H-8321

   Amend House File 255, as amended, passed, and reprinted by the House, as follows:
   1.  By striking everything after the enacting clause and inserting: 
   <Section 1.  Section 256.16, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  m.  If a higher education institution providing practitioner preparation offers a program that is designed to assist students in attaining a teacher intern license from the board of educational examiners, the program shall require participants to satisfy all of the following requirements before completing the program:
   (1)  A participant in the program must have graduated from an accredited or state-approved college or university and must meet the requirements for an endorsement area approved by the board of educational examiners for a teacher intern license.
   (2)  A participant in the program must submit with the application to the program a copy of an offer of employment from a school.
   (3)  A participant in the program must complete the required pedagogy training.
   (4)  A participant in the program must work under the supervision of a teacher leader assigned by the school district or accredited nonpublic school, including during co-teaching and planning time.
   Sec. 2.  Section 256.146, subsection 12, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   12.  Adopt rules to provide for nontraditional preparation options for licensing persons who hold a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited or state-approved college or university, who do not meet other requirements for licensure.  The rules shall, at a minimum, require the board to do all of the following:
   a.  Issue a teacher intern license to an applicant who has enrolled in a program established pursuant to section 256.16, subsection 1, paragraph “m”.
   b.  Allow a licensee who has attained a teacher intern license pursuant to paragraph “a” to apply for an initial teaching license if the school that employed the licensee during the licensee’s completion of the program established pursuant to section 256.16, subsection 1, paragraph “m”, and the higher education institution that operated the program recommend that the licensee be allowed to apply for an initial teaching license.
   Sec. 3.  Section 256.146, Code 2024, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  25.  Adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A that allow an individual seeking a career and technical secondary authorization to apply, and, if eligible, be issued the secondary authorization prior to accepting an offer of employment with a school.
   Sec. 4.  NEW SECTION.  256.166  Temporary initial license for applicants who complete an alternative teacher certification program.
   1.  The board shall grant a temporary initial teaching license to an applicant who meets all of the following requirements:
   a.  The applicant shall hold a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
   b.  The applicant shall have at least sixty contact hours in the classroom, of which at least thirty hours shall be teaching in a classroom under a licensed teacher. The applicant may complete any remaining contact hours by working as a para-educator or in another relevant role. The principal of the school where the applicant completed the contact hours shall certify to the board the applicant’s completion of the requirements in this paragraph.
   c.  The applicant shall successfully complete an alternative teacher certification program that has been approved by the state board of education pursuant to subsection 2 and that includes the required content training in the area in which the applicant seeks to be licensed.
   2.  a.  The department shall recommend to the state board of education that an alternative teacher certification program be approved or denied within sixty days after the alternative teacher certification program applies to the department for approval and provides to the department sufficient evidence that the alternative teacher certification program meets all of the following requirements:
   (1)  The alternative teacher certification program must operate in at least five states.
   (2)  The alternative teacher certification program must have been in operation for at least ten years.
   (3)  The alternative teacher certification program must incorporate pedagogy training, including an examination, that teaches effective instructional delivery, classroom management and organization, assessment, instructional design, and professional learning and leadership.
   (4)  The alternative teacher certification program must include the administration of an assessment that is identical to the foundations of reading assessment administered in 2012 as part of the Massachusetts tests, or the most current version of such assessment, and must adhere to the same reporting requirements related to the assessment that this chapter imposes upon higher education institutions, if any.
   b.  (1)  If the state board of education approves an alternative teacher certification program, the approval shall be for seven years, or less if the state board of education determines that a shorter term is warranted.
   (2)  If the state board of education approves an alternative teacher certification program, the approved alternative teacher certification program shall submit an annual report to the department, on or before March 15 each year, that contains all of the following:
   (a)  The number of students participating in the approved alternative teacher certification program.
   (b)  The number of students who completed the approved alternative teacher certification program.
   (c)  Information related to student retention.
   (d)  Data that allows the department to match records associated with licensing and employment within this state.
   (e)  Any other information requested by the department that will allow the department to monitor and assess the quality of the approved alternative teacher certification program.
   c.  (1)  If the state board of education denies an alternative teacher certification program, the state board of education shall provide the alternative teacher certification program with advice concerning the areas in which the alternative teacher certification program needs to improve, or changes the alternative teacher certification program otherwise needs to make, in order for the state board of education to approve the alternative teacher certification program.
   (2)  The state board of education shall allow an alternative teacher certification program that has been denied approval to present factual information concerning the alternative teacher certification program at a regularly scheduled meeting of the state board of education within three months after such denial.
   (3)  (a)  An alternative teacher certification program that has been denied approval shall not apply to the department for approval pursuant to paragraph “a” within six months after such denial.
   (b)  If an alternative teacher certification program does apply to the department for approval after a denial, the alternative teacher certification program shall provide to the department, in addition to the information described in paragraph “a”, subparagraphs (1) through (4), sufficient evidence that the alternative teacher certification program has taken actions to address any areas that needed to be improved or changes the alternative teacher certification program otherwise needed to make.
   3.  An individual who successfully completes an approved alternative teacher certification program and who is granted a temporary initial teaching license by the board under this section is authorized to teach the subjects and grade levels that the individual successfully completed during the alternative teacher certification program.
   4.  An individual who successfully completes an approved alternative teacher certification program and who is granted a temporary initial teaching license by the board under this section shall not provide instruction to students who are eligible for services under chapter 256B until the individual successfully completes a practicum relating to providing instruction to such students that includes short-term field experiences in educational settings that are connected to specific coursework.
   5.  The board shall treat an individual who successfully completes an approved alternative teacher certification program and who is granted a temporary initial teaching license by the board under this section in the same manner as an individual who completes a traditional teacher preparation program and who receives an initial teaching license, including during the process of converting the temporary initial teaching license to a standard teaching license.
   Sec. 5.  Section 256.163, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   256.163  Licensure beyond a temporary initial license or an initial license.
   1.  Requirements for teacher licensure beyond a temporary initial license or an initial license shall include successful completion of a beginning teacher mentoring and induction program approved by the state board of education pursuant to section 284.5; or two years of successful teaching experience in a school district with an approved career paths, leadership roles, and compensation framework or approved comparable system as provided in section 284.15; or evidence of not less than three years of successful teaching experience at any of the following:
   a.  An accredited nonpublic school in this state.
   b.  A preschool program approved by the United States department of health and human services.
   c.  Preschool programs at school districts approved to participate in the preschool program under chapter 256C.
   d.  Shared visions programs receiving grants from the child development coordinating council under section 256A.3.
   e.  Preschool programs receiving moneys from the school ready children grants account of the early childhood Iowa fund created in section 256I.11.
   2.  A teacher from an accredited nonpublic school or another state or country is exempt from the requirement of subsection 1 if the teacher can document three years of successful teaching experience and meet or exceed the requirements contained in rules adopted under this part for endorsement and licensure.>