Effective: September 29, 2015
Latest Legislation: House Bill 64 - 131st General Assembly
(A) The educator standards board, in consultation with the chancellor of higher education, shall do all of the following:
(1) Develop state standards for teachers and principals that reflect what teachers and principals are expected to know and be able to do at all stages of their careers. These standards shall be aligned with the statewide academic content standards for students adopted pursuant to section 3301.079 of the Revised Code, be primarily based on educator performance instead of years of experience or certain courses completed, and rely on evidence-based factors. These standards shall also be aligned with the operating standards adopted under division (D)(3) of section 3301.07 of the Revised Code.
(a) The standards for teachers shall reflect the following additional criteria:
(i) Alignment with the interstate new teacher assessment and support consortium standards;
(ii) Differentiation among novice, experienced, and advanced teachers;
(iii) Reliance on competencies that can be measured;
(iv) Reliance on content knowledge, teaching skills, discipline-specific teaching methods, and requirements for professional development;
(v) Alignment with a career-long system of professional development and evaluation that ensures teachers receive the support and training needed to achieve the teaching standards as well as reliable feedback about how well they meet the standards;
(vi) The standards under section 3301.079 of the Revised Code, including standards on collaborative learning environments and interdisciplinary, project-based, real-world learning and differentiated instruction;
(vii) The Ohio leadership framework.
(b) The standards for principals shall be aligned with the interstate school leaders licensing consortium standards.
(2) Develop standards for school district superintendents that reflect what superintendents are expected to know and be able to do at all stages of their careers. The standards shall reflect knowledge of systems theory and effective management principles and be aligned with the buckeye association of school administrators standards and the operating standards developed under division (D)(3) of section 3301.07 of the Revised Code.
(3) Develop standards for school district treasurers and business managers that reflect what treasurers and business managers are expected to know and be able to do at all stages of their careers. The standards shall reflect knowledge of systems theory and effective management principles and be aligned with the association of school business officials international standards and the operating standards developed under division (D)(3) of section 3301.07 of the Revised Code.
(4) Develop standards for the renewal of licenses under sections 3301.074 and 3319.22 of the Revised Code;
(5) Develop standards for educator professional development;
(6) Investigate and make recommendations for the creation, expansion, and implementation of school building and school district leadership academies;
(7) Develop standards for school counselors that reflect what school counselors are expected to know and be able to do at all stages of their careers. The standards shall reflect knowledge of academic, personal, and social counseling for students and effective principles to implement an effective school counseling program. The standards also shall reflect Ohio-specific knowledge of career counseling for students and education options that provide flexibility for earning credit, such as earning units of high school credit using the methods adopted by the state board of education under division (J) of section 3313.603 of the Revised Code and earning college credit through the college credit plus program established under Chapter 3365. of the Revised Code. The standards shall align with the American school counselor association's professional standards and the operating standards developed under division (D)(3) of section 3301.07 of the Revised Code.
The superintendent of public instruction, the chancellor of higher education, or the education standards board itself may request that the educator standards board update, review, or reconsider any standards developed under this section.
(B) The educator standards board shall incorporate indicators of cultural competency into the standards developed under division (A) of this section. For this purpose, the educator standards board shall develop a definition of cultural competency based upon content and experiences that enable educators to know, understand, and appreciate the students, families, and communities that they serve and skills for addressing cultural diversity in ways that respond equitably and appropriately to the cultural needs of individual students.
(C) In developing the standards under division (A) of this section, the educator standards board shall consider the impact of the standards on closing the achievement gap between students of different subgroups.
(D) In developing the standards under division (A) of this section, the educator standards board shall ensure both of the following:
(1) That teachers have sufficient knowledge to provide appropriate instruction for students identified as gifted pursuant to Chapter 3324. of the Revised Code and to assist in the identification of such students, and have sufficient knowledge that will enable teachers to provide learning opportunities for all children to succeed;
(2) That principals, superintendents, school treasurers, and school business managers have sufficient knowledge to provide principled, collaborative, foresighted, and data-based leadership that will provide learning opportunities for all children to succeed.
(E) The standards for educator professional development developed under division (A)(5) of this section shall include the following:
(1) Standards for the inclusion of local professional development committees established under section 3319.22 of the Revised Code in the planning and design of professional development;
(2) Standards that address the crucial link between academic achievement and mental health issues.
(F) The educator standards board shall also perform the following functions:
(1) Monitor compliance with the standards developed under division (A) of this section and make recommendations to the state board of education for appropriate corrective action if such standards are not met;
(2) Research, develop, and recommend policies on the professions of teaching and school administration;
(3) Recommend policies to close the achievement gap between students of different subgroups;
(4) Define a "master teacher" in a manner that can be used uniformly by all school districts;
(5) Adopt criteria that a candidate for a lead professional educator license under section 3319.22 of the Revised Code who does not hold a valid certificate issued by the national board for professional teaching standards must meet to be considered a lead teacher for purposes of division (B)(4)(d) of that section. It is the intent of the general assembly that the educator standards board shall adopt multiple, equal-weighted criteria to use in determining whether a person is a lead teacher. The criteria shall be in addition to the other standards and qualifications prescribed in division (B)(4) of section 3319.22 of the Revised Code. The criteria may include, but shall not be limited to, completion of educational levels beyond a master's degree or other professional development courses or demonstration of a leadership role in the teacher's school building or district. The board shall determine the number of criteria that a teacher shall satisfy to be recognized as a lead teacher, which shall not be the total number of criteria adopted by the board.
(6) Develop model teacher and principal evaluation instruments and processes. The models shall be based on the standards developed under division (A) of this section.
(7) Develop a method of measuring the academic improvement made by individual students during a one-year period and make recommendations for incorporating the measurement as one of multiple evaluation criteria into each of the following:
(a) Eligibility for a professional educator license, senior professional educator license, lead professional educator license, or principal license issued under section 3319.22 of the Revised Code;
(b) The Ohio teacher residency program established under section 3319.223 of the Revised Code;
(c) The model teacher and principal evaluation instruments and processes developed under division (F)(6) of this section.
(G) The educator standards board shall submit recommendations of standards developed under division (A) of this section to the state board of education not later than September 1, 2010. The state board of education shall review those recommendations at the state board's regular meeting that next succeeds the date that the recommendations are submitted to the state board. At that meeting, the state board of education shall vote to either adopt standards based on those recommendations or request that the educator standards board reconsider its recommendations. The state board of education shall articulate reasons for requesting reconsideration of the recommendations but shall not direct the content of the recommendations. The educator standards board shall reconsider its recommendations if the state board of education so requests, may revise the recommendations, and shall resubmit the recommendations, whether revised or not, to the state board not later than two weeks prior to the state board's regular meeting that next succeeds the meeting at which the state board requested reconsideration of the initial recommendations. The state board of education shall review the recommendations as resubmitted by the educator standards board at the state board's regular meeting that next succeeds the meeting at which the state board requested reconsideration of the initial recommendations and may adopt the standards as resubmitted or, if the resubmitted standards have not addressed the state board's concerns, the state board may modify the standards prior to adopting them. The final responsibility to determine whether to adopt standards as described in division (A) of this section and the content of those standards, if adopted, belongs solely to the state board of education.