Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
a) Pursuant to Section 34-18.82 of the Code
(Public Act 103-157), beginning July 1, 2024, subsequent teaching
endorsements may be granted by a school district organized under
Article 34 of the Code to employees licensed under Article 21B
of the Code for specific content areas and grade levels as
part of a pilot program. An endorsement in a specific content area may
be issued to individuals who:
1) hold a
professional educator license endorsed in a teaching field;
2) have passed the applicable content area
test for the subsequent endorsement sought;
3) have successfully completed a State
Board-approved professional development sequence, equivalent to 18 semester
hours of coursework in the area of the subsequent endorsement sought;
and
4) are currently employed by a
school district organized under Article 34 of the Code.
b) Under the pilot program, professional
development sequences for up to seven hard-to-staff endorsement areas shall be
submitted to the State Superintendent for approval in a format provided by the
State Board and shall include the following components for each endorsement
area sequence:
1) a description of the
sequence and each of its components;
2) justification for selecting the particular
endorsement content area for the pilot program, which must include district
data and may include State data demonstrating that positions requiring this
endorsement are difficult to staff;
3)
a comprehensive review of relevant
State learning standards;
4) alignment to the applicable State
content-test framework;
5)
if applicable, alignment to relevant educator
preparation standards (see Section 34-18.82 of the Code);
6) a description of how the sequence's
outcomes were determined to be comparable to the knowledge gained in 18
semester hours of coursework from a regionally accredited institution of higher
education;
7) the assessment
methods by which the participant will demonstrate successful completion of the
sequence; and the criteria for and process through which the employer will
determine successful completion of the sequence;
8) the mode of delivery;
9) projected timeline for participant
completion of the sequence and each of its components;
10) a description of the data collection and
analysis process the school district will complete during the pilot program to
determine program; effectiveness;
11) cost of program to
participants;
12) number of
professional development hours toward license renewal that will be granted to
program participants; and
13) a
list of faculty or staff who will lead each component of the sequence and their
qualifications.
c) The
professional development sequences submitted under subsection (b) will be
reviewed and either denied or approved by the State Superintendent in
collaboration with the SEPLB. (See Section 34-18.82 of the Code.) Program
participants must complete the required professional development sequence by
June 30, 2028. Endorsements under this Section shall not be available for
application on or after July 1, 2028.
d) Beginning August 1, 2025, and annually
thereafter until August 1, 2028, program participants shall provide the State
Board with a report detailing the following information:
1) names and Illinois Educator Identification
Numbers of individuals who enrolled in the pilot program between July 1 and
June 30 of the preceding year;
2)
the date of enrollment in the professional development sequence for each
participant, and if applicable, the date of completion of the
sequence;
3) a record of which
enrollees completed, withdrew, or are still in progress of completing the pilot
program, which includes both the professional development sequence and passing
the content area test required under Section 21B-30 of the Code; and
4) reasons for candidates' withdrawal from
the program, if applicable.
e) By September 1, 2029, the State Board will
publish a report that includes teacher retention rates of pilot program
completers compared to overall district teacher retention rates and overall
State teacher retention rates, and other criteria, to determine the pilot
program's effectiveness:
