2012 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 10 - Education and Culture
Chapter 166 - Teachers and Superintendents
Section 10-148a - Professional development. Program audits.

(a) For the school year commencing July 1, 2013, and each school year thereafter, each certified employee shall participate in a program of professional development. Each local and regional board of education shall make available, annually, at no cost to its certified employees, a program of professional development that is not fewer than eighteen hours in length, of which a preponderance is in a small group or individual instructional setting. Such program of professional development shall (1) be a comprehensive, sustained and intensive approach to improving teacher and administrator effectiveness in increasing student knowledge achievement, (2) focus on refining and improving various effective teaching methods that are shared between and among educators, (3) foster collective responsibility for improved student performance, and (4) be comprised of professional learning that (A) is aligned with rigorous state student academic achievement standards, (B) is conducted among educators at the school and facilitated by principals, coaches, mentors, distinguished educators, as described in section 10-145s, or other appropriate teachers, (C) occurs frequently on an individual basis or among groups of teachers in a job-embedded process of continuous improvement, and (D) includes a repository of best practices for teaching methods developed by educators within each school that is continuously available to such educators for comment and updating. Each program of professional development shall include professional development activities in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of this section.

(b) Local and regional boards of education shall offer professional development activities to certified employees as part of the plan developed pursuant to subsection (b) of section 10-220a or for any individual certified employee. Such professional development activities may be made available by a board of education directly, through a regional educational service center or cooperative arrangement with another board of education or through arrangements with any professional development provider approved by the Commissioner of Education. Such professional development activities shall (1) improve the integration of reading instruction, literacy and numeracy enhancement, and cultural awareness into instructional practice, (2) include strategies to improve English language learner instruction into instructional practice, (3) be determined by each board of education with the advice and assistance of the teachers employed by such board, including representatives of the exclusive bargaining unit for such teachers pursuant to section 10-153b, and on and after July 1, 2012, in full consideration of priorities and needs related to student outcomes as determined by the State Board of Education, (4) use the results and findings of teacher and administrator performance evaluations, conducted pursuant to section 10-151b, to improve teacher and administrator practice and provide professional growth, and (5) include training in the implementation of student individualized education programs and the communication of individualized education program procedures to parents or guardians of students who require special education and related services for certified employees with an endorsement in special education who hold a position requiring such an endorsement. Professional development completed by superintendents of schools and administrators, as defined in section 10-144e, shall include at least fifteen hours of training in the evaluation and support of teachers under the teacher and administrator evaluation and support program, pursuant to subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of section 10-151b, during each five-year period. The time and location for the provision of such activities shall be in accordance with either an agreement between the board of education and the exclusive bargaining unit pursuant to section 10-153b or, in the absence of such agreement or to the extent such agreement does not provide for the time and location of all such activities, in accordance with a determination by the board of education.

(c) Each local and regional board of education or supervisory agent of a nonpublic school approved by the State Board of Education shall attest to the Department of Education, in such form and at such time as the commissioner shall prescribe, that professional development activities under this section: (1) Are planned in response to identified needs, (2) are provided by qualified instructional personnel, as appropriate, (3) have the requirements for participation in the activity shared with participants before the commencement of the activity, (4) are evaluated in terms of its effectiveness and its contribution to the attainment of school or district-wide goals, and (5) are documented in accordance with procedures established by the State Board of Education. In the event that the Department of Education notifies the local or regional board of education that the provisions of this subsection have not been met and that specific corrective action is necessary, the local or regional board of education shall take such corrective action immediately.

(d) The Department of Education shall conduct audits of the professional development programs provided by local and regional boards of education. If the State Board of Education determines, based on such audit, that a local or regional board of education is not in compliance with any provision of this section, the State Board of Education may require the local or regional board of education to forfeit of the total sum which is paid to such board of education from the State Treasury an amount determined by the State Board of Education. The amount so forfeited shall be withheld from a grant payment, as determined by the Commissioner of Education, during the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which noncompliance is determined. The State Board of Education may waive such forfeiture if the State Board of Education determines that the failure of the local or regional board of education to comply with the provisions of this section was due to circumstances beyond its control.

(P.A. 12-116, S. 39; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-2, S. 138.)

History: P.A. 12-116 effective July 1, 2012; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-2 amended Subsec. (b) by adding Subdiv. (5) re training in implementation of student individualized education programs and communication of individualized education program procedures, effective July 1, 2012.