Section 44279.3 - Legislative intent(a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the executive secretary of the commission and the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall recommend to the commission standards of beginning teachers' support and performance, and an assessment process for verifying attainment of the performance standards, which shall be based on the results of the evaluation study required by Section 44279.2, as that section read on December 31, 1992.(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the commission shall adopt and promulgate standards and requirements for earning the professional teaching credential pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 44225 in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. The proposed regulations shall be developed jointly with the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and shall be drafted in consultation with the panel established pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 44259.2. It is the intent of the Legislature that the requirements of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 44225 be operative within six months of the commission's adoption of standards and requirements for earning the professional credential. First priority shall be given to cost-effective requirements that maximize the use of existing state and local resources. The commission shall consider the use of credential fees and assessment fees to support the cost of implementing the requirements. In adopting professional teacher certification requirements pursuant to this subdivision, the commission shall include the criteria specified in subdivision (d) of Section 44225, and, in addition, shall include the following:
(1) A rigorous program of candidate-centered assessment that relies upon individually evaluating the fitness of each individual candidate for a credential.(2) Rigorous assessments of each teaching candidate's general knowledge and subject matter knowledge, that are designed to verify reading skills, writing ability, mathematical reasoning, and other elements of a liberal arts education.(3) Assessments of each teaching candidate's instructional skills and classroom management skills, including an assessment of each teaching candidate's ability to work effectively with students of both sexes and from a variety of ethnic, socioeconomic, cultural, academic, and linguistic backgrounds.(4) Alternatives for professionally supervising, supporting, and assisting beginning teachers for at least the critical first full teaching year.(5) Deregulation of the academic training of teachers by shifting the emphasis from granting credentials on the basis of program approval to granting credentials on the basis of comprehensive assessments of individual candidates.(c) If the professional teacher certification requirements adopted by the commission include passage of a standardized examination, the commission shall establish a procedure for approval by the commission of alternative examinations or assessments whose scope, contents, and level of difficulty are determined by the commission to be equivalent to the scope, contents, and level of difficulty of the standardized examination. In making these determinations, the commission may refer to and utilize, to the extent consistent with this section, accepted national and professional standards governing the use of tests and assessments, and governing the determination of equivalence between alternative tests and assessments. The commission shall recover the costs of administering any standard examination that the commission adopts by collecting examination fees from examinees. An agency or organization that recommends an alternative examination that is approved by the commission shall pay the costs of developing and administering the alternative examination from any available source of funds, including examination fees, existing budget allocations, and amended budget allocations.(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that no detailed prescriptive checklists of competencies be adopted at the state level for the assessment of each beginning teacher's classroom performance.(e) Until the operative date of the regulations that are adopted and promulgated in accordance with subdivision (b), the commission shall continue to administer teacher certification requirements and regulations that were in effect on December 31, 1988. The commission may amend those requirements and regulations, as the need arises.Amended by Stats. 1992, Ch. 1245, Sec. 10. Effective January 1, 1993.