SENATE Amended 3rd Reading May 3, 2006 SENATE Amended 2nd Reading May 2, 2006 HOUSE Amended 3rd Reading April 18, 2006 HOUSE Amended 2nd Reading April 17, 2006Second Regular Session Sixty-fifth General Assembly STATE OF COLORADO REREVISED This Version Includes All Amendments Adopted in the Second House LLS NO. 06-0457.01 Julie Pelegrin HOUSE BILL 06-1001 HOUSE SPONSORSHIP Merrifield, SENATE SPONSORSHIP Evans, House Committees Senate Committees Education Education Appropriations Appropriations A BILL FOR AN ACT Concerning principals in public schools, and making an appropriation in connection therewith. Bill Summary (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not necessarily reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted.) Sections 1 and 2: Requires the state board of education ("state board") to direct the department of education ("department") annually to survey school district superintendents who employ new principals. Directs the department to base the survey on the principal licensure standards and design the survey to measure the quality and effectiveness of the principal preparation programs and solicit information concerning the principal licensure standards. Directs the state board annually to submit a summary report of the survey results to the education committees, the governor, the Colorado commission on higher education, and the appropriate institutions of higher education. Directs the education committees to consider the report at their biennial joint meeting to consider teacher preparation programs. Section 3: Requires a person who holds a professional principal license to select professional development activities for renewal of the license that relate to improving the person's skills as a principal and to complete any professional development activities specifically identified by the person's employing school district. Sections 4 and 5: Directs each school district to review the leadership in its schools, identify areas of improvement for principals, and assist principals in attending appropriate professional development programs. Recognizes identification of areas of improvement for principals and assistance in improving in those areas as management functions that a school district must complete for accreditation. Section 6: Requires school districts to provide observations and written evaluations of principals with the same frequency as they are provided to teachers. Specifies that a principal's evaluation shall include input from teachers, students, and parents in the manner provided by the school district. Clarifies that a principal whose performance is deemed unsatisfactory shall receive a notice of deficiencies and a remediation plan. Section 7: Creates the principal recruitment and training planning council ("council"). Specifies the council membership, including legislative members and representatives from the elementary and secondary education system and from higher education. Directs the council to study issues pertaining to principal recruitment and training in the state and to develop a statewide plan for improving school leadership ("plan"). Instructs the council to submit the plan, and implementation reports for 2 years, to the education committees, the governor, the state board, and the Colorado commission on higher education. Allows the council to submit recommendations for legislative changes that may be necessary to implement the plan. Repeals the council on July 1, 2010. Creates the principal development scholarship program to provide stipends for professional development activities for principals on a need basis. Directs the state board to adopt rules concerning the procedures for applying for a stipend and the criteria for awarding the stipend. Specifies minimum criteria, including the applicant's degree of financial and professional need and the quality of the professional development activity. Creates the principal development scholarship fund ("fund"), and identifies the state education fund as the source of appropriations for the fund. Section 8: Directs the Colorado commission on higher education to adopt policies to allow a person who is participating in a principal preparation program to qualify for financial assistance. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado: SECTION 1. 22-2-109, Colorado Revised Statutes, is amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SUBSECTION to read: 22-2-109. State board of education - additional duties - teacher standards - principal standards. (7) (a) Beginning with the 2006-07 school year and annually thereafter, the state board shall direct the department to survey the superintendents of the school districts of the state who employ principals who hold a principal authorization or an initial principal license or who obtain a professional principal license without first holding an initial principal license and who are in their first three years of employment as a principal. The department shall base the survey questions on the performance-based principal licensure standards adopted by the state board pursuant to subsection (6) of this section. The department shall design the survey to solicit information by which to measure the quality and effectiveness of the principal preparation programs that are approved by the Colorado commission on higher education pursuant to section 23-1-121.3, C.R.S., and other alternative forms of principal preparation, and to solicit information from superintendents concerning the principal licensure standards. (b) The state board shall submit annually to the education committees of the house of representatives and the senate, or any successor committees, a written summary report of the results of the survey conducted pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection (7). In submitting the report, the state board shall ensure that the report for the current year and the preceding year's report, if one exists, are available to the education committees for consideration at the biennial joint meeting held pursuant to section 22-60.5-116.5. The state board shall also submit the report annually to the governor, the Colorado commission on higher education, and the institutions of higher education that operate principal preparation programs. (c) The costs incurred by the department in implementing this subsection (7) shall be paid from moneys appropriated from the educator licensure cash fund created in section 22-60.5-112 (1). SECTION 2. 22-60.5-116.5, Colorado Revised Statutes, is amended to read: 22-60.5-116.5. Education committees - evaluation of teacher preparation programs - biannual joint meeting. (1) (a) The committees on education of the house of representatives and the senate, or any successor committees, shall biannually biennially hold a joint meeting to assess the reports received concerning the effectiveness of the approved teacher preparation programs offered by accepted institutions of higher education in the state and the reports of the survey of superintendents conducted by the department of education and submitted by the state board of education pursuant to section 22-2-109 (7). (b) At the meeting, the committees shall consider the reports on the review of approved teacher preparation programs received from the Colorado commission on higher education pursuant to section 23-1-121 (6), C.R.S. The committees shall take testimony from representatives of the institutions of higher education that provide the teacher preparation programs, the state board of education, the Colorado commission on higher education, and from any other interested persons. Based on the review of said reports and any testimony received, the committees shall assess whether the approved teacher preparation programs are adequately preparing teacher candidates to meet the performance-based teacher licensure standards adopted by rule of the state board of education pursuant to section 22-2-109 (3). In addition, the committees shall assess whether each approved teacher preparation program is being implemented in accordance with the requirements of the "Higher Education Quality Assurance Act", article 13 of title 23, C.R.S. (c) At the meeting, the committees shall consider the reports of the survey of superintendents conducted by the department of education and submitted by the state board of education pursuant to section 22-2-109 (7). The committees shall take testimony from representatives of the institutions of higher education that provide the principal preparation programs, the state board of education, the Colorado commission on higher education, and from any other interested persons. Based on the review of said reports and any testimony received, the committees shall assess whether the approved principal preparation programs and alternative forms of principal preparation are adequately preparing principal candidates to meet the performance-based principal licensure standards adopted by rule of the state board of education pursuant to section 22-2-109 (6). (2) If the committees, based on the reports received from the Colorado commission on higher education and the state board of education, determine that an approved educator preparation program is not adequately preparing licensure candidates or is not being implemented in accordance with the requirements of the "Higher Education Quality Assurance Act", article 13 of title 23, C.R.S., the committees shall instruct the Colorado commission on higher education to reduce the funding received by the institution of higher education that provides the approved educator preparation program during the next fiscal year. The commission shall notify the committees of the amount of said reduction prior to introduction of the annual general appropriation bill. SECTION 3. 22-60.5-110 (3) (a), Colorado Revised Statutes, is amended, and the said 22-60.5-110 (3) is further amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW PARAGRAPH, to read: 22-60.5-110. Renewal of licenses. (3) (a) Any A professional license may be renewed upon submitting an application for renewal, payment of the statutory fee, and evidence of satisfactory completion by the applicant of ongoing professional development. A licensee need not be employed as a professional educator during all or any portion of the term for which his or her professional educator license is valid. Employment as a professional educator shall not constitute a requirement for renewal of a professional license. Any Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (e) of this subsection (3), the professional development activities completed by an applicant for license renewal shall apply equally to renewal of any professional educator license or endorsement held by the applicant. (e) In selecting professional development activities for renewal of a professional principal license, the professional licensee shall select activities that are specific to improving his or her skills as a principal. In addition, if the school district in which the professional licensee is employed has identified, pursuant to section 22-9-106, specific areas in which he or she needs improvement or, pursuant to section 22-32-109 (1) (ii), specific professional development programs to assist the professional licensee in improving his or her skills as a principal, the professional licensee shall complete activities in those identified areas or shall complete those specific programs. In reviewing the professional licensee's application for license renewal, the department shall deny the application for renewal if the professional licensee does not comply with the requirements specified in this paragraph (e). SECTION 4. 22-32-109 (1), Colorado Revised Statutes, is amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW PARAGRAPH to read: 22-32-109. Board of education - specific duties. (1) In addition to any other duty required to be performed by law, each board of education shall have and perform the following specific duties: (ii) To identify any areas in which one or more of the principals of the schools of the school district require further training or development. The board of education shall contract for or otherwise assist the identified principals in participating in professional development programs to assist the identified principals in improving their skills in the identified areas. SECTION 5. 22-11-201 (4) (b), Colorado Revised Statutes, is amended to read: 22-11-201. Accreditation contract. (4) Contract requirements - management. (b) The school district accreditation contract, at a minimum, shall bind a school district to administer the following school district policy and management functions: (I) Community involvement, including processes for involving parents, the business community, and other interested citizens; (II) Public disclosure of nonidentifying student achievement results for each public school in the school district; (III) Recognition for public schools that meet or exceed accreditation indicators and assistance for public schools that fail to meet such indicators; (IV) Identification of areas in which one or more of the principals of the public schools require further training or development, and provision or identification of professional development programs to assist the identified principals in improving their skills in the identified areas. SECTION 6. 22-9-106 (1) (c), (3) (b), (3.2), (3.5), and (4.5), Colorado Revised Statutes, are amended to read: 22-9-106. Local boards of education - duties. (1) All school districts and boards of cooperative services that employ licensed personnel, as defined in section 22-9-103 (1.5), shall adopt a written system to evaluate the employment performance of school district and board of cooperative services licensed personnel, including all teachers, principals, and administrators, with the exception of licensed personnel employed by a board of cooperative services for a period of six weeks or less. In developing the licensed personnel performance evaluation system and any amendments thereto, the local board and board of cooperative services shall consult with administrators, principals, and teachers employed within the district or participating districts in a board of cooperative services, parents, and the school district licensed personnel performance evaluation council or the board of cooperative services personnel performance evaluation council created pursuant to section 22-9-107. The performance evaluation system shall contain, but shall not be limited to, the following information: (c) The frequency and duration of the evaluations, which shall be on a regular basis and of such frequency and duration as to ensure the collection of a sufficient amount of data from which reliable conclusions and findings may be drawn. At a minimum, the performance evaluation system shall ensure that: (I) Probationary teachers receive at least two documented observations and one evaluation that results in a written evaluation report pursuant to subsection (3) of this section each academic year; and that (II) Nonprobationary teachers receive at least one observation each year and one evaluation that results in a written evaluation report pursuant to subsection (3) of this section every three years; (III) Principals who are in their first three years of employment as principals receive one evaluation that results in a written evaluation report pursuant to subsection (3) of this section each academic year; and (IV) Principals who are in their fourth or subsequent years of employment as principals receive at least one evaluation that results in a written evaluation report pursuant to subsection (3) of this section every three academic years. (3) An evaluation report shall be issued upon the completion of an evaluation made pursuant to this section and shall: (b) Contain a written improvement plan, that shall be specific as to what improvements, if any, are needed in the performance of the licensed personnel and shall clearly set forth recommendations for improvements, including recommendations for additional education and training during the teacher's relicensure or the principal's license renewal process; (3.2) (a) In addition to the items specified in subsection (3) of this section, the evaluation of a teacher may include any peer, parent, or student input obtained from standardized surveys. (b) In addition to the items specified in subsection (3) of this section, each principal's evaluation shall include input from the teachers employed in the principal's school and may include input from the students enrolled in the school and their parents. Each school district shall specify the manner in which input from teachers and from students and parents, if any, is collected, but shall ensure that the information collected remains anonymous and confidential. (3.5) A teacher or principal whose performance is deemed to be unsatisfactory pursuant to paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of this section shall be given notice of deficiencies. A remediation plan to correct said deficiencies shall be developed by the district or the board of cooperative services and the teacher or principal. The teacher or principal shall be given a reasonable period of time for remediation of to remediate the deficiencies and shall receive a statement of the resources and assistance available for the purposes of correcting the performance or the deficiencies. (4.5) Any person whose performance evaluation includes a remediation plan shall be given an opportunity to improve his or her performance through the implementation of the plan. If the next performance evaluation shows that the person is now performing satisfactorily, no further action shall be taken concerning the original performance evaluation. If such evaluation shows the person is still not performing satisfactorily, the evaluator shall either make additional recommendations for improvement or may recommend the dismissal of such the person, which dismissal shall be in accordance with the provisions of article 63 of this title if the person is a teacher. SECTION 7. Legislative declaration. The general assembly finds that a well-trained, professional principal who is a dynamic leader is a key ingredient of success in reforming low-performing schools. To accomplish meaningful and lasting school reform, the school principal must be an accomplished and motivating manager, demonstrate exceptional communication skills, and thoroughly understand the theory and pedagogy that support effective learning. It is the principal, working productively with the teachers, students, and parents at a school, who creates and sustains the vision that changes a school from unsatisfactory to high-performing. The general assembly recognizes that the skills that make an effective and successful principal require training and on-going support through high-quality professional development programs and activities. The general assembly therefore finds that it is appropriate to create the principal development scholarship program in section 22-9.5-102, Colorado Revised Statutes, to assist principals in offsetting the costs incurred in obtaining on-going professional development. SECTION 8. Title 22, Colorado Revised Statutes, is amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW ARTICLE to read: ARTICLE 9.5 Principal Development Scholarship Program 22-9.5-101. Definitions. As used in this article, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) "Scholarship program" means the principal development scholarship program created in section 22-9.5-102. (2) "State board" means the state board of education created and existing pursuant to section 1 of article IX of the state constitution. 22-9.5-102. Principal development scholarship program - creation - eligibility. There is hereby created in the department of education the principal development scholarship program. Subject to available appropriations, the scholarship program shall award stipends to assist persons employed as principals in offsetting the costs incurred in obtaining on-going professional development. The state board shall award stipends on a need basis, based on the criteria specified in section 22-9.5-103. The scholarships shall be paid from any moneys available in the principal development scholarship fund created in section 22-9.5-104. 22-9.5-103. Scholarship program - rules - criteria for awards. (1) The state board, by rule, shall establish the procedures by which a person may apply for a stipend through the scholarship program. At a minimum, the rules shall specify the information a person shall submit and the deadlines for submitting the application. (2) The state board shall award stipends to applying persons based on the following criteria: (a) A person's demonstrated degree of financial need, based on the resources of the employing school district and the applying person, and the cost of the professional development program for which the person requests a stipend; (b) A person's demonstrated degree of professional need, based on the applying person's performance evaluations conducted pursuant to the district's licensed personnel performance evaluation system; (c) The quality of the professional development program or activity for which the person requests a stipend; and (d) Any other criteria adopted by rule of the state board to identify persons in the greatest need of assistance in obtaining high-quality professional development programs and activities to improve their performance as principals. (3) The state board shall set the amount of each stipend awarded based on the person's degree of need, the cost of the professional development program or activity for which the person requests a stipend, the amount available in the principal development scholarship fund for the applicable budget year, and the anticipated number of persons who will apply to the scholarship program in the course of the applicable budget year. 22-9.5-104. Principal development scholarship fund - legislative declaration - fund created. (1) There is hereby created in the state treasury the principal development scholarship fund, referred to in this section as the "fund", that shall consist of any moneys that may be credited to the fund pursuant to subsection (2) of this section. The moneys in the fund shall be subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly for the direct and indirect costs associated with the implementation of this article. Any moneys in the fund not expended for the purpose of this article may be invested by the state treasurer as provided by law. All interest and income derived from the investment and deposit of moneys in the fund shall be credited to the fund. Any unexpended and unencumbered moneys remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall remain in the fund and shall not be credited or transferred to the general fund or another fund. (2) The department is authorized to accept gifts, grants, or donations from any public or private entity to carry out the purposes of this article, subject to the terms and conditions under which given; except that the department shall not accept a gift, grant, or donation if the conditions attached thereto require the use or expenditure thereof in a manner contrary to law. The department shall transmit to the state treasurer any gifts, grants, or donations received pursuant to this subsection (2), and the state treasurer shall credit the same to the fund. (3) The department may expend up to one percent of the moneys annually appropriated from the fund to offset the costs incurred in implementing this article. SECTION 9. 23-3.3-102, Colorado Revised Statutes, is amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SUBSECTION to read: 23-3.3-102. Assistance program authorized - procedure - audits. (3.5) Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the contrary, the commission shall adopt policies and procedures to allow a person who meets the following criteria to qualify for financial assistance through the financial assistance programs established pursuant to this article: (a) The person qualifies as an in-state student; and (b) The person is enrolled at an institution that participates in the programs of financial assistance established pursuant to this article; and (c) The person is enrolled in an approved program of preparation, as defined in section 22-60.5-102 (8), C.R.S., for principals. SECTION 10. Appropriation. (1) In addition to any other appropriation, there is hereby appropriated, out of the principal development scholarship fund created in section 22-9.5-104, Colorado Revised Statutes, to the department of education, for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2006, the sum of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000), or so much thereof as may be necessary, for implementation of the principal development scholarship program pursuant to article 9.5 of title 22, Colorado Revised Statutes. (2) In addition to any other appropriation, there is hereby appropriated, out of any moneys in the educator licensure cash fund created in section 22-60.5-112 (1), Colorado Revised Statutes, not otherwise appropriated, to the department of education, for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2006, the sum of eleven thousand four hundred sixty dollars ($11,460), or so much thereof as may be necessary, for the implementation of section 22-2-109 (7), Colorado Revised Statutes. SECTION 11. Safety clause. The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety.