Full Text of HB4688 093rd General Assembly
HB4688eng 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning education.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Grow
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| Our Own Teacher Education Act.
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| Section 5. Purpose. The Grow Our Own Teacher preparation
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| programs established under this Act shall comprise a major new
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| statewide initiative, known as the Grow Our Own Teacher
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| Education Initiative, to prepare highly skilled, committed
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| teachers who will teach in hard-to-staff schools and
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| hard-to-staff teaching positions and who will remain in these
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| schools for substantial periods of time. | 13 |
| The Grow Our Own Teacher Education Initiative shall
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| effectively recruit and prepare parent and community leaders
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| and paraeducators to become effective teachers and
teacher | 16 |
| leaders statewide in hard-to-staff schools and
hard-to-staff | 17 |
| teaching positions in schools
serving a substantial percentage | 18 |
| of low-income students.
Further, the Initiative shall increase | 19 |
| the diversity of
teachers, including diversity based on race, | 20 |
| ethnicity, and
disability.
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| The Grow Our Own Teacher Education Initiative shall ensure
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| educational rigor by effectively preparing students in
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| accredited bachelor's degree programs in teaching, through
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| which graduates shall meet the requirements to secure an
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| Illinois standard teaching certificate.
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| The goal of the Grow Our Own Teacher Education Initiative | 27 |
| is to add 1,000 teachers to low-income and other hard-to-staff | 28 |
| Illinois schools by 2016 with an average retention period of 7 | 29 |
| years, as opposed to the current rate of 2.5 years for new | 30 |
| teachers in such areas.
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| Section 10. Definitions. In this Act: |
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| "Accredited teacher preparation program" means a State or
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| regionally accredited higher education program authorized to
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| prepare individuals to fulfill all of the requirements to
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| receive an Illinois standard teaching certificate. | 5 |
| "Hard-to-staff school" means an elementary or secondary
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| school that, based on data compiled by the State Board of | 7 |
| Education,
ranks in the upper third of schools in this State on
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| a combined index measuring the percentage of the school's
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| teachers who are not fully certified and the percentage of the
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| school's teachers who leave their positions annually. | 11 |
| "Hard-to-staff teaching position" means a teaching
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| category (such as special education, mathematics, or science)
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| in which statewide data compiled by the State Board of | 14 |
| Education
indicates a multi-year pattern of substantial
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| teacher shortage or that has been identified as a critical need | 16 |
| by the local school board.
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| "Initiative" means the Grow Our Own Teacher Education
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| Initiative created under this Act.
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| "Paraeducators" means individuals with a history of
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| demonstrated accomplishments in school staff positions (such
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| as teacher assistants, school-community liaisons, school
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| clerks, and security aides) in schools serving a substantial
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| percentage of low-income students.
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| "Parent and community leaders" means individuals with a
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| significant history of involvement in improving schools | 26 |
| serving a
substantial percentage of low-income students, | 27 |
| including membership in a community organization. | 28 |
| "Community organization" means a nonprofit organization | 29 |
| that has a demonstrated capacity to train, develop, and | 30 |
| organize parents and community leaders into a constituency that | 31 |
| will hold the school and the school district accountable for | 32 |
| achieving high academic standards; in addition to | 33 |
| organizations with a geographic focus, "community | 34 |
| organization" includes general parent organizations, | 35 |
| organizations of special education or bilingual education | 36 |
| parents, and school employee unions.
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| "Program" means a Grow Our Own Teacher preparation program
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| established by a consortium under this Act.
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| "Schools serving a substantial percentage of low-income
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| students" means schools whose percentage of students receiving | 5 |
| free or reduced-price lunches is at or above the | 6 |
| district-average percentage. | 7 |
| "State Board" means the State Board of Education.
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| Section 15. Creation of Initiative. The Grow Our Own | 9 |
| Teacher Education Initiative is created. The State Board shall | 10 |
| administer the Initiative as a grant competition to fund | 11 |
| consortia that will carry out Grow Our Own Teacher preparation | 12 |
| programs. | 13 |
| Section 20. Selection of grantees. The State Board shall | 14 |
| award grants to up to 10 qualified consortia that reflect the | 15 |
| distribution and diversity of target hard-to-staff schools | 16 |
| across this State. In awarding grants, the State Board shall | 17 |
| select programs that successfully address Initiative criteria | 18 |
| and that reflect a diversity of strategies in terms of serving | 19 |
| urban areas, serving rural areas, the nature of the | 20 |
| participating institutions of higher education, whether | 21 |
| participants will be trained at the baccalaureate or master's | 22 |
| level, and the nature of hard-to-staff teaching positions on | 23 |
| which a program is focused.
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| The State Board shall select consortia that meet the | 25 |
| following requirements:
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| (1) A consortium shall be composed of at least one | 27 |
| 4-year institution of higher education with an accredited | 28 |
| teacher preparation program, at least one school district | 29 |
| or group of schools, and one or more community | 30 |
| organizations. The consortium may also include a 2-year | 31 |
| institution of higher education or a school employee union | 32 |
| or both.
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| (2) The 4-year institution of higher education | 34 |
| participating in the consortium shall have past, |
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| demonstrated success in preparing teachers for elementary | 2 |
| or secondary schools serving a substantial percentage of | 3 |
| low-income students. | 4 |
| (3) The consortium shall focus on a clearly defined set | 5 |
| of target schools serving a substantial percentage of | 6 |
| low-income students that will be the primary focus of the | 7 |
| program. The consortium shall articulate the steps that it | 8 |
| will carry out in preparing teachers for its target | 9 |
| hard-to-staff schools and in preparing teachers for one or | 10 |
| more hard-to-staff teaching positions in its target | 11 |
| schools. | 12 |
| (4) Student participants in a program under the | 13 |
| Initiative must hold a high school diploma or its | 14 |
| equivalent and must meet either the definition of "parent | 15 |
| and community leaders" or the definition of | 16 |
| "paraeducators" contained in Section 10 of this Act. | 17 |
| (5) The consortium shall employ effective procedures | 18 |
| for teaching the skills and knowledge needed to prepare | 19 |
| highly competent teachers. Instruction shall include | 20 |
| on-going direct experience in target schools and analysis | 21 |
| of this experience. | 22 |
| (6) The consortium shall offer the program to cohorts | 23 |
| of students who begin by moving through the program | 24 |
| together. The program shall be offered on a schedule that | 25 |
| enables students to work full time while participating in | 26 |
| the program and allows paraeducators to continue in their | 27 |
| current positions. The consortium shall guarantee that | 28 |
| support will be available to an admitted cohort through the | 29 |
| cohort's full period of training. At the beginning of the | 30 |
| Initiative, programs that are already operating and | 31 |
| existing cohorts of students under this model shall be | 32 |
| eligible for funding. | 33 |
| (7) The institutions of higher education participating | 34 |
| in the consortium shall document and agree to expend the | 35 |
| same amount of funds in implementing the program that these | 36 |
| institutions spend per student on similar educational |
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| programs. Grants received by the consortium shall | 2 |
| supplement and not supplant these amounts. | 3 |
| (8) The State Board shall establish additional | 4 |
| criteria for review of proposals, including criteria that | 5 |
| address the following issues: | 6 |
| (A) Previous experience of the institutions of | 7 |
| higher education in preparing students for | 8 |
| hard-to-staff schools and positions and in working | 9 |
| with students with non-traditional backgrounds. | 10 |
| (B) The quality of the implementation plan, | 11 |
| including strategies for overcoming institutional | 12 |
| barriers to the progress of non-traditional students. | 13 |
| (C) If a community college is a participant, the | 14 |
| nature and extent of existing articulation agreements | 15 |
| and guarantees between the community college and the | 16 |
| 4-year institution of higher education. | 17 |
| (D) The number of participants to be trained in the | 18 |
| current cohort or cohorts and the capacity of the | 19 |
| consortium for adding cohorts in future cycles. | 20 |
| (E) Experience of the community organization or | 21 |
| organizations in organizing parents and community | 22 |
| leaders to achieve school improvement and a strong | 23 |
| relational school culture. | 24 |
| (F) The qualifications of the person or persons | 25 |
| designated by the 4-year institution of higher | 26 |
| education to be responsible for cohort support and the | 27 |
| development of a shared learning and social | 28 |
| environment among participants. | 29 |
| (G) The consortium's plan for collective | 30 |
| consortium decision-making, including mechanisms for | 31 |
| community and participant input. | 32 |
| (H) The consortium's plan for direct impact of the | 33 |
| program on the quality of education in the target | 34 |
| schools. | 35 |
| (I) The relevance of the curriculum to the needs of | 36 |
| targeted schools and positions, and the use in |
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| curriculum and instructional planning of principles | 2 |
| for effective adult education. | 3 |
| (J) The availability of classes under the program | 4 |
| in places and times accessible to the participants. | 5 |
| (K) Provision of a level of performance to be | 6 |
| maintained by participants as a condition of | 7 |
| continuing in the program. | 8 |
| (L) The plan of the 4-year institution of higher | 9 |
| education to ensure that students take advantage of | 10 |
| existing financial aid resources before using the loan | 11 |
| funds described in Section 25 of this Act. | 12 |
| (M) The availability of supportive services, | 13 |
| including counseling, tutoring, and child care. | 14 |
| (N) A plan for continued participation of | 15 |
| graduates of the program in a program of support for at | 16 |
| least 2 years, including mentoring and group meetings. | 17 |
| (O) A plan for testing and qualitative evaluation | 18 |
| of participants' teaching skills that ensures that | 19 |
| graduates of the program are as prepared for teaching | 20 |
| as those from the conventional teacher training | 21 |
| program of the 4-year institution of higher education. | 22 |
| (P) A plan for internal evaluation that provides | 23 |
| reports at least yearly on the progress of participants | 24 |
| towards graduation and the impact of the program on the | 25 |
| target schools and their communities. | 26 |
| (Q) Contributions from schools, school districts, | 27 |
| and other consortia members to the program, including | 28 |
| stipends for participants during their student | 29 |
| teaching. | 30 |
| (R) Consortium commitment for sustaining the | 31 |
| program over time, as evidenced by plans for reduced | 32 |
| requirements for external funding in subsequent | 33 |
| cycles. | 34 |
| Section 25. Expenditures under the Initiative. | 35 |
| (a) Every program under the Initiative shall implement and |
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| manage a program of forgivable loans to cover any portion of | 2 |
| tuition and direct expenses of students under the program in | 3 |
| excess of grants-in-aid and other forgivable loans received. | 4 |
| All students admitted to a cohort shall be eligible for such | 5 |
| loans. Loans shall be fully forgiven if a graduate completes 5 | 6 |
| years of service in a hard-to-staff school or hard-to-staff | 7 |
| teaching position. | 8 |
| (b) Grants under the Initiative shall be awarded in such a | 9 |
| way as to provide the required support for a cohort of students | 10 |
| for the cohort's entire training period. Program budgets must | 11 |
| show expenditures for the entire period that participants are | 12 |
| expected to be enrolled. | 13 |
| (c) No funds under the Initiative may be used to supplant | 14 |
| the average per-capita expenditures by the institution of | 15 |
| higher education for students in regular education degree | 16 |
| programs. | 17 |
| (d) Where necessary, program budgets shall include the | 18 |
| costs of child care to permit parents to maintain a full class | 19 |
| schedule. Child care may be provided by the community | 20 |
| organization or organizations or be independently contracted | 21 |
| for. | 22 |
| (e) The institution of higher education may expend grant | 23 |
| funds to cover the salary of a site-based cohort coordinator | 24 |
| and the additional costs of offering classes in community | 25 |
| settings and for tutoring services. | 26 |
| (f) The community organization or organizations may | 27 |
| receive a portion of the grant money for the expenses of | 28 |
| recruitment, community orientation, and counseling of | 29 |
| potential participants, for providing space in the community, | 30 |
| and for working with school personnel to facilitate individual | 31 |
| work experiences and support of participants. | 32 |
| (g) The school district or school employee union or both | 33 |
| may receive a portion of the grant money for expenses of | 34 |
| supporting the work experiences of participants and providing | 35 |
| mentors for graduates.
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| Section 30. Implementation of Initiative. The State Board | 2 |
| shall develop guidelines and application procedures for the | 3 |
| Initiative in fiscal year 2005. The State Board may, if it | 4 |
| chooses, award a small number of planning grants during fiscal | 5 |
| year 2005 to potential consortia using existing resources. The | 6 |
| first programs under the Initiative shall be awarded grants in | 7 |
| such a way as to allow participants to begin their work at the | 8 |
| beginning of the 2005-2006 school year. | 9 |
| Section 35. Independent program evaluation. The State | 10 |
| Board shall contract for an independent evaluation of program | 11 |
| implementation by each of its participating consortia and of | 12 |
| the impact of each program, including the extent of student | 13 |
| persistence in program enrollment, acceptance as an education | 14 |
| major in a 4-year institution of higher education, completion | 15 |
| of a bachelor's degree in teaching, obtaining a teaching | 16 |
| position in a target school or similar school, subsequent | 17 |
| effectiveness as a teacher, and persistence in teaching in a | 18 |
| target school or similar school. The evaluation shall assess | 19 |
| the Initiative's overall effectiveness and shall identify | 20 |
| particular program strategies that are especially effective. | 21 |
| Section 40. Funding. Funding of the Initiative is subject | 22 |
| to appropriation. $200,000 of the amount appropriated each | 23 |
| fiscal year for the Initiative shall be allocated to carry out | 24 |
| the independent program evaluation under Section 35 of this | 25 |
| Act, and the remainder shall be allocated to participating | 26 |
| consortia. | 27 |
| Section 90. Rules. The State Board may adopt any rules | 28 |
| necessary to carry out its responsibilities under this Act. | 29 |
| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January | 30 |
| 1, 2005.
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