H. B. 2331
(By Delegate Michael)
[Introduced February 12, 2009; referred to the
Committee on Education.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18A-3-1 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to teacher certification.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18A-3-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. TRAINING, CERTIFICATION, LICENSING, PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT.
§18A-3-1. Teacher preparation programs; program approval and
standards; authority to issue teaching certificates.
(a) The education of professional educators in the state is
under the general direction and control of the state board after
consultation with the Secretary of Education and the Arts and the
Chancellor for Higher Education who shall represent the interests
of educator preparation programs within the institutions of higher
education in this state as those institutions are defined in section two, article one, chapter eighteen-b of this code.
The education of professional educators in the state includes
all programs leading to certification to
teach or serve in the
public schools including:
(1) Those programs in all institutions of higher education,
including student teaching as provided in this section;
(2) Beginning teacher internship programs;
(3) The granting of West Virginia certification to persons who
received their preparation to teach outside the boundaries of this
state, except as provided in subsection (b) of this section;
(4) Any alternative preparation programs in this state leading
to certification, including programs established pursuant to
section 1-a of this article and programs which are in effect on the
effective date of this section; and
(5) Any continuing professional education, professional
development and in-service training programs for professional
educators employed in the public schools in the state.
(b) The state board, after consultation with the Secretary of
Education and the Arts and the Chancellor for Higher Education,
shall adopt standards for the education of professional educators
in the state and for awarding certificates valid in the public
schools of this state. The standards shall include, but not be
limited to the following:
(1)
A provision for The study of multicultural education. As used in this section, multicultural education means the study of
the pluralistic nature of American society including its values,
institutions, organizations, groups, status positions and social
roles;
(2)
A provision for The study of classroom management
techniques, including methods of effective management of disruptive
behavior which shall include societal factors and their impact on
student behavior; and
(3) Subject to
the provisions of section ten of this article,
a teacher from another state shall be awarded a teaching
certificate for a comparable grade level and subject area valid in
the public schools of this state, if he or she:
(A) Holds a valid teaching certificate or a certificate of
eligibility issued by another state;
(B) Has graduated from an educator preparation program at a
regionally accredited institution of higher education;
(C) Possesses the minimum of a bachelor's degree; and
(D) Meets all of the requirements of the state for full
certification except employment.
(E) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, this
code, or any other provision of rule or law, any person who holds
a valid teaching certificate from another state and has held said
certificate for a period of ten years or longer, regardless of the
school or university accreditation from which they graduated, and meets all other requirements for certification set forth in this
article, shall be in compliance with the requirements of the State
of West Virginia for teacher certification.
(c) To give prospective teachers the teaching experience needed
to demonstrate competence as a prerequisite to certification to
teach in the West Virginia public schools, the state board may
enter into an agreement with county boards for the use of the
public schools.
(d) An agreement established pursuant to subsection (c) of this
section shall recognize student teaching as a joint responsibility
of the educator preparation institution and the cooperating public
schools and shall include:
(1) The minimum qualifications for the employment of public
school teachers selected as supervising teachers, including the
requirement that field-based and clinical experiences be supervised
by a teacher fully certified in the state in which that teacher is
supervising;
(2) The remuneration to be paid public school teachers by the
state board, in addition to their contractual salaries, for
supervising student teachers;
(3) Minimum standards to guarantee the adequacy of the
facilities and program of the public school selected for student
teaching;
(4) That the student teacher, under the direction and supervision of the supervising teacher, shall exercise the
authority of a substitute teacher; and
(5)
A provision requiring That any higher education institution
with an educator preparation program
to shall document that the
student teacher's field-based and clinical experiences include
participation and instruction with multicultural, at-risk and
exceptional children at each programmatic level for which the
student teacher seeks certification.
(e) Beginning
in the fall 2006 - 2007 academic term, in lieu of
the student teaching experience in a public school setting required
by this section, an institution of higher education may provide an
alternate student teaching experience in a nonpublic school setting
if the institution of higher education:
(1) Complies with
the provisions of this section;
(2) Has a state board approved educator preparation program;
and
(3) Enters into an agreement pursuant to subdivisions (f) and
(g) of this section.
(f) At the discretion of the higher education institution, an
agreement for an alternate student teaching experience between an
institution of higher education and a nonpublic school shall
require that either:
(1) The student teacher complete at least one half of the
clinical experience in a public school; or
(2) The educator preparation program include a requirement that
any student performing student teaching in a nonpublic school
complete at least:
(A) Two hundred clock hours of field-based training in a public
school; and
(B) A course, which is a component of the institution's state
board approved educator preparation program, that provides to
prospective teachers information
that is equivalent to the teaching
experience needed to demonstrate competence as a prerequisite to
certification to teach in the public schools in West Virginia. The
course shall include instruction on at least the following
elements:
(i) State board policy and
provisions of this code governing
public education;
(ii) Requirements for federal and state accountability,
including the mandatory reporting of child abuse;
(iii) Federal and state mandated curriculum and assessment
requirements, including multicultural education, safe schools and
student code of conduct;
(iv) Federal and state regulations for the instruction of
exceptional students as defined by the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §1400
et seq.;
(v) Varied approaches for effective instruction for students
who are at-risk;
(g) In addition to the requirements set forth in subsection (f)
of this section, an agreement for an alternate student teaching
experience between an institution of higher education and a
nonpublic school shall:
(1) Require that the higher education institution with an
educator preparation program document that the student teacher's
field-based and clinical experiences include participation and
instruction with multicultural, at-risk and exceptional children at
each programmatic level for which the student teacher seeks
certification; and
(2) Include the minimum qualifications for the employment of
school teachers selected as supervising teachers, including the
requirement that field-based and clinical experiences be supervised
by a teacher fully certified in the state in which that teacher is
supervising.
(h) The state superintendent may issue certificates to
graduates of educator preparation programs and alternative educator
preparation programs approved by the state board. The certificates
are issued in accordance with this section and rules adopted by the
state board after consultation with the Secretary of Education and
the Arts and the Chancellor for Higher Education.
(1) A certificate to teach may be granted only to any person
who is:
(A) A citizen of the United States, except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection;
(B) Is of good moral character;
(C) Physically, mentally and emotionally qualified to perform
the duties of a teacher; and
(D) At least eighteen years on or before
the first day of
October 1 of the year in which his or her certificate is issued.
(2) A permit to teach in the public schools of this state may
be granted to a person who is an exchange teacher from a foreign
country, or an alien person who meets the requirements to teach.
(i) In consultation with the Secretary of Education and the
Arts and the Chancellor for Higher Education, institutions of
higher education approved for educator preparation may cooperate
with each other, with the center for professional development and
with one or more county boards to organize and operate centers to
provide selected phases of the educator preparation program. The
phases include, but are not limited to:
(1) Student teaching;
(2) Beginning teacher internship programs;
(3) Instruction in methodology; and
(4) Seminar programs for college students, teachers with
provisional certification, professional support team members and
supervising teachers.
The institutions of higher education, the center for
professional development and county boards may by mutual agreement budget and expend funds to operate the centers through payments to
the appropriate fiscal office of the participating institutions,
the center for professional development and the county boards.
(j)
The provisions of This section does not require
discontinuation of an existing student teacher training center or
school which meets the standards of the state board.
(k) All institutions of higher education approved for educator
preparation in the 1962-1963 school year shall continue to hold
that distinction so long as they meet the minimum standards for
educator preparation. Nothing in this section infringes upon the
rights granted to any institution by charter given according to law
previous to the adoption of this code.
(l) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section,
or
this code, nor or any other provision of rule
or law
or this code
to the contrary, an institution of higher education may enter into
an agreement with a nonpublic school:
(1) For the purposes of this section regarding student
teaching;
(2) For the spring, 2006 academic term only;
(3) If the institution is approved for educator preparation by
the state board; and
(4) If the institution had entered into the agreement for that
academic term prior to the effective date of this section.
(m) As used in this section:
(1) "Nonpublic school" means a private school, parochial
school, church school, school operated by a religious order or
other nonpublic school that elects to:
(A) Comply with
the provisions of article twenty-eight, chapter
eighteen of this code;
(B) Participate on a voluntary basis in a state operated or
state sponsored program provided to such schools pursuant to this
section; and
(C) Comply with
the provisions of this section;
(2) "At-risk" means having the potential for academic failure,
including, but not limited to, the risk of dropping out of school,
involvement in delinquent activity or poverty as indicated by free
or reduced lunch status; and
(3) "Exceptional children" has the meaning ascribed pursuant to
section one, article twenty, chapter eighteen of this code, but
does not include gifted students.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow teachers who
graduated from colleges and universities that are not accredited by
associations recognized in West Virginia, to obtain a teaching
certificate based on their certification in another state of at
least ten years.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.