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1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Grow Your Own Teacher Education Act is
5amended by changing Sections 10 and 20 as follows:
 
6    (110 ILCS 48/10)
7    Sec. 10. Definitions. In this Act:
8    "Accredited teacher preparation program" means a
9regionally accredited, Illinois approved teacher education
10program authorized to prepare individuals to fulfill all of the
11requirements to receive an Illinois initial teaching
12certificate.
13    "Cohort" means a group of teacher education candidates who
14are enrolled in and share experiences in the same program and
15are linked by their desire to become Illinois teachers in
16hard-to-staff schools and by their need for the services and
17supports offered by the Initiative. A cohort may include a high
18school student enrolled in a dual credit course offered by a
19participating institution of higher education.
20    "Community organization" means a nonprofit organization
21that has a demonstrated capacity to train, develop, and
22organize parents and community leaders into a constituency that
23will hold the school and the school district accountable for

 

 

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1achieving high academic standards; in addition to
2organizations with a geographic focus, "community
3organization" includes general parent organizations,
4organizations of special education or bilingual education
5parents, and school employee unions.
6    "Developmental classes" means classes in basic skill
7areas, such as mathematics and language arts that are
8prerequisite to, but not counted towards, degree requirements
9of a teacher preparation program.
10    "Dual credit course" has the meaning given to that term
11under the Dual Credit Quality Act.
12    "Eligible school" means an early childhood program in which
13no less than 60% of the children it serves are receiving
14subsidized care under the Department of Human Services' Child
15Care Assistance Program or a public elementary, middle, or
16secondary school in this State that serves a substantial
17percentage of low-income students and that is either hard to
18staff or has hard-to-staff teaching positions.
19    "Hard-to-staff school" means an early childhood program in
20which no less than 60% of the children it serves are receiving
21subsidized care under the Department of Human Services' Child
22Care Assistance Program or a public elementary, middle, or
23secondary school in this State that, based on data compiled by
24the State Board of Education in conjunction with the Board of
25Higher Education, serves a substantial percentage of
26low-income students, as defined by the Board of Higher

 

 

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1Education.
2    "Hard-to-staff teaching position" means a teaching
3category (such as special education, bilingual education,
4mathematics, or science) in which statewide data compiled by
5the State Board of Education in conjunction with the Board of
6Higher Education indicates a multi-year pattern of substantial
7teacher shortage or that has been identified as a critical need
8by the local school board.
9    "Initiative" means the Grow Your Own Teacher Education
10Initiative created under this Act.
11    "Para educator" means an individual with a history of
12demonstrated accomplishments in school staff positions (such
13as teacher assistants, school-community liaisons, school
14clerks, and security aides) in schools that meet the definition
15of a hard-to-staff school under this Section.
16    "Parent and community leader" means an individual who has
17or had a child enrolled in a school or schools that meet the
18definition of a hard-to-staff school under this Section and who
19has a history of active involvement in the school or who has a
20history of working to improve schools serving a substantial
21percentage of low-income students, including membership in a
22community organization.
23    "Program" means a Grow Your Own Teacher preparation program
24established by a consortium under this Act.
25    "Schools serving a substantial percentage of low-income
26students" means schools that maintain any of grades

 

 

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1pre-kindergarten through 8, in which at least 35% of the
2students are eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunches
3and schools that maintain any of grades 9 through 12, in which
4at least 25% of the students are eligible to receive free or
5reduced price lunches.
6(Source: P.A. 98-1036, eff. 1-1-15.)
 
7    (110 ILCS 48/20)
8    Sec. 20. Selection of grantees. The Board of Higher
9Education shall award grants to qualified consortia that
10reflect the distribution and diversity of hard-to-staff
11schools and hard-to-staff positions across this State. In
12awarding grants, the Board of Higher Education shall select
13programs that successfully address Initiative criteria and
14that reflect a diversity of strategies in terms of serving
15urban areas, serving rural areas, the nature of the
16participating institutions of higher education, and the nature
17of hard-to-staff schools and hard-to-staff teaching positions
18on which a program is focused.
19    The Board of Higher Education shall select consortia that
20meet the following requirements:
21        (1) A consortium shall be composed of at least one
22    4-year institution of higher education with an Illinois
23    approved teacher preparation program, at least one school
24    district or group of schools, and one or more community
25    organizations. The consortium membership may also include

 

 

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1    a 2-year institution of higher education, a school employee
2    union, or a regional office of education.
3        (2) The 4-year institution of higher education
4    participating in the consortium shall have past,
5    demonstrated success in preparing teachers for elementary
6    or secondary schools serving a substantial percentage of
7    low-income students.
8        (3) The consortium shall focus on a clearly defined set
9    of eligible schools that will participate in the program.
10    The consortium shall articulate the steps that it will
11    carry out in preparing teachers for its participating
12    schools and in preparing teachers for one or more
13    hard-to-staff teaching positions in those schools.
14        (4) The consortium shall recruit potential candidates
15    for the program and shall take into consideration when
16    selecting a candidate whether the candidate:
17            (A) holds a high school diploma or its equivalent
18        or is a high school student enrolled in a dual credit
19        course offered by a participating institution of
20        higher education;
21            (B) meets either the definition of "parent and
22        community leader" or the definition of "para educator"
23        contained in Section 10 of this Act;
24            (C) (blank); has experienced an interruption in
25        his or her college education;
26            (D) exhibits a willingness to be a teacher in a

 

 

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1        hard-to-staff school with the goal of maintaining
2        academic excellence;
3            (E) shows an interest in postsecondary education
4        and may hold an associate's degree, a bachelor's
5        degree, or another postsecondary degree, but a
6        postsecondary education is not required;
7            (F) is a parent, a para educator, a community
8        leader, or any other individual from a community with a
9        hard-to-staff school;
10            (G) commits to completing and passing all State
11        standards, including the licensure test to obtain an
12        educator license;
13            (H) shows a willingness to set high standards of
14        performance for himself or herself and students; and
15            (I) demonstrates commitment to the program by:
16                (i) maintaining a cumulative grade point
17            average of at least a 2.5 on a 4.0 scale (or the
18            equivalent as determined by the Board of Higher
19            Education);
20                (ii) attending monthly cohort meetings; and
21                (iii) applying for financial aid from all
22            other financial aid resources before applying for
23            assistance from the program.
24        (5) The consortium shall employ effective procedures
25    for teaching the skills and knowledge needed to prepare
26    highly competent teachers. Professional preparation shall

 

 

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1    include on-going direct experience in target schools and
2    evaluation of this experience.
3        (6) The consortium shall offer the program to cohorts
4    of candidates, as defined in Section 10 of this Act, on a
5    schedule that enables candidates to work full time while
6    participating in the program and allows para educators to
7    continue in their current positions. In any fiscal year in
8    which an appropriation for the Initiative is made, the
9    consortium shall guarantee that support will be available
10    to an admitted cohort for the cohort's education for that
11    fiscal year. At the beginning of the Initiative, programs
12    that are already operating and existing cohorts of
13    candidates under this model shall be eligible for funding.
14        (7) The institutions of higher education participating
15    in the consortium shall document and agree to expend the
16    same amount of funds in implementing the program that these
17    institutions spend per student on similar educational
18    programs. Grants received by the consortium shall
19    supplement and not supplant these amounts.
20        (8) The Board of Higher Education shall establish
21    additional criteria for review of proposals, including
22    criteria that address the following issues:
23            (A) Previous experience of the institutions of
24        higher education in preparing candidates for
25        hard-to-staff schools and positions and in working
26        with students with non-traditional backgrounds.

 

 

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1            (B) The quality of the implementation plan,
2        including strategies for overcoming institutional
3        barriers to the progress of non-traditional
4        candidates.
5            (C) If a community college is a participant, the
6        nature and extent of existing articulation agreements
7        and guarantees between the community college and the
8        4-year institution of higher education.
9            (D) The number of candidates to be educated in the
10        planned cohort or cohorts and the capacity of the
11        consortium for adding cohorts in future cycles.
12            (E) Experience of the community organization or
13        organizations in organizing parents and community
14        leaders to achieve school improvement and a strong
15        relational school culture.
16            (F) The qualifications of the person or persons
17        designated by the 4-year institution of higher
18        education to be responsible for cohort support and the
19        development of a shared learning and social
20        environment among candidates.
21            (G) The consortium's plan for collective
22        consortium decision-making, involving all consortium
23        members, including mechanisms for candidate input.
24            (H) The consortium's plan for direct impact of the
25        program on the quality of education in the eligible
26        schools.

 

 

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1            (I) The relevance of the curriculum to the needs of
2        the eligible schools and positions, and the use in
3        curriculum and instructional planning of principles
4        for effective education for adults.
5            (J) The availability of classes under the program
6        in places and times accessible to the candidates.
7            (K) Provision of a level of performance to be
8        maintained by candidates as a condition of continuing
9        in the program.
10            (L) The plan of the 4-year institution of higher
11        education to ensure that candidates take advantage of
12        existing financial aid resources before using the loan
13        funds described in Section 25 of this Act.
14            (M) The availability of supportive services,
15        including, but not limited to, counseling, tutoring,
16        transportation, technology and technology support, and
17        child care.
18            (N) A plan for continued participation of
19        graduates of the program in a program of support for at
20        least 2 years, including mentoring and group meetings.
21            (O) A plan for testing and qualitative evaluation
22        of candidates' teaching skills that ensures that
23        graduates of the program are as prepared for teaching
24        as other individuals completing the institution of
25        higher education's preparation program for the
26        certificate sought.

 

 

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1            (P) A plan for internal evaluation that provides
2        reports at least yearly on the progress of candidates
3        towards graduation and the impact of the program on the
4        target schools and their communities.
5            (Q) Contributions from schools, school districts,
6        and other consortia members to the program, including
7        stipends for candidates during their student teaching.
8            (R) Consortium commitment for sustaining the
9        program over time, as evidenced by plans for reduced
10        requirements for external funding, in subsequent
11        cycles.
12            (S) The inclusion in the planned program of
13        strategies derived from community organizing that will
14        help candidates develop tools for working with parents
15        and other community members.
16    Subject to the requirements under the Dual Credit Quality
17Act, a participating institution of higher education may offer
18a high school student a dual credit course under the program.
19    The Board of Higher Education may not adopt rules regarding
20candidate eligibility that are more restrictive than this
21Section.
22(Source: P.A. 98-1036, eff. 1-1-15.)
 
23    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
24becoming law.