44TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 1999

REQUESTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SYSTEMATIC PLAN FOR THE RECRUITMENT, PREPARATION, INDUCTION AND SUPPORT OF HIGH-QUALITY TEACHERS.

WHEREAS, current research demonstrates that teacher quality is the most significant factor affecting student achievement; and

WHEREAS, all of New Mexico's children can achieve high standards if they have access to high-quality teachers; and

WHEREAS, a high-quality teacher in every classroom is the central strategy for improving student performance in New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, national research predicts that approximately two million new teachers will be needed in public school classrooms over the next ten years; and

WHEREAS, New Mexico faces the same critical issues of teacher shortages in its teaching force, predicting that approximately eighteen thousand new teachers will be needed over the next ten years; and

WHEREAS, solving the issues of developing and maintaining an adequate supply of high-quality teachers requires a well-planned, multi-year and multi-phased effort on the part of all the stakeholders;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the legislative education study committee, in cooperation with the state department of public education, the commission on higher education and the New Mexico teacher preparation programs, be requested to create a systematic plan for the recruitment, preparation, induction, professional development and support of high-quality teachers; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the plan further provide for the feasibility of strengthening teacher preparation programs by:

A. completing a statewide policy inventory that is data driven; summarizes the status of teaching in New Mexico; and includes:

(1) the identification and mapping of all funding streams and an analysis of the incentives and disincentives that are part of this funding process;

(2) an audit of current policies and practices of teacher preparation and licensure; and

(3) a review of teacher shortage areas and the presentation of specific teacher work force needs during the coming decade;

B. requiring a bachelor's degree in a subject field for all teaching candidates at the secondary level or a concentration or bachelor's degree in liberal arts for all teaching candidates at the elementary or mid-school level, with a minimum number of hours in pedagogy;

C. developing performance-based measures to ensure that all graduates can demonstrate the critical competencies of teaching, including the teaching of reading;

D. incorporating the teaching standards of the national board for professional teaching standards into the curriculum in the preparation of teachers;

E. developing alternative paths to licensure that provide rigorous and flexible programs to attract professionals with bachelor's degrees into the teaching profession, including accepting the national board of professional teaching standards certification for New Mexico licensure and ensuring that these alternative pathways to licensure are free of unnecessary requirements and structured in ways that attract and retain capable people in teaching;

F. adopting the best professional standards available, including those from the interstate new teacher assessment and support consortium, national council for accreditation of teacher education, national board of professional teaching standards and the New Mexico state competencies;

G. adopting licensure and licensure renewal requirements for principals to ensure that they are able to provide the essential leadership and mentoring skills necessary to ensure that teachers are successful and student performance is improving;

H. adopting continuing education for all school personnel to maintain licensure;

I. allowing community colleges to recruit students enrolled in high school who wish to enter the teaching profession to complete general course requirements and field experiences through concurrent enrollment and allowing such courses to be transferred to accredited colleges and universities for credit toward certification in elementary and secondary education; and

J. adopting other identified strategies that will strengthen teacher preparation and ongoing professional development programs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a report of the findings and recommendations of this study be provided to the legislative education study committee by October 1, 1999; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be distributed to the superintendent of public instruction, the executive director of the commission on higher education, the deans of the teacher preparation programs and the director of the legislative education study committee.