Bill Text: CT SB00953 | 2017 | General Assembly | Chaptered
Bill Title: An Act Implementing The Recommendations Of The Task Force On Professional Development And In-service Training Requirements For Educators.
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Passed) 2017-06-08 - Signed by the Governor [SB00953 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2017-SB00953-Chaptered.html
Substitute Senate Bill No. 953
AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE TASK FORCE ON PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND IN-SERVICE TRAINING REQUIREMENTS FOR EDUCATORS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 10-148a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2017):
(a) For the school year commencing July 1, 2013, and each school year thereafter, each certified employee shall participate in a program of professional development. Each local and regional board of education shall make available, annually, at no cost to its certified employees, a program of professional development that is not fewer than eighteen hours in length, of which a preponderance is in a small group or individual instructional setting. Such program of professional development shall (1) be a comprehensive, sustained and intensive approach to improving teacher and administrator effectiveness in increasing student knowledge achievement, (2) focus on refining and improving various effective teaching methods that are shared between and among educators, (3) foster collective responsibility for improved student performance, and (4) be comprised of professional learning that (A) is aligned with rigorous state student academic achievement standards, (B) is conducted among educators at the school and facilitated by principals, coaches, mentors, distinguished educators, as described in section 10-145s, or other appropriate teachers, (C) occurs frequently on an individual basis or among groups of teachers in a job-embedded process of continuous improvement, and (D) includes a repository of best practices for teaching methods developed by educators within each school that is continuously available to such educators for comment and updating. Each program of professional development shall include professional development activities in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of this section.
(b) Local and regional boards of education shall offer professional development activities to certified employees as part of the plan developed pursuant to subsection (b) of section 10-220a or for any individual certified employee. Such professional development activities may be made available by a board of education directly, through a regional educational service center or cooperative arrangement with another board of education or through arrangements with any professional development provider approved by the Commissioner of Education and shall be consistent with any goals identified by the certified employees and the local or regional board of education. [Such professional development activities shall (1) improve the integration of reading instruction, literacy and numeracy enhancement, and cultural awareness into instructional practice, (2) include strategies to improve English language learner instruction into instructional practice, (3) be determined by each board of education with the advice and assistance of the teachers employed by such board, including representatives of the exclusive bargaining unit for such teachers pursuant to section 10-153b, and on and after July 1, 2012, in full consideration of priorities and needs related to student outcomes as determined by the State Board of Education, (4) use the results and findings of teacher and administrator performance evaluations, conducted pursuant to section 10-151b, to improve teacher and administrator practice and provide professional growth, and (5) include training in the implementation of student individualized education programs and the communication of individualized education program procedures to parents or guardians of students who require special education and related services for certified employees with an endorsement in special education who hold a position requiring such an endorsement. Professional development completed by superintendents of schools and administrators, as defined in section 10-144e, shall include at least fifteen hours of training in the evaluation and support of teachers under the teacher and administrator evaluation and support program, adopted pursuant to subsection (b) of section 10-151b, during each five-year period. The time and location for the provision of such activities shall be in accordance with either an agreement between the board of education and the exclusive bargaining unit pursuant to section 10-153b or, in the absence of such agreement or to the extent such agreement does not provide for the time and location of all such activities, in accordance with a determination by the board of education. ]
[(c) Each local and regional board of education or supervisory agent of a nonpublic school approved by the State Board of Education shall attest to the Department of Education, in such form and at such time as the commissioner shall prescribe, that professional development activities under this section: (1) Are planned in response to identified needs, (2) are provided by qualified instructional personnel, as appropriate, (3) have the requirements for participation in the activity shared with participants before the commencement of the activity, (4) are evaluated in terms of its effectiveness and its contribution to the attainment of school or district-wide goals, and (5) are documented in accordance with procedures established by the State Board of Education. In the event that the Department of Education notifies the local or regional board of education that the provisions of this subsection have not been met and that specific corrective action is necessary, the local or regional board of education shall take such corrective action immediately.
(d) The Department of Education shall conduct audits of the professional development programs provided by local and regional boards of education. If the State Board of Education determines, based on such audit, that a local or regional board of education is not in compliance with any provision of this section, the State Board of Education may require the local or regional board of education to forfeit the total sum which is paid to such board of education from the State Treasury in an amount determined by the State Board of Education. The amount so forfeited shall be withheld from a grant payment, as determined by the Commissioner of Education, during the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which noncompliance is determined. The State Board of Education may waive such forfeiture if the State Board of Education determines that the failure of the local or regional board of education to comply with the provisions of this section was due to circumstances beyond its control. ]
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 10-220a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2017):
(a) Each local or regional board of education shall provide an in-service training program for its teachers, administrators and pupil personnel who hold the initial educator, provisional educator or professional educator certificate. Such program shall provide such teachers, administrators and pupil personnel with information on (1) the nature and the relationship of drugs, as defined in subdivision (17) of section 21a-240, and alcohol to health and personality development, and procedures for discouraging their abuse, (2) health and mental health risk reduction education that includes, but need not be limited to, the prevention of risk-taking behavior by children and the relationship of such behavior to substance abuse, pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV-infection and AIDS, as defined in section 19a-581, violence, teen dating violence, domestic violence, child abuse, [and youth suicide, (3) the growth and development of exceptional children, including handicapped and gifted and talented children and children who may require special education, including, but not limited to, children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder or learning disabilities, and methods for identifying, planning for and working effectively with special needs children in a regular classroom, including, but not limited to, implementation of student individualized education programs, (4)] (3) school violence prevention, conflict resolution, the prevention of and response to youth suicide and the identification and prevention of and response to bullying, as defined in subsection (a) of section 10-222d, except that those boards of education that implement any evidence-based model approach that is approved by the Department of Education and is consistent with subsection (d) of section 10-145a, sections 10-222d, 10-222g and 10-222h, subsection (g) of section 10-233c and sections 1 and 3 of public act 08-160, shall not be required to provide in-service training on the identification and prevention of and response to bullying, [(5)] (4) cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other emergency life saving procedures, [(6) computer and other information technology as applied to student learning and classroom instruction, communications and data management, (7) the teaching of the language arts, reading and reading readiness for teachers in grades kindergarten to three, inclusive, (8) second language acquisition in districts required to provide a program of bilingual education pursuant to section 10-17f, (9)] (5) the requirements and obligations of a mandated reporter, [, (10) the teacher evaluation and support program adopted pursuant to subsection (b) of section 10-151b, (11)] and (6) the detection and recognition of, and evidence-based structured literacy interventions for, students with dyslexia, as defined in section 10-3d. [, and (12) cultural competency consistent with the training in cultural competency described in subsection (i) of section 10-145a. ] Each local and regional board of education may allow any paraprofessional or noncertified employee to participate, on a voluntary basis, in any in-service training program provided pursuant to this section. [The State Board of Education, within available appropriations and utilizing available materials, shall assist and encourage local and regional boards of education to include: (A) Holocaust and genocide education and awareness; (B) the historical events surrounding the Great Famine in Ireland; (C) African-American history; (D) Puerto Rican history; (E) Native American history; (F) personal financial management; (G) domestic violence and teen dating violence; (H) mental health first aid training; (I) trauma-informed practices for the school setting to enable teachers, administrators and pupil personnel to more adequately respond to students with mental, emotional or behavioral health needs; (J) second language acquisition, including, but not limited to, language development and culturally responsive pedagogy; and (K) topics approved by the state board upon the request of local or regional boards of education as part of in-service training programs pursuant to this subsection. ]
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2017) The State Board of Education, within available appropriations and utilizing available materials, shall make the following subject matter available to local and regional boards of education: (1) Holocaust and genocide education and awareness; (2) the historical events surrounding the Great Famine in Ireland; (3) African-American history; (4) Puerto Rican history; (5) Native American history; (6) personal financial management; (7) domestic violence and teen dating violence; (8) mental health first aid training; (9) trauma-informed practices for the school setting to enable teachers, administrators and pupil personnel to more adequately respond to students with mental, emotional or behavioral health needs; (10) second language acquisition, including, but not limited to, language development and culturally responsive pedagogy; and (11) topics approved by the state board upon the request of local or regional boards of education as part of in-service training programs pursuant to this subsection. A local or regional board of education may include any of the items described in subdivisions (1) to (11), inclusive, of this section in the in-service training program provided by such board, pursuant to section 10-220a of the general statutes, as amended by this act.