BILL NUMBER:  S4473A

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the education law, in relation to certain candidates
seeking an initial teaching certificate

 PURPOSE :

To direct the State Education Department (SED) to develop a temporary
alternative pathway to an initial teaching certificate

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1. Directs the Commissioner of Education to develop an
alternative pathway for teacher candidates that fail the edTPA, ALST,
or EAS exams.

Section 2. Provides for a retroactive effective date of May 1, 2015.

 JUSTIFICATION :

The State Education Department has been pursuing the Regents Reform
Agenda since 2009. As part of this agenda, SED implemented new
requirements for teacher certification in May of 2014. These new
requirements include three new exams: the teacher performance
              

assessment (edTPA), the academic literacy skills test (ALST) and the
educating all students (EAS) exam.

Prior to the introduction of these new exams, the rates for initial
certification were well above 90 percent. For the first year in which
the new exams were required, the statewide passage rates on two of the
exams, the ALST and EAS were 73 percent and 68 percent respectively.
While this precipitous decline in passage rates can be attributed in
part to the additional rigor of the new exams, there is evidence
indicating that SED did not provide teacher preparation programs and
candidates with the frameworks for the new exams far enough in advance
of the new examination requirement. The frameworks were provided in
August of 2013, which coincides with the senior year for candidates
graduating in May 2014. This late release of the final frameworks
likely contributed to difficulties for many candidates who invested a
tremendous amount of time, effort and financial resources in their
education.

Furthermore, many teacher preparation programs are still adjusting
their curricula to better prepare future educators for the new
examination requirements. These programs need more time to adjust
their curricula. In recognition of this need and the difficulties many
candidates are encountering with the new exams, this bill would direct
SED to provide the programs and students of those programs with a
reprieve and alternative pathway until May 1, 2017, in the event that
a student fails to pass any of the aforementioned exams. This three
year reprieve ensures that the first group of teacher candidates to be
required to complete the new examinations for certification will be
those candidates who entered college at the time that the final draft
frameworks were issued (fall 2013). Pursuing this approach will
provide teacher preparation programs with ample time to improve their
program quality so that all teacher candidates have a adequate
preparation for the new examination requirements.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

New bill

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None to the state.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
This act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to have
been in full force and effect on and after May 1, 2015, provided that
the Commissioner of Education is authorized to promulgate emergency
regulations necessary for the implementation of this act.