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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE NO. 2 FOR
HOUSE BILL NO. 2776
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
5998H.04C JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o amend chapter 168, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to teaching
certificates.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 168, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be
2 known as section 168.038, to read as follows:
168.038. 1. In addition to granting certificates of license to teach in public
2 schools of the state under section 168.021, the state board of education shall grant
3 associate teacher certificates, as pr ovided in this section, to any individual seeking to
4 teach in elementary education grades one thr ough six in any public school in this state.
5 2. (1) The state board of education shall not grant an associate teacher
6 certificate under this section to any individual who has not completed a backgroun d
7 check as req uired under section 168.133.
8 (2) The state board of education may ref use to issue or renew , suspend, or revo ke
9 any certificate sought or issued under this section in the same manner and for the same
10 r easons as under section 168.071.
11 3. (1) The state board of education shall grant a tier I associate teacher
12 certificate under this section to any individual who has submitted an application to the
13 state board of education after having completed a teacher prepa ration pr ogram
14 appr oved by the state board of education consisting of no fewer than sixty semester
15 hours.
16 (2) The teacher prep aration prog ram shall:
17 (a) Include literacy and rea ding instruction coursework as outlined in subsection
18 4 of section 161.097;
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
19 (b) Be offer ed by an institution accr edited by the state board of education in the
20 same manner that existing teacher prep aration provi ders ar e accr edited; and
21 (c) Include a capstone pro ject as a component, which may include passage of a
22 general education assessment or a similar institution-cr eated measur e to assess the
23 individual's pr oficiency in fundamentals of instruction.
24 (3) A tier I associate teacher certificate issued by the state board of education
25 under this subsection shall certify the holder to be employed by a school district or
26 charter school as a teacher of re cord. Such certificate shall not be r enewed and shall
27 expir e four years after issuance.
28 (4) A holder of a tier I associate teacher certificate shall:
29 (a) Participate in a mentoring pr ogram appr oved and pr ovided by the school
30 district or charter school for a minimum of two years; and
31 (b) Participate in school district or charter school profession al development,
32 which shall consist of thirty hours annually , and the appr oved beginning teacher
33 assistance pr ogram.
34 4. (1) In order to qualify for a tier II associate teacher certificate, an individual
35 who holds a tier I associate teacher certificate shall:
36 (a) Complete two years of service in a Missouri public school district or charter
37 school as a teacher of reco rd as rep orted in the core data system and the Missouri
38 student information system;
39 (b) Successfully achieve an acceptable scor e on a state-approved teacher
40 evaluation system fr om:
41 a. Seven walk-throu gh evaluations;
42 b. T wo formative evaluations; and
43 c. One summative evaluation for each of the two pr obationary years such
44 individual held a tier I associate teacher certificate;
45 (c) Be offered a third contract by a public school of the state; and
46 (d) Demonstrate pro ficiency in the teaching of readi ng by passing the state
47 board of education-appr oved elementary r eading exam.
48 (2) For an applicant who has a change in job status because of a redu ction in the
49 workfor ce or a change in life cir cumstances, the years of service and scor e r equir ed
50 under this subsection may be achieved in any school district or charter school during the
51 four -year nonr enewable tier I associate teacher certificate period.
52 (3) A tier II associate teacher certificate issued by the state board of education
53 under this subsection shall certify the holder to be employed by a school district or
54 charter school for thr ee years. Such certificate shall not be ren ewed and shall expir e
55 five years after issuance.
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56 5. A career continuous profes sional certificate may be issued to a holder of a tier
57 II associate teacher certificate who has completed thr ee years of service and sixty
58 contact hours of profession al development, which may include hours spent in an
59 appr opriate college curriculum and who has passed the state-appro ved teacher exit
60 exam as r equired for other elementary teacher candidates. Car eer continuous
61 pr ofessional certificates shall expir e after ninety-nine years fr om issuance.
62 6. (1) Holders of a tier I and tier II associate teacher certificate ar e not eligible
63 for additional certifications under subdivision (7) of subsection 1 of section 168.021.
64 (2) School districts and charter schools shall be req uired to compensate tier I
65 and II associate teacher certificate holders at a minimum of thirty-five thousand dollars
66 annually and may pro vide a separate salary schedule for associate teacher certificate
67 holders.
68 7. (1) A holder of a tier I and tier II associate teacher certificate shall be
69 consider ed a teacher for the purposes of sections 169.010 and 169.410.
70 (2) The holder of a tier I and tier II associate teacher certificate shall contribute
71 to the ret irem ent system for the district or school in which the holder is employed.
72 8. (1) A holder of a car eer continuous pr ofessional certificate shall be eligible for
73 additional certifications under subdivision (7) of subsection 1 of section 168.021. Such
74 additional certification shall be at the determination of the department of elementary
75 and secondary education, shall only include certifications for early childhood and at the
76 middle school level, and shall not include certification for special education or at the
77 high school level.
78 (2) A holder of a car eer continuous pro fessional certificate who is employed by a
79 school district or charter school shall be r equir ed to be compensated in accordance with
80 the minimum salary level established under section 163.172.
81 9. (1) The beginning teacher assistance pr ogram and the pr ofessional
82 development r equir ements for tier I and tier II associate teacher certificate holders
83 that ar e aligned with higher education teacher prep aration progr ams may be applied as
84 cr edit toward a bachelor of arts or bachelor of science in education at a participating
85 institution of higher education.
86 (2) Institutions of higher education may offer such credi t at a re duced rate, and
87 up to eighteen hours of such pr ofessional development may be applied toward a
88 bachelor of arts or bachelor of science in education degr ee.
89 (3) T ier I and tier II associate teacher certificate holders may rece ive additional
90 compensation in the form of tuition reim bursement fr om the school district or charter
91 school for profession al development used for courses taken in pursuit of a bachelor of
92 arts or bachelor of science in education or an education-r elated field.
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93 (4) The department of elementary and secondary education shall allow tier I and
94 tier II associate teacher certificate holders who have been employed for at least two
95 years as a teacher of record to utilize such experience to bypass the practice teaching
96 evaluation and observation pr ocess req uired under section 168.400 for pr ofessional
97 teacher exit requ irem ents fro m appr oved teacher education pr ograms.
98 10. Mentors for tier I associate teacher certificate holders shall meet the
99 standards established under section 161.375 and shall be pr ovided with additional
100 compensation as determined by the school district or charter school for pr oviding
101 mentor duties, which shall include sufficient time for mentors to observe beginning
102 teachers and for the beginning teachers to observe master teachers, structur ed to
103 pr ovide multiple opportunities over time and to minimize the need to req uire substitute
104 teachers to facilitate observation.
105 1 1. Beginning ten years after the effective date of this section, the department of
106 elementary and secondary education shall biennially prov ide to the joint committee on
107 education, or any successor committee, a rep ort on the effectiveness of the associate
108 teacher certification proc ess and make reco mmendations for legislative changes.
109 12. The state board of education may exer cise the board's authority under
110 chapter 161 to promulg ate all necessary rules and reg ulations for the administration of
111 this section. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, that
112 is cr eated under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it
113 complies with and is subject to all of the pr ovisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable,
114 section 536.028. This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable and if any of the powers
115 vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536 to revi ew , to delay the
116 effective date, or to disappr ove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional,
117 then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule pr oposed or adopted after the
118 effective date of this act shall be invalid and void.
✔
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