BILL NUMBER: AB 1266 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 937
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 12, 1997
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 12, 1997
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 11, 1997
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 8, 1997
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 5, 1997
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 27, 1997
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 9, 1997
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 3, 1997
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 8, 1997
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Mazzoni
FEBRUARY 28, 1997
An act to amend and renumber Section 44279.2 of, to amend the
heading of Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 44279.2) of Chapter 2
of Part 25 of, and to add Sections 44001.1, 44001.2, 44279.2, and
44279.7 to, the Education Code, relating to teacher credentialing,
and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1266, Mazzoni. Teachers: beginning teacher support.
Existing law makes various findings and declarations relating to
the need for support during the beginning years of a teacher's
career. Existing law establishes the California Beginning Teacher
Support and Assessment Program to be administered jointly by the
Commission on Teacher Credentialing (commission) and the
Superintendent of Public Instruction (superintendent). Existing law
provides that among the purposes of the program are providing an
effective transition into the teaching career for 1st-year and
2nd-year teachers in California and improving the educational
performance of pupils by providing improved training, information,
and assistance for beginning teachers.
This bill would redesignate that program as the Beginning Teacher
Support and Assessment System. The bill would expand the program to,
among other things, require that it provide intensive individualized
support and assistance to each beginning teacher, to require that it
establish performance assessments that are based on the California
Standards for the Teaching Profession adopted by the commission in
January 1997, to require an individual induction plan for each
beginning teacher, and to ensure continuous program improvement, as
specified.
The bill would require the superintendent and the commission to
jointly administer the Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment
System and to, among other things, establish requirements for
reviewing and approving local induction plans, developing and
administering a system for ensuring program quality and
effectiveness, improving and refining the assessment system, and
improving and refining professional development materials and
strategies for all personnel involved in implementing teacher
induction programs.
The bill would require the superintendent and the commission to
establish requirements for teacher induction programs operated by
school districts or consortiums of school districts. School
districts and consortiums of school districts would be eligible to
receive $3,000, as adjusted for inflation, in state aid for each
participating beginning teacher, provided certain requirements are
met, including that the school district or consortium of school
districts provide not less than $2,000 from amounts received for the
Mentor Teacher Program or other local, state, or federal resources
for each participating beginning teacher. By authorizing school
districts to expend amounts received for the purposes of the Mentor
Teacher Program for these new purposes, this bill would make an
appropriation.
The bill would require the superintendent and the commission to
award supplemental grants on a competitive basis to Beginning Teacher
Support and Assessment System teacher induction programs that are
identified as having expertise according to criteria established by
the superintendent and the commission. The teacher induction
programs would be required to expend those funds to assist clusters
of teacher induction programs operated by school districts or
consortiums of school districts. All school districts and
consortiums of school districts participating in the Beginning
Teacher Support and Assessment System would be required to be
designated as belonging to clusters according to the criteria
established by the superintendent and the commission based upon, but
not necessarily be limited to, geographic proximity, program size,
the number of beginning teachers served, the similarity of teacher
characteristics, and pupil populations in each school district.
Teacher induction programs awarded supplemental grants would be
required to identify a program consultant to assist the school
district or consortiums of school districts identified in a cluster.
The superintendent and the commission would be required to identify
the purpose and functions of each consultant, as specified. The
superintendent and the commission would be required to ensure that
each grant awarded supports the salary and benefits and other related
costs for a consultant to assist each cluster, as specified.
The bill would limit state funding for participation in the
Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program by specified
credentialed teachers to 2 years, or until the teacher has met state
expectations for successful completion of teacher induction,
whichever occurs first, and to one year by interns who are
participating in a specified credentialing program, either during or
after completion of the internship, or until the intern has
successfully met state expectations for successful completion of
teacher induction, whichever occurs first.
The bill would make various declarations of legislative intent
with respect to funding of the Beginning Teacher Support and
Assessment System, including that the system be funded in the annual
Budget Act, as specified.
Appropriation: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 44001.1 is added to the Education Code, to
read:
44001.1. "Commission" means the Commission on Teacher
Credentialing.
SEC. 2. Section 44001.2 is added to the Education Code, to read:
44001.2. "Superintendent" means the Superintendent of Public
Instruction.
SEC. 3. The heading of Article 4.5 (commencing with Section
44279.2) of Chapter 2 of Part 25 of the Education Code is amended to
read:
Article 4.5. Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment System
SEC. 4. Section 44279.2 of the Education Code is amended and
renumbered to read:
44279.1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that the
beginning years of a teacher's career are a critical time in which it
is necessary that intensive professional development and assessment
occur. The Legislature recognizes that the public invests heavily in
the preparation of prospective teachers, and that more than half of
all new teachers leave some California school districts after one or
two years in the classroom. Intensive professional development and
assessment are necessary to build on the preparation that precedes
initial certification, to transform academic preparation into
practical success in the classroom, to retain greater numbers of
capable beginning teachers, and to remove novices who show little
promise as teachers. It is the intent of the Legislature that the
commission and the superintendent develop and implement policies to
govern the support and assessment of beginning teachers, as a
condition for the professional certification of those teachers in the
future.
(b) There is hereby established the California Beginning Teacher
Support and Assessment System, to be administered jointly by the
commission and the superintendent. In administering the program, the
commission and the superintendent shall approve the most
cost-effective programs of support and assessment. The commission
and the superintendent shall also ensure that programs meet the
Standards of Quality and Effectiveness for Beginning Teacher Support
and Assessment adopted by the commission in 1997 and that local
programs support beginning teachers in meeting the competencies
described in the California Standards for the Teaching Profession
adopted by the commission in January 1997. The system shall do all
of the following:
(1) Provide an effective transition into the teaching career for
first-year and second-year teachers in California.
(2) Improve the educational performance of pupils through improved
training, information, and assistance for new teachers.
(3) Enable beginning teachers to be effective in teaching pupils
who are culturally, linguistically, and academically diverse.
(4) Ensure the professional success and retention of new teachers.
(5) Ensure that a support provider provides intensive
individualized support and assistance to each participating beginning
teacher.
(6) Improve the rigor and consistency of individual teacher
performance assessments and the usefulness of assessment results to
teachers and decisionmakers.
(7) Establish an effective, coherent system of performance
assessments that are based on the California Standards for the
Teaching Profession adopted by the commission in January 1997.
(8) Examine alternative ways in which the general public and the
educational profession may be assured that new teachers who remain in
teaching have attained acceptable levels of professional competence.
(9) Ensure that an individual induction plan is in place for each
participating beginning teacher and is based on an ongoing assessment
of the development of the beginning teacher.
(10) Ensure continuous program improvement through ongoing
research, development, and evaluation.
(c) Participation in the program shall be voluntary for teachers,
school districts, and county offices of education and participation
by certificated employees shall not be made a condition of
employment. The commission and the superintendent shall adopt and
implement criteria and standards for participation in the program,
including criteria regarding the eligibility of teachers and
standards of local program quality and intensity for schools, school
districts, county offices of education, colleges, universities, and
other educational and professional organizations. The criteria and
standards shall be consistent with the purposes of the program.
(d) For the purpose of this article, unless the context otherwise
requires, "beginning teacher," means a teacher with a valid
California credential, as defined in Section 44259, or an intern
participating in the program established pursuant to Article 11
(commencing with Section 44380) of Chapter 2.5, who is serving in the
first year or second year of service.
(e) For a beginning teacher who holds a professional clear
teaching credential that is subject to the requirements of
subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 44277, participation in the
program may, at the teacher's discretion, serve as part or all of the
individual program of professional growth.
(f) The superintendent and the commission shall disseminate the
California Standards for the Teaching Profession adopted by the
commission in January 1997 to colleges, universities, school
districts, county offices of education, and professional
associations, who shall be encouraged to use the standards in efforts
to improve teacher preparation and support programs. Performance
assessments developed under this article shall be designed to provide
useful, helpful feedback to beginning teachers and their support
providers. That information shall not be used for employment-related
evaluations, as a condition of employment, or as a basis for
terminating employment.
(g) It is the intent of the Legislature that the commission and
the superintendent establish a statewide teacher induction program
that supports locally designed, high quality induction programs that
provide individualized support and formative assessment for all
participating beginning teachers as defined in subdivision (d). At
the discretion of the local beginning teacher support and assessment
system teacher induction program, funds allocated to a program on the
basis of eligible beginning teachers may be used to provide support,
assistance, and preparation services to other credential candidates
who are in their first or second year of employment as a classroom
teacher.
SEC. 5. Section 44279.2 is added to the Education Code, to read:
44279.2. (a) The superintendent and the commission shall jointly
administer the Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment System
pursuant to this chapter. In administering this section, the
superintendent and the commission shall provide for or contract for
all of the following:
(1) Establishment of requirements for reviewing and approving
teacher induction programs.
(2) Development and administration of a system for ensuring
teacher induction program quality and effectiveness. For the
purposes of this section, "program effectiveness" means producing
excellent program outcomes in relation to the purposes defined in
subdivision (b) of Section 44279.1. For the purposes of this
section, "program quality" means excellence with respect to program
factors, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(A) Program goals.
(B) Design resources.
(C) Management, evaluation, and improvement of the program.
(D) School context and working conditions.
(E) Support and assessment services to each beginning teacher.
(3) Developing purposes and functions for reviewing and approving
supplemental grants and standards for program clusters and program
consultants, as defined pursuant to Section 44297.7.
(4) Improving and refining the formative assessment system.
(5) Improving and refining professional development materials and
strategies for all personnel involved in implementing induction
programs.
(6) Conducting and tracking research related to beginning teacher
induction.
(7) Evaluating the effectiveness of the Beginning Teacher Support
and Assessment System two years following full implementation and
reporting the findings to the Legislature. An interim report shall
be provided to the Legislature not later than January 1, 2000, if
full funding has not been provided prior to that date. For the
purpose of this section, "system effectiveness" means producing
excellent system outcomes in relation to the purposes defined in
subdivision (b) of Section 44279.
(8) Periodically evaluating the validity of the California
Standards for the Teaching Profession adopted by the commission in
January 1997 and the Standards of Quality and Effectiveness for
Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program adopted by the
commission in 1997 and making changes to those documents, as
necessary.
(b) As part of the Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment
System, the commission and the superintendent shall establish
requirements for local teacher induction programs.
(c) A school district or consortium of school districts may apply
to the superintendent for funding to establish a local teacher
induction program pursuant to this section. From amounts
appropriated for the purposes of this section, the superintendent
shall allocate three thousand dollars ($3,000) for each beginning
teacher participating in the program. Commencing with the 1998-99
fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter that amount shall be
adjusted by the inflation factor set forth in Section 42238.1. To be
eligible to receive funding, a school district or consortium of
school districts shall, at a minimum, meet all of the following
requirements:
(1) Develop, implement, and evaluate teacher induction programs
that meet the Quality and Effectiveness for Beginning Teacher
Induction Program Standards adopted by the commission in 1997.
(2) Support beginning teachers in meeting the competencies
described in the California Standards for the Teaching Profession,
adopted by the commission in January 1997.
(3) Meet criteria for the cost-effective delivery of program
services pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 44279.
(4) From amounts received for the Mentor Teacher Program pursuant
to Article 4 (commencing with Section 44490) of Chapter 2, or from
other local, state, or resources available for the purposes of
teacher induction programs, contribute not less than two thousand
dollars ($2,000) for the costs of each beginning teacher served in
the induction program.
SEC. 6. Section 44279.7 is added to the Education Code, to read:
44279.7. (a) The superintendent and the commission shall award
supplemental grants on a competitive basis to Beginning Teacher
Support and Assessment System teacher induction programs established
pursuant to Section 44279.2 that are identified as having expertise
according to criteria established by the superintendent and the
commission. The supplemental grants received pursuant to this
section shall be expended to assist clusters of teacher induction
programs operated by school districts or consortiums of school
districts.
(b) The superintendent and the commission shall designate each
school district and consortium of school districts participating in
the Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment System established
pursuant to Section 44279.2 as belonging to a cluster according to
the criteria established pursuant to this subdivision. For the
purposes of this section "cluster" means a cluster of school
districts or consortium of school districts established pursuant this
section. The superintendent and the commission shall establish
criteria for the formation of school districts or consortiums of
school district teacher induction program clusters based upon, but
not necessarily be limited to, all of the following:
(1) Geographic proximity.
(2) Program size.
(3) The number of beginning teachers served.
(4) The similarity of teacher characteristics and pupil
populations in each school district.
(c) School districts and consortiums of school districts awarded
supplemental grants pursuant to this section shall identify a teacher
induction program consultant to assist the school district or
consortiums of school districts forming a cluster. The
superintendent and the commission shall identify the purpose and
functions of each consultant. Those purposes and functions shall
include, but not necessarily be limited to, all the following:
(1) Assisting in designing, implementing, refining, and evaluating
their teacher induction programs.
(2) Assisting in building the capacity to provide professional
development for all personnel involved in the implementation of
teacher inductions programs, including, but not limited to, beginning
teachers, support providers, and administrators.
(3) Disseminating information on teacher induction programs to all
interested participants within the cluster and collaborating with
other consultants statewide and with state administrative agency
staff to ensure ongoing program improvement.
(d) The superintendent and the commission shall ensure that each
grant awarded pursuant to this section supports the salary and
benefits and other related costs based on the prorated amount of time
dedicated to this function for a consultant to assist each cluster.
SEC. 7. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the
appropriation made for the administration of Section 44279.2 of the
Education Code each fiscal year shall be made from funds that are not
designated as meeting the state's minimum funding obligation under
Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution
(non-Proposition 98 funds), and shall amount to not more than 3
percent of the total amount appropriated for the purposes of that
section. It is further the intent of the Legislature that the
Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Commission on Teacher
Credentialing each shall be entitled to expend 50 percent of the
amount available for the state level administration of the program.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that amounts be
appropriated in the annual Budget Act for the purposes of funding
teacher induction program consultants to assist the clusters of
school districts and consortium of school districts formed pursuant
to Section 44279.7 of the Education Code in developing and
administering new and existing programs pursuant to Sections 44279.1
and 44279.7 of the Education Code.
(c) The number of beginning teachers to be served by Section
44279.1 of the Education Code in each fiscal year shall be determined
by data from the previous year's CBEDS reports submitted by school
districts to the State Department of Education. For purposes of this
subdivision, "CBEDS report" means the report transmitted by school
districts to the State Department of Education for purposes of the
California Basic Education Data System that exists within the
department and is based upon a single annual collection of data about
school staff and pupil enrollment conducted by the department for
reporting, program management, and planning purposes.
(d) The Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Commission on
Teacher Credentialing shall develop a funding plan for the purposes
of this section, and report that plan to the Legislature.
(e) The amount appropriated for the purposes of subdivision (c) of
Section 44279.2 of the Education Code shall be based on a grant
amount of three thousand dollars ($3,000) for each beginning teacher
participating in the program, as adjusted for cost of living.
(f) State funding for participation in the Beginning Teacher
Support and Assessment Program by teachers who are credentialed
pursuant to Section 44259 of the Education Code is limited to two
years, or until the teacher has met state expectations for successful
completion of teacher induction developed jointly by the Commission
on Teacher Credentialing and the superintendent, whichever occurs
first.
(g) State funding for participation in the Beginning Teacher
Support and Assessment Program by interns who are participating in
the program established pursuant to Article 11 (commencing with
Section 44380) of Chapter 2 of Part 25 of the Education Code is
limited to one year, either during or after completion of the
internship, or until the intern has met state expectations for
successful completion of teacher induction developed jointly by the
Commission on Teacher Credentialing and the superintendent, whichever
occurs first.
(h) State funding shall not be provided for the Beginning Teacher
Support and Assessment Program for teachers who previously were
funded to participate in the program while also participating as
interns in the program established pursuant to Article 11 (commencing
with Section 44380) of Chapter 2 of Part 25 of the Education Code.