educator certification requirements.—
20 (3) MASTERY OF GENERAL KNOWLEDGE.—Acceptable means of
21 demonstrating mastery of general knowledge are:
22 (a) Achievement of passing scores on the basic skills
23 examination required by state board rule;
24 (b) Achievement of passing scores on the College Level
25 Academic Skills Test earned prior to July 1, 2002;
26 (b)(c) A valid professional standard teaching certificate
27 issued by another state;
28 (c)(d) A valid certificate issued by the National Board for
29 Professional Teaching Standards or a national educator
30 credentialing board approved by the State Board of Education; or
31 (d)(e) Documentation of two semesters of successful
32 teaching in a Florida College System institution, state
33 university, or private college or university that awards an
34 associate or higher degree and is an accredited institution or
35 an institution of higher education identified by the Department
36 of Education as having a quality program.
37 (5) MASTERY OF SUBJECT AREA KNOWLEDGE.—Acceptable means of
38 demonstrating mastery of subject area knowledge are:
39 (a) Achievement of passing scores on subject area
40 examinations required by state board rule for subjects requiring
41 no more than a bachelor’s degree, which may include, but need
42 not be limited to, world languages in Arabic, Chinese, Farsi,
43 French, German, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian,
44 Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish;
45 (b) Completion of a bachelor’s degree or higher and
46 verification of the attainment of a passing score, as specified
47 in state board rule, on a subject area content knowledge
48 examination an oral proficiency interview score above the
49 intermediate level and a written proficiency score above the
50 intermediate level on a test administered by the American
51 Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages or a standardized
52 assessment approved by state board rule for certification
53 subjects for which there is no Florida-developed examination;
54 (c) Completion of the subject area specialization
55 requirements specified in state board rule and verification of
56 the attainment of the essential subject matter competencies by
57 the district school superintendent of the employing school
58 district or chief administrative officer of the employing state
59 supported or private school for a subject area for which a
60 subject area examination has not been developed and required by
61 state board rule;
62 (d) Completion of the subject area specialization
63 requirements specified in state board rule for a subject
64 coverage requiring a master’s or higher degree and achievement
65 of a passing score on the subject area examination or a
66 standardized examination or assessment approved as specified in
67 state board rule;
68 (e) A valid professional standard teaching certificate
69 issued by another state; or
70 (f) A valid certificate issued by the National Board for
71 Professional Teaching Standards or a national educator
72 credentialing board approved by the State Board of Education.
73
74 A school district is districts are encouraged to provide
75 mechanisms for those middle school teachers holding only a K-6
76 teaching certificate to obtain a subject area coverage for
77 middle grades through postsecondary coursework or district add
78 on certification.
79 (6) MASTERY OF PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION AND EDUCATION
80 COMPETENCE.—Acceptable means of demonstrating mastery of
81 professional preparation and education competence are:
82 (a) Completion of an approved teacher preparation program
83 at a postsecondary educational institution within this state and
84 achievement of a passing score on the professional education
85 competency examination required by state board rule;
86 (b) Completion of a teacher preparation program at a
87 postsecondary educational institution outside Florida and
88 achievement of a passing score on the professional education
89 competency examination required by state board rule;
90 (c) A valid professional standard teaching certificate
91 issued by another state;
92 (d) A valid certificate issued by the National Board for
93 Professional Teaching Standards or a national educator
94 credentialing board approved by the State Board of Education;
95 (e) Documentation of two semesters of successful teaching
96 in a Florida College System institution, state university, or
97 private college or university that awards an associate or higher
98 degree and is an accredited institution or an institution of
99 higher education identified by the Department of Education as
100 having a quality program;
101 (f) Completion of professional preparation courses as
102 specified in state board rule, successful completion of a
103 professional education competence demonstration program pursuant
104 to paragraph (8)(b), and achievement of a passing score on the
105 professional education competency examination required by state
106 board rule;
107 (g) Successful completion of a professional development
108 preparation alternative certification and education competency
109 program, outlined in paragraph (8)(a); or
110 (h) Successful completion of a competency-based an
111 alternative certification program pursuant to s. 1004.85 and
112 achievement of a passing score on the professional education
113 competency examination required by rule of the State Board of
114 Education.
115 (8) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CERTIFICATION AND EDUCATION
116 COMPETENCY PROGRAM.—
117 (a) The Department of Education shall develop and each
118 school district may provide a cohesive, competency-based
119 professional development certification program by which members
120 of a school district’s instructional staff may satisfy the
121 mastery of professional preparation and education competence
122 requirements specified in this subsection and rules of the State
123 Board of Education. Participants must hold a state-issued
124 temporary certificate. A school district that implements the
125 program shall provide a competency-based certification program
126 developed by the Department of Education or developed by the
127 district and approved by the Department of Education. The
128 program must shall include the following components:
129 1. A minimum period of initial preparation before assuming
130 duties as the teacher of record.
131 2. An option for collaboration between school districts and
132 other supporting agencies or educational entities for
133 implementation.
134 3. Experienced peer mentors. Each individual selected by
135 the district as a peer mentor must hold a valid professional
136 certificate issued pursuant to this section, must have earned at
137 least 3 years of teaching experience in prekindergarten through
138 grade 12, and must have earned an effective or highly effective
139 rating on the prior year’s performance evaluation under s.
140 1012.34 or be a peer evaluator under the district’s evaluation
141 system approved under s. 1012.34.
142 4. An assessment of teaching performance aligned to the
143 district’s system for personnel evaluation under s. 1012.34
144 which provides for:
145 a. An initial evaluation of each educator’s competencies to
146 determine an appropriate individualized professional development
147 plan.
148 b. A summative evaluation to assure successful completion
149 of the program.
150 5. Professional education preparation content knowledge
151 that includes, but is not limited to, the following:
152 a. The state-adopted student content standards, including
153 scientifically based reading instruction, content literacy, and
154 mathematical practices, for each subject identified on the
155 temporary certificate.
156 b. The educator-accomplished practices approved by the
157 state board.
158 c. A variety of data indicators for monitoring student
159 progress.
160 d. Methodologies for teaching students with disabilities.
161 e. Methodologies for teaching English language learners
162 appropriate for each subject area identified on the temporary
163 certificate.
164 f. Techniques and strategies for operationalizing the role
165 of the teacher in assuring a safe learning environment for
166 students.
167 6. Required achievement of passing scores on the subject
168 area and professional education competency examination required
169 by State Board of Education rule. Mastery of general knowledge
170 must be demonstrated as described in subsection (3).
171 Section 2. Paragraphs (b) and (d) of subsection (3) and
172 paragraph (b) of subsection (5) of section 1012.585, Florida
173 Statutes, are amended to read:
174 1012.585 Process for renewal of professional certificates.—
175 (3) For the renewal of a professional certificate, the
176 following requirements must be met:
177 (b) In lieu of college course credit or inservice points,
178 the applicant may renew a specialization area by passage of a
179 state-board-approved state board approved subject area test,
180 including another standardized examination or assessment.
181 (d) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules for the
182 expanded use of training for renewal of the professional
183 certificate for educators who are required to complete training
184 in teaching students of limited English proficiency, training in
185 teaching students with disabilities, and training in the
186 teaching of reading as follows:
187 1. A teacher who holds a professional certificate may use
188 college credits or inservice points completed in training in
189 English for Speakers of Other Languages, in teaching students
190 with disabilities, English-for-Speakers-of-Other-Languages
191 training and training in the teaching of reading in excess of 6
192 semester hours during one certificate-validity period toward
193 renewal of the professional certificate during the subsequent
194 validity periods.
195 2. A teacher who holds a temporary certificate may use
196 college credits or inservice points completed in training in
197 English for Speakers of Other Languages, in teaching students
198 with disabilities, English-for-Speakers-of-Other-Languages
199 training and training in the teaching of reading toward renewal
200 of the teacher’s first professional certificate. Such training
201 must not have been included within the degree program, and the
202 teacher’s temporary and professional certificates must be issued
203 for consecutive school years.
204 (5) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules to allow
205 the reinstatement of expired professional certificates. The
206 department may reinstate an expired professional certificate if
207 the certificateholder:
208 (b) Documents completion of 6 college credits during the 5
209 years immediately preceding reinstatement of the expired
210 certificate, completion of 120 inservice points, or a
211 combination thereof, in an area specified in paragraph (3)(a) to
212 include the credit specified in paragraph (3)(e).
213
214 The requirements of this subsection may not be satisfied by
215 subject area tests or college credits completed for issuance of
216 the certificate that has expired.
217 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.