Corey H. Update – July 29, 2002

The State Board of Education has nearly completed the actions that are needed to comply with the requirement for revising certification policies and procedures so that general education teachers will receive more preparation aimed at enabling them to serve students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment.

Rulemaking activity has now concluded with respect to new Part 24 (Standards for All Illinois Teachers). These rules encompass the Illinois Professional Teaching Standards, the language arts standards for all teachers, and the technology standards for all teachers. The Illinois Professional Teaching Standards include a number of indicators relevant to teachers’ skill in responding to the varying learning styles and learning needs of students.

These rules took effect on July 18, 2002, and will form the basis of the Assessment of Professional Teaching (APT) that will be required of candidates for initial certification who submit their applications on or after October 1, 2003. Teacher preparation programs must be redesigned to incorporate these standards. Thus the rules in new Part 24 represent the changes in pre-service preparation that will be required.

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For teachers who are already certified, the existing requirements for continuing professional development (applicable to holders of standard and master certificates) must also be revised. These changes will affect Section 25.805 of the rules for certification (Requirements of the Plan), which describes the amount and required distribution of continuing professional development credit teachers must accumulate.

Proposed amendments to Section 25.805 were published in the Illinois Register last fall and, after discussions among the parties to the Corey H. litigation, a revised version was adopted by the State Board of Education on July 1 of this year. Notice of that rulemaking has been provided to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) for the Committee’s consideration at its meeting on August 13. A summary of the requirements set forth in this rule is as follows:

• Each individual with a valid and active certificate who is serving in general education rather than special education will be required to devote at least 20 percent of the continuing professional development credits he or she needs for certificate renewal to serving students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment. This area of focus is stated to include such topics as multi-modality instruction, applied techniques for teaching academic content, making adaptations and modifications to the curriculum, managing student behavior, and team teaching.
• Each individual affected by this rule whose plan for continuing professional development was approved by the responsible LPDC on or before January 1, 2002, will be subject to the 20 percent requirement on a prorated basis, in direct proportion to the remaining validity of his or her certificate as of that date.
• Even if a teacher’s plan (approved on or before January 1, 2002) does not currently encompass activities that would meet the 20 percent requirement or prorated portion of it, the teacher will not be required to revise the plan to include those activities.
• An individual whose certificate renewal plan was approved after January 1, 2002, will be subject to the full 20 percent requirement and will need to amend his or her plan if necessary to cover the relevant activities.
• An identified portion of at least one activity must be devoted to adapting and modifying curriculum related to the Illinois Learning Standards to meet the needs of students with disabilities.

It should be noted that these changes to Section 25.805 are not yet in effect. To ensure that teachers receive notice as quickly as possible after the requirements do take effect, the State Board of Education plans to post a notice to teachers on the web, as well as distributing it to LPDCs, school districts, regional superintendents, teachers’ associations, and other organizations that have frequent contact with teachers.

July 29, 2002