ELEMENTARY TEACHERS: READING TRAINING
Senate Bill 327
Sponsor: Sen. Nancy Cassis
House Committee: Education
Senate Committee: Education
Complete to 9-16-05
A SUMMARY OF SENATE BILL 327(S-2) AS PASSED BY THE SENATE 5-5-05
The bill would amend the Revised School Code (MCL 380.1531) to establish additional reading instruction requirements for the renewal of an elementary teacher's provisional teaching certificate, or the advancement of the teacher's certification to professional certification, beginning July 1, 2007.
Under the code, the superintendent of public instruction may issue a teaching certificate only to a person who has met the elementary or secondary reading credit requirements established by rule. (Rules 390.1126 and 390.1127 require a person to have completed six semester hours in the teaching of reading for an elementary certificate, and three hours for a secondary certificate, respectively.)
Under the bill and beginning July 1, 2007, the state superintendent could not renew an elementary teacher's provisional teaching certificate or advance the person's certification to professional certification unless, during the first six years of his or her employment in classroom teaching, the person successfully completed at least a three-credit course of study with appropriate field experiences in the diagnosis and remediation of reading disabilities and differentiated instruction.
To meet this requirement, the course would have to include at least all of the following elements, as appropriate for the person's certification level and endorsements: interest inventories; English language learning screening; visual and auditory discrimination tools; language expression and processing screening; phonemics; phonics; vocabulary; fluency; comprehension; spelling and writing assessment tools; and instructional strategies.
The Department of Education could see increased costs in verifying that a teacher had met the new requirements. There would be no fiscal impact on local units.
Legislative Analyst: J. Hunault
■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.