Current Status Introducing Body:House Bill Number:3323 Primary Sponsor:Corning Committee Number:21 Type of Legislation:GB Subject:Teachers, alternative certification method Residing Body:House Current Committee:Education and Public Works Computer Document Number:DKA/4161AL.93 Introduced Date:19930202 Last History Body:House Last History Date:19930202 Last History Type:Introduced, read first time, referred to Committee Scope of Legislation:Statewide All Sponsors:Corning Simrill Jaskwhich Vaughn Meacham Type of Legislation:General Bill
Bill Body Date Action Description CMN Leg Involved
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3323 House 19930202 Introduced, read first time, 21
referred to Committee
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TO AMEND CHAPTER 25, TITLE 59, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS, BY ADDING ARTICLE 4 SO AS TO PROVIDE AN ALTERNATE METHOD OF TEACHER CERTIFICATION BASED UPON SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF TRAINING PROGRAMS APPROVED BY THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Chapter 25, Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 59-25-310. (A) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 59-5-20 and as an alternative to the college teacher preparation program as a prerequisite for certification, a provisional certificate must be issued to a person who participates in a training program approved by the State Board of Education. A person who successfully completes the training program must be issued the standard certificate. To participate in an alternative training program, the candidate shall:
(1) possess a bachelor's degree;
(2) pass a test approved by the State Board of Education of subject matter knowledge in the teaching field. For elementary and kindergarten teaching, the candidate shall pass a test approved by the State Board of Education of general knowledge. In order to be eligible to take a subject field test, the applicant must have completed at least thirty semester hours in a coherent major or five years of experience in the subject field;
(3) have been offered employment in a school approved by the State Superintendent of Education, at the recommendation of the Office of Teacher Education and Certification, to offer a certification training program; and
(4) meet the applicable health requirements for standard certification.
(B) The provisional certificate is of one-year duration and must be issued to participants by the Office of Teacher Education and Certification. The standard certificate must be issued to the candidate upon satisfactory completion of the program as provided in this article.
(C) The Office of Teacher Education and Certification may reject the application of a candidate who is judged not to meet academic requirements comparable to those for students enrolled in South Carolina in college teacher preparation programs.
Section 59-25-320. (A) A district seeking to hire a provisional teacher shall submit a plan to the State Department of Education and receive approval of the plan.
(B) The plan must describe the key elements of the proposed training program in accordance with guidelines established and published by the State Department of Education.
(C) The district shall show evidence in the plan of having sought joint sponsorship of the approved training programs with colleges or universities.
(D) No school district may employ a provisional teacher unless it has submitted a plan and received the approval of the commissioner at the Office of Teacher Education and Certification.
Section 59-25-330. (A) Each approved alternative training program must provide essential knowledge and skills to provisional teachers through the following phases of training:
(1) A full-time seminar or practicum of at least twenty days duration which takes place before the provisional teacher takes full responsibility for a classroom. This seminar or practicum must provide formal instruction in the essential areas for professional study. It must introduce basic teaching skills through supervised teaching experiences with students. The seminar and practicum components of the experience must be integrated and include an orientation to the policies, organization, and curriculum of the employing district.
(2) A period of intensive on-the-job supervision beginning the first day on which the provisional teacher assumes full responsibility for a classroom and continuing at least ten weeks. During this time, the provisional teacher must be visited and critiqued no less than once a week by members of a professional support team and must be observed and formally evaluated at the end of five weeks and at the end of ten weeks by the appropriately certified members of the team. During this same period, formal instruction must be continued in essential areas and emphasize the topics of student assessment, development, and learning, curriculum, and school and classroom organization. At the end of the ten-week period, the provisional teacher shall receive a formal written progress report from the chairman of the support team.
(3) An additional period of continued supervision and evaluation of at least twenty weeks duration. During this period, the provisional teacher must be visited and critiqued at least once a month and must be observed formally and evaluated at least twice. No more than two months may pass without a formal observation. Formal instruction must continue in the essential areas. Opportunities must be provided for the provisional teacher to observe the teaching of experienced colleagues.
(B) Approximately two hundred hours of formal instruction must be provided in all three phases of the program combined.
(C) Training and supervision of provisional teachers in approved alternative programs must be provided by a professional support team comprised of a school principal, an experienced teacher, a college faculty member, and a curriculum supervisor. Districts or schools which do not employ curriculum supervisors or which have been unable to establish a relationship with a college should provide for comparable expertise on the team. The school principal serves as chairman of the team.
(D) The State Department of Education shall coordinate the training efforts of districts and establish regional programs for provisional teachers. The department shall provide orientation programs for support team members.
Section 59-25-330. (A) Provisional teachers must be observed and evaluated by appropriately certified support team members as described in Section 59-25-320(C).
(B) Evaluation of provisional teachers must be shared by at least two, but no more than three, members of the support team.
(C) The State Department of Education shall devise standardized criteria and forms for a final comprehensive evaluation of each provisional teacher, conducted at the end of the provisional period by appropriately certified support team members. Teachers who participate in the observation process may not participate in decisions which might have a bearing on the future employment or certification of provisional teachers.
Section 59-25-340. (A) At the conclusion of the alternative training program, the chairman of the support team shall prepare a comprehensive evaluation report on the provisional teacher's performance. This report must be submitted by the chairman directly to the Office of Teacher Education and Certification and contain a recommendation on whether a standard certificate should be issued to the provisional teacher.
(B) The final comprehensive evaluation report on each provisional teacher must be made on standard forms developed by the State Department of Education and include one of the following recommendations:
(1) Approved: Recommends issuance of a standard certificate;
(2) Insufficient: Recommends that a standard certificate not be issued but that the candidate be allowed to seek entry on one more occasion in the future into a state-approved training program; or
(3) Disapproved: Recommends that a standard certificate not be issued and that the candidate not be allowed to enter into a state-approved training program.
(C) The support team chairman shall provide the provisional teacher with a copy of the provisional teacher's written evaluation report and certification recommendation before submitting it to the Office of Teacher Education and Certification. Upon receipt of the report and a favorable recommendation, a standard certificate must be issued to the provisional teacher.
(D) If the provisional teacher disagrees with the chairman's recommendation, the provisional teacher, within fifteen days of receipt of the evaluation report and certification recommendation, may submit written materials to the chairman that document the reasons why the provisional teacher believes standard certification should be awarded. The chairman shall forward all the documentation to the Office of Teacher Education and Certification along with the evaluation report and recommendation concerning certification.
Section 59-25-350. (A) When the director of the Office of Teacher Education and Certification receives any adverse recommendation concerning the standard certification of a provisional teacher, he shall notify the provisional teacher of the date it will consider the recommendation. The Director of the Office of Teacher Education and Certification shall allow the provisional teacher an additional opportunity to provide the office with written materials documenting the reason why the provisional teacher believes standard certification should be awarded.
(B) Denial of issue of a standard certificate may be appealed by the provisional teacher to the State Board of Education.
(C) The Office of Teacher Education and Certification shall take final action on the decision of the State Board of Education concerning the certification of provisional teachers."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 1994.