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A BILL to direct the Department of Education to convene a stakeholder work group for the purpose of conducting a comprehensive review of and making recommendations on the alternative licensure pathways for public school teachers in the Commonwealth.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1.
§ 1.
As used in this act, "alternative licensure pathway" includes
a pathway to attaining
a
provisional licen
s
e
, as that term is defined in §
22.1-298.1
of the Code of Virginia, through
(i)
a
local eligibility licensure pursuant to subsection N of §
22.1-29
8.1 of the Code of Virginia;
(
ii
)
the career-switcher program
; (iii)
the Teach for America license pursuant to §
22.1-299.4
of the Code of Virginia; (i
v
) any
other alternate route to licensure used to meet the requirements for a provisional license pursuant to subsection P of §
22.1-298.1
of the Code of Virgini
a
and 8VAC20-
23-90
of the
Virginia Administrative Code
; (v) the iTeach Virginia Alternate Route to Licensure Program; (v
i
)
any
nontraditional
education preparation program offered by a public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth, a school division, or a certified provider for alternate route
s to licensure;
and
(v
i
i
)
teaching as a long-term substitute teacher acting as a teacher of record
.
§ 2.
The Department of Education (the Department) shall convene a stakeholder work group for the purpose of conducting a comprehensive review of and making recommendations on the alternative licensure pathways for
public school teachers in the Commonwealth.
The work group shall consist of (i) representatives from major education associations, including the Virginia Education Association, the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, the Virginia
School Boards
Association, and the Virginia Parent
Teacher Association; (
ii) faculty members from public institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth with education preparation programs, selected in consultation with the deans of education in such school
s
to represent expertise in teacher education, educational leadership, special education, and English language learner instruction; (iii) representatives from career-switcher programs offered at comprehensive community colleges and school division-led licensure programs; (iv) public school t
eachers who have completed or are currently participating in an alternative licensure pathway, including long-term substitute teachers and teachers who have completed or are currently participating in career-switcher programs; (v) representatives from the Advisory Board on Teacher Education and Licensure
; (vi) representatives of
staff
responsible for the Virginia Longitudinal Data System; (vi
i
) at least one representative from an advocacy organization for English language learners; and (vi
i
i) the
C
hairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health or their designees, as nonvoting, ex officio members.
In conducting the comprehensive review, the work group shall:
1. Meet at least quarterly and solicit input from public school teachers, administrators, teacher candidates, and community members;
2. Collect and evaluate data on the number of teachers employed in public schools in the Commonwealth
as a whole and
disaggregated by schoo
l division, who
:
a.
Are participating in or have participated in an alternative licensure pathway;
b.
H
old a provisional license, as that term is defined in §
22.1-298.1
of the Code of Virginia
,
and
(i)
the change over time in teachers
employed in public schools
who hold a provisional license
;
(ii) the number of such teachers,
as a whole and
as a percentage of all such teachers in the applicable school division, who obtain a renewable license; and (iii) the average t
ime required for such teachers to complete licensure; and
c. Are
participating in or who have participated in
the iTeach Virginia Alternate Route to Licensure Program or an education preparation program, as that term is defined in §
22.1-298.2
of the Code of Virginia, offered by a public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth, a school division, or a certified provider for alternate routes to licensure
,
and (i) the number of
such teachers, as a whole and as a percentage of all such teachers in the applicable school division, who obtain a renewable license and (ii) the average time required for such teachers to complete licensure;
3. Examine the mentori
ng, induction, and professional development supports provided to teachers in each alternative licensure pathway and identify how such supports differ from those provided to graduates of traditional education preparation programs;
4. Collect and examine data on
t
eacher retention rates for teachers who participated in each alternative licensure pathway as compared to retention ra
tes for teachers who completed traditional education preparation programs, disaggregated by school division and, where such data is available, by teacher demographic characteristics and grade level being taught;
5
.
Collect and examine data on s
tudent achievement and growth outcomes, including
outcomes of
students with disabilities and English language learners,
for classes taught by teachers participating in an alternative licensure pathway as compared to those for classes taught by fully licensed teachers, controlling for prior student achievement and student demographic characteristics, to the extent possible;
6.
Analyze t
he distribution of
public school
teache
rs across the Commonwealth that do not hold a renewable license and that hold only a provisional license
to
identify any disparities and trends in school divisions with the highest and lowest proportion of provisionally licensed teachers, including (i)
whether
economically disadvantaged students, students of color, students with disabilities, and English language learners are more likely to be taught by provisionally licensed teachers
and (ii)
differences in funding levels received by
school
divisions with the highest proportions of provisionally licensed teachers and
school divisions with the lowest proportions of provisionally licensed teachers;
7.
For
education preparation programs offered by public institutions of higher education, the career-switcher program, and the iTeach Virginia Alternate Route to Licensure Program compare (i)
curriculum, coursework, practicum, and mentoring requirements of
each program; (ii) the cost to participants and the availability of financial aid; and (iii) how well each program prepares participants for classroo
m teaching, based on available data and stakeholder feedback;
8. Collect data on
long-term substitute teachers employed in th
e same classroom for more than 90 days in public schools in the Commonwealth, including (i)
the number, roles, and qualifications of
such long-term substitute teachers, (ii)
the training and supports they receive,
(iii) the number of such long-term substitute teachers who are pursuing licensure, and (iv) the impact of lon
g-term substitute teachers on student outcomes;
and
9. Make recommendations on (i) the essential criteria for effective alternative education preparation programs and alternative licensure pathways, including the coursework, supervised clinical experiences or mentorship structures, and
evaluation
processes most associated with classroom readiness, licen
sure completion, and teacher retention
;
(ii) standards for partnerships between school divisions, public institutions of higher education, and certified providers of alternative routes to licensure designed to ensure quality and alignment
with student learning needs of alternative licensure pathways
; and (iii) any policy changes, legislative proposals, or funding necessary to improve the
quality, efficacy, and outcomes of teachers who participate
in alternative licensure pathways
.
The Department shall s
ubmit to the Governor and the
C
hairmen of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education Health
and post in a public location on its website
by
(
a
)
January 1, 2027, an interim report
summarizing the activities of the work group to date that includes a description of preliminary findings, data collected, gaps in data identified, and any in
itial recommendations and (
b
) by November 1, 2027, a final report
on the findings and recommendations of the work group
, including any data collected and analyses of such data and the recommendations made pursuant to subdivision 9.