TEACHER PROF. DEV'T: PUPIL LEARNING S.B. 326: COMMITTEE SUMMARY
Senate Bill 326 (as introduced 3-17-05)
Sponsor: Senator Patricia L. Birkholz
Committee: Education
Date Completed: 3-17-05
CONTENT
The bill would amend the Revised School Code to require a school district or public school academy to devote at least one professional development day a year to training about pupil learning, if the district or academy had an above-average percentage of pupils receiving special education.
The Code requires the board of each school district and intermediate school district, and the board of directors of each public school academy (PSA) to provide at least five days of teacher professional development each school year. Under the bill, the board of a school district or PSA would have to ensure that at least one of those days consisted of training on how to monitor individual pupil learning and how to provide specific support or learning strategies as early as possible in order to reduce the need for special education placement, if the Department of Education determined that the percentage of pupils in the district or academy who were receiving special education programs and services exceeded the statewide percentage of pupils receiving special education programs and services.
The required training would have to include training on literacy and numeracy supports, sensory motor skill development, behavior supports, instructional consultation for teachers, and the development of a school/parent learning plan.
Each year, the Department would have to review pupil data to determine which school districts and public school academies were subject to these provisions, and notify those districts and PSAs in a timely manner that would allow them to comply with the bill.
MCL 380.1527 Legislative Analyst: Suzanne Lowe
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have no fiscal impact on the State.
For districts with a higher percentage of special education pupils than the statewide average, the bill would require that at least one of the five professional development days consist of training on monitoring individual pupil learning and how to provide early learning strategies in order to reduce the need for special education placement. If the costs to districts of providing at least one professional development day with these components were to exceed the costs the districts would have faced doing a different type of professional development, then the fiscal impact on the affected districts would be higher costs. If, on the other hand, the costs of providing a day of professional development as detailed under
this legislation were less than the costs of a day of "unregulated" professional development, then affected districts would see savings.
Fiscal Analyst: Kathryn Summers-Coty
Analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent. sb326/0506