BILL ANALYSIS
SB 751
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Date of Hearing: June 17, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
SB 751 (Romero) - As Amended: May 5, 2009
SENATE VOTE : 36-0
SUBJECT : Teacher credentials.
SUMMARY : Streamlines the credential application process for
out-of-state teachers who were prepared outside the United
States and who earned a teaching credential in another state;
and, establishes requirements for local education agencies
(LEAs) that provide test preparation courses for teachers
seeking a subsequent credential. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) to
issue a multiple subject, single subject, or education
specialist teaching credential to a teacher prepared in a
country other than the United States who has earned a valid
corresponding elementary, secondary, or special education
teaching credential in another state and meets requirements
for out-of-state credential applicants.
2)Specifies that a corresponding elementary, secondary, or
special education teaching credential earned in another state
satisfies the teacher preparation program requirements for
out-of-country teachers.
3)Requires a school district, county office of education, or
charter school that provides examination preparation courses
that prepare credentialed teachers to take a subject matter
examination to do all of the following:
a) Ensure the program meets the domains for subject matter
understanding and skill adopted by the CTC in the content
area, known as the California Subject Examinations for
Teachers.
b) Provide general information to teacher participants on
the requirements for adding a new credential type that may
include, but need not be limited to, credential information
available on the Internet website of the CTC.
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4)Authorizes a school district, county office of education, or
charter school that provides intensive examination preparation
courses to contract with other entities to provide the
courses.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the CTC to issue preliminary and clear teaching
credentials to teachers prepared in countries other than the
United States who meet specified criteria including the
possession of a baccalaureate or higher degree determined to
be equivalent to a degree offered by a regionally accredited
institution in the United States and completion of a
professional preparation program approved by a government
agency in the country where the program was completed.
2)Establishes credential requirements for out-of-state teachers
that are consistent with requirements for candidates prepared
in California, including possession of a valid elementary,
secondary, or special education teaching credential,
possession of a baccalaureate degree from a regionally
accredited institution of higher education, completion of a
teacher preparation program, training to teach English
language learners, and other requirements as specified.
3)Requires the CTC to select, administer, and interpret subject
matter examinations; requires candidates earning a single
subject teaching credential to demonstrate subject matter
knowledge either by completion of a baccalaureate subject
matter program approved by the CTC or by passage of a subject
matter examination; and, establishes this requirement as a
prerequisite for a teaching assignment.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS: Out-of-Country Prepared Teachers . California's
credential application process for teachers prepared in
countries outside the United States requires applicants to
obtain a foreign transcript evaluation (which can cost $200 or
more) to determine that the university or college degree earned
in the foreign country is equivalent to degrees earned by
candidates who are prepared in the United States. Currently,
this process applies both to individuals who come to California
directly from another country and to teachers who have
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subsequently earned a credential in another state and underwent
a transcript evaluation to satisfy requirements in that state.
Requiring out-of-state teachers who completed their teacher
training outside the U.S. to undergo a second transcript
evaluation creates an inequitable and costly barrier to the
California teaching credential.
According to the CTC, requirements for teachers prepared outside
the United States are comparable from state to state:
1)Other states require a foreign transcript evaluation to verify
the candidate holds a Bachelor's degree or higher that is
equivalent to one earned in the United States and has
completed a teacher preparation program;
2)Candidates must have received or be qualified to receive a
full credential in the country in which there were prepared;
and,
3)Candidates to meet subject matter competence requirements in
order to earn a full, non-provisional credential.
By correcting an inequity in the current application process,
for this subset of out-of-state teachers, SB 751 could increase
the pipeline of fully prepared teachers into California while
assuring that teachers who received their teacher training in
another country possess the training and knowledge necessary to
teach in California classrooms.
Test Preparation . For several years, California has had a
chronic and persistent shortage of qualified teachers in certain
subjects including mathematics, science and foreign languages.
When schools are unable to recruit fully qualified teachers,
they often hire underprepared teachers or assign teachers with a
credential in one content area to teach "out of field" one of
these subjects. The Center for the Future of Teaching and
Learning (CFTL) has reported that while the number of
underprepared teachers has declined on a statewide basis from
14% in 2000-01 to five percent in 2007-08, the number of
underprepared teachers, including out of field teachers, tend to
be concentrated in schools and communities that serve the most
economically disadvantaged students. In its 2008 report on
California's Teaching Force, the CFTL reported that students in
the lowest achieving schools are 14 times more likely to have
more than one underprepared teacher than students in higher
achieving schools.
The CTC indicates that at least 41 universities and LEAs offer
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test preparation programs to enable underprepared or out of
field teachers to meet state requirements for content knowledge
of the subjects they teach. To the extent that LEAs test
preparation courses available, this bill could make it easier
for out of field teachers to demonstrate the subject matter
knowledge required for a subsequent credential and help schools
address local teacher shortages.
The California Teachers Association supports the bill and
argues, "SB 751 would streamline credentialing and reciprocity.
CTA believes California should grant a preliminary basic
credential to any teacher who has completed a program in another
state which California recognizes through the Interstate
agreement process and meets California subject matter
compliance."
Previous legislation : SB 1209 (Scott), Chapter 517, Statutes of
2006, streamlined duplicate preliminary credential requirements
for new teachers who have completed state-adopted credentialing
requirements in another state, consolidated testing requirements
for teacher credential candidates, provided incentives to
strengthen the preparation of teacher interns and induced
experienced teachers to teach and mentor new teachers in high
priority schools, among other revisions of teacher credentialing
law.
AB 877 (Scott), Chapter 703, Statutes of 2000, required the CTC
to contract for reviews of certain standards of other states to
allow out-of-state prepared teachers to meet California
requirements for teaching credentials based upon out-of-state
teacher preparation determined by CTC to be equivalent to the
preparation required in this state.
AB 1620 (Scott), Chapter 547, Statutes of 1998, established new
standards and procedures for the issuance of California teaching
credentials to out-of-state credentialed teachers; and, required
the CTC to initiate reciprocity negotiations with those state's
having comparable and equivalent standards to those of
California.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Commission on Teacher Credentialing (Sponsor)
California Federation of Teachers
SB 751
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California School Boards Association
California Teachers Association
Los Angeles County Office of Education
San Francisco Unified School District
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087