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TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 59-26-35 SO AS TO IMPROVE THE MEANS FOR EVALUATING EDUCATOR PREPARATION PROGRAMS BY PROVIDING FOR THE ANNUAL DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLICATION OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA TEACHER PREPARATION REPORT CARD; AND BY ADDING SECTION 59-26-120 SO AS TO PROVIDE THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SHALL PROVIDE CERTAIN EDUCATOR PREPARATION PROGRAMS WITH CERTAIN INFORMATION REGARDING GRADUATES OF THOSE PROGRAMS, TO PROVIDE EDUCATOR PREPARATION PROGRAMS MAY NOT SHARE IDENTIFIABLE EDUCATOR DATA WITH THIRD PARTIES WITHOUT WRITTEN CONSENT, AND TO PROVIDE THIS INFORMATION IS NOT SUBJECT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Chapter 26, Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 59-26-35. (A) The State Board of Education, with the assistance of the Department of Education, the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, and the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office, shall develop and annually publish before November first an online report card known as the 'South Carolina Teacher Preparation Report Card'. The report card shall evaluate the ability of educator preparation programs, including alternative programs, to train new teachers for success in South Carolina's classrooms. The report card must include data on a variety of measures to provide an overall picture of how well each educator preparation program prepares effective teachers and meets state goals, including, but not limited to, the following:
(1) number of undergraduate and graduate completions;
(2) placement and retention rates by districts and regions of the State;
(3) performance of candidates on basic skills examination;
(4) ability of program to recruit a strong, diverse cohort of candidates and prepare them to teach in the content areas of greatest need;
(5) quality of clinical experiences; and
(6) effectiveness of individuals who completed a provider's program and are employed in a public school classroom. The information must be differentiated by provider and, where applicable, across content areas.
(B) The State Department of Education, each educator preparation program, and each school district shall report all data as requested by the State Board of Education to complete the evaluation."
SECTION 2. Chapter 26, Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 59-26-120.(A) The State Department of Education annually before December first shall provide each college of education and state-approved educator preparation program with information regarding its graduates. Information must be provided to a college of education or educator preparation program regarding each of its individual educator graduates and must include, but is not limited to:
(1) SCPASS and SC READY, or the succeeding assessment, scores aggregated by classroom, content, and/or grade, school, district, and learner demographic;
(2) Student learning objective data aggregated by classroom, content, and/or grade, school, district, and learner demographic;
(3) results of ADEPT Evaluation by individual educator graduate;
(4) records of employee certification by individual educator graduate; and
(5) other information requested by the programs designed to enhance the ability of the college of education or educator preparation program to provide improved education services.
(B) A college of education or educator preparation program receiving individualized information regarding its graduates pursuant to subsection (A) shall:
(1) develop and use a unique system for identifying each individual educator graduate for whom it receives such individualized information;
(2) strictly maintain the confidentiality of all information that can be used to identify an individual educator graduate for whom it receives such information; and
(3) not share such information with a third party without the express written consent of the educator.
(C) Information provided to a college of education or educator preparation program pursuant to this section is not subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act."
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval of the Governor.
This web page was last updated on January 12, 2021 at 1:46 PM