Text: HSB00155 Text: HSB00157 Text: HSB00100 - HSB00199 Text: HSB Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 256E.1 DEFINITIONS.
1 2 As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise
1 3 requires:
1 4 1. "Beginning teacher" means an individual serving under
1 5 an initial provisional or conditional license, issued by the
1 6 board of educational examiners under chapter 272, who is
1 7 assuming a position as a classroom teacher.
1 8 2. "Board of directors" means the board of directors of a
1 9 school district or a collaboration of boards of directors of
1 10 school districts.
1 11 3. "Classroom teacher" means an individual who holds a
1 12 valid practitioner's license and who is employed by a school
1 13 district under sections 279.13 through 279.19 in a school
1 14 district or area education agency in this state to provide
1 15 instruction to students.
1 16 4. "Department" means the department of education.
1 17 5. "Director" means the director of the department of
1 18 education.
1 19 6. "District facilitator" means a practitioner under
1 20 chapter 272 who is appointed by or is under contract with a
1 21 board of directors to serve as the liaison between the board
1 22 of directors and the department for the beginning teacher
1 23 induction program.
1 24 7. "Mentor" means an individual employed by a school
1 25 district or area education agency as a classroom teacher who
1 26 holds a valid license to teach issued under chapter 272. The
1 27 individual shall have a record of at least four years of
1 28 successful practice, have been employed for one full year in
1 29 the district on a nonprobationary basis, and demonstrate
1 30 professional commitment to the improvement of teaching and
1 31 learning, and the development of beginning teachers.
1 32 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 256E.2 BEGINNING TEACHER INDUCTION
1 33 PROGRAM ESTABLISHED – GOALS – GRANTS.
1 34 If the general assembly appropriates moneys for purposes of
1 35 teacher induction, the department of education shall
2 1 coordinate a beginning teacher induction program to promote
2 2 excellence in teaching, to build a supportive environment
2 3 within school districts, to increase the retention of
2 4 promising beginning teachers, and to promote the personal and
2 5 professional well-being of teachers. The department of
2 6 education shall develop a process for awarding beginning
2 7 teacher induction grants to school districts, and shall adopt
2 8 rules pursuant to chapter 17A to provide for equitable
2 9 distribution of grants to school districts based on geographic
2 10 location and district population.
2 11 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION. 256E.3 DISTRICT FACILITATOR,
2 12 COMMITTEE, AND PLAN.
2 13 1. A board of directors participating in the beginning
2 14 teacher induction program shall appoint or contract with a
2 15 district facilitator, whose duties shall include, but are not
2 16 limited to, overseeing the development of a plan for meeting
2 17 the goals of the program as set forth in section 256E.2, and
2 18 composing a district committee pursuant to subsection 2. The
2 19 board of directors may contract with a public or private
2 20 postsecondary institution with an approved practitioner
2 21 preparation program, or with a member of the instructional
2 22 staff of an approved practitioner preparation program, to
2 23 perform the duties of the district facilitator in accordance
2 24 with this chapter.
2 25 2. The membership of the district committee composed by
2 26 the district facilitator shall include, but is not limited to,
2 27 licensed practitioners and an area education agency staff
2 28 development professional.
2 29 3. The district committee shall adopt a plan and written
2 30 procedures for a mentor program consistent with this chapter.
2 31 The plan and the written procedures shall, at a minimum,
2 32 provide the process for the selection of and the number of
2 33 mentors; the mentor training process; the timetable by which
2 34 the plan shall be implemented; placement of mentors and
2 35 beginning teachers; the minimum amount of contact time between
3 1 mentors and beginning teachers; the minimum amount of release
3 2 time for mentors and beginning teachers for meetings for
3 3 planning, demonstration, observation, feedback, and workshops;
3 4 the process for dissolving mentoring partnerships; and the
3 5 process for measuring the results of the program. The
3 6 district committee shall recommend to the board of directors
3 7 the names of classroom teachers eligible to be mentors.
3 8 4. The district facilitator shall submit the plan, and the
3 9 proposed costs of implementing the plan, to the board of
3 10 directors, which shall consider the plan and, once approved,
3 11 submit the plan and a reasonable cost proposal to the
3 12 department of education, which shall award grants as equitably
3 13 as possible based on the geographic and population diversity
3 14 of the school districts submitting plans. Grants may be
3 15 awarded in subsequent years based upon the most recent plan on
3 16 file with the department.
3 17 5. The district committee is encouraged to work with area
3 18 education agencies and postsecondary institutions in the
3 19 preparation and implementation of a plan.
3 20 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION. 256E.4 BEGINNING TEACHER AND MENTOR
3 21 PLACEMENT.
3 22 The district facilitator shall place beginning teachers in
3 23 a manner that provides the greatest opportunity to work with
3 24 the largest number of mentors.
3 25 Sec. 5. NEW SECTION. 256E.5 BEGINNING TEACHER INDUCTION
3 26 STATE SUBSIDY – FUND.
3 27 1. A mentor in an approved beginning teacher induction
3 28 program under this chapter shall be eligible for an award of
3 29 five hundred dollars per semester of participation in the
3 30 program, which shall be paid from moneys received pursuant to
3 31 this chapter by the school district employing the mentor.
3 32 2. Moneys received by a school district pursuant to this
3 33 chapter shall be expended to provide mentors with awards in
3 34 accordance with subsection 1, to implement the plan, to
3 35 provide payment of a contract in accordance with section
4 1 256E.3, subsection 1, or to provide for a stipend for the
4 2 district facilitator and to pay any applicable costs of the
4 3 employer's share of contributions to federal social security
4 4 and the Iowa public employees' retirement system or a pension
4 5 and annuity retirement system established under chapter 294,
4 6 for such amounts paid by the district.
4 7 3. Moneys received by a school district under this chapter
4 8 are miscellaneous income for purposes of chapter 257 or are
4 9 considered encumbered. A school district shall maintain a
4 10 separate listing within its budget for payments received and
4 11 expenditures made pursuant to this chapter. Moneys received
4 12 for purposes of this chapter shall not be used for payments
4 13 pursuant to or required under any collective bargaining
4 14 agreement or arbitrator's decision negotiated or awarded under
4 15 chapter 20.
4 16 4. A beginning teacher induction fund is established in
4 17 the office of the treasurer of state to be administered by the
4 18 department. Moneys appropriated by the general assembly for
4 19 deposit in the fund shall be used to provide funding to school
4 20 districts pursuant to this section.
4 21 5. Notwithstanding section 8.33, unencumbered or
4 22 unobligated funds remaining on June 30 of the fiscal year for
4 23 which the funds were appropriated shall not revert but shall
4 24 be available for expenditure in the following fiscal year for
4 25 the purposes of this section.
4 26 Sec. 6. NEW SECTION. 256E.6 REPORTS.
4 27 The board of directors implementing an approved beginning
4 28 teacher induction program as provided in this chapter shall
4 29 submit an assessment of the program's results by July 1 of the
4 30 fiscal year succeeding the year in which the school district
4 31 received moneys under this chapter. The department shall
4 32 annually report the statewide results of the program to the
4 33 chairpersons and the ranking members of the senate and house
4 34 education committees by January 1 of the following year.
4 35 EXPLANATION
5 1 This bill directs the department of education, if the
5 2 general assembly appropriates sufficient funds, to coordinate
5 3 a beginning teacher induction program to promote excellence in
5 4 teaching, build a supportive environment in school districts,
5 5 increase the retention of promising beginning teachers, and
5 6 promote the personal and professional well-being of teachers.
5 7 The bill directs the department of education to develop a
5 8 process to be used in awarding beginning teacher grants.
5 9 A teacher serving as a mentor under the program is eligible
5 10 for an award of $500 per semester of participation. Moneys
5 11 received by a district shall be expended to implement the
5 12 plan, for awards to mentors, to provide payment of a contract
5 13 in accordance with section 256E.3, subsection 1, or to pay a
5 14 stipend to a district facilitator and any applicable costs of
5 15 the employer's share of contributions to federal social
5 16 security and the Iowa public employees' retirement system or a
5 17 pension and annuity retirement system established under
5 18 chapter 294, for such amounts paid by the districts.
5 19 The bill establishes a beginning teacher induction fund in
5 20 the office of the treasurer of state to be administered by the
5 21 department of education.
5 22 A school district shall appoint a district facilitator
5 23 whose duties include overseeing the development of a plan for
5 24 meeting program goals and composing a district committee. The
5 25 district is also allowed to contract with a public or private
5 26 postsecondary institution with, or with a member of the
5 27 instructional staff of, an approved practitioner preparation
5 28 program, to perform the duties of a district facilitator. The
5 29 district committee membership shall include, but is not
5 30 limited to, the district facilitator, licensed teachers, and
5 31 an area education agency staff development professional. The
5 32 district committee must adopt a plan and written procedures
5 33 for a mentor program which shall, at a minimum, address the
5 34 mentor selection and training processes, the timetable for
5 35 plan implementation, placement, minimum contact and release
6 1 time, measurement of results, workshops, and dissolving
6 2 mentoring partnerships. District committees are encouraged to
6 3 collaborate with area education agencies and postsecondary
6 4 institutions in the preparation and implementation of plans.
6 5 The district committee shall recommend to the board of
6 6 directors the names of classroom teachers eligible to be
6 7 mentors.
6 8 The board of directors shall submit the plan and a cost
6 9 proposal to the department, which shall award grants to school
6 10 districts equitably, selecting from the school districts
6 11 submitting plans based upon geographic location and district
6 12 population.
6 13 The bill also requires that a licensed teacher, to be
6 14 eligible to be a mentor, be employed by a school district as a
6 15 classroom teacher, have a record of at least four years of
6 16 effective practice, have been employed for one full year in
6 17 the district on a nonprobationary basis, and demonstrate
6 18 professional commitment to the improvement of teaching and
6 19 learning, and the development of beginning teachers.
6 20 LSB 2090YC 78
6 21 kh/cf/24
Text: HSB00155 Text: HSB00157 Text: HSB00100 - HSB00199 Text: HSB Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
© 1999 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa
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