Highlights of the Commission
April, 2003

Mel Hunt
St. Mary's College of California

New Commission Chair Elected

Commissioner Margaret Fortune was unanimously elected as Commission Chair to fill the term of office vacated by former Commissioner Carol Katzman, who has been appointed to the State Board of Education by the Governor.

Developing Issues in Response to “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB)

Linda Bond, director of the Office of Governmental Relations, made another oral presentation on Thursday on the status of California’s response to NCLB as it relates to credentialing. She had just returned from providing technical information to the AB 312 Liaison Team that also met on April 3rd. Much of the current discussions are focusing on the status of the current Commission-approved subject matter preparation programs for the Multiple Subject Credential.

Ms. Bond feels that some progress has been made in communicating to the major players on the AB 312 Liaison Team what the current credential structure in California actually is. While it now better understood among the AB 312 stakeholders that the current Commission-approved Liberal Studies subject matter programs are required to have a capstone assessment in addition to individual course grades.

Discussions are very fluid, but one possible solution could be the adoption of an external assessment to serve as the uniform assessment at the conclusion of the Liberal Studies subject matter program. This solution is appealing as it could be implemented by modifying the Commission’s program standards and would not require formal action by the legislature.

The official response of the State Board to NCLB is now due on September 1, 2003.

Modified Proposal to Limit Waivers

As a result of the current interpretation of the provisions of NCLB, the Commission staff is proposing to end the issuance of waivers for the bachelor’s degree for any credential type as of July 1, 2003.

The other areas (See February Highlights) in which waivers were to eliminated for Title I classrooms as of July 1, 2003 will now be implemented on over a yet to be determined period of time.

Options for the Professional Clear Credential under SB 2042

Given the current budget crisis, which may impact both the availability of induction programs and the ability of new credential holders to be hired, Commission staff are proposing to issue a Coded Correspondence that makes clear the options open to SB 2042 Preliminary Credential holders.

While a Commission-approved and state-funded induction program remains the preferred route to the Professional Clear credential, any individual credential holder who for any reason does not have access to an induction program will be able to obtain the Professional Clear credential on the basis of Fifth Year coursework and courses (or exams) that cover the academic content included in the SB 2042 Tier II programs (advanced health, special education, technology and English Learner).

The options for Ryan credential holders to obtain a Professional Clear credential have been “grandfathered in” and have not changed.

It is the responsibility of the Commission, once induction is fully funded, to “trigger” the full implementation of induction as the route to the Professional Clear credential. Staff will review the level of funding available to induction programs and advise the Commission on when it would be appropriate to activate the “trigger”. Such an action would need to take place in a public meeting open to comment from the field.

CSET Passing Scores

The passing scores recommended by staff were adopted by the Commission. The passing score set for each CSET subset of each exam (Multiple Subject, English, Mathematics, Social Science and the Sciences) is 220 on a scale of 300. Candidates will need to achieve a score of at least 220 on each subtest in a full CSET exam to be considered subject matter competent. Test results for the January administration will be issued by April 17th and those for the March administration by April 21st.

Implementation of the TPA Delayed

As a result of the current fiscal crisis, the Commission took action to delay (not suspend) the implementation of the TPA until sometime after the 2003-2004 academic year. While the TPA will not be required next year, the California TPA will be available for use by this summer. Commissioners strongly expressed their view that implementation of the full Category E standards at the earliest possible moment was of the highest importance to teacher education in California.

Until the full Category E standards are implemented, the Interim Standard 19 remains in effect and teacher preparation programs that are not yet approved and were expecting to respond the Category E Standards on June 1 should now respond to Interim Standard 19, if they have not already done so.

Governor’s Budget

BTSA program representatives have been very active in the Legislature to argue for exclusion of the programs from the block grant process. In a way their success has almost backfired, as the legislators are having difficulty in understanding how such wonderful and productive programs would be unable to secure funding within the block.

Teacher Supply in California

Staff provided an executive summary to the full report that supplies concise and useful information on the teacher supply in California over the last five years. As the supply of newly credentialed teachers has increased, the number of emergency permits and waivers has been dropping. While the summary is part of the Commission agenda, the full report multi-hundred page report is available online.

Modified Preliminary Administrative Draft Standards

After comment from the field, the proposed Draft Standards were slightly modified. Technology has been integrated into the program rather than standing alone as a separate standard. In addition, the provisions related to students with special needs were strengthened in a number of draft program elements. The revised Draft standards are now open to comment from the field and will be brought back in May or June for adoption.

Commission Meeting Dates for 2004

The Commission adopted Option B for proposed meeting dates in 2004. The planned dates are:

Jan 8
Feb 5
March 3-4
April 8
May 5-6
June 3
July – No meeting
Aug 11-12
Sept – No meeting
Oct 6-7
Nov 4
Dec 1-2

Legislative Update – New or Changed Bills

(You can access up to the minute news on bills at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html)

SB 81 Alpert Watch

This bill has been modified to focus on the composition of the integrated credential programs in the CSU system, with linkage to local Community Colleges mandated. The provisions for an “Education” major have been removed.

SB 263 Knight No Position Yet Taken

This bill would allow the Governor and members of the legislature to examine the actual test questions and forms used for CBEST and the other tests administered through the Commission. A number of legislators came to the table and commented on the need to keep licensure tests secure. The bill failed with only two votes in Committee, but was granted reconsideration. (Senator Knight had asked to see the CBEST exam last year but was not allowed access to it.)

AB 54 Oropeza Seek Amendments

Would require CCTC to contract to study the level of cross-cultural training available to in-service teachers. The amendment the Commission is seeking is the funding of the study.

AB 422 Chan Seek Amendments

As the bill is proposed to be amended, it would require the Commission to submit a report on the Child Development Permit Pilot Study and to propose and adopt a statewide program of accreditation based upon the pilot study. The amendment the Commission is seeking is the funding of the study.