1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; requiring cultural competency training for teachers and 
1.3 	school administrators seeking to renew their professional license;amending 
1.4 	Minnesota Statutes 2012, sections 122A.09, subdivision 4; 122A.14, subdivision 
1.5 	3.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 122A.09, subdivision 4, is amended to read:
1.8 		Subd. 4.License and rules. (a) The board must adopt rules to license public school 
1.9 	teachers and interns subject to chapter 14.
1.10 	(b) The board must adopt rules requiring a person to pass a skills examination in 
1.11 	reading, writing, and mathematics as a requirement for initial teacher licensure. Such 
1.12 	rules must require college and universities offering a board-approved teacher preparation 
1.13 	program to provide remedial assistance to persons who did not achieve a qualifying score 
1.14 	on the skills examination, including those for whom English is a second language.
1.15 	(c) The board must adopt rules to approve teacher preparation programs. The board, 
1.16 	upon the request of a postsecondary student preparing for teacher licensure or a licensed 
1.17 	graduate of a teacher preparation program, shall assist in resolving a dispute between the 
1.18 	person and a postsecondary institution providing a teacher preparation program when the 
1.19 	dispute involves an institution's recommendation for licensure affecting the person or the 
1.20 	person's credentials. At the board's discretion, assistance may include the application 
1.21 	of chapter 14.
1.22 	(d) The board must provide the leadership and adopt rules for the redesign of teacher 
1.23 	education programs to implement a research based, results-oriented curriculum that 
1.24 	focuses on the skills teachers need in order to be effective. The board shall implement new 
1.25 	systems of teacher preparation program evaluation to assure program effectiveness based 
2.1 	on proficiency of graduates in demonstrating attainment of program outcomes. Teacher 
2.2 	preparation programs including alternative teacher preparation programs under section 
2.3 	122A.245, among other programs, must include a content-specific, board-approved, 
2.4 	performance-based assessment that measures teacher candidates in three areas: planning 
2.5 	for instruction and assessment; engaging students and supporting learning; and assessing 
2.6 	student learning.
2.7 	(e) The board must adopt rules requiring candidates for initial licenses to pass an 
2.8 	examination of general pedagogical knowledge and examinations of licensure-specific 
2.9 	teaching skills. The rules shall be effective by September 1, 2001. The rules under this 
2.10 	paragraph also must require candidates for initial licenses to teach prekindergarten or 
2.11 	elementary students to pass, as part of the examination of licensure-specific teaching 
2.12 	skills, test items assessing the candidates' knowledge, skill, and ability in comprehensive, 
2.13 	scientifically based reading instruction under section 122A.06, subdivision 4, and their 
2.14 	knowledge and understanding of the foundations of reading development, the development 
2.15 	of reading comprehension, and reading assessment and instruction, and their ability to 
2.16 	integrate that knowledge and understanding.
2.17 	(f) The board must adopt rules requiring teacher educators to work directly with 
2.18 	elementary or secondary school teachers in elementary or secondary schools to obtain 
2.19 	periodic exposure to the elementary or secondary teaching environment.
2.20 	(g) The board must grant licenses to interns and to candidates for initial licenses 
2.21 	based on appropriate professional competencies that are aligned with the board's licensing 
2.22 	system and students' diverse learning needs. The board must include these licenses in a 
2.23 	statewide differentiated licensing system that creates new leadership roles for successful 
2.24 	experienced teachers premised on a collaborative professional culture dedicated to meeting 
2.25 	students' diverse learning needs in the 21st century and formalizes mentoring and induction 
2.26 	for newly licensed teachers that is provided through a teacher support framework.
2.27 	(h) The board must design and implement an assessment system which requires a 
2.28 	candidate for an initial license and first continuing license to demonstrate the abilities 
2.29 	necessary to perform selected, representative teaching tasks at appropriate levels.
2.30 	(i) The board must receive recommendations from local committees as established 
2.31 	by the board for the renewal of teaching licenses.
2.32 	(j) The board must grant life licenses to those who qualify according to requirements 
2.33 	established by the board, and suspend or revoke licenses pursuant to sections 122A.20 and 
2.34 	214.10. The board must not establish any expiration date for application for life licenses.
2.35 	(k) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing 
2.36 	their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further preparation in 
3.1 	the areas of using positive behavior interventions and in accommodating, modifying, and 
3.2 	adapting curricula, materials, and strategies to appropriately meet the needs of individual 
3.3 	students and ensure adequate progress toward the state's graduation rule.
3.4 	(l) In adopting rules to license public school teachers who provide health-related 
3.5 	services for disabled children, the board shall adopt rules consistent with license or 
3.6 	registration requirements of the commissioner of health and the health-related boards who 
3.7 	license personnel who perform similar services outside of the school.
3.8 	(m) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing 
3.9 	their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further reading 
3.10 	preparation, consistent with section 122A.06, subdivision 4. The rules do not take effect 
3.11 	until they are approved by law. Teachers who do not provide direct instruction including, at 
3.12 	least, counselors, school psychologists, school nurses, school social workers, audiovisual 
3.13 	directors and coordinators, and recreation personnel are exempt from this section.
3.14 	(n) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing 
3.15 	their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further preparation 
3.16 	in understanding the key warning signs of early-onset mental illness in children and 
3.17 	adolescents.
3.18 	(o) The board must adopt rules that require all licensed teachers who are renewing 
3.19 	their continuing license to include in their renewal requirements further preparation in 
3.20 	cultural competency that helps teachers develop behaviors, attitudes, and policies for 
3.21 	understanding and working effectively with people of different cultures.

3.22 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective September 1, 2014, and applies to 
3.23 	licensed teachers seeking to renew their continuing teaching license after that date.

3.24 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 122A.14, subdivision 3, is amended to read:
3.25 		Subd. 3.Rules for continuing education requirements. The board shall 
3.26 	adopt rules establishing continuing education requirements that promote continuous 
3.27 	improvement and acquisition of new and relevant skills by school administrators. A retired 
3.28 	school principal who serves as a substitute principal or assistant principal for the same 
3.29 	person on a day-to-day basis for no more than 15 consecutive school days is not subject to 
3.30 	continuing education requirements as a condition of serving as a substitute principal or 
3.31 	assistant principal. The continuing education requirements must include preparation in 
3.32 	cultural competency that helps school administrators develop behaviors, attitudes, and 
3.33 	policies for understanding and working effectively with people of different cultures.

4.1 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective September 1, 2014, and applies to 
4.2 	licensed school administrators seeking to renew their professional license after that date.