PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT REQUIREMENTS

FOR TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS

House Bill 5156 (proposed substitute H-1)

Sponsor:  Rep. Lisa Posthumus Lyons

House Bill 5157 (proposed substitute H-1)

Sponsor: Rep. Daniela R. Garcia

Committee: Education

House Bill 5158 as introduced

Sponsor: Rep. Amanda Price

House Bill 5159 as introduced

Sponsor: Rep. Ken Yonker

Complete to 1-20-16

REVISED SUMMARY:

House Bills 5156-5158 would amend sections of the Revised School Code pertaining to professional development requirements for teachers and administrators.  House Bill 5159 would amend the State School Aid Act, by assigning a penalty for failing to meet those requirements.   All four are tie-barred together, meaning none could take effect unless all are enacted, and they would go into effect 90 days after enactment. 

House Bill 5156 (Professional Development for Teachers)

House Bill 5156 would amend the number of hours of professional development trainings a school board must provide to each teacher, from five days to thirty hours each school year (ongoing development).[1]  These trainings must be delivered in increments of not less than 30 minutes. 

The requirement applies to the boards of school districts, intermediate school districts, and public school academies (charter schools).

Also, the bill states that the guidelines the school sets for these trainings must be based on the requirements of MCL 38.83A.  That section of the Revised School Code applies to a teacher's five-year probationary period, and mandates that a school district develop an individualized development plan for each teacher, conduct classroom evaluations, and produce a performance evaluation each year.  

Fifty percent of these professional development trainings must be provided either individually or in a group no larger than 30 teachers.  

The trainings required in this bill are separate from the 15 days of professional development required within a teacher's first three years of teaching under Section 1526 of the Revised School Code, with proposed changes in House Bill 5158, below.

MCL 380.1527

House Bill 5157 (Continuing Education for Administrators)

A 2009 amendment to the section of the Revised School Code that this bill would amend called for the superintendent to establish continuing education requirements, to be completed every five years by all school administrators.  This bill would lay out the specific guidelines the continuing education must follow.

Currently, any administrator (superintendent, principal, assistant principal, or other individual whose primary responsibility is administering instructional programs, or chief business official) who was employed as an administrator before January 4, 2010, must complete existing continuing education requirements. 

House Bill 5157 provides that the continuing education must be based on an individual professional development plan for each individual, and meet additional guidelines, to be developed by the Department of Education. The guidelines are to be developed no later than 90 days after House Bill 5157 takes effect. These guidelines must:  

                    

·         Be based on state board-approved standards for professional learning.

·         Include educational experiences in conducting evaluations of teachers and of administrator peers.  This should include at least training on evaluation models and practicum experiences using those models.

·         Include educational experiences in methods for improving teacher-to-teacher and teacher-to-administrator collaboration.

·         Include training on interpreting student assessment data and on how to use that data to make changes in instructional programs.

           

            MCL 380.1246

House Bill 5158 (Probationary Teachers)

Now, a probationary teacher is required to complete at least 15 days of professional development (probationary development).  House Bill 5158 would amend that requirement slightly so that they would be required to compete 90 hours over the course of at least 15 days, in increments of at least 30 minutes each day. 

Additionally, a school currently ensures that a probationary teacher is assigned to one or more "master teachers, or college professors or retired master teachers, who shall act as a mentor or mentors to the teacher."  House Bill 5158 would amend this language to require a school board or the board of directors for a public school academy to assign a teacher one or more "mentor teachers who meet requirements established by the superintendent of public instruction."

This professional development requirement is in addition to the ongoing development requirement described in Section 1527 of the Revised School Code, with proposed changes in House Bill 5156, above.  

MCL 380.1526

House Bill 5159 (State Aid Penalty)

This bill provides that if a district or intermediate district violates any of the professional development requirements outlined in the three bills described above, it would forfeit five percent of its total state aid.  The bill amends the State School Aid Act (MCL 388. 1763).

           

FISCAL IMPACT:

The bills would have a minimal, if any, fiscal impact on the state, but could increase costs for districts, including public school academies, and intermediate districts. 

The bills could create additional administrative costs to the state by requiring that the Department of Education (MDE) create new guidelines for the delivery of professional development for both teachers and administrators; however, those costs would likely be avoided by redirecting existing staff time rather than requiring additional staff.

The bills would increase costs to districts and intermediate districts by an indeterminate amount depending on the extent to which they are already providing professional development that would satisfy the revised requirements.  The bills would create additional costs as follows:

·         The bills could increase the number of separate training sessions necessary by requiring that at least 50% of the training occur in groups of 1 to 30 teachers.

·         The bills could require new content and increased time for administrative continuing education by requiring that districts and intermediate districts follow yet-to-be-determined department guidelines with new activities specified by House Bill 5157.

·         The bills could reduce state funding to districts and intermediate districts by penalizing them up by 5% of their total state aid payments for violating any of the sections of the Revised School Code amended in the bill package.

The bills would not have a practical fiscal impact in moving from days to hours because MDE guidance and practice already requires that 1 professional development day be equal to 6 hours.

                                                                                        Legislative Analyst:   Jennifer McInerney

                                                                                                Fiscal Analyst:   Bethany Wicksall

                                                                                                                           Samuel Christensen

■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.

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