SB-0327, As Passed House, March 28, 2006
HOUSE SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 327
A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled
"The revised school code,"
by amending section 1531 (MCL 380.1531), as amended by 2000 PA 497.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1531. (1) Except as provided in this act, the
superintendent of public instruction shall determine the
requirements for and issue all licenses and certificates for
teachers, including preprimary teachers, and the requirements for
an endorsement of teachers as qualified counselors and an
endorsement of teachers for teaching a foreign language in an
elementary grade in the public schools of the state.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in this act, the
superintendent of public instruction shall only issue a teaching
certificate to a person who has passed appropriate examinations as
follows:
(a) For a secondary level teaching certificate, has passed
both the basic skills examination and the appropriate available
subject area examination for each subject area in which he or she
applies to be certified.
(b) For an elementary level teaching certificate, has passed
the basic skills examination and, if it is available, the
elementary certification examination, and has passed the
appropriate available subject area examination for each subject
area, if any, in which he or she applies to be certified.
(3) Except as otherwise provided in this act, the
superintendent of public instruction shall issue a Michigan
teaching certificate to a person holding a certificate from another
state or a teaching degree from an out-of-state teacher preparation
institution who applies for a Michigan teaching certificate only if
the person passes appropriate examinations as follows:
(a) For a secondary level teaching certificate, pass both the
basic skills examination and the appropriate available subject area
examination for each subject area in which he or she applies to be
certified. The superintendent of public instruction may accept
passage of an equivalent examination approved by the superintendent
of public instruction to meet 1 or both of these requirements.
(b) For an elementary level teaching certificate, pass the
basic skills examination and, if it is available, the elementary
certification examination, and pass the appropriate available
subject area examination for each subject area, if any, in which he
or she applies to be certified. The superintendent of public
instruction may accept passage of an equivalent examination
approved by the superintendent of public instruction to meet 1 or
more of these requirements.
(4) Except as otherwise provided in this act, the
superintendent of public instruction shall only issue a teaching
certificate to a person who has met the elementary or secondary, as
applicable, reading credit requirements established under
superintendent of public instruction rule. If a person holds a
teaching certificate, then beginning July 1, 2007, notwithstanding
any rule to the contrary, the superintendent of public instruction
shall not renew the person's provisional teaching certificate or
advance the person's certification to professional certification
unless the person, during the first 6 years of his or her
employment in classroom teaching, successfully completes at least a
3-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 of
study should include the following elements, as determined by the
department to be 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.
(5) Not later than 1 year after the effective
date of the
amendatory
act that added this subsection January
11, 2002, the
superintendent of public instruction, in cooperation with
appropriate curriculum specialists and teacher educators, shall
revise existing reading standards to recognize reading disorders
and to enable teachers to make referrals for instruction and
support for pupils with reading disorders.
(6) (5)
Subject to subsection (7) (8),
if a person holding
a teaching certificate from another state applies to the
superintendent of public instruction for a Michigan teaching
certificate and meets the requirements of this subsection, the
superintendent of public instruction shall issue to the person a
Michigan professional education teaching certificate and applicable
endorsements comparable to those the person holds in the other
state, without requiring the person to pass a basic skills
examination or the applicable subject area examination otherwise
required under subsection (2) or (3). To be eligible to receive a
Michigan professional education teaching certificate under this
subsection, a person shall provide evidence satisfactory to the
department that he or she meets all of the following requirements:
(a) Has taught successfully for at least 3 years in a position
for which the person's teaching certification from the other state
was valid.
(b) Has earned, after his or her initial certification in
another state, at least 18 semester credit hours in a planned
course of study at an institution of higher education approved by
the superintendent of public instruction or has earned, at any
time, a master's or doctoral degree approved by the superintendent
of public instruction.
(c) Has met the elementary or secondary, as applicable,
reading credit requirement established under superintendent of
public instruction rule.
(7) (6)
A person who receives a teaching certificate and
endorsement
or endorsements under subsection (5) (6)
is eligible
to receive 1 or more additional endorsements comparable to
endorsements the person holds in another state only if the person
passes the appropriate subject area examinations required under
subsection (2) or (3).
(8) (7)
The superintendent of public instruction shall deny
a
Michigan teaching certificate to a person described in subsection
(5)
(6) for fraud, material misrepresentation, or
concealment in
the person's application for a certificate or for a conviction for
which a person's teaching certificate may be revoked under section
1535a.
(9) (8)
The department, based upon criteria recommended
pursuant
to subsection (10) (11), shall provide to approved
teacher education institutions guidelines and criteria approved by
the superintendent of public instruction for use in the development
or selection of a basic skills examination and approved guidelines
and criteria for use in the development or selection of subject
area examinations.
(10) (9)
For the purposes of this section, the
superintendent of public instruction, based upon criteria
recommended
pursuant to subsection (10) (11), shall develop,
select, or develop and select 1 or more basic skills examinations
and subject area examinations. In addition, the superintendent of
public instruction, based upon criteria recommended pursuant to
subsection (10)
(11), shall approve an elementary certification
examination and a reading subject area examination.
(11) (10)
The superintendent of public instruction shall
appoint an 11-member teacher examination advisory committee
comprised of representatives of approved teacher education
institutions and Michigan education organizations and associations.
Not more than 1/2 of the members comprising this committee shall be
certified teachers. This committee shall recommend criteria to be
used by the superintendent of public instruction in the
development, selection, or development and selection of 1 or more
basic skills examinations, and criteria to be used by the
superintendent of public instruction in the development, selection,
or development and selection of subject area examinations. In
addition, the committee shall recommend guidelines for the use and
administration of those examinations. The basic skills examinations
referred to in this subsection may be developed by the
superintendent of public instruction or selected by the
superintendent of public instruction from commercially or
university developed examinations. In addition, an approved teacher
education institution, pursuant to guidelines and criteria
described
in subsection (8) (9), may develop an examination at
its own expense for approval by the superintendent of public
instruction. An approved teacher education institution that
develops its own examination is liable for any litigation that
results from the use of its examination.
(12) (11)
The superintendent of public instruction shall
appoint a 7-member standing technical advisory council comprised of
persons who are experts in measurement and assessment. This council
shall advise the superintendent of public instruction and the
teacher examination committee on the validity, reliability, and
other technical standards of the examinations that will be used or
are being used and of the administration and use of those
examinations.
(13) (12)
Not later than November 30 of each year, the
superintendent of public instruction shall submit in writing a
report on the development or selection and use of the basic skills
examination, the elementary certification examination, and the
subject area examinations to the house and senate education
committees. The report shall also contain a financial statement
regarding revenue received from the assessment of fees levied
pursuant
to subsection (14) (15)
and the amount of and any
purposes for which that revenue was expended.
(14) (13)
The basic skills examination, the elementary
certification examination, and the subject area examinations
required by this section may be taken at different times during an
approved teacher preparation program, but the basic skills
examination must be passed before a person is enrolled for student
teaching and the elementary certification examination and the
subject area examinations, as applicable, must be passed before a
person is recommended for certification.
(15) (14)
The department, or if approved by the
superintendent of public instruction, a private testing service,
may assess fees for taking the basic skills examination, elementary
certification examination, and the subject area examinations. The
fees, which shall be set by the superintendent of public
instruction, shall not exceed $50.00 for a basic skills examination
or $75.00 for an elementary certification examination or a subject
area examination. However, if a subject area examination for
vocational education includes a performance examination, an
additional fee may be assessed for taking the performance
examination, not to exceed the actual cost of administering the
performance examination. Fees received by the department shall be
expended solely for administrative expenses that it incurs in
implementing this section.
(16) (15)
If a person holding a teaching certificate from
another state applies for a Michigan teaching certificate and meets
all requirements for the Michigan teaching certificate except
passage of the appropriate examinations under subsection (3), the
superintendent of public instruction shall issue a nonrenewable
temporary teaching certificate, good for 1 year, to the person. The
superintendent of public instruction shall not issue a Michigan
teaching certificate to the person after expiration of the
temporary teaching certificate unless the person passes appropriate
examinations as described in subsection (3).
(17) (16)
As used in this section:
(a) "Basic skills examination" means an examination developed
or selected by the superintendent of public instruction or
developed
pursuant to subsection (10) (11)
by an approved teacher
education institution for the purpose of demonstrating the
applicant's knowledge and understanding of basic language and
mathematical skills and other skills necessary for the certificate
sought, and for determining whether or not an applicant is eligible
for a provisional Michigan teaching certificate.
(b) "Elementary certification examination" means a
comprehensive examination for elementary certification that has
been developed or selected by the superintendent of public
instruction for demonstrating the applicant's knowledge and
understanding of the core subjects normally taught in elementary
classrooms and for determining whether or not an applicant is
eligible for an elementary level teaching certificate.
(c) "Subject area examination" means an examination related to
a specific area of certification, which examination has been
developed or selected by the superintendent of public instruction
for the purpose of demonstrating the applicant's knowledge and
understanding of the subject matter and determining whether or not
an applicant is eligible for a Michigan teaching certificate.
(18) (17)
The superintendent of public instruction shall
promulgate rules for the implementation of this section.
(19) (18)
Notwithstanding any rule to the contrary, the
superintendent of public instruction shall continue to issue state
elementary or secondary continuing education certificates pursuant
to R 390.1132(1) of the Michigan administrative code to persons who
completed the requirements of that rule by December 31, 1992 and
who apply for that certificate not later than March 15, 1994. If
the superintendent of public instruction has issued a state
elementary or secondary professional education certificate to a
person described in this section, the superintendent of public
instruction shall consider the person to have a state elementary or
secondary, as applicable, continuing education certificate.