Bill Text: IL SB0808 | 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 Educator Licensure Article of School Code. With regard to licensure candidates being required to pass a teacher performance assessment, provides that a candidate may not be required to submit test materials by video submission. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 15-3)

Status: (Passed) 2021-08-06 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 102-0301 [SB0808 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2021-SB0808-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 School Code is amended by changing Section
21B-30 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/21B-30)
Sec. 21B-30. Educator testing.
(a) (Blank).
(b) The State Board of Education, in consultation with the
State Educator Preparation and Licensure Board, shall design
and implement a system of examinations, which shall be
required prior to the issuance of educator licenses. These
examinations and indicators must be based on national and
State professional teaching standards, as determined by the
State Board of Education, in consultation with the State
Educator Preparation and Licensure Board. The State Board of
Education may adopt such rules as may be necessary to
implement and administer this Section.
(c) (Blank).
(c-5) The State Board must adopt rules to implement a
paraprofessional competency test. This test would allow an
applicant seeking an Educator License with Stipulations with a
paraprofessional educator endorsement to obtain the

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endorsement if he or she passes the test and meets the other
requirements of subparagraph (J) of paragraph (2) of Section
21B-20 other than the higher education requirements.
(d) All applicants seeking a State license shall be
required to pass a test of content area knowledge for each area
of endorsement for which there is an applicable test. There
shall be no exception to this requirement. No candidate shall
be allowed to student teach or serve as the teacher of record
until he or she has passed the applicable content area test.
(e) (Blank).
(f) Except as otherwise provided in this Article,
beginning on September 1, 2015, all candidates completing
teacher preparation programs in this State and all candidates
subject to Section 21B-35 of this Code are required to pass a
teacher performance assessment approved by the State Board of
Education, in consultation with the State Educator Preparation
and Licensure Board. A candidate may not be required to submit
test materials by video submission. Subject to appropriation,
an individual who holds a Professional Educator License and is
employed for a minimum of one school year by a school district
designated as Tier 1 under Section 18-8.15 may, after
application to the State Board, receive from the State Board a
refund for any costs associated with completing the teacher
performance assessment under this subsection.
(g) The content area knowledge test and the teacher
performance assessment shall be the tests that from time to

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time are designated by the State Board of Education, in
consultation with the State Educator Preparation and Licensure
Board, and may be tests prepared by an educational testing
organization or tests designed by the State Board of
Education, in consultation with the State Educator Preparation
and Licensure Board. The test of content area knowledge shall
assess content knowledge in a specific subject field. The
tests must be designed to be racially neutral to ensure that no
person taking the tests is discriminated against on the basis
of race, color, national origin, or other factors unrelated to
the person's ability to perform as a licensed employee. The
score required to pass the tests shall be fixed by the State
Board of Education, in consultation with the State Educator
Preparation and Licensure Board. The tests shall be
administered not fewer than 3 times a year at such time and
place as may be designated by the State Board of Education, in
consultation with the State Educator Preparation and Licensure
Board.
The State Board shall implement a test or tests to assess
the speaking, reading, writing, and grammar skills of
applicants for an endorsement or a license issued under
subdivision (G) of paragraph (2) of Section 21B-20 of this
Code in the English language and in the language of the
transitional bilingual education program requested by the
applicant.
(h) Except as provided in Section 34-6 of this Code, the

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provisions of this Section shall apply equally in any school
district subject to Article 34 of this Code.
(i) The rules developed to implement and enforce the
testing requirements under this Section shall include without
limitation provisions governing test selection, test
validation and determination of a passing score,
administration of the tests, frequency of administration,
applicant fees, frequency of applicants taking the tests, the
years for which a score is valid, and appropriate special
accommodations. The State Board of Education shall develop
such rules as may be needed to ensure uniformity from year to
year in the level of difficulty for each form of an assessment.
(Source: P.A. 100-596, eff. 7-1-18; 100-863, eff. 8-14-18;
100-932, eff. 8-17-18; 101-81, eff. 7-12-19; 101-220, eff.
8-7-19; 101-594, eff. 12-5-19.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.