| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to teacher retention; amending s. 1008.34, |
| 3 | F.S.; requiring that the school report card that is |
| 4 | delivered to parents in each school district include the |
| 5 | district's teacher turnover rate; creating s. 1012.988, |
| 6 | F.S.; creating the Florida Teacher Induction Initiative |
| 7 | for the purpose of providing support to new teachers; |
| 8 | requiring each district to develop and implement a teacher |
| 9 | induction initiative; specifying required minimum elements |
| 10 | of the initiative; requiring that districts report the |
| 11 | teacher turnover rate to the Commissioner of Education; |
| 12 | requiring that a district submit a plan to address its new |
| 13 | teacher attrition rate under certain circumstances; |
| 14 | requiring the Department of Education to establish a |
| 15 | statewide data collection and reporting system to |
| 16 | determine the annual district cost of replacing teachers; |
| 17 | requiring the department to assist districts in developing |
| 18 | initiatives and goals; requiring the department to conduct |
| 19 | a study to determine the relationship of teacher retention |
| 20 | and attrition to student academic achievement; providing |
| 21 | an effective date. |
| 22 |
|
| 23 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 24 |
|
| 25 | Section 1. Subsection (5) of section 1008.34, Florida |
| 26 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 27 | 1008.34 School grading system; school report cards; |
| 28 | district grade.-- |
| 29 | (5) SCHOOL REPORT CARD.--The Department of Education shall |
| 30 | annually develop, in collaboration with the school districts, a |
| 31 | school report card to be delivered to parents throughout each |
| 32 | school district. The report card shall include the school's |
| 33 | grade, information regarding school improvement, an explanation |
| 34 | of school performance as evaluated by the federal No Child Left |
| 35 | Behind Act of 2001, the teacher turnover rate pursuant to s. |
| 36 | 1012.988, and indicators of return on investment. Each school's |
| 37 | report card shall be published annually by the department on its |
| 38 | website, and the school district shall provide the school report |
| 39 | card to each parent. |
| 40 | Section 2. Section 1012.988, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 41 | to read: |
| 42 | 1012.988 Florida Teacher Induction Initiative.-- |
| 43 | (1) The Florida Teacher Induction Initiative is |
| 44 | established to develop quality induction models in school |
| 45 | districts to provide new teachers with professional support and |
| 46 | guidance in the development of teaching skills, best practices, |
| 47 | and classroom management skills and to provide new teachers with |
| 48 | emotional and logistical support. |
| 49 | (2) In the 2009-2010 school year, each school district |
| 50 | shall plan for the implementation of a teacher induction |
| 51 | initiative that includes the following minimum elements: |
| 52 | (a) Provide each new teacher with an appropriate 2-year |
| 53 | induction program that supports the teacher in achieving success |
| 54 | in the classroom. A new teacher is defined as a teacher having |
| 55 | less than 1 year of prior teaching experience or having a |
| 56 | temporary teaching certificate. The plan shall include |
| 57 | professional development opportunities for beginning teachers |
| 58 | which are aligned to student achievement and classroom |
| 59 | organization skills. |
| 60 | (b) Implement strategies that include components such as |
| 61 | mentoring and best practices for effective teacher induction in |
| 62 | leadership training for principals. |
| 63 | (c) Propose strategies to redirect existing financial and |
| 64 | human resources to support and expand quality induction efforts |
| 65 | and retain effective teachers. |
| 66 | (d) Review the feasibility and fiscal impact of adjusting |
| 67 | levels of teaching responsibility and providing mentoring in |
| 68 | order to reduce teaching preparations and extracurricular |
| 69 | assignments. |
| 70 | (e) Calculate annual teacher turnover rates for the prior |
| 71 | 2 school years, exclusive of retirements, by school and by |
| 72 | school district, including data analysis of the level of teacher |
| 73 | experience, teacher age, teacher ethnicity, teacher preparation |
| 74 | pathway, in-state or out-of-state training, and in-field or out- |
| 75 | of-field assignment. This information shall be reported to the |
| 76 | Commissioner of Education. |
| 77 | (f) Establish school goals and school district goals to |
| 78 | reduce teacher attrition to no more than 10 percent, exclusive |
| 79 | of retirements and approved leaves of absence, with special |
| 80 | attention to the first 7 years of teacher service. |
| 81 | (3) In the 2010-2011 school year and each school year |
| 82 | thereafter, each school district shall: |
| 83 | (a) Implement its teacher induction initiative. |
| 84 | (b) Review and report to the commissioner the teacher |
| 85 | turnover rate by school and school district along with |
| 86 | associated data analysis and the progress made towards meeting |
| 87 | its goal to reduce teacher attrition. |
| 88 | (c) Use data from the Department of Education pursuant to |
| 89 | subsection (6) to determine the cost effectiveness of school |
| 90 | district teacher induction initiatives and report the school |
| 91 | district's findings to the commissioner. |
| 92 | (4) In 2011-2012 school year and each school year |
| 93 | thereafter, if the teacher turnover report shows no improvement |
| 94 | over the prior year in the retention of new teachers in schools |
| 95 | having grades of "D" or "F," the school district must submit a |
| 96 | specific plan to address the attrition rate of new teachers and |
| 97 | must use mentoring and other strategies, such as reduced |
| 98 | teaching loads for new teachers, to address teacher turnover. |
| 99 | (5) If the school district goal to reduce teacher |
| 100 | attrition is not met, the district must revise its teacher |
| 101 | induction initiative and evaluate other methods of retaining |
| 102 | teachers. |
| 103 | (6) The Department of Education shall: |
| 104 | (a) Develop and establish a statewide data collection and |
| 105 | reporting system to determine the annual school district cost of |
| 106 | replacing teachers and report the annual cost by district to the |
| 107 | Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the |
| 108 | House of Representatives. |
| 109 | (b) Provide technical assistance to school districts in |
| 110 | developing the teacher induction initiative and in establishing |
| 111 | school and school district goals to reduce teacher attrition. |
| 112 | (c) Report the teacher turnover rate at each school as |
| 113 | part of the school report card as required in s. 1008.34(5). |
| 114 | (d) Conduct a study to determine the relationship of |
| 115 | teacher retention and attrition to student academic achievement |
| 116 | and report the findings to the Governor, the President of the |
| 117 | Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by |
| 118 | October 1, 2012. |
| 119 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009. |