Bill Text: IL HB5506 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Enrolled

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Amends the Dual Credit Quality Act. Provides that a partnership agreement entered into between a community college district and a school district shall allow a high school student who does not otherwise meet the community college district's academic eligibility requirements to enroll in a dual credit course, but only for high school credit. Makes changes concerning the professional development plans of instructors and the information the Illinois Community College Board must annually report.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 12-5)

Status: (Passed) 2022-06-10 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 102-1077 [HB5506 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-HB5506-Enrolled.html

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AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Dual Credit Quality Act is amended by
changing Sections 16 and 20 and by adding Section 16.5 as
follows:
(110 ILCS 27/16)
Sec. 16. High school and community college partnership
agreements; dual credit. A community college district shall,
upon the request of a school district within the jurisdiction
of the community college district, enter into a partnership
agreement with the school district to offer dual credit
coursework.
A school district may offer any course identified in the
Illinois Articulation Initiative General Education Core
Curriculum package under the Illinois Articulation Initiative
Act as a dual credit course on the campus of a high school of
the school district and may use a high school instructor who
has met the academic credential requirements under this Act to
teach the dual credit course.
The partnership agreement shall include all of the
following:
(1) The establishment of the school district's and the

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community college district's respective roles and
responsibilities in providing the program and ensuring the
quality and instructional rigor of the program. This must
include an assurance that the community college district
has appropriate academic control of the curriculum,
consistent with any State or federal law and as required
or negotiated with the Higher Learning Commission or other
applicable accrediting agency.
(2) The dual credit courses that the school district
will offer its students and whether those courses will be
offered on the high school or community college campus or
through an online platform established by the Illinois
Community College Board.
(3) The establishment of academic criteria for
granting eligibility for high school students to enroll in
dual credit coursework. The academic criteria shall be
evidence-based and shall include multiple appropriate
measures to determine whether a student is prepared for
any dual credit coursework in which the student enrolls.
(4) The establishment of any limitations that the
school district or community college district may put on
course offerings due to availability of instructors, the
availability of students for specific course offerings, or
local board policy.
(5) The requirement that the dual credit instructor
meet the academic credential requirements to teach a dual

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credit course, consistent with paragraphs (1), (2), and
(3) of Section 20 of this Act, but shall not be required to
exceed those credentials.
(6) The collaborative process and criteria by which
the school district shall identify and recommend and the
community college district shall review and approve high
school instructors of dual credit courses taught on the
campus of a high school. This provision shall require that
the school district be responsible for hiring and
compensating the instructor.
(7) The requirement that a community college district
take the appropriate steps to ensure that dual credit
courses are equivalent to those courses offered at the
community college in quality and rigor to qualify for
college credit. The dual credit programs shall encompass
the following characteristics:
(A) Student learning outcomes expected for dual
credit courses in General Education Core Curriculum
courses and the professional and career and technical
disciplines shall be the same as the student learning
outcomes expected for the same courses taught on the
postsecondary campus.
(B) Course content, course delivery, and course
rigor shall be evaluated by the community college
chief academic officer or his or her designee, in
consultation with the school district's superintendent

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or his or her designee. The evaluation shall be
conducted in a manner that is consistent with the
community college district's review and evaluation
policy and procedures for on-campus adjunct faculty,
including visits to the secondary class. This
evaluation shall be limited to the course and the
ability of the instructor to deliver quality, rigorous
college credit coursework. This evaluation shall not
impact the instructor's performance evaluation under
Article 24A of the School Code.
(C) The academic supports and, if applicable,
guidance that will be provided to students
participating in the program by the high school and
the community college district.
(8) Identify all fees and costs to be assessed by the
community college district for dual credit courses. This
provision shall require that any fees and costs assessed
for dual credit courses shall be reasonable and promote
student access to those courses, and may take into account
regional considerations and differences.
(8.5) The collaborative process and criteria by which
a school district and a community college district shall
work to ensure that individual students with disabilities
have access to dual credit courses, provided that those
students are able to meet the criteria for entry into a
dual credit course. Through this process and criteria, the

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student shall have access to the supplementary aids and
accommodations included in the student's individualized
education program under Article 14 of the School Code or
Section 504 plan under the federal Rehabilitation Act of
1973 while the student is accessing a dual credit course
on a high school campus, in accordance with established
practices at the high school for providing these services.
A student who accesses a dual credit course on a community
college campus shall have access to supplementary aids and
accommodations provided in the partnership agreement,
including access to the community college's disability
services. A school district and community college district
shall work together to provide seamless communication
about the student's progress.
(9) The community college district shall establish a
mechanism for evaluating and documenting on a regular
basis the performance of students who complete dual credit
courses, consistent with paragraph (9) of Section 20 and
Section 30 of this Act, and for sharing that data in a
meaningful and timely manner with the school district.
This evaluation shall be limited to the course and the
coursework. This evaluation shall not impact the
instructor's performance evaluation under Article 24A of
the School Code.
(10) The expectations for maintaining the rigor of
dual credit courses that are taught at the high school and

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including students not deemed ready for college-level
coursework according to the standards of the community
college.
(11) A requirement that the school district and
community college annually assess disaggregated data
pertaining to dual credit course enrollments, completions,
and subsequent postsecondary enrollment and performance to
the extent feasible. If applicable, this assessment shall
include an analysis of dual credit courses with credit
sections for dual credit and for high school credit only
pursuant to subsection (a) of Section 16.5 that reviews
student characteristics by credit section in relation to
gender, race and ethnicity, and low-income status.
If, within 180 calendar days of the school district's
initial request to enter into a partnership agreement with the
community college district, the school district and the
community college district do not reach agreement on the
partnership agreement, then the school district and community
college district shall jointly implement the provisions of the
Model Partnership Agreement established under Section 19 of
this Act for which local agreement could not be reached. A
community college district may combine its negotiations with
multiple school districts to establish one multi-district
partnership agreement or may negotiate individual partnership
agreements at its discretion.
(Source: P.A. 102-516, eff. 8-20-21.)

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(110 ILCS 27/16.5 new)
Sec. 16.5. High school and community college partnership
agreements; student enrollment eligibility.
(a) A partnership agreement under Section 16 that is
entered into, amended, renewed, or extended after the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General
Assembly shall allow a high school student who does not
otherwise meet the community college district's academic
eligibility requirements to enroll in a dual credit course
taught at the high school, but only for high school credit.
Instructors, in coordination with their higher learning
partner, may differentiate instruction by credit section.
(b) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to allow
the award of dual credit to a student who does not meet the
requirements of the partnership agreement.
(c) High schools shall establish procedures, prior to the
first day of class, to notify all individual high school
students enrolled in a mixed enrollment dual credit course
that includes students who have and have not met the criteria
for dual credit coursework of whether or not they are eligible
to earn college credit for the course.
(110 ILCS 27/20)
Sec. 20. Standards. All institutions offering dual credit
courses shall meet the following standards:

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(1) High school instructors teaching credit-bearing
college-level courses for dual credit must meet any of the
academic credential requirements set forth in this
paragraph or paragraph (2) or (3) of this Section and need
not meet higher certification requirements or those set
out in Article 21B of the School Code:
(A) Approved instructors of dual credit courses
shall meet any of the faculty credential standards
allowed by the Higher Learning Commission to determine
minimally qualified faculty. At the request of an
instructor, an instructor who meets these credential
standards shall be provided by the State Board of
Education with a Dual Credit Endorsement, to be placed
on the professional educator license, as established
by the State Board of Education and as authorized
under Article 21B of the School Code and promulgated
through administrative rule in cooperation with the
Illinois Community College Board and the Board of
Higher Education.
(B) An instructor who does not meet the faculty
credential standards allowed by the Higher Learning
Commission to determine minimally qualified faculty
may teach dual credit courses if the instructor has a
professional development plan, approved by the
institution and shared with the State Board of
Education no later than January 1, 2025 , within 4

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years of January 1, 2019 (the effective date of Public
Act 100-1049), to raise his or her credentials to be in
line with the credentials under subparagraph (A) of
this paragraph (1). The institution shall have 30 days
to review the plan and approve an instructor
professional development plan that is in line with the
credentials set forth in paragraph (2) of this
Section. The institution shall not unreasonably
withhold approval of a professional development plan.
These approvals shall be good for as long as
satisfactory progress toward the completion of the
credential is demonstrated, but in no event shall a
professional development plan be in effect for more
than 3 years from the date of its approval or after
January 1, 2028, whichever is sooner. A high school
instructor whose professional development plan is not
approved by the institution may appeal to the Illinois
Community College Board or the Board of Higher
Education, as appropriate.
(C) The Illinois Community College Board and Board
of Higher Education shall report yearly on its
Internet website the following:
(i) the number of teachers presently enrolled
in an who have approved professional development
plan plans under this Section; .
(ii) the number of instructors who

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successfully completed an approved professional
development plan;
(iii) the number of instructors who did not
successfully complete an approved professional
development plan after 3 years;
(iv) a breakdown of the information in
subdivisions (i), (ii), and (iii) of this
subparagraph (C) by subject area; and
(v) a summary, by community college district,
of professional development plans that are in
progress, that were successfully completed, or
that have expired.
(2) For a high school instructor entering into a
professional development plan prior to January 1, 2023,
the A high school instructor shall qualify for a
professional development plan if the instructor:
(A) has a master's degree in any discipline and
has earned 9 graduate hours in a discipline in which he
or she is currently teaching or expects to teach; or
(B) has a bachelor's degree with a minimum of 18
graduate hours in a discipline that he or she is
currently teaching or expects to teach and is enrolled
in a discipline-specific master's degree program; and
(C) agrees to demonstrate his or her progress
toward completion to the supervising institution, as
outlined in the professional development plan.

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(2.5) For a high school instructor entering into a
professional development plan on or after January 1, 2023,
the high school instructor shall qualify for a
professional development plan if the instructor:
(A) has a master's degree in any discipline, has
earned 9 graduate hours in a discipline in which he or
she currently teaches or expects to teach, and agrees
to demonstrate his or her progress toward completion
to the supervising institution, as outlined in the
professional development plan; or
(B) is a fully licensed instructor in career and
technical education who is halfway toward meeting the
institution's requirements for faculty in the
discipline to be taught and agrees to demonstrate his
or her progress toward completion to the supervising
institution, as outlined in the professional
development plan.
(3) An instructor in career and technical education
courses must possess the credentials and demonstrated
teaching competencies appropriate to the field of
instruction.
(4) Course content must be equivalent to
credit-bearing college-level courses offered at the
community college.
(5) Learning outcomes must be the same as
credit-bearing college-level courses and be appropriately

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measured.
(6) A high school instructor is expected to
participate in any orientation developed by the
institution for dual credit instructors in course
curriculum, assessment methods, and administrative
requirements.
(7) Dual credit instructors must be given the
opportunity to participate in all activities available to
other adjunct faculty, including professional development,
seminars, site visits, and internal communication,
provided that such opportunities do not interfere with an
instructor's regular teaching duties.
(8) Every dual credit course must be reviewed annually
by faculty through the appropriate department to ensure
consistency with campus courses.
(9) Dual credit students must be assessed using
methods consistent with students in traditional
credit-bearing college courses.
(10) Within 15 days after entering into or renewing a
partnership agreement, the institution shall notify its
faculty of the agreement, including access to copies of
the agreement if requested.
(Source: P.A. 102-558, eff. 8-20-21.)