HF 2081 (LSB 5121HV (2) 89)

HOUSE FILE 2081

BY  COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 520)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to teachers, including the assessments administered to practitioner preparation program admission candidates and to practitioner preparation program students prior to students’ completion of a practitioner preparation program, and certain specified licenses for teachers created by the board of educational examiners, and including notice and applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 256.7, subsection 3, paragraph b, Code 2022, is amended to read as follows:
   b.  Procedures provided for approval of programs shall include procedures for enforcement of the prescribed standards and, except as provided in section 256.16, subsection 3, shall not include a procedure for the waiving of any of the standards prescribed.
    Sec. 2.  Section 256.16, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 2022, is amended by striking the paragraph.
    Sec. 3.  Section 256.16, subsection 2, Code 2022, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  A person initially applying for a license shall successfully complete a practitioner preparation program approved under section 256.7, subsection 3, and containing the subject matter specified in this section, before the initial action by the board of educational examiners under chapter 272 takes place. However, this subsection shall not apply to a person who meets the requirements for an initial one-year license in accordance with subsection 3.
    Sec. 4.  Section 256.16, subsection 3, Code 2022, is amended by striking the subsection.
    Sec. 5.  Section 272.2, subsection 14, paragraph b, subparagraph (5), Code 2022, is amended to read as follows:
   (5)  The applicant fails to meet board standards for application for an initial or renewed license. However, this subparagraph shall not apply to a person who applies for an initial one-year license and submits to the board a waiver issued by the director of the department of education in accordance with section 256.16, subsection 3.
    Sec. 6.  Section 272.2, subsection 22, Code 2022, is amended by striking the subsection.
    Sec. 7.  HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS —— NOTICE TO FORMER STUDENTS.  All higher education institutions providing practitioner preparation shall notify students who failed to achieve the minimum passing scores set by the department of education on the assessments administered under section 256.16, subsection 1, paragraph “a”, subparagraph (2), Code 2022, before the effective date of this Act, of the changes related to the completion of a practitioner preparation program provided by this Act, including the student’s ability to apply for an initial license from the board of educational examiners if the student completed all other requirements of a practitioner preparation program approved under section 256.7, subsection 3.
    Sec. 8.  APPLICABILITY.  This Act applies to students who attended or are attending practitioner preparation programs before, on, or after the effective date of this Act.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to the assessments administered to practitioner preparation program admission candidates and to practitioner preparation program students prior to students’ completion of a practitioner preparation program.
   Current law provides that the state board of education shall adopt rules requiring all higher education institutions providing practitioner preparation to, prior to a student’s completion of the practitioner preparation program, administer either subject assessments designed by a nationally recognized testing service or a valid and reliable subject-area-specific, performance-based assessment centered on student learning. Current law also provides that an institution may administer a preprofessional skills test offered by a nationally recognized testing service to candidates for admission to the practitioner preparation program. An institution that does so must report to the department of education the percentage of students whose scores on the assessments were above, at, and below the minimum passing score set by the institution, and shall report any services or opportunities to retake the assessment that the institution may make available to a student who fails an assessment. Additionally, current law provides that the department shall compile the reports and publish the compiled information on its internet site.
   The bill strikes the ability of an institution to administer a preprofessional skills test to admission candidates and the corresponding reporting requirements related to that test. The bill also strikes the requirement that an institution administer subject assessments designed by a nationally recognized testing service that measure pedagogy and knowledge prior to a student’s completion of the practitioner preparation program or a valid and reliable subject-area-specific, performance-based assessment for preservice teacher candidates.
   The bill requires all institutions providing practitioner preparation to notify students who, before the effective date of the bill, failed to achieve the minimum passing scores set by the department on the assessments administered prior to a student’s completion of the practitioner preparation program of the changes the bill makes to the requirements related to the completion of a practitioner preparation program.
   The bill applies to students who attended or are attending practitioner preparation programs before, on, or after the effective date of the bill.
   The bill makes conforming changes.