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                                                      PRINTER'S NO. 1089

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA


HOUSE BILL

No. 923 Session of 2007


        INTRODUCED BY ROEBUCK, D. EVANS, FREEMAN, GALLOWAY, GRUCELA,
           JOSEPHS, W. KELLER, KORTZ, LEACH, McILHATTAN, MELIO, MURT,
           MYERS, M. O'BRIEN, PALLONE, PARKER, PAYTON, PRESTON,
           READSHAW, SOLOBAY, STURLA, TANGRETTI, THOMAS, WALKO AND
           YOUNGBLOOD, MARCH 29, 2007

        REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, MARCH 29, 2007

                                     AN ACT

     1  Establishing and providing for the implementation and
     2     administration of the Beginning Educator Support and Training
     3     (BEST) Program; and providing for powers and duties of the
     4     Department of Education.

     5     The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
     6  hereby enacts as follows:
     7  Section 1.  Short title.
     8     This act shall be known and may be cited as the Beginning
     9  Educator Support and Training (BEST) Program.
    10  Section 2.  Declaration of policy.
    11     The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
    12         (1)  The beginning years of a teacher's career are a
    13     critical time in which intensive professional development and
    14     training must occur.
    15         (2)  The public invests heavily in the preparation of
    16     prospective teachers and more than half of all new teachers
    17     leave some Pennsylvania school districts after one or two


     1     years in the classroom.
     2         (3)  Intensive professional development and training are
     3     necessary to build on the preparation that precedes initial
     4     certification, to transform academic preparation into
     5     practical success in the classroom, to retain greater numbers
     6     of capable beginning educators and to remove novices who show
     7     little promise as teachers.
     8  Section 3.  Definitions.
     9     The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
    10  have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
    11  context clearly indicates otherwise:
    12     "Beginning educator."  A first-year teacher with a valid
    13  Pennsylvania Instructional I certificate or Educational
    14  Specialist I certificate or who is a long-term substitute, 45
    15  days or more, employed in an eligible school district.
    16     "Department."  The Department of Education of the
    17  Commonwealth.
    18     "Eligible school district."  A school district with a high
    19  turnover rate for beginning educators in a two-year period and
    20  that is economically disadvantaged as determined by the
    21  Secretary of Education.
    22     Performance-based assessment."  An assessment that evaluates
    23  beginning educators in relation to student learning and teaching
    24  behaviors that is content-specific and reveals information about
    25  the logic and coherence of the teachers' curriculum, the
    26  appropriateness of their instructional decisions for students,
    27  the range of pedagogical strategies they use effectively, the
    28  quality of their assignments, their skill in assessing student
    29  learning and their ability to reflect on their own teaching and
    30  make changes based on evidence of student learning.
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     1     "Program."  The Beginning Educator Support and Training
     2  (BEST) Program established by this act.
     3     "Program quality."  Excellence with respect to program
     4  factors, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
     5         (1)  Program goals.
     6         (2)  Design resources.
     7         (3)  Management, evaluation and improvement of the
     8     program.
     9         (4)  Working conditions.
    10         (5)  Support, training and assessment services to each
    11     beginning educator.
    12     "Secretary."  The Secretary of Education of the Commonwealth.
    13  Section 3.  Establishment.
    14     (a)  Program established.--There is hereby established the
    15  Beginning Educator Support and Training (BEST) Program, to be
    16  administered by the department. The department shall provide the
    17  program to school districts with high teacher turnover rates for
    18  first-year and second-year teachers and that are economically
    19  disadvantaged as determined by the secretary. Participation in
    20  the program shall be mandatory for beginning educators employed
    21  in eligible school districts. The department shall adopt and
    22  implement criteria and standards for participation in the
    23  program, including criteria regarding the eligibility of
    24  educators and standards of local program quality and intensity
    25  for schools, school districts, colleges, universities and other
    26  educational and professional organizations involved in the
    27  program. The criteria and standards shall be consistent with the
    28  purposes of the program.
    29     (b)  Program description.--The program shall support locally
    30  designed, high-quality induction programs that provide
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     1  individualized support and performance-based assessment for all
     2  participating beginning educators. The department shall develop
     3  and implement policies to govern the support, training and
     4  assessment of beginning educators, as a condition for the
     5  professional certification of those educators in the future.
     6     (c)  Continuing professional education.--For a beginning
     7  educator who holds an Instructional I or Educational Specialist
     8  I certificate who is subject to the requirements of section
     9  1205.2 of the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as
    10  the Public School Code of 1949, participation in the program
    11  may, at the teacher's discretion, serve as credit towards hours
    12  of continuing professional education programs, activities or
    13  learning experiences.
    14  Section 4.  Administration.
    15     The department shall implement and administer the program for
    16  eligible school districts pursuant to this act. In administering
    17  the program, the department shall provide for or contract for
    18  all of the following:
    19         (1)  Establishment of requirements for reviewing and
    20     approving local teacher induction programs.
    21         (2)  Development and administration of a system for
    22     ensuring local teacher induction program quality and
    23     effectiveness in producing excellent program outcomes.
    24         (3)  Ensuring that an eligible school district has a
    25     local induction plan in place for each participating
    26     beginning educator and that the program provides intensive,
    27     mentor-based individualized support and assistance to each
    28     participating beginning educator that includes a performance-
    29     based assessment.
    30         (4)  Conducting and tracking research related to best
    20070H0923B1089                  - 4 -     

     1     practices for teacher induction programs and professional
     2     development materials and strategies for personnel involved
     3     in implementing induction programs.
     4  Section 5.  Funding.
     5     (a)  General rule.--An eligible school district or consortium
     6  of eligible school districts shall apply to the department for
     7  funding to establish a local teacher induction program pursuant
     8  to this act. From amounts appropriated for the purposes of this
     9  act, the department shall allocate $1,500 for each beginning
    10  educator participating in the program at the eligible school
    11  district. To be eligible to receive funding, an eligible school
    12  district shall meet all the criteria and standards required by
    13  the department.
    14     (b)  Participation limitation.--State funding for
    15  participation in the program by educators who hold a first-level
    16  certificate is limited to two years or until the teacher has
    17  satisfied requirements for successful completion of the local
    18  teacher induction program, whichever occurs first.
    19     (c)  Funding limitation.--No more than 10% of the total sum
    20  appropriated annually shall be granted to any single eligible
    21  school district.
    22  Section 6.  Report.
    23     The department shall evaluate the effectiveness of the
    24  program two years following full implementation and report the
    25  findings to the General Assembly. An interim report shall be
    26  provided to the General Assembly no later than July 1, 2008, if
    27  full funding has not been provided prior to that date.
    28  Section 7.  Effective date.
    29     This act shall take effect July 1, 2007, or immediately,
    30  whichever is later.
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