By: Taylor of Galveston S.B. No. 1278

(In the Senate - Filed March 3, 2017; March 13, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on Education; May 1, 2017, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 10, Nays 1; May 1, 2017, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1278 By: Taylor of Galveston

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to educator preparation programs.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 21.045, Education Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1), (a-2), (d), and (e) to read as follows:

(a) The board shall propose rules necessary to establish standards to govern the continuing accountability of all educator preparation programs based on the following information that is disaggregated with respect to race, sex, and ethnicity:

(1) except as provided by Subsections (a-1) and (a-2), results of the certification examinations prescribed under Section 21.048(a) and required for certification in a subject area in which a candidate has completed or is completing student teaching or an internship or practicum;

(2) performance based on the appraisal system for beginning teachers adopted by the board;

(3) achievement, including improvement in achievement, of students taught by beginning teachers for the first three years following certification, to the extent practicable;

(4) compliance with board requirements regarding the frequency, duration, and quality of structural guidance and ongoing support provided by field supervisors to candidates completing student teaching, clinical teaching, or an internship, provided that the board:

(A) must permit a program to comply with at least three of any field supervisor visit requirements through visits provided by video, the Internet, or another remote technological method if the program also provides at least two in-person visits; and

(B) may not require more than five support visits by a field supervisor during the course of an internship; and

(5) results from a teacher satisfaction survey, developed by the board with stakeholder input, of new teachers performed at the end of the teacher's first year of teaching.

(a-1) At least two unsuccessful attempts by a candidate to perform satisfactorily on a content examination required for certification in a subject area in which the candidate serves as a teacher of record must be excluded for purposes of Subsection (a)(1) if the subject area is determined by the agency, based on information maintained by the agency and subject to approval by the United States Department of Education, to be a teacher shortage area.

(a-2) At least one unsuccessful attempt by a candidate to perform satisfactorily on a content examination required for certification in a subject area in which the candidate serves as a teacher of record must be excluded for purposes of Subsection (a)(1) if the subject area is not determined to be a teacher shortage area as described by Subsection (a-1).

(d) Subject to Subsection (e), a video or audio recording of a classroom recorded for purposes of a field supervisor visit described by Subsection (a)(4)(A) is confidential, may only be used for teacher training by an educator preparation program, and may only be viewed by the candidate recorded, a school district employee with a supervisory role with respect to the candidate, an employee of the educator preparation program, or another person authorized by law.

(e) Subsection (d) does not limit the access of a student's parent to a record regarding the student under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g) or other law.

SECTION 2. Section 21.051(b), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) Before a school district may employ a candidate for certification as a teacher of record, the candidate must complete at least 15 hours of field-based experience, which may occur after the candidate's admission to an educator preparation program or during the two years preceding admission. The candidate may satisfy the experience requirement through serving as a substitute teacher or teacher's aide for at least five school days or through other experience requiring the candidate's active engagement in instructional or educational activities. The experience must be obtained [in which the candidate is actively engaged in instructional or educational activities under supervision] at:

(1) a public school campus accredited or approved for the purpose by the agency; or

(2) a private school recognized or approved for the purpose by the agency.

SECTION 3. Section 26.009(b), Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) An employee of a school district is not required to obtain the consent of a child's parent before the employee may make a videotape of a child or authorize the recording of a child's voice if the videotape or voice recording is to be used only for:

(1) purposes of safety, including the maintenance of order and discipline in common areas of the school or on school buses;

(2) a purpose related to a cocurricular or extracurricular activity;

(3) a purpose related to regular classroom instruction;

(4) media coverage of the school; [or]

(5) a purpose related to the promotion of student safety under Section 29.022; or

(6) a purpose related to the provision of support to a beginning teacher by a field supervisor under Section 21.045.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect only if a specific appropriation for the Act is provided in a general appropriations act of the 85th Legislature. Any portion of this Act that does not require a specific appropriation for implementation takes effect immediately, provided that this Act receives the vote necessary for immediate effect.

SECTION 5. Subject to Section 4 of this Act, this Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2017.

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