161.028 Education Professional Standards Board -- Powers and duties regarding
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/ky/161-028A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
the preparation and certification of professional school personnel --
Membership.
(1)The Education Professional Standards Board is recognized to be a public body
corporate and politic and an agency and instrumentality of the Commonwealth, in
the performance of essential governmental functions. The Education Professional
Standards Board has the authority and responsibility to:
(a)Establish standards and requirements for obtaining and maintaining a teaching
certificate;
(b)Set standards for, approve, and evaluate college, university, and school district
programs for the preparation of teachers and other professional school
personnel. College or university programs may be approved by the board for a
college or university with regional institutional level accreditation or national
institutional level accreditation that is recognized by the United States
Department of Education and is eligible to receive federal funding under 20
U.S.C. secs. 1061 to 1063. Program standards shall reflect national standards
and shall address, at a minimum, the following:
1. The alignment of programs with the state's core content for assessment
as defined in KRS 158.6457;
2. Research-based classroom practices, including effective classroom
management techniques;
3. Emphasis on subject matter competency of teacher education students;
4. Methodologies to meet diverse educational needs of all students;
5. The consistency and quality of classroom and field experiences,
including early practicums and student teaching experiences;
6. The amount of college-wide or university-wide involvement and support
during the preparation as well as the induction of new teachers;
7. The diversity of faculty;
8. The effectiveness of partnerships with local school districts; and
9. The performance of graduates on various measures as determined by the
board;
(c)Conduct an annual review of diversity in teacher preparation programs;
(d)Provide assistance to universities and colleges in addressing diversity, which
may include researching successful strategies and disseminating the
information, encouraging the development of nontraditional avenues of
recruitment and providing incentives, waiving administrative regulations
when needed, and other assistance as deemed necessary;
(e)Discontinue approval of programs that do not meet standards or whose
graduates do not perform according to criteria set by the board;
(f)Issue, renew, revoke, suspend, or refuse to issue or renew; impose
probationary or supervisory conditions upon; issue a written reprimand or
admonishment; or any combination of actions regarding any certificate;
(g)Develop specific guidelines to follow upon receipt of an allegation of sexual
misconduct by an employee certified by the Education Professional Standards
Board. The guidelines shall include investigation, inquiry, and hearing
procedures which ensure the process does not revictimize the alleged victim
or cause harm if an employee is falsely accused;
(h)Receive, along with investigators hired by the Education Professional
Standards Board, training on the dynamics of sexual misconduct of
professionals, including the nature of this abuse of authority, characteristics of
the offender, the impact on the victim, the possibility and the impact of false
accusations, investigative procedures in sex offense cases, and effective
intervention with victims and offenders;
(i)Recommend to the Kentucky Board of Education the essential data elements
relating to teacher preparation and certification, teacher supply and demand,
teacher attrition, teacher diversity, and employment trends to be included in a
state comprehensive data and information system and periodically report data
to the appropriate Interim Joint Committee on Education;
(j)Submit reports to the Governor and the Legislative Research Commission and
inform the public on the status of teaching in Kentucky;
(k)Devise a credentialing system that provides alternative routes to gaining
certification and greater flexibility in staffing local schools while maintaining
standards for teacher competence;
(l)Develop a professional code of ethics;
(m)Charge reasonable fees for the issuance, reissuance, and renewal of
certificates that are established by administrative regulation. The proceeds
shall be used to meet a portion of the costs of the issuance, reissuance, and
renewal of certificates, and the costs associated with disciplinary action
against a certificate holder under KRS 161.120;
(n)Waive a requirement that may be established in an administrative regulation
promulgated by the board. A request for a waiver shall be submitted to the
board, in writing, by an applicant for certification, a postsecondary institution,
or a superintendent of a local school district, with appropriate justification for
the waiver. The board may approve the request if the person or institution
seeking the waiver has demonstrated extraordinary circumstances justifying
the waiver. Any waiver granted under this subsection shall be subject to
revocation if the person or institution falsifies information or subsequently
fails to meet the intent of the waiver;
(o)Promote the development of one
(1)or more innovative, nontraditional or
alternative administrator or teacher preparation programs through public or
private colleges or universities, private contractors, the Department of
Education, or the Kentucky Commonwealth Virtual University and waive
administrative regulations if needed in order to implement the program;
(p)Grant approval, if appropriate, of a university's request for an alternative
program that enrolls an administrator candidate in a postbaccalaureate
administrator preparation program concurrently with employment as an
assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent, or superintendent in a
local school district. An administrator candidate in the alternative program
shall be granted a temporary provisional certificate and shall be a candidate in
the Kentucky Principal Internship Program, notwithstanding provisions of
KRS 161.030, or the Superintendent's Assessment process, notwithstanding
provisions of KRS 156.111, as appropriate. The temporary certificate shall be
valid for a maximum of two
(2)years, and shall be contingent upon the
candidate's continued enrollment in the preparation program and compliance
with all requirements established by the board. A professional certificate shall
be issued upon the candidate's successful completion of the program,
internship requirements, and assessments as required by the board;
(q)Employ consultants as needed;
(r)Enter into contracts. Disbursements to professional educators who receive less
than one thousand dollars ($1,000) in compensation per fiscal year from the
board for serving on an assessment validation panel or as a test scorer or
proctor shall not be subject to KRS 45A.690 to 45A.725;
(s)Sponsor studies, conduct research, conduct conferences, and publish
information as appropriate; and
(t)Issue orders as necessary in any administrative action before the board.
(a)The board shall be composed of seventeen
(17)members. The secretary of the
Education and Labor Cabinet and the president of the Council on
Postsecondary Education, or their designees, shall serve as ex officio voting
members. The Governor shall make the following fifteen
(15)appointments:
1. Nine
(9)members who shall be teachers representative of elementary,
middle or junior high, secondary, special education, and secondary
vocational classrooms;
2. Two
(2)members who shall be school administrators, one
(1)of whom
shall be a school principal;
3. One
(1)member representative of local boards of education; and
4. Three
(3)members representative of postsecondary institutions, two
of whom shall be deans of colleges of education at public universities
and one
(1)of whom shall be the chief academic officer or head of an
educator preparation program of an independent not-for-profit college or
university.
(b)The members appointed by the Governor shall be confirmed by the Senate
under KRS 11.160. If the General Assembly is not in session at the time of the
appointment, persons appointed shall serve prior to confirmation, but the
Governor shall seek the consent of the Senate at the next regular session or at
an intervening extraordinary session if the matter is included in the call of the
General Assembly.
(c)Each appointed member shall serve a three
(3)year term. A vacancy on the
board shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment within
sixty
(60)days after it occurs. A member shall continue to serve until his or
her successor is named. Any member who, through change of employment
status or residence, or for other reasons, no longer meets the criteria for the
position to which he or she was appointed shall no longer be eligible to serve
in that position.
(d)Members of the board shall serve without compensation but shall be permitted
to attend board meetings and perform other board business without loss of
income or other benefits.
(e)A state agency or any political subdivision of the state, including a school
district, required to hire a substitute for a member of the board who is absent
from the member's place of employment while performing board business
shall be reimbursed by the board for the actual amount of any costs incurred.
(f)A chairman shall be elected by and from the membership. A member shall be
eligible to serve no more than three
(3)one
(1)year terms in succession as
chairman. Regular meetings shall be held at least semiannually on call of the
chairman.
(g)The commissioner of education shall serve as executive secretary to the board
and may designate staff to facilitate his or her duties.
(h)To carry out the functions relating to its duties and responsibilities, the board
is empowered to receive donations and grants of funds; to appoint consultants
as needed; and to sponsor studies, conduct conferences, and publish
information.