SB 578: Professional Development and Renewal

Jeffrey A. Aranowski, Division SupervisorPublic School Recognition/Office of the General Counsel

Illinois State Board of Education

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General Renewal Requirements for PELs

Professional Development Activities

Approved Providers

Failure to Complete Professional Development

Lapsed Licenses

SB 578 Overview

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Teachers ◦ One-hundred twenty (120) hours of PD per five year cycle

NBPTS Teachers ◦ Sixty (60) hours of PD per five year cycle

◦ Validity period aligned with NBPTS designation

No reductions for advanced degrees

Applicable Endorsements: any teaching endorsement on a PEL

General Renewal Requirements for PELs

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Administrators & Teacher Leaders ◦ One-hundred (100) hours of PD per five year cycle; and

◦ One (1) Illinois Administrators’ Academy (IAA) course during each fiscal year of administrative employment

◦ Current administrators must complete one IAA course during FY 2014

◦ Applicable Endorsements: general administrative, principal, superintendent, chief school business official, director of special education, and teacher leader

General Renewal Requirements for PELs

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School Service Personnel ◦ One-hundred twenty (120) hours of PD per five year cycle

◦ If IDFPR licensure is held, the applicant is deemed to have fulfilled all professional development requirements

◦ Applicable Endorsements: school counselor, school social worker, school psychologist, school nurse, and non-teaching speech and language pathologist

◦ A Teaching Speech and Language Pathologist endorsement may be exchanged for a Non-Teaching Speech and Language Pathologist endorsement through April 30, 2014

General Renewal Requirements for PELs

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Educators working in a position 50% or more for any particular year must complete the relevant renewal requirements.

If endorsed in more than one area, renewal requirements must be completed for the position in which the educator spends the majority of time working.

Beginning with his or her first full 5-year cycle, any licensee with an administrative endorsement who is not working in a position requiring such endorsement shall complete one (1) IAA in each 5-year renewal cycle in which the administrative endorsement was held for at least one year

Applicability of Requirements

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Professional development activities shall align with one or more of the following criteria:

◦ (1) activities are of a type that engage participants over a sustained period of time allowing for analysis, discovery, and application as they relate to student learning, social or emotional achievement, or well-being;

◦ (2) professional development aligns to the licensee's performance;

 ◦ (3) outcomes for the activities must relate to student growth or district

improvement;

 ◦ (4) activities align to State-approved standards; and

 ◦ (5) higher education coursework.

Professional Development Activities

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Only activities offered by approved providers will count for renewal purposes if they meet at least one of the following criteria.

◦ (1) Increase the knowledge and skills of school and district leaders who guide continuous professional development;

◦ (2) Improve the learning of students;

◦ (3) Organize adults into learning communities whose goals are aligned with those of the school and district;

Professional Development Activities

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◦ (4) Deepen educator's content knowledge;

◦ (5) Provide educators with research-based instructional strategies to assist students in meeting rigorous academic standards;

◦ (6) Prepare educators to appropriately use various types of classroom assessments;

◦ (7) Use learning strategies appropriate to the intended goals;

◦ (8) Provide educators with the knowledge and skills to collaborate; or

◦ (9) Prepare educators to apply research to decision-making

Professional Development Activities

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Within 60 days of the conclusion of a PD activity, licensees must enter the following in ELIS:

◦ 1) The Name of the activity ◦ 2) Date◦ 3) Location of the activity, ◦ 4) Number of PD hours◦ 5) The provider’s name.

IAA courses will be entered by the provider, not by the licensee.

Entering Professional Development Activities

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State Board of Education

Regional offices of education and intermediate service centers

Public school districts, charter schools, cooperatives/joint agreements

Regionally accredited Illinois higher education institutions that offer educator preparation programs

Illinois professional associations representing the following groups that are approved by the State Superintendent of Education:

◦ School administrators, principals, school business officials, teachers (including special education teachers), school boards, school districts, parents, and school support personnel.

Approved Providers

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Align professional development activities to the Learning Forward State-approved national standards for professional learning;

Meet the professional development criteria for Illinois licensure renewal;

Produce a rationale for each activity that explains how it aligns to State standards and identify the assessment for determining the expected impact on student learning or school improvement;

Maintain original documentation for completion of activities;

Approved Providers must……

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Provide license holders with evidence of completion of activities;

Annually submit to the State Board of Education a list of subcontractors used for delivery of professional development activities for which renewal credit was issued and other information as required.

To determine continued renewal, annually submit data to the State Board of Education demonstrating how the professional development activities impacted one or more of the following:

◦ (a) educator and student growth in regards to content knowledge or skills, or both;

◦ (b) educator and student social and emotional growth; or◦ (c) alignment to district or school improvement.

Approved Providers must……

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For any renewal cycle in which PD hours were required but not fulfilled, the educator must complete by September 1 of the renewal year any missed hours to total the required number

For any fiscal year or renewal cycle in which an administrator or Teacher Leader was required to complete one or more Illinois Administrators’ Academy (IAA) courses, but did not, that individual must complete the IAA course(s) by September 1 of that year.

Licensees may complete all deficient hours and IAA courses while continuing to work in a position that requires that license until September 1 of that year.

Failure to Complete Professional Development

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If PD opportunities were unavailable to a licensee, proof that opportunities were not available and a request for an extension of time beyond August 31 to complete the renewal requirements may be submitted between April 1 and June 30 of the renewal year to the State Educator Preparation and Licensure Board (SEPLB).

If an extension is approved, the license will remain valid during the extension period.

Failure to Complete Professional Development

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Licenses must be renewed and registered between April 1 and June 30 of the final year of the cycle.

Licenses that are not renewed by September 1 of the first fiscal year of the new cycle will lapse.

Licenses that are not registered six months after the last date of registration will lapse on December 31 of that year.

A PEL may be reinstated by the licensee by:◦ Paying a $500 penalty fee; or ◦ Completing nine (9) semester hours of college

coursework from a regionally accredited institution of higher education in a content area related to the educator’s endorsement area(s).

Lapsed Licenses

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Licensure and renewal questions:◦ Contact your Regional Office of Education

Technical assistance for Education Licensure Information System (ELIS)◦ licensure@isbe.net

General information and updates:◦ www.isbe.net/licensure

For Further Information….