Certification Rules Related to the Corey H. Litigation
Move to Next Phase

December 14 , 2001

The Illinois State Board of Education is obligated to present to the Court-appointed Monitor and the parties to the Corey H. litigation by January 1, 2002, a proposal for revising certification requirements for regular education teachers with regard to special education. To fulfill that obligation, the Board proposed an amendment to the rules for Certification (Part 25), as well as a new set of rules titled Standards for All Illinois Teachers (Part 24). The public comment period on those proposed rules included three public hearings and ended on October 31, 2001. At its November 15 meeting, the Board adopted a slightly revised version of new Part 24 and the revision to Section 25.805 as originally proposed.

New Part 24 includes the Illinois Professional Teaching Standards as well as the language arts and technology standards for all teachers. Proposed special education standards for all teachers are a part of this material. These are not stated as separate standards because they are intended to be an integral part of the Professional Teaching Standards. They are therefore presented as additional knowledge and performance indicators related to those standards and are distinguished by bold type in the document for the reader's ease of reference. These standards will eventually apply to teacher preparation programs.

Further, additions to Section 25.805 (Requirements of the Plan) will establish requirements for continuing professional development related to special education for regular education teachers. This is the second aspect of the proposal the State Board has developed to implement the Corey H. Settlement Agreement. Included is the requirement that that 10% of continuing professional development activities of non-special education teachers address the area of special education. Additionally, such teachers must engage in an activity that addresses adapting and modifying the general curriculum to meet the needs of students with disabilities. Teachers whose plans are approved by their local professional development committee before November 1, 2002 would be exempt from these new requirements during their first certificate renewal cycle.

The State Board has now submitted these adopted rules to the Court Monitor and the parties to the litigation for their review. Further action on these matters awaits the outcome of the review process.