093_SB0533eng SB533 Engrossed LRB093 10796 NHT 11227 b 1 AN ACT concerning education. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Article 5 21A as follows: 6 (105 ILCS 5/Art. 21A heading new) 7 ARTICLE 21A. NEW TEACHER INDUCTION AND MENTORING 8 (105 ILCS 5/21A-5 new) 9 Sec. 21A-5. Definitions. In this Article: 10 "New teacher" means the holder of an Initial Teaching 11 Certificate, as set forth in Section 21-2 of this Code, who 12 is employed by a public school and who has not previously 13 participated in a new teacher induction and mentoring program 14 required by this Article, except as provided in Section 15 21A-25 of this Code. 16 "Public school" means any school operating pursuant to 17 the authority of this Code, including without limitation a 18 school district, a charter school, a cooperative or joint 19 agreement with a governing body or board of control, and a 20 school operated by a regional office of education or State 21 agency. 22 (105 ILCS 5/21A-10 new) 23 Sec. 21A-10. Development of program required. During 24 the 2003-2004 school year, each public school or 2 or more 25 public schools acting jointly shall develop, in conjunction 26 with its exclusive representative or their exclusive 27 representatives, if any, a new teacher induction and 28 mentoring program that meets the requirements set forth in 29 Section 21A-20 of this Code to assist new teachers in SB533 Engrossed -2- LRB093 10796 NHT 11227 b 1 developing the skills and strategies necessary for 2 instructional excellence, provided that funding is made 3 available by the State Board of Education from an 4 appropriation made for this purpose. A public school that has 5 an existing induction and mentoring program that does not 6 meet the requirements set forth in Section 21A-20 of this 7 Code may have school years 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 to develop 8 a program that does meet those requirements and may receive 9 funding as described in Section 21A-25 of this Code, provided 10 that the funding is made available by the State Board of 11 Education from an appropriation made for this purpose. A 12 public school with such an existing induction and mentoring 13 program may receive funding for the 2005-2006 school year for 14 each new teacher in the second year of a 2-year program that 15 does not meet the requirements set forth in Section 21A-20, 16 as long as the public school has established the required new 17 program by the beginning of that school year as described in 18 Section 21A-15 and provided that funding is made available by 19 the State Board of Education from an appropriation made for 20 this purpose as described in Section 21A-25. 21 (105 ILCS 5/21A-15 new) 22 Sec. 21A-15. When program is to be established and 23 implemented. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this 24 Code, by the beginning of the 2004-2005 school year (or by 25 the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year for a public 26 school that has been given an extension of time to develop a 27 program under Section 21A-10 of this Code), each public 28 school or 2 or more public schools acting jointly shall 29 establish and implement, in conjunction with its exclusive 30 representative or their exclusive representatives, if any, 31 the new teacher induction and mentoring program required to 32 be developed under Section 21A-10 of this Code, provided that 33 funding is made available by the State Board of Education, SB533 Engrossed -3- LRB093 10796 NHT 11227 b 1 from an appropriation made for this purpose, as described in 2 Section 21A-25 of this Code. A public school may contract 3 with an institution of higher education or other independent 4 party to assist in implementing the program. 5 (105 ILCS 5/21A-20 new) 6 Sec. 21A-20. Program requirements. Each new teacher 7 induction and mentoring program must be based on a plan that 8 at least does all of the following: 9 (1) Assigns a mentor teacher to each new teacher 10 for a period of at least 2 school years. 11 (2) Aligns with the Illinois Professional Teaching 12 Standards, content area standards, and applicable local 13 school improvement and professional development plans, if 14 any. 15 (3) Addresses all of the following elements and how 16 they will be provided: 17 (A) Mentoring and support of the new teacher. 18 (B) Professional development specifically 19 designed to ensure the growth of the new teacher's 20 knowledge and skills. 21 (C) Formative assessment designed to ensure 22 feedback and reflection, which must not be used in 23 any evaluation of the new teacher. 24 (4) Describes the role of mentor teachers, the 25 criteria and process for their selection, and how they 26 will be trained, provided that each mentor teacher shall 27 demonstrate the best practices in teaching his or her 28 respective field of practice. A mentor teacher may not 29 directly or indirectly participate in the evaluation of a 30 new teacher pursuant to Article 24A of this Code or the 31 evaluation procedure of the public school. 32 (105 ILCS 5/21A-25 new) SB533 Engrossed -4- LRB093 10796 NHT 11227 b 1 Sec. 21A-25. Funding. From a separate appropriation 2 made for the purposes of this Article, for each new teacher 3 participating in a new teacher induction and mentoring 4 program that meets the requirements set forth in Section 5 21A-20 of this Code or in an existing program that is in the 6 process of transition to a program that meets those 7 requirements, the State Board of Education shall pay the 8 public school $1,200 annually for each of 2 school years for 9 the purpose of providing one or more of the following: 10 (1) Mentor teacher compensation. 11 (2) Mentor teacher training or new teacher training 12 or both. 13 (3) Release time. 14 However, if a new teacher, after participating in the new 15 teacher induction and mentoring program for one school year, 16 becomes employed by another public school, the State Board of 17 Education shall pay the teacher's new school $1,200 for the 18 second school year and the teacher shall continue to be a 19 new teacher as defined in this Article. Each public school 20 shall determine, in conjunction with its exclusive 21 representative, if any, how the $1,200 per school year for 22 each new teacher shall be used, provided that if a mentor 23 teacher receives additional release time to support a new 24 teacher, the total workload of other teachers regularly 25 employed by the public school shall not increase in any 26 substantial manner. If the appropriation is insufficient to 27 cover the $1,200 per school year for each new teacher, public 28 schools are not required to develop or implement the program 29 established by this Article. In the event of an insufficient 30 appropriation, a public school or 2 or more schools acting 31 jointly may submit an application for a grant administered by 32 the State Board of Education and awarded on a competitive 33 basis to establish a new teacher induction and mentoring 34 program that meets the criteria set forth in Section 21A-20 SB533 Engrossed -5- LRB093 10796 NHT 11227 b 1 of this Code. The State Board of Education may retain up to 2 $1,000,000 of the appropriation for new teacher induction and 3 mentoring programs to train mentor teachers, administrators, 4 and other personnel, to provide best practices information, 5 and to conduct an evaluation of these programs' impact and 6 effectiveness. 7 (105 ILCS 5/21A-30 new) 8 Sec. 21A-30. Evaluation of programs. The State Board of 9 Education and the State Teacher Certification Board shall 10 jointly contract with an independent party to conduct a 11 comprehensive evaluation of new teacher induction and 12 mentoring programs established pursuant to this Article. The 13 first report of this evaluation shall be presented to the 14 General Assembly on or before January 1, 2009. Subsequent 15 evaluations shall be conducted and reports presented to the 16 General Assembly on or before January 1 of every third year 17 thereafter. 18 (105 ILCS 5/21A-35 new) 19 Sec. 21A-35. Rules. The State Board of Education, in 20 consultation with the State Teacher Certification Board, 21 shall adopt rules for the implementation of this Article.