House Bill 0203

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                 HB 203

        By Representative Posey






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to personnel of the school

  3         system; creating s. 231.315, F.S.; providing

  4         for the establishment of model peer assistance

  5         and review programs; providing minimum

  6         standards; providing for technical assistance

  7         and allocations; amending s. 231.600, F.S.,

  8         relating to the School Community Professional

  9         Development Act; including additional

10         professional development activities; requiring

11         an assessment of expenditures for professional

12         development; amending s. 236.0811, F.S.;

13         providing requirements for educational training

14         for support staff; providing for additional

15         days of inservice training; providing an

16         effective date.

17

18  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

19

20         Section 1.  Section 231.315, Florida Statutes, is

21  created to read:

22         231.315  Peer assistance and review.--

23         (1)  The Legislature, the education community, and the

24  public expect high standards of professional practice from

25  school administrators and instructional staff. To promote high

26  professional standards, administrators and instructional staff

27  must develop a system of shared accountability. Peer

28  assistance and review is a process in which highly skilled

29  instructional personnel serve in a consulting role with their

30  peers to improve the quality of classroom instruction. Peer

31  assistance and review allows administrators and instructional

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                 HB 203

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  1  personnel to share the responsibility of mentoring, training,

  2  assisting, and reviewing the professional standards and

  3  practices of instructional personnel.

  4         (2)  Peer assistance and review programs must meet the

  5  following minimum standards:

  6         (a)  Program provisions must be developed through the

  7  collective bargaining agreement between the teachers'

  8  association and the school district.

  9         (b)  A joint instructional personnel and school

10  district governing body must be created with responsibility to

11  review recommendations of the consulting peer instructional

12  personnel.

13         (c)  Consulting peer instructional personnel must be

14  recognized by their peers as highly skilled practitioners and

15  must be selected by their peers.

16         (d)  Consulting peer instructional personnel must be

17  properly compensated and trained.

18         (e)  Consulting peer instructional personnel must

19  provide assistance and review for instructional personnel with

20  the same area of expertise as the consulting peer

21  instructional personnel member.

22         (f)  Consulting peer instructional personnel must not

23  be considered administrative personnel and must retain status

24  within the employees' collective bargaining unit.

25         (3)  For fiscal years 1999-2000 and 2000-2001, up to

26  six school districts may be selected to establish model peer

27  assistance and review programs. At least one district selected

28  must have less than 6,000 students and at least one district

29  selected must have more than 100,000 students. Districts that

30  wish to apply for selection must submit an application to the

31  Department of Education by September 1, 1999, which includes

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                 HB 203

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  1  the agreement between the teachers' association and the school

  2  district. By October 1, 1999, the department shall select the

  3  participating districts based on the quality of their

  4  applications.

  5         (4)  The department shall provide technical assistance

  6  to selected school districts to establish model peer

  7  assistance and review programs.

  8         (5)  The school districts selected to establish model

  9  peer assistance and review programs shall receive an

10  allocation from the department as established in the General

11  Appropriations Act.

12         (6)  During the 2000-2001 fiscal year, the department

13  shall assess the results of the selected model peer assistance

14  and review programs and shall submit a report to the Governor,

15  the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of

16  Representatives by March 1, 2001. The report must include the

17  department's recommendation as to the continuation or

18  expansion of peer assistance and review programs.

19         Section 2.  Subsections (3) and (5) and paragraph (b)

20  of subsection (4) of section 231.600, Florida Statutes, 1998

21  Supplement, are amended to read:

22         231.600  School Community Professional Development

23  Act.--

24         (3)  The activities designed to implement this section

25  must:

26         (a)  Increase the success of educators in guiding

27  student learning and development and identifying and meeting

28  state standards for student learning so as to implement state

29  and local educational initiatives.;

30

31

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  1         (b)  Assist the school community in developing in

  2  school children the dispositions that will motivate them to be

  3  active learners.; and

  4         (c)  Provide continuous support, rather than temporary

  5  intervention, for improving the performance of teachers and

  6  others who assist children in their learning.

  7         (d)  Convey to the school community the adopted best

  8  practices for effective teaching.

  9         (e)  Examine elements of successful schools and the

10  roles of instructional personnel, administrators, parents, and

11  other school community members in those schools.

12         (f)  Encourage instructional personnel to design

13  personal professional development plans to improve

14  professional practice and increase student performance.

15         (4)  The Department of Education, school districts,

16  schools, and public colleges and universities share the

17  responsibilities described in this section.  These

18  responsibilities include the following:

19         (b)  Each district school board shall consult with

20  instructional personnel teachers and representatives of

21  college and university faculty, community agencies, and other

22  interested citizen groups to establish policy and procedures

23  to guide the operation of the district professional

24  development program.  The professional development system

25  must:

26         1.  Require that schools identify student needs that

27  can be met by improved professional performance, and assist

28  schools in making these identifications.;

29         2.  Provide training activities coupled with followup

30  support that is appropriate to accomplish district-level and

31  school-level improvement goals and standards.; and

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  1         3.  Provide training and other professional development

  2  at the school level which is appropriate to the needs of the

  3  students of the school and consistent with the school

  4  improvement plan.

  5         4.3.  Provide for systematic consultation with regional

  6  and state personnel designated to provide technical assistance

  7  and evaluation of local professional development programs.

  8         (5)  Each district school board shall provide funding

  9  for the system as required by s. 236.081, and shall direct

10  expenditures from other funding sources to strengthen the

11  system and make it uniform and coherent.  A school district

12  may coordinate its professional development program with that

13  of another district, with an educational consortium, or with a

14  college or university, especially in preparing and educating

15  personnel. School districts, in coordination with school

16  personnel and the school community, shall develop an ongoing

17  assessment of the effectiveness of current expenditures for

18  professional development with an emphasis on increasing

19  student performance and improving professional performance.

20         Section 3.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section

21  236.0811, Florida Statutes, is amended, and subsection (3) is

22  added to said section, to read:

23         236.0811  Educational training.--

24         (2)(a)1.  Pursuant to rules of the Commissioner of

25  Education, each school board shall develop and annually

26  approve a master plan for inservice educational training. The

27  plan shall include all inservice programs for all district

28  employees from all fund sources and shall be updated annually

29  by September 1 using criteria and procedures for continued

30  approval as specified by rule of the commissioner.

31  Verification that the plan meets all requirements of this

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  1  section and s. 231.600, where applicable, must be submitted

  2  annually to the commissioner by October 1. The plan must be

  3  based on an assessment of the inservice educational training

  4  needs of the district conducted by a committee that includes

  5  parents, classroom teachers, and other educational personnel.

  6  This assessment must identify districtwide inservice needs and

  7  the inservice training needs of local schools. The plan must

  8  include, at a minimum, the inservice activities that are

  9  necessary for implementation of the schools' improvement plans

10  during the current fiscal year. The plan must include, but is

11  not limited to, components addressing:  competencies in the

12  identification, assessment, and prescription of instruction

13  for exceptional students; competencies in the identification,

14  assessment, and prescription of instruction for child abuse

15  and neglect prevention and for substance and alcohol abuse

16  prevention; and competencies in instruction for multicultural

17  sensitivity in the classroom. In addition, the plan must

18  include a component to provide regular training to classroom

19  teachers on advances in the field of normal child development

20  and the disorders of development. The plan must also include

21  components that may be used to satisfy the certification

22  requirements applicable to teachers of students with limited

23  proficiency in English and components that may be used for the

24  renewal of a certificate in each of the following areas: a

25  study of the middle grades, understanding the student in the

26  middle grades, organizing interdisciplinary instruction in the

27  middle grades, developing critical thinking and creative

28  thinking in students in the middle grades, counseling

29  functions of the teacher in the middle grades, developing

30  creative learning materials for the middle grades, and

31  planning and evaluating programs in the middle grades. The

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                 HB 203

    532-214-99






  1  plan must include inservice activities for all district

  2  employees from all fund sources.

  3         2.  Classroom teachers and guidance counselors shall be

  4  required to participate in the inservice training for child

  5  abuse and neglect prevention, for alcohol and substance abuse

  6  prevention education, and for multicultural sensitivity

  7  education, which may include negotiation and conflict

  8  resolution training.

  9         3.  Training for support staff shall emphasize the

10  working partnership of support staff with instructional staff

11  and methods for increasing effectiveness in the instructional

12  process.

13         (3)  In addition to the 196 days of service for

14  10-month personnel, 2 additional days of inservice training

15  shall be provided to all instructional personnel and

16  instructional specialists. These 2 days of training should

17  emphasize professional development at the school level that is

18  appropriate to the needs of the students of the school and

19  consistent with the school improvement plan. Compensation for

20  these days shall be based on the employee's daily rate of pay

21  and shall be contingent upon funding included in the annual

22  General Appropriations Act.

23         Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 1999.

24

25            *****************************************

26                          HOUSE SUMMARY

27
      Provides for the establishment of school district model
28    peer assistance and review programs. Provides additional
      school district professional development activities and
29    requires an assessment of certain expenditures. Provides
      requirements for educational training for support staff.
30    Provides for additional days of inservice training for
      certain school personnel.
31

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