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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T





SPONSOR: Heaton DATE TYPED: 01/30/00 HB 49
SHORT TITLE: Access Certification Exam Scores SB
ANALYST: Baca


APPROPRIATION



Appropriation Contained
Estimated Additional Impact
Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY00 FY01 FY00 FY01
NFI



(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates/Conflicts with/Companion to/Relates to



SOURCES OF INFORMATION



SDE



SUMMARY



Synopsis of Bill



House Bill 49 amends Section 22-2-2. AA. to require that:



the State Board of Education (SBE)assess the number and scores of students at each college of education and teacher preparation program at state educational institutions who are taking and passing the state certification examination, and



withhold program approval from a college of education or teacher preparation program whose graduates do not achieve a passing rate of eighty percent on the state certification exam for three consecutive years.



Significant Issues



The SDE analysis acknowledges institutions of higher education can be held accountable for their traditional students but raises questions concerning responsibility for non-traditional students, such as:



students who complete a program at two institutions,

students who elect an alternative licensure program, and

students who complete "licensure only" programs at a state college or university.



Other questions raised in the SDE's analysis are:



Is the 80% rate calculated for each of the individual test or a combined pass rate for all three tests?



How will schools that use the examination as a gatekeeper or diagnostic be affected by the process required in HB 49?



Should a decision as important as accreditation of a program be made on a single indicator?



Will this approach to accreditation induce teacher training programs to "turn away" students perceived as potential "low scorers" on the test, thereby exacerbating the teacher shortage?



CONFLICT



The SDE analysis states that HB 49 conflicts with the SBE's current approval process which is conducted in cooperation with NCATE, the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education.



LB/njw