BILL ANALYSIS
AB 239
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Date of Hearing: March 18, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 239 (Brownley) - As Amended: March 11, 2009
SUBJECT : Teacher credentialing.
SUMMARY : Requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing
(CTC) to issue a clear credential to teachers and service
providers who attain certification by the National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS); authorizes the CTC to
issue an English learner certification to applicants who attain
certification by the NBPTS; and, authorizes school districts to
offer district intern programs in special education to teach
pupils at all levels of disability. Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) to
issue English learner certification to applicants who attain
English as a New Language certification by the National Board
for Professional Teaching Standards.
2)Requires the CTC to issue a clear credential to teachers and
service providers who hold a certification from the National
Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
3)Authorizes school district governing boards to offer district
intern programs in special education for all disability
levels; and, requires the CTC to issue district intern
credentials to people in those programs to teach special
education students with all levels of disability.
4)Deletes the requirement that the CTC participate in a pilot
project with district intern programs to provide teacher
preparation programs for special education certification.
5)Deletes the requirement that the CTC report to the Legislature
on the effectiveness of the pilot project.
6)Makes technical and conforming changes to statute.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the CTC to issue an authorization to educators
teaching pupils with limited English proficiency who:
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a) hold a valid California teaching credential;
b) have passed an examination or completed an approved
program of coursework; and,
c) have completed coursework in a second language at an
accredited institution.
2)Requires the CTC to issue a clear credential to teachers who
hold a certification from the National Board for Professional
Teaching Standards.
3)Authorizes the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing
(CTC) to issue district intern credentials to persons teaching
special education pupils with mild and moderate disabilities.
4)Directs the CTC to participate in a pilot program issuing
district intern credentials to persons teaching special
education pupils and report to the Legislature by January 1,
2009 on the effectiveness of the pilot program.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : AB 239 will streamline teacher credentialing in three
ways. First, the bill will authorize the CTC to issue a clear
credential to teachers and service providers, such as school
counselors, who hold a certification from the National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards. Second, the bill will
authorize teachers who attain the English as a New Language
certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards to earn the Crosscultural, Language and Academic
Development (CLAD) authorization. Third, the bill will allow
district intern programs to offer all types of Education
Specialist Credentials statewide. In general, the bill will
make the credentialing process more streamlined for teachers and
increase access to special education credential programs by
authorizing districts to offer those credentials through their
district intern programs. California faces a shortage of
well-qualified teachers, particularly those with credentials to
teach math, science and special education. California must
produce a globally-competitive workforce to revitalize its
economy and attracting well-qualified teachers is an important
step toward that goal.
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National Board Certification . The NBPTS offers certification in
25 areas and requires candidates to have a bachelor's degree, a
valid teaching credential, and at least three years of teaching
experience. The National Board Certification process includes a
subject matter examination and a portfolio that includes
multiple items, such as video recordings of classroom
interactions between the teacher and students as well as a
written reflection and analysis of the instructional session.
Like board-certified doctors and accountants, teachers who
achieve National Board Certification have met rigorous standards
through intensive study, expert evaluation, self-assessment and
peer review. Candidates for the English as a New Language
Certificate must complete a portfolio assessment and demonstrate
knowledge and competencies in teaching English learners. The
CTC completed an analysis of the NBPTS standards and the CLAD
standards and found that the NBPTS certification is as rigorous
if not more than existing California teaching standards and
domains of the NBPTS English as a New Language certification
process are comparable to the state's Cross-cultural Language
and Academic Development (CLAD) certificate.
There are currently 4,240 National Board Certified teachers in
California schools, and nearly 64% of those teachers are
teaching in Title I Schools. Los Angeles Unified, San Diego
Unified, San Francisco Unified, Long Beach Unified and Poway
Unified are the top 5 school districts statewide in terms of the
number of National Board Certified teachers on staff.
Nationwide, National Board Certified teachers comprise 2% of the
national teaching force and have won nearly a quarter of the
2008 State Teacher of the Year Awards and a third of the 2007
Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science
Teaching.
District Intern Programs . The District Intern Program was
created by the passage of the Hughes-Hart Education Reform Act
of 1983 (Chapter 498, Statutes of 1983). The original program
allowed districts and county offices to offer teacher
preparation programs for single subject candidates. Since then
the enabling statutes have been amended multiple times as this
type of teacher preparation program has expanded into new
credential areas and increased the number of providers. Among
the changes that have occurred was expansion into multiple
subjects and bilingual credentials (1987) and special education
(1994). Most recently SB 933 (Machado) Chapter 304, Statutes of
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2006, amended the District Intern statutes to authorize another
pilot program to allow school districts to provide Education
Specialist credential services in all areas of disability. The
pilot program is scheduled to sunset in January 2010.
As required by statute, the CTC participated in a pilot program
for district intern programs to offer the education specialist
credential for all levels of pupil disability. In the report to
the Legislature, the CTC found that, since 2005, the pilot
program enrolled 132 district interns in the Education
Specialist Moderate/Severe programs at LAUSD, Stanislaus County
Office of Education and Project Impact at San Joaquin County
Office of Education. With the shortage of special education
teacher statewide, this amount of program participation is
significant.
In the report, the CTC states that, "District Intern Programs
are capable of offering Education Specialist programs in all
areas of disability. The Commission recommends that the pilot
program status and January 1, 2010 culmination date, as
specified in Education Code Section 44325, be deleted.
Commission staff recommends that Education Specialist District
Intern Programs that are able to meet the Commission Standards
of Program Quality and Effectiveness and continue to be approved
based on these standards be authorized to recommend candidates
for California credentials. However, the Commission staff also
recommends that issues of on-site support and ways to improve
the quality and quantity of that support continue to be
explored."
According to the American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees (AFSCME), "California is in need of
qualified teachers and AFSCME supports AB 239 because it
facilitates the process allowing out of state teachers to become
credentialed to teach in California. This bill will also help
fill the gap of need California has for special education and
English-as-a-Second Language teachers. For California to be
successful in the future, we need to be able to make possible
the education of all students no matter their educational
needs."
Previous legislation : The April 16, 2008 version of SB 1186
(Scott), Chapter 518, Statutes of 2008, authorized the CTC to
issue English learner certification to applicants who attain
English as a New Language certification by the NBPTS.
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The March 13, 2008 version of SB 1104 (Scott), Chapter 576,
Statutes of 2008, required the CTC to issue a Clear Designated
Subjects Career Technical Education teaching credential to the
holder of a preliminary credential who attain certification from
the NBPTS.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Commission on Teacher Credentialing (Sponsor)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME)
California Association for Bilingual Education
California Federation of Teachers
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087