[Note: Underlined text added to Section 44259 by AB 1023 (Chapter 404, Statutes of 1997)]

CHAPTER 404

FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 2, 1997

APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 2, 1997

PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 7, 1997

PASSED THE ASSEMBLY MAY 8, 1997

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 17, 1997

INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Mazzoni

FEBRUARY 27, 1997

An act to amend Section 44259 of the Education Code, relating to teacher credentialing.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1023, Mazzoni. Teacher credentialing.

Existing law prescribes the minimum requirements for the preliminary multiple or single subject teaching credential.

This bill, commencing January 1, 2000, would add demonstration of basic competency in the use of computers in the classroom, as specified, to those minimum requirements.

Existing law requires completion of designated studies for the professional multiple or single subject teaching credential, including the study of computer-based technology and the uses of technology in educational settings.

This bill would require the above-referenced studies to be completed in accordance with the commission's standards of program quality and effectiveness, and that the study of computer-based technology be of advanced computer-based technology.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 44259 of the Education Code is amended to read:

44259.

(a) Each program of professional preparation for multiple or single subject teaching credentials shall not include more than one year of, or the equivalent of one-fifth of a five-year program in, professional preparation.

 

(b) The minimum requirements for the preliminary multiple or single subject teaching credential, are all of the following:

 

(1) A baccalaureate degree or higher degree, except in professional education, from a regionally accredited institution of postsecondary education.

 

(2) Passage of the state basic skills examination that is developed and administered by the commission pursuant to Section 44252.5.

 

(3) Completion of a program of not more than one year of professional preparation that has been approved or accredited on the basis of standards of program quality and effectiveness pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 44227, subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) of Section 44372, or Section 44376.

 

(4) Study of alternative methods of developing English language skills, including the study of reading as described in subparagraphs (A) and (B), among all pupils, including those for whom English is a second language, in accordance with the commission's standards of program quality and effectiveness. The study of reading shall meet the following requirements:

 

(A) Commencing January 1, 1997, satisfactory completion of comprehensive reading instruction that is research-based and includes all of the following:

 

(i) The study of organized, systematic, explicit skills including phonemic awareness, direct, systematic, explicit phonics, and decoding skills.

 

(ii) A strong literature, language, and comprehension component with a balance of oral and written language.

 

(iii) Ongoing diagnostic techniques that inform teaching and assessment.

 

(iv) Early intervention techniques.

 

(v) Guided practice in a clinical setting.

 

(B) For the purposes of this section, "direct, systematic, explicit phonics" means phonemic awareness, spelling patterns, the direct instruction of sound/symbol codes and practice in connected text and the relationship of direct, systematic, explicit phonics to the components set forth in clauses (i) to (v), inclusive.

 

A program for the multiple subjects credential also shall include the study of integrated methods of teaching language arts.

(5) Completion of a subject matter program that has been approved by the commission on the basis of standards of program quality and effectiveness pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 44310) or passage of a subject matter examination pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 44280).

 

(6) Demonstration of a knowledge of the principles and provisions of the Constitution of the United States pursuant to Section 44335.

 

(7) Commencing January 1, 2000, demonstration, in accordance with the commission's standards of program quality and effectiveness, of basic competency in the use of computers in the classroom.

(c) The minimum requirements for the professional multiple or single subject teaching credential shall include completion of the following studies:

 

(1) Study of health education, including study of nutrition, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and the physiological and sociological effects of abuse of alcohol, narcotics, and drugs and the use of tobacco. Training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation shall also meet the standards established by the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross.

 

(2) Study and field experience in methods of delivering appropriate educational services to students with exceptional needs in regular education programs.

 

(3) Study, in accordance with the commission's standards of program quality and effectiveness, of advanced computer-based technology, including the uses of technology in educational settings.

 

(4) Completion of an approved fifth year program after completion of a baccalaureate degree at an accredited institution.

(d) A credential that was issued prior to the effective date of this section shall remain in force as long as it is valid under the laws and regulations that were in effect on the date it was issued. The commission may not, by regulation, invalidate an otherwise valid credential unless it issues to the holder of the credential, in substitution, a new credential authorized by another provision in this chapter that is no less restrictive than the credential for which it was substituted with respect to the kind of service authorized and the grades, classes, or types of schools in which it authorizes service.

 

(e) Notwithstanding this section, persons who were performing teaching services as of January 1, 1991, pursuant to the language of this section that was in effect prior to that date, may continue to perform those services without complying with any requirements that may be added by the amendments adding this subdivision.

 

(f) Subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) do not apply to any person who, as of January 1, 1997, holds a multiple or single subject teaching credential, or to any person enrolled in a program of professional preparation for a multiple or single subject teaching credential as of January 1, 1997, who subsequently completes that program. It is the intent of the Legislature that the requirements of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) be applied only to persons who enter a program of professional preparation on or after January 1, 1997.