44225
. The commission shall do all of the following:
(a) Establish professional standards, assessments, and
examinations for entry and advancement in the education profession.
While the Legislature recognizes that the commission will exercise
its prerogative to determine those requirements, it is the intent of
the Legislature that standards, assessments, and examinations be
developed and implemented for the following:
(1) The preliminary teaching credential, to be granted upon
possession of a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited
institution in a subject other than professional education,
completion of an accredited program of professional preparation, and
either successful passage of an examination or assessment that has
been adopted or approved by the commission in the subject or subjects
appropriate to the grade level to be taught, to include
college-level reading, writing, and mathematics skills, or completion
of an accredited program of subject matter preparation and
successful passage of the basic skills proficiency test as provided
for in Article 4 (commencing with Section 44250). The commission
shall uniformly consider the results of the basic skills proficiency
test in conjunction with other pertinent information about the
qualifications of each candidate for a preliminary credential, and
may award the credential on the basis of the overall performance of a
candidate as measured by several criteria of professional
competence, provided that each candidate meets minimum standards set
by the commission on each criterion. Upon application by a regionally
accredited institution of higher education, the commission may
categorically grant credit to coursework completed in an accredited
program of professional preparation, as specified by this paragraph,
by undergraduates of that institution, where the commission finds
there are adequate assurances of the quality of necessary
undergraduate instruction in the liberal arts and in the subject area
or areas to be taught.
(2) The professional teaching credential, to be granted upon
successful passage of a state examination or assessment in the
subject or subjects appropriate to the grade level to be taught, to
include college-level basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills,
and completion of a period of beginning teacher support that
includes assessments of ability to teach subject matter to pupils,
ability to work well with pupils, classroom management, and
instructional skills. A candidate who successfully passes the
examination or assessment pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be deemed
to have passed the state examination or assessment in the subject or
subjects to be taught pursuant to this paragraph.
(b) Reduce and streamline the credential system to ensure teacher
competence in the subject field or fields, while allowing greater
flexibility in staffing local schools. The commission shall award the
following types of credentials to applicants whose preparation and
competence satisfy its standards:
(1) Basic teaching credentials for teaching in kindergarten, or
any of the grades 1 to 12, inclusive, in public schools in this
state.
(2) Credentials for teaching adult education classes and
vocational education classes.
(3) Credentials for teaching specialties, including, but not
necessarily limited to, bilingual education, early childhood
education, and special education. The commission may grant
credentials to any candidate who concurrently meets the commission's
standards of preparation and competence for the preliminary basic
teaching credential and the preliminary specialty credential.
(4) Credentials for school services, for positions including, but
not limited to, administrators, school counselors, speech-language
therapists, audiologists, school psychologists, library media
teachers, supervisors of attendance, and school nurses.
The commission may establish standards and requirements for
preliminary and professional credentials of each type.
(c) Review and, if necessary, revise the code of ethics for the
teaching profession.
(d) Establish standards for the issuance and renewal of
credentials, certificates, and permits. In setting standards, the
commission shall seek to ensure, through its credentialing of
teachers, that public school teachers satisfy all of the following
criteria:
(1) Are academically talented.
(2) Are knowledgeable of the subjects to be taught in the
classroom.
(3) Are creative and energetic.
(4) Have the human skills to motivate and inspire pupils to
achieve their goals.
(5) Have the sensitivity to foster self-esteem in pupils through
recognition that each pupil has his or her own goals, talents, and
levels of development.
(6) Be willing to relate the educational process and their
instructional strategies to meet the needs of pupils.
(7) Are able to work effectively with and motivate pupils from a
variety of ethnic, socioeconomic, cultural, academic, and linguistic
backgrounds.
(8) Have an understanding of principles and laws related to
educational equity, and the equitable practice of the profession of
education among all pupils regardless of their ethnicity, race,
gender, age, religious background, primary language, or disabling
condition.
(e) Determine the scope and authorization of credentials, to
ensure competence in teaching and other educational services, and
establish sanctions for the misuse of credentials and the
misassignment of credentialholders. The commission may grant an added
or supplementary authorization to a credentialholder who has met the
requirements and standards of the commission for the added or
supplementary authorization. The commission shall exempt the holder
of a teaching credential obtained prior to January 1, 1974, who adds
an authorization by successfully completing a commission-approved
subject matter examination, from the requirements of subdivision (e)
of Section 44259 and Sections 44261, 44261.5, and 44261.7.
(f) Collect, compile, and disseminate information regarding
exemplary practices in supporting and assessing beginning teachers.
(g) Establish alternative methods for entry into the teaching
profession, and into other certificated roles in the schools, by
persons in varying circumstances, including persons who have been
educated outside of California, provided that each applicant
satisfies all of the requirements established by the commission. One
alternative method shall be the successful completion of at least two
years of classroom instruction under a district intern certificate,
pursuant to Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 44325). In
establishing alternative methods for entry into the teaching
profession, the commission shall develop strategies to encourage
classroom aides to become credentialed teachers.
(h) Adopt a framework and general standards for the accreditation
of preparation programs for teachers and other certificated educators
pursuant to Article 7 (commencing with Section 44320).
(i) Appoint classroom teachers, school administrators, other
school services personnel, representatives of the public, and public
or private higher education representatives to one or more standing
committees, which shall be given authority to recommend to the
commission standards relating to examinations, performance
assessments, program accreditation, and licensing. The commission
shall establish criteria for membership on those committees, and
shall determine the terms of committee members. Appointments to
standing committees by the commission shall reflect, to the extent
feasible, the ethnic and cultural diversity of the California public
schools.
(j) Consult with classroom teachers, faculty members from
institutions of higher education that maintain accredited programs of
professional preparation for teachers, administrators or other
school services personnel, and other experts to aid in the
development of examinations and assessments, and to study the impact
of examinations and assessments on the teaching profession. To
increase the fairness of its certification decisions, the commission
may uniformly consider the results of tests, subtests, and
assessments in conjunction with each other, and in conjunction with
other pertinent information about the qualifications of each
candidate. The commission may award credentials on the basis of
average overall performances by candidates on several criteria of
professional competence, provided that each candidate meets minimum
standards set by the commission on each criterion.
(k) Adopt standards for all examinations and assessments which
shall ensure that all prospective teachers demonstrate an
understanding of the history and cultures of the major ethnic
populations of this state and of teaching strategies for the
acquisition of English language skills by non-English-speaking
pupils.
(l) Determine the terms of credentials, certificates, and permits,
except that no credential, certificate, or permit shall be valid for
more than five years from the date of issuance. This article shall
govern the issuance of any credential, certificate, or permit, except
as follows:
(1) A credential, certificate, or permit shall remain in force as
long as it is valid and continues to be valid under the laws and
regulations that were in effect when it was issued.
(2) The commission shall grant teaching credentials pursuant to
statutes that were in effect on December 31, 1988, to candidates who,
prior to the effective date of regulations to implement subdivision
(a), are in the process of meeting the requirements for teaching
credentials that were in effect on December 31, 1988, except that
neither enrollment as an undergraduate student nor receipt of a
baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution prior
to the effective date of the regulations shall, by themselves, exempt
a candidate from the requirements of subdivision (a). Enrollment in
a preparation program for teachers prior to the effective date of the
regulations shall not exempt a candidate from the requirements of
paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), if the preliminary credential of
the candidate was granted after the effective date of the
regulations.
(m) Review requests from school districts, county offices of
education, private schools, and postsecondary institutions for the
waiver of one or more of the provisions of this chapter or other
provisions governing the preparation or licensing of educators. The
commission may grant a waiver upon its finding that professional
preparation equivalent to that prescribed under the provision or
provisions to be waived will be, or has been, completed by the
credential candidate or candidates affected or that a waiver is
necessary to accomplish any of the following:
(1) Give a local educational agency one semester or less to
address unanticipated, immediate, short-term shortages of fully
qualified educators by assigning a teacher who holds a basic teaching
credential to teach outside of his or her credential authorization,
with the teacher's consent.
(2) Provide credential candidates additional time to complete a
credential requirement.
(3) Allow local school districts or schools to implement an
education reform or restructuring plan.
(4) Temporarily exempt from a specified credential requirement
small, geographically isolated regions with severely limited ability
to develop personnel.
(5) Provide other temporary exemptions when deemed appropriate by
the commission.
No provision in this chapter may be waived under Section 33050 and
33051, after June 30, 1994, by the State Board of Education.
(n) It is the intent of the Legislature that the commission
develop models for voluntary use by California colleges and
universities that do not have these models in place, to assist in the
screening of applications for admission to teacher education
programs. The models shall give emphasis to the following
qualifications of the applicants: academic talent, knowledge of
subjects to be taught, basic academic skills, creativity, experience
in working with children and adolescents, ability to motivate and
inspire pupils, and willingness to relate education to pupils with a
wide variety of cultural, ethnic, and academic backgrounds. The
commission may continue to administer the state basic skills
proficiency test, in order (1) to utilize the results of this test in
awarding preliminary teaching credentials and emergency permits, and
(2) to enable colleges and universities to utilize this test in
conjunction with other appropriate sources of information in teacher
preparation admission decisions. However, it is the intent of the
Legislature that applicants for admission to teacher preparation
programs may not be denied admission solely on the basis of state
basic skills proficiency test results. The commission may recover the
costs of administering and developing the test by charging examinees
a fee for taking the test.
(o) It is the intent of the Legislature that the commission
encourage colleges and universities to design and implement, by
August 1, 1990, concentrated internship programs for persons who have
attained a bachelor's degree in the field in which they intend to
teach. Those programs would be targeted at subject area shortages,
would substitute for conventional training programs, and would
include a full summer session of college-level coursework, a one-year
internship, or the equivalent, a seminar throughout the internship,
and a summer session following the internship. Educator preparation
through internship programs shall be subject to Article 10
(commencing with Section 44370).
(p) Grant a field placement certificate to any candidate who has
been admitted to an accredited program of professional preparation,
and who must complete a supervised practicum in public elementary or
secondary schools as a condition for completion of the program. The
commission shall establish standards for the issuance of field
placement certificates.
(q) Propose appropriate rules and regulations to implement the act
which enacts this section.
(r) Adopt subject matter assessments for teaching credentials
after developing those assessments jointly with the Superintendent.