Public Act 094-0534
 
SB0574 Enrolled LRB094 10884 RAS 41430 b

    AN ACT concerning education.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
College and Career Success for All Students Act.
 
    Section 5. Purpose. The purpose of this Act is to ensure
that each Illinois student has a sufficient education for
success after high school and that all students have equal
access to a substantive and rigorous curriculum that is
designed to challenge their minds, enhance their knowledge and
skills, and prepare them for success in college and work.
 
    Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
     "Advanced Placement course" means a course sponsored by
the College Board and offered for college credit at the high
school level.
     "Advanced Placement teacher" means a teacher of an
Advanced Placement course.
     "Pre-Advanced Placement" means set professional
development resources and services that equip all middle and
high school teachers with the strategies and tools they need to
engage their students in active, high-level learning, thereby
ensuring that every middle and high school student develops the
skills, habits of mind, and concepts they need to succeed in
Advanced Placement courses.
     "Vertical Team" means a group of teachers and educators
from different grade levels in a given discipline who work
cooperatively to develop and implement a vertically aligned
program aimed at helping students from diverse backgrounds
acquire the academic skills necessary for success in Advanced
Placement courses and other challenging courses.
 
    Section 15. Teacher training.
    (a) Subject to appropriation, a teacher of an Advanced
Placement course must obtain appropriate training. Subject to
appropriation, the State Board of Education shall establish
clear, specific, and challenging training guidelines that
require teachers of Advanced Placement courses to obtain
recognized Advanced Placement training endorsed by the College
Board.
    (b) Advanced Placement and Pre-Advanced Placement training
to teachers in Illinois high schools must do all of the
following:
        (1) Provide teachers of Advanced Placement and
    teachers in courses that lead to Advanced Placement with
    the necessary content knowledge and instructional skills
    to prepare students for success in Advanced Placement
    courses and examinations and other advanced course
    examinations and mastery of postsecondary course content.
        (2) Provide administrators, including principals and
    counselors, with professional development that will enable
    them to create strong and effective Advanced Placement
    programs in their schools.
        (3) Provide middle grade, junior high, and high school
    teachers with Advanced Placement Vertical Team training
    and other Pre-Advanced Placement professional development
    that prepares students for success in Advanced Placement
    courses.
        (4) Support the implementation of an instructional
    program for students in grades 6 through 12 that provides
    an integrated set of instructional materials, diagnostic
    assessments, and teacher professional development in
    reading, writing, and mathematics that prepares all
    students for enrollment and success in Advanced Placement
    courses and in college.
 
    Section 20. Duties of the State Board.
    (a) In order to fulfill the purposes of this Act, the State
Board of Education shall encourage school districts to offer
rigorous courses in grades 6 through 11 that prepare students
for the demands of Advanced Placement course work. The State
Board of Education shall also encourage school districts to
make it a goal that all 10th graders take the Preliminary
SAT/National Merit Scholars Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) so
that test results will provide each high school with a database
of student assessment data that guidance counselors and
teachers will be able to use to identify students who are
prepared or who need additional work to be prepared to enroll
and be successful in Advanced Placement courses, using a
research-based Advanced Placement identification program
provided by the College Board.
    (b) The State Board of Education shall do all of the
following:
        (1) Seek federal funding through the Advanced
    Placement Incentive Program and the Math-Science
    Partnership Program and use it to support Advanced
    Placement and Pre-Advanced Placement teacher professional
    development and to support the implementation of an
    integrated instructional program for students in grades 6
    through 12 in reading, writing, and mathematics that
    prepares all students for enrollment and success in
    Advanced Placement courses and in college.
        (2) Focus State and federal funding with the intent to
    carry out activities that target school districts serving
    high concentrations of low-income students.
        (3) Subject to appropriation, provide a plan of
    communication that includes without limitation
    disseminating to parents materials that emphasize the
    importance of Advanced Placement or other advanced courses
    to a student's ability to gain access to and to succeed in
    postsecondary education and materials that emphasize the
    importance of the PSAT/NMSQT, which provides diagnostic
    feedback on skills and relates student scores to the
    probability of success in Advanced Placement courses and
    examinations, and disseminating this information to
    students, teachers, counselors, administrators, school
    districts, public community colleges, and State
    universities.
        (4) Subject to appropriation, annually evaluate the
    impact of this Act on rates of student enrollment and
    success in Advanced Placement courses, on high school
    graduation rates, and on college enrollment rates.