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Bill > SB1945


IL SB1945

IL SB1945
SCH CD-LICENSE TYPES-TESTING


summary

Introduced
02/06/2025
In Committee
02/06/2025
Crossed Over
Passed
Dead

Introduced Session

104th General Assembly

Bill Summary

Amends the Educator License Article of the School Code. Provides that if an assessment is determined to be non-uniform, a provisional in-state educator endorsement on an Educator License with Stipulations may be issued to a candidate who has completed an Illinois-approved educator preparation program at an Illinois institution of higher education and who has not successfully completed an applicable content area test but who meets certain requirements, which is valid for one full fiscal year after the date of issuance and may not be renewed. Provides that the process by which the State Board of Education evaluates content area tests to determine content validity, absence of bias, or scores required to pass shall be public information and is available on the website of the State Board. Requires the State Board to evaluate each content area test after it has been administered for at least 10 months, but not more than 12 months, and shall determine whether a content test is non-uniform. Provides that an assessment first introduced prior to January 1, 2017 shall be considered uniform, and an assessment introduced on or after January 1, 2017 that does not meet specified criteria shall be considered uniform. Provides that if the State Board finds that the content area test forms available as of January 1, 2025 are not uniform in the level of difficulty as compared to previous forms of those exams, any candidate for licensure who attempted any content area test in the form that was available as of January 1, 2025, and whose best scores in each subsection of the same content area exam, taken across multiple attempts on the same form of the exam, equal or exceed the passing score for that content area exam as of January 1, 2025, shall be determined to have passed that content area exam.

AI Summary

This bill amends the School Code to modify educator licensing and testing requirements in Illinois. Specifically, the bill introduces a new provisional in-state educator endorsement for candidates who have completed an Illinois-approved educator preparation program but have not successfully passed a content area test that is determined to be non-uniform. This new endorsement would be valid for one full fiscal year and cannot be renewed. The bill also requires the State Board of Education to evaluate content area tests after they have been administered for 10-12 months to determine if they are uniform, based on specific passing rate criteria for overall candidates and demographic subgroups. If a test is found to be non-uniform, the State Board must convene review committees, offer the previous uniform test as an option, provide no-cost retesting opportunities, and implement a provisional licensure process. Additionally, the bill mandates that the evaluation process for content area tests, including committee selection, meeting details, and decision-making, must be publicly available on the State Board of Education's website. The changes aim to create more flexibility in educator licensing while maintaining standards and transparency in the testing process.

Sponsors (3)

Last Action

Added as Co-Sponsor Sen. Javier L. Cervantes (on 04/11/2025)

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