SB 70, As Concurred Senate

SB-0070, As Passed Senate, June 28, 2007

HOUSE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE BILL NO. 70

A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled

"The revised school code,"

by amending section 1531 (MCL 380.1531), as amended by 2006 PA 118.

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~~ 2009,

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,~~ has

successfully ~~completes~~ completed 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. A person may complete the course of study

either as part of his or her teacher preparation program or during

the first 6 years of his or her employment in classroom teaching.

(5) Not later than 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) Subject to subsection (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.

reading credit requirement established under superintendent of

public instruction rule.

(7) A person who receives a teaching certificate and

endorsement or endorsements under subsection (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) The superintendent of public instruction shall deny a

Michigan teaching certificate to a person described in subsection

(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) The department, based upon criteria recommended pursuant

to subsection (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) For the purposes of this section, the superintendent of

public instruction, based upon criteria recommended pursuant to

subsection (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 (11), shall approve an

elementary certification examination and a reading subject area

examination.

(11) 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 (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) 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) 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 (15) and the amount of and any purposes for

which that revenue was expended.

(14) 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) 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) 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) 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 (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.

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) The superintendent of public instruction shall promulgate

rules for the implementation of this section.

(19) 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