2014 Kentucky Revised Statutes CHAPTER 156 - DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 156.553 Teachers' professional growth fund -- Purposes -- Courses -- Duties of Department of Education -- Professional development programs -- Administrative regulations -- Advancement by local boards of funds to teachers for professional development education -- Reimbursement -- Priority for use of funds from 2010 to 2016.
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156.553 Teachers' professional growth fund -- Purposes -- Courses -- Duties
of Department of Education -- Professional development programs -Administrative regulations -- Advancement by local boards of funds to
teachers for professional development education -- Reimbursement -Priority for use of funds from 2010 to 2016.
(1)
(2)
The teachers' professional growth fund is hereby created to provide teachers
with high quality professional development in content knowledge in
mathematics, reading, science, language arts, social studies, arts and
humanities, practical living, vocational studies, and foreign languages;
classroom-based screening, diagnostic, assessment, and intervention
strategies; and teaching methodologies, including professional development
that may lead to additional certification endorsements or renewal of
certification. Based on available funds, student achievement data, and teacher
data, the Kentucky Board of Education shall annually determine the priority for
content emphasis based on the greatest needs.
(a) The fund may provide moneys to teachers for:
1.
Tuition reimbursement for successful completion of college or
university level courses, including on-line courses and seminars,
approved for this purpose by the Education Professional Standards
Board;
2.
Stipends for participation in and successful completion of:
a.
College or university courses, including on-line courses and
seminars, approved for this purpose by the Education
Professional Standards Board;
b.
Teacher institutes developed for core content instructors by the
Department of Education in compliance with KRS 156.095; and
c.
Other professional development programs approved by the
Kentucky Department of Education, including professional
development for teachers participating in grants awarded by
the Middle School Mathematics and Science Scholars Program
established under KRS 158.848;
3.
Reimbursement for the purchase of materials required for
professional development programs; and
4.
Reimbursement for other approved professional development
activities throughout the school year, including reimbursement for:
a.
Travel to and from professional development workshops; and
b.
Travel to and from other schools for the observation of, and
consultation with, peer mentors; or
(b) The fund may be used to provide grants to local school districts to
support staff participation in specific, statewide initiatives for the
professional development of teachers and administrators in specific
content areas as established by the Kentucky Department of Education
and the Kentucky Board of Education under the provisions of subsections
(4), (5), and (6) of this section and referenced in KRS 158.842.
(c) The fund may be used to provide grants to colleges and universities to
(3)
(4)
(5)
plan and develop statewide professional development institutes and other
professional development services.
(d) The fund may be used to provide grants to local school districts, to
colleges and universities, or other entities to assist the Kentucky
Department of Education in evaluating costs and the effectiveness of
activities and initiatives established under this section.
The Education Professional Standards Board shall determine the college and
university courses, including on-line courses and seminars, for which teachers
may receive reimbursement from the fund.
The Department of Education shall:
(a) Administer the fund. In order to process reimbursements to teachers
promptly, the reimbursements shall not be subject to KRS 45A.690 to
45A.725;
(b) Determine the professional development programs for which teachers
may receive reimbursement, or districts or colleges and universities may
receive grants, from the fund;
(c) Determine the level of stipend or reimbursement, subject to the
availability of appropriated funds, for particular courses and programs,
under subsection (2) of this section; and
(d) Provide an accounting of fund expenditures and results of the use of the
funds for each biennium to the Interim Joint Committee on Education by
November 1 of each odd-numbered year.
The professional development programs approved by the Department of
Education for which teachers may receive support from the fund shall:
(a) Focus on improving the content knowledge of teachers;
(b) Provide training in the use of research-based and developmentally
appropriate classroom-based screening, diagnostic, assessment, and
intervention strategies;
(c) Provide instruction on teaching methods to effectively impart content
knowledge to all students;
(d) Include intensive training institutes and workshops during the summer;
(e) Provide programs for the ongoing support of teacher participants
throughout the year, which may include:
1.
A peer coaching or mentoring, and assessment program; and
2.
Planned activities, including:
a.
Follow-up workshops; and
b.
Support networks of teachers of the core disciplines using
technologies, including but not limited to telephone, video, and
on-line computer networks;
(f) Provide teacher participants with professional development credit toward
renewal of certification under the provisions of KRS 161.095, relating to
continuing education for teachers; and
(g) Provide teacher participants with the opportunity to obtain certificate
endorsements or extensions in critical shortage areas, with priority given
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
to mathematics and science through 2016, and in core content areas to
their existing certifications through the TC-HQ process, established by the
Education Professional Standards Board to meet the requirements of the
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 20 U.S.C. sec. 6301 et seq.
The Kentucky Board of Education shall specify through promulgation of
administrative regulations:
(a) The application and approval process for receipt of funds;
(b) The requirements and process for the disbursal of funds; and
(c) The number of each kind of approved course for which applicants may
receive funds.
Notwithstanding any other provisions to the contrary, a local school board may
advance the funds necessary for its teachers to participate in a college course
or professional development seminar or activity approved by the Kentucky
Department of Education and the Education Professional Standards Board
under provisions of this section and receive reimbursement from the
department at the conclusion of the activity or course by the teacher. If funds
are advanced for the benefit of a teacher under this subsection, but the teacher
does not fulfill his or her obligation, the teacher shall reimburse the school
district for the funds expended by the district on the teacher's behalf.
Notwithstanding the provisions of KRS 45.229, unexpended funds in the
teachers' professional growth fund in the 2000-2001 fiscal year or in any
subsequent fiscal year shall not lapse but shall carry forward to the next fiscal
year and shall be used for the purposes established in subsections (1) and (2)
of this section.
Notwithstanding any provisions of this section to the contrary, beginning June
1, 2006, through the 2009-2010 school year, priority for the use of funds from
the teachers' professional growth fund shall be used to train and support teams
of teachers from all school levels to be trained as reading coaches and
mentors or as mathematics coaches and mentors in statewide institutes
referenced in KRS 158.840 and 158.842, and for selected teachers to be highly
trained in providing diagnostic assessment and intervention services for
students in the primary program struggling with mathematics.
(a) The design of the statewide mathematics institutes to train mathematics
coaches and mentors shall be developed by the Committee for
Mathematics Achievement established in KRS 158.842. The committee
shall provide recommendations to the Kentucky Department of Education
and the Kentucky Board of Education in the preparation of administrative
regulations that may be promulgated by the board to implement the
provisions of this subsection relating to mathematics.
(b) The design of the professional development program to provide highly
trained mathematics intervention teachers in the primary program shall be
developed by the Center for Mathematics in collaboration with public and
private institutions of postsecondary education.
(c) The development of the statewide program to train reading coaches and
mentors shall be coordinated by the Kentucky Department of Education
with recommendations from the Collaborative Center for Literacy
Development, established in KRS 164.0207, and the reading steering
committee established in KRS 158.794. The design of the program shall
reflect a consensus of the agencies involved in the development of the
program. The training program for reading coaches and mentors shall
complement other statewide reading initiatives, funded with state and
federal funds, and shall give priority to teachers in grades four (4) through
twelve (12). The program shall be implemented no later than June 1,
2006. The board shall promulgate administrative regulations required to
implement the provisions of this subsection relating to reading.
(10) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, beginning June 1,
2010, through the 2015-2016 school year, priority for the use of funds from the
teachers' professional growth fund shall be for the purpose of increasing the
number of certified teachers with extensions or endorsements in mathematics
and science as described in subsection (5)(g) of this section.
Effective:July 15, 2008
History: Amended 2008 Ky. Acts ch. 134, sec. 13, effective July 15, 2008; and
ch. 185, sec. 2, effective April 24, 2008. -- Amended 2005 Ky. Acts ch. 164,
sec. 5, effective March 18, 2005. -- Amended 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 135, sec. 4,
effective April 2, 2002. -- Amended 2001 Ky. Acts ch. 135, sec. 1, effective June
21, 2001. -- Created 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 527, sec. 2, effective July 14, 2000.
Legislative Research Commission Note (7/15/2008). This section was amended
by 2008 Ky. Acts chs. 134 and 185, which do not appear to be in conflict and
have been codified together.
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