Today's Law As Amended


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AB-1756 Teacher credentialing: integrated programs of professional preparation.(2015-2016)



As Amends the Law Today


SECTION 1.
 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) In mid-October 2015, after the school year had begun, there were more than 3,900 open teaching positions available in California.
(b) During the last decade, enrollment in teacher credentialing programs has dropped more than 70 percent.
(c) Most students who would like to become teachers are required to pay for a fifth year of school in order to earn their teaching credentials.
(d) This fifth year in school costs these students an additional year of tuition and living expenses and delays their entrance into the workforce.
(e) These students must also complete their student teaching requirements, and, during the period of student teaching, they have no earning potential because they work full time without compensation.
(f) Ensuring that a student can earn a baccalaureate degree and teaching credential and complete the required student teaching within four years will decrease the amount of debt students must take on in order to complete their teacher training.
(g) Creating four-year integrated programs of professional preparation will support students in a sustainable manner and for decades into the future.
SEC. 2.
 It is the intent of the Legislature that this act not impose any additional restrictions on education specialist instruction credential programs.

SEC. 2.SEC. 3.

 Section 44259.1 of the Education Code is amended to read:

44259.1.
 (a) (1) An integrated program of professional preparation shall enable candidates for teaching credentials to engage in professional preparation, concurrently with subject matter preparation, while completing baccalaureate degrees at regionally accredited institutions of higher education.  postsecondary educational institutions.  An integrated program shall provide opportunities for candidates to complete intensive field experiences, including student teaching, in public schools maintaining prekindergarten, kindergarten, or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive,  elementary and secondary schools  early in the undergraduate sequence. The development and implementation of an integrated program shall be based on intensive collaboration among subject matter departments and education units within regionally accredited institutions of higher education  postsecondary educational institutions  and local public elementary and secondary school districts.
(2) A regionally accredited institution of higher education  postsecondary institution  may offer a four-year four-  or five-year integrated program of professional preparation that allows a student to earn a baccalaureate degree and a preliminary multiple or single subject teaching credential, early childhood specialist credential,  or an education specialist instruction credential authorizing the holder to teach special education, including student teaching requirements, concurrently and within four or five years of study.
(3) The commission shall encourage regionally accredited institutions of higher education  postsecondary educational institutions  to offer integrated programs of professional preparation that follow the guidelines developed pursuant to this section. In approving integrated programs, the commission shall not compromise or reduce its standards of subject matter preparation pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 44310) or its standards of professional preparation pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 44259.
(4) The commission shall, as part of its accreditation process, collect information about integrated programs of professional preparation, including which regionally accredited institutions of higher education  institutions  offer integrated programs of professional preparation  and the number and type of credentials the programs produce.
(b) (1) Commencing with the 2005–06 school year, an integrated program offered by the California State University shall be designed to concurrently lead to a preliminary multiple subject or single subject teaching credential, early childhood specialist credential,  or an education specialist instruction credential authorizing the holder to teach special education, and a baccalaureate degree. Recommendation for each shall be contingent upon satisfactory completion of the requirements for each.
(2) By July 1, 2004, the Chancellor of the California State University, in consultation with California State University faculty members, shall develop a framework defining appropriate balance for an integrated program of general education, subject matter preparation, and professional education courses, for both lower division and upper division students, including an appropriate range of units to be taken in professional education courses. In developing the framework, the Chancellor of the California State University and California State University faculty members shall consult with the Academic Senate for the  California Community Colleges on matters related to the effective and efficient use of, and appropriate role for, lower division coursework in an integrated program.
(c) (1) By January 1, 2005, the Chancellor of the California State University and the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges shall collaboratively ensure that both of the following occur:
(A) Lower division coursework completed by a community college student transferring to a California State University integrated program is articulated with the corresponding coursework of the California State University.
(B) The articulated community college lower division coursework is accepted as the equivalent to the coursework offered to students who enter that integrated program as freshman students.
(2) Commencing with the 2005–06 school year, each campus of the California State University shall invite the community colleges in its region that send significant numbers of transfer students to that campus to enter into articulation agreements. These articulation agreements shall be based on a fully transferable education curriculum that is developed pursuant to the framework developed under paragraph (2) of subdivision (b). Approval of one or more of the articulation agreements shall will  enable the coursework of a community college student to be accepted as the equivalent to the coursework offered to students who enter that integrated program as freshman students.
(d) A postbaccalaureate program of professional preparation may only be offered by a regionally accredited institution of higher education. These programs  shall enable candidates for teaching credentials to commence and complete professional preparation after they have completed baccalaureate degrees at regionally accredited institutions of higher education.  institutions.  The development and implementation of a postbaccalaureate program of professional preparation shall be based on intensive collaboration among the regionally accredited institutions of higher education  postsecondary educational institution  and local public elementary and secondary school districts.
(e) (1)  (A)  The commission shall develop and implement a program to award, on a competitive basis, planning grants of up to  award 40 one-year grants of  two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) each to regionally accredited institutions of higher education  postsecondary institutions  for the development of transition  plans to guide the creation of four-year integrated programs of professional preparation, including student teaching, that lead to more credentialed teachers to teach, with an emphasis on the shortage fields identified in clause (i) of subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2). preparation. 
(B) (1)  A regionally accredited institution of higher education  postsecondary institution  awarded a planning  grant under this paragraph subdivision  may use the grant funds transition plan  to create a new four-year integrated program of professional preparation or to adapt an existing integrated program of professional preparation to a four-year integrated program of professional  preparation.
(2) A postsecondary institution awarded a grant under this subdivision may partner with a California Community College to create a four-year integrated program of professional preparation.
(C) (3)  A regionally accredited institution of higher education  postsecondary institution  awarded a planning  grant under this paragraph subdivision  may use grant funds for any proper purpose in support of planning for a four-year integrated program of professional preparation, including, but not limited to, any of the following:
(i) (A)  To provide faculty release time to redesign existing courses.
(ii) (B)  To provide stipends for  program coordinators to assist in collaboration with subject-matter professors and pedagogy professors.
(iii) (C)  To create summer courses for students in a four-year integrated program of professional preparation.
(iv) (D)  To recruit individuals for participation as students in four-year integrated programs of professional preparation.
(2) (A) The commission shall develop and implement a program to award, on a competitive basis, implementation or expansion grants of up to five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) each to regionally accredited institutions of higher education for any of the following purposes:
(i) Developing a new integrated program of professional preparation as specified in subparagraph (C).
(ii) Establishing a new partnership with California community colleges to create four-year integrated programs of professional preparation.
(B) The commission shall conduct outreach to eligible institutions to encourage applications to develop programs in the shortage areas identified in clause (i) of subparagraph (C), and support institutions that need assistance in developing programs in these shortage areas that meet the commission’s criteria.
(C) (4)  The commission shall award one-time  In awarding  grants pursuant to subparagraph (A) for proposals to establish new the program, the commission shall grant priority to proposals for the establishment of four-year  integrated programs of professional preparation that support either of the following: designed to produce teachers with either an education specialist instruction credential authorizing the holder to teach special education or a single subject area credential in a subject with chronic shortages of qualified teachers. 
(i) Producing teachers in the designated shortage fields of special education, bilingual education, science, health, computer science, technology, engineering, mathematics, transitional kindergarten, or kindergarten.
(ii) Partnering with a California community college to create a four-year integrated program of professional preparation.
(D) A regionally accredited institution of higher education awarded a grant under this paragraph may use the grant funds to create a new four-year integrated program of professional preparation or to adapt an existing integrated program of professional preparation to a four-year integrated program of professional preparation.
(E) A regionally accredited institution of higher education awarded a grant under this paragraph may use grant funds for any proper purpose in support of implementation or expansion of a four-year integrated program of professional preparation, including, but not limited to, any of the following:
(i) To provide faculty release time to redesign existing courses.
(ii) To provide stipends for program coordinators to assist in collaboration with subject-matter professors and pedagogy professors.
(iii) To create summer courses for students in a four-year integrated program of professional preparation.
(iv) To recruit individuals for participation as students in four-year integrated programs of professional preparation.
(F) (5)  As a condition of the receipt of an implementation or expansion  a  grant, a regionally accredited institution of higher education  postsecondary institution  shall provide to the commission program and outcome data for at least five three  years after receiving the grant. The information shall include program design and features, the number of graduates, the number and type of credentials earned, the time taken to earn a degree and credential, and any other information the commission may require for purposes  the purpose  of documenting the effect of the grant and identifying effective practices in program design and implementation.
(3) The commission shall require applicants for planning grants under paragraph (1) and for implementation or expansion grants under paragraph (2) to provide assurances of all of the following:
(A) A commitment to implement a planned integrated program of professional preparation.
(B) A plan for recruitment and retention of candidates for educator shortage areas in subjects identified in clause (i) of subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2) in teacher preparation programs, including integrated programs of professional preparation.
(C) Coordination with existing sources of candidate support, such as the Golden State Teacher Grant Program established pursuant to Article 5.1 (commencing with Section 69617) of Chapter 2 of Part 42 of Division 5 of Title 3, and other forms of financial aid.
(D) Demonstrated commitment to expand enrollment in, and access to, teacher preparation programs, including enrollment in programs of integrated professional preparation.
(4) A regionally accredited institution of higher education that previously received a planning grant or an implementation or expansion grant may apply for a new grant, if the institution reports on the implementation timeline and status of the program established with the grant funding previously received and proposes any of the following:
(A) Expansion of integrated program capacity.
(B) New integrated programs in other credentialing fields.
(C) New California community college partnerships.
(5) The commission may use up to two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) of moneys appropriated for purposes of this subdivision to administer the grants described in paragraphs (1) and (2), pursuant to Department of Finance approval.
(6) The commission shall annually report to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature on any grants funded  may reserve some of the 40 grants to provide a second grant to some or all of the postsecondary institutions awarded grants  pursuant to this subdivision until funds are fully expended. In addition to the data required to be reported to the commission in subparagraph (F) of paragraph (2), the report shall also include data on the progress of community college partnerships and institutions relative to the assurances made pursuant to paragraph (3). for the subsequent fiscal year. 
(7) The requirements of this subdivision are contingent upon the appropriation of funds for the  purposes of this subdivision in the annual Budget Act or another statute.