S 423 Session 111 (1995-1996)
S 0423 Concurrent Resolution, By Setzler
Similar(H 3359)
A Concurrent Resolution to create a committee to study the teaching profession
and to identify the necessary steps to attract, prepare, and improve teachers
and enhance their professional training, evaluation, and development, to
provide for the membership of the committee, and to provide for the staff
support for the committee and the source of its funding.
01/26/95 Senate Introduced SJ-5
01/26/95 Senate Referred to Committee on Education SJ-5
02/16/95 Senate Committee report: Favorable with amendment
Education SJ-3
COMMITTEE REPORT
February 16, 1995
S. 423
Introduced by SENATOR Setzler
S. Printed 2/16/95--S.
Read the first time January 26, 1995.
THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
To whom was referred a Concurrent Resolution (S. 423), to
create a committee to study the teaching profession and to identify
the necessary steps to attract, prepare, and improve teachers, etc.,
respectfully
REPORT:
That they have duly and carefully considered the same, and
recommend that the same do pass with amendment:
Amend the bill, as and if amended, on page 4, line 4 by deleting
/thirty-six/ and inserting:
/thirty-eight/.
Amend the bill further, as and if amended, on page 5, by deleting
lines 8 through 11 and inserting:
/(7) one member appointed upon recommendation of the South
Carolina Education Association;
(8) one member appointed upon recommendation of the
Palmetto State Teachers Association;
(9) one member appointed upon recommendation of the South
Carolina School Administrators of Adult Education; and
(10) one member appointed upon recommendation of the South
Carolina School Administrators of Vocational Education./.
Amend title to conform.
NIKKI G. SETZLER, for Committee.
A CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
TO CREATE A COMMITTEE TO STUDY THE TEACHING
PROFESSION AND TO IDENTIFY THE NECESSARY STEPS
TO ATTRACT, PREPARE, AND IMPROVE TEACHERS AND
ENHANCE THEIR PROFESSIONAL TRAINING,
EVALUATION, AND DEVELOPMENT, TO PROVIDE FOR THE
MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMITTEE, AND TO PROVIDE FOR
THE STAFF SUPPORT FOR THE COMMITTEE AND THE
SOURCE OF ITS FUNDING.
Whereas, our democracy and the economic well-being of South
Carolina are dependent on the education of our citizens, and the
continuing improvement of public education is vital to our state's
future; and
Whereas, the General Assembly recognizes that excellent teachers
are the most critical factor in high quality schools; and
Whereas, specific questions relating to certification, pay, and tenure
frequently have been addressed in law, but insufficient policy
attention has been given to the full system of teacher preparation,
development, and evaluation; and
Whereas, teachers must acquire the knowledge and intellectual skills
needed to prepare our students to reach high standards in the
twenty-first century; and
Whereas, education reform will succeed when significant attention
is given to reforming the undergraduate education of future
teachers, and when strong links are enhanced between colleges and
the public schools; and
Whereas, colleges and universities are deeply involved in
reexamining ways to strengthen and enhance teacher education
programs and increase services to public schools; and
Whereas, the significance of teacher preparation and professional
development must not be overstated as to their impact on the
individual student's learning and the improvement of our education
system. It is the intent of the General Assembly in adopting this
resolution for the Commission on Higher Education and the State
Board of Education, as well as the institutions of higher education
and the public schools, to collaborate in the reform of preparatory
programs for new teachers and the professional development of
certified teachers so that all teachers shall be prepared to support
and enhance school restructuring. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives
concurring:
That a committee is created to study the teaching profession by
identifying the necessary steps to attract, prepare, and improve
teaching talent in classrooms and enhance professional development
and evaluation of teachers in the pre-service and in-service areas.
The committee shall identify best practices and current research
which promote simultaneous renewal of teacher education,
professional development, and school restructuring. Furthermore,
the committee shall investigate what currently is provided to South
Carolina students who are training to enter the teaching profession
and compare this to the best practices being provided to students in
other states where teacher reform efforts are also underway.
Be it further resolved that in all deliberations of the issues listed
below, the committee, at a minimum, shall consider ways to:
(1) provide incentives and remove barriers to teacher education
reform;
(2) develop funding mechanisms which foster quality teacher
education and serve as a vehicle for stimulating institutional change
and participation;
(3) monitor the teacher preparation system as a whole and the
individual programs; and
(4) conduct an ongoing examination of the teacher evaluation
and professional development system.
Be it further resolved that the committee also is to study issues
relating to the preparation, recruitment, induction, and professional
development of those individuals entering the teaching profession
and those who are a part of the profession. At a minimum, the
committee may study areas that impact on student learning such as:
(A) Teacher preparation to include:
(1) reviewing pre-service training which provides both the
pedagogical and academic content necessary for effective teaching,
and which increases the types and number of clinical experiences;
(2) reviewing teacher skills, teaching performance and the
teacher knowledge base expected of all candidates receiving a state
teaching license;
(3) integrating teacher education reform with kindergarten
through grade twelve reform by fostering close relationships
between higher education and the public schools, such as
Professional Development Schools models; and
(4) furthering the involvement of the full range of academic
content disciplines.
(B) Recruitment and induction into the profession to include:
(1) examining ways to recruit quality candidates into the
teaching profession both at precertification and postcertification
levels through aggressive outreach programs;
(2) enhancing the quality and diversity of candidates into the
teaching profession;
(3) examining strategies for linking supply-demand planning
and teacher education programs;
(4) developing an induction process that reenforces quality
teaching and assists new teachers as they enter the profession;
(5) considering differentiation between licensure and
certification which involves considering the development of
advanced certification; and
(6) examining alternative routes to traditional training for
teaching for those wishing to choose the teaching profession as a
second career.
(C) Professional development to include:
(1) examining the process for reenforcing teacher strengths
and addressing weaknesses and tying the process to continuing
professional development;
(2) strengthening the procedures, process, and delivery system
of professional development so that it is relevant to the individual
and reinforces the reforms underway in the schools; and
(3) developing options for faculty reward systems, both
higher education and public education, which encourage integration
of the teacher preparation and professional development training;
(4) ensuring the faculty who train teachers continue renewing
their skills and knowledge base and model the behaviors expected
in quality teaching.
Be it further resolved that the committee shall consist of thirty-six
members appointed as provided herein. The Governor, the
Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
the chairman of the Senate Education Committee, and the chairman
of the House Education and Public Works Committee shall each
appoint three members of the committee. At least one of the
members appointed by the Speaker of the House, chairman of the
Senate Education Committee, and chairman of the House Education
and Public Works Committee must be a member of the General
Assembly. The chairman shall be a member of the General
Assembly elected by the committee. The State Superintendent of
Education and the Commissioner of Higher Education shall each
appoint two members to the committee.
The Chairman of the Business-Education Subcommittee, the
chairman of the South Carolina Council on Education
Collaboration, the policy board of the South Carolina Center for
Teacher Recruitment, and the steering committee of the South
Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching and School
Leadership shall each appoint one board member to the committee.
The Commissioner of Higher Education shall appoint the following
members to the committee:
(1) a dean of a state-supported school or college of education;
(2) one member appointed upon recommendation of the Council
of College Presidents;
(3) one member appointed upon recommendation of the deans
of the schools of education involved in the Goodlad Project;
(4) one member appointed upon the recommendation of the
South Carolina Association of Teacher Educators and the South
Carolina Association of Colleges of Teacher Education; and
(5) a South Carolina Professor of the Year.
The remaining members of the committee shall be appointed by
the State Superintendent of Education from the following
professional groups:
(1) one member appointed upon recommendation of the State
Teacher Forum;
(2) one principal of a public high school of this State appointed
upon recommendation of the Secondary School Principals
Association;
(3) one principal of a public elementary school of this State
appointed upon recommendation of the Elementary School
Principals Association;
(4) one middle school principal appointed upon recommendation
of the Middle Schools Principals Association;
(5) one superintendent of a school district of this State
appointed upon recommendation of the South Carolina
Superintendents Association;
(6) one member appointed upon recommendation of the South
Carolina Association of Early Childhood Educators;
(7) one member appointed upon recommendation of the South
Carolina Education Association; and
(8) one member appointed upon recommendation of the
Palmetto State Teachers Association.
A staff analysis team shall provide support for the committee.
This team shall include the research directors of the Senate
Education Committee and the House Education and Public Works
Committee, and a staff designee of the Commissioner of Higher
Education and of the State Superintendent of Education. Other
college and state officials or employees and representative teacher
groups also shall provide help to the committee and the staff
analysis team as is requested.
Upon adoption of this resolution, the staff analysis team shall
meet and develop a strategy to secure the appointments for this
committee. Forty-five days after this resolution is adopted, the staff
analysis team shall poll the appointees made by that date to
determine a suitable meeting date. Upon completion of the poll, a
date to have the first meeting to organize the committee must be
set. Individuals or organizations which have not made or
recommended appointments by that date shall be reminded of the
need to make their appointments or recommendations and apprised
of the first meeting date.
Of the funds allocated to the Education Improvement Act Select
Committee for the evaluation of education programs and policies,
up to eighty-five thousand dollars may be expended for the studies
and work of the committee.
The committee shall seek the assistance of the Southern Regional
Education Board, Education Commission of the States and other
nationally recognized groups involved in teacher education and
preparation in their study and deliberations of the most promising
and effective options for South Carolina. The committee shall also
review the most effective practices currently underway in South
Carolina's teacher training institutions and public schools. In its
discretion, the committee may contract with independent entities for
any evaluations or studies deemed appropriate by the committee to
carry out its role as prescribed herein.
Be it further resolved that by December 15, 1995, the committee
shall issue its first interim report of any findings and any policy or
funding changes that need to be initiated as a first phase to redesign
the education and related systems or to help further carry out this
study. By June 15, 1996, the committee shall issue its second
interim report proposing the next phase of needed changes, and by
December 15, 1996, it shall issue its final report. The Select
Committee and the South Carolina Council for Education
Collaboration are responsible for monitoring the implementation of
the committee's recommendations. To assist in the implementation
of this resolution, the committee may create such advisory
committees and subcommittees of its membership as it considers
necessary. All reports of this committee shall be submitted to the
House Education and Public Works Committee, the Senate
Education Committee, the EIA Select Committee, the South
Carolina Council for Education Collaboration, and the
Business-Education Subcommittee.
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