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- 83rd Session (2025)
Assembly Bill No. 286–Assemblymembers
Torres-Fossett and González
CHAPTER..........
AN ACT relating to education; authorizing one or more institutions
of higher education within the Nevada System of Higher
Education to es tablish a pilot program to assess the
competency of applicants for a license to teach through the
use of alternative assessment methods; requiring certain
regulations adopted by the Commission on Professional
Standards in Education to authorize an applicant for a license
to teach to be exempt from requirements to pass a
competency test in various subjects if the applicant completes
the pilot program; and providing other matters properly
relating thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Existing law creates t he Commission on Professional Standards in Education
and requires the Commission to adopt regulations prescribing the qualifications for
licensing teachers and other educational personnel. (NRS 391.011, 391.019)
Existing law additionally requires the Commi ssion to adopt regulations governing
examinations for the initial licensing of teachers and other educational personnel .
(NRS 391.021) Existing regulations provide that an applicant is exempt from the
requirement to pass a competency test in the principles and methods of teaching if
the applicant submits to the Department of Education evidence that he or she : (1)
completed the “Principles of Learning and Teaching Test” prepared and
administered by the Educational Testing Service; or (2) is applying for a license
with an endorsement in an area for which training in the principles and methods of
teaching is not required. (NAC 391.036) Section 1 of this bill provides that the
regulations adopted by the Commission must also authorize an appli cant for an
initial license to teach to be exempt from the requirement to pass a competency test
in the principles and methods of teaching if he or she satisfactorily completes the
pilot program established pursuant to section 2 of this bill.
Section 2 authorizes institutions within the Nevada System of Higher
Education to establish a pilot program to offer an alternative pathway for assessing
the competency of prospective teachers through the use of alternative assessment
methods. Section 2: (1) sets for th the requirements for the program; and (2)
provides that the pilot program must select not more than 100 participants each
academic year during the duration of the program; and (3) requires that each
participant be an applicant for an initial license to teach who currently holds a
provisional license to teach or an endorsement or license to serve as a substitute
teacher.
For a participant in the pilot program, section 2 requires the Department to
extend the deadline for successfully passing a competency test, which is required to
receive an initial license to teach, for a period of 24 months after he or she is
selected to participate in the program, thereby allowing the participant to use his or
her satisfactory completion of the pilot program to satisfy by exemption the
requirement to complete certain competency tests. Section 2 also requires each
institution that established a pilot program to submit: (1) an annual progress report
regarding the pilot program to the Commission, the State Board of Educatio n and
the Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau for distribution to the Joint Interim
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Standing Committee on Education; and (2) not later than 6 months after the
cessation of the pilot program, a report to the Department on the success of the pilot
program and a plan for its broader implementation. Section 4 of this bill provides
that the pilot program established by section 2 expires by limitation on July 1,
2029.
EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. NRS 391.021 is hereby amended to read as follows:
391.021 1. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 391.027,
the Commission shall adopt regulations governing examinations for
the initial licensing of teachers and other educational personnel. The
regulations ad opted by the Commission must ensure that the
examinations test the ability of the applicant to teach and the
applicant’s knowledge of each specific subject he or she proposes to
teach.
2. When adopting regulations pursuant to subsection 1, the
Commission shall consider including any alternative means of
demonstrating competency for persons with a disability or
health-related need that the Commission determines are necessary
and appropriate.
3. The regulations adopted by the Commission pursuant to
subsection 1 must authorize an applicant to be exempt from any
requirement to pass a competency test in [basic] :
(a) Basic reading, writing and mathematics if the applicant
submits to the Department evidence that [,] at any time before or
after [not passing] completing a competency test in basic reading,
writing and mathematics at the level of competence specified by the
Commission, the applicant began and completed, with a grade of B
or better, a course of study approved by the Department in each
subject area of the competency test that the applicant did not pass at
the level of competence specified by the Commission.
(b) The principles and methods of teaching if the applicant has
satisfactorily completed the pilot program established pursuant to
section 2 of this act.
4. Teachers and educational personnel from another state who
obtain a reciprocal license pursuant to NRS 391.032 or 391B.010
are not required to take the examinations for the initial licensing of
teachers and other educational personnel described in this section or
any other examination for initial licensing required by the
regulations adopted by the Commission.
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Sec. 2. 1. One or more institutions within the Nevada
System of Higher Education may establish and operate a pilot
program to offer an alternative pathway for assessing the
competency of applicants for a license to teach pupils in this State
through the use of alternative assessment methods.
2. A pilot program established pursuant to subsection 1 must:
(a) Select not more than 100 participants for the pilot program
each academic year;
(b) Select not more than 25 teachers licensed pursuant to chapter
391 of NRS who have taught in a public school in this State for at
least 5 years to serve as mentors for participants in the pilot
program;
(c) Include a curriculum of professional development for
participants in the pilot program that consists of at least 10 sessions
and is aligned with the criteria for designating a teacher as effective
or highly effec tive under the statewide performance evaluation
system established by the State Board of Education pursuant to
NRS 391.465;
(d) Require, for the duration of the pilot program, a teacher
selected to serve as a mentor pursuant to paragraph (b) to conduct a
monthly meeting with each participant who is assigned as his or her
mentee;
(e) For a participant to receive credit for satisfactorily
completing the pilot program, require the participant to, while he or
she is participating in the pilot program, receiv e at least two
consecutive evaluations, conducted pursuant to NRS 391.685, in
which the overall performance of the teacher was designated as
effective or highly effective;
(f) For alternative assessment methods, assess the validity and
reliability of the methods and ability of the methods to be scaled to
accommodate a greater number of participants;
(g) Promote assessment practices that are inclusive and
equitable and that support a diversity of learning styles and
experiences;
(h) Align alternative asse ssment methods with applicable state
standards, requirements for accreditation and the needs of school
districts in this State; and
(i) Collect and analyze data to provide evidence -based
recommendations for the potential implementation of alternative
assessment methods in this State.
3. A person is eligible to participate in a pilot program
established pursuant to this section if he or she is an applicant for a
license to teach issued pursuant to chapter 391 of NRS and holds:
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- 83rd Session (2025)
(a) A provisional license issued by the Superintendent of Public
Instruction pursuant to NRS 391.032;
(b) A special license as an emergency substitute teacher issued
by the Department of Education; or
(c) An endorsement to serve as a substitute teacher in early
childhood education through grade 12 issued by the State Board of
Education.
4. The Department of Education shall:
(a) For each participant in the pilot program established
pursuant to this section, extend for 24 months after selection to
participate in the pilot program any deadline for removing a
provision on a provisional license issued by the Superintendent of
Public Instruction pursuant to NRS 391.032 that requires
successfully passing a competency test required to receive an initial
license to teach pursuant to NRS 391.021.
(b) Upon successful completion of the pilot program by a
participant who holds a provisional license issued by the
Superintendent of Public Instruction pursuant to NRS 391.032,
remove any provision on the provisional license issued to the
applicant which requires the applicant to pass a competency test in
the principles and methods of teaching.
5. Each institution that offers a pilot program pursuant to this
section shall:
(a) On or before July 1 of each year of operation of the pilot
program established pursuant to this section:
(1) Compile a report describing the progress of the pilot
program, including, without limitation:
(I) Demographic information for participants in the pilot
program;
(II) The success of professional development services
provided by the pilot program; and
(III) Preliminary findings of the pilot program.
(2) Submit the report compiled pursuant to paragraph (a) to:
(I) The Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau for
distribution to the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Education;
(II) The State Board of Education; and
(III) The Commission on Professional Standards in
Education.
(b) Not later than 6 months after the pilot program established
pursuant to this section ceases operation, submit to the Department
of Education:
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(1) A plan for implementing the pilot program in a
permanent format that can accommodate all prospective applicants
that describes the structure and curriculum of the pilot program; and
(2) The metrics of success for the pilot program.
6. As used in this section:
(a) “Alternative assessment methods” means valid and reliable
methods used for determining, for an applicant for an initial license
to teach issued pursuant to NRS 391.019, the applicant’s
competency in, knowledge o f and ability to provide instruction in
accordance with sound principles and methods of teaching
appropriate to the applicant’s required level of competence that is
equivalent to the “Principles of Learning and Teaching Test”
prepared and administered by the Educational Testing Service.
(b) “Metrics of success” includes, without limitation:
(1) An evaluation of the growth in competency, professional
engagement and readiness for participants in the pilot program
established pursuant to this section;
(2) An analysis of the impact of the pilot program on the
retention, effectiveness and morale of teachers; and
(3) Benchmarks for satisfactory completion of the pilot
program.
(c) “Participant” means an applicant for a license to teach who is
selected to participate in the pilot program established pursuant to
this section.
Sec. 3. (Deleted by amendment.)
Sec. 4. 1. This act becomes effective upon passage and
approval.
2. Section 2 of this act expires by limitation on July 1, 2029.
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