(a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:

(1) The role of parents and guardians in the education of pupils and the development of children and youth is critically important.

(2) Active partnerships among parents, guardians, and professional educators are essential features of effective education.

(3) Recent and anticipated changes in the conditions of childhood and adolescence, including, but not limited to, the changing family structure and ethnic and cultural diversity, make it more critical than before that partnerships among parents, guardians, and professional educators be effective.

It is the intent of the Legislature that prospective teachers and certificated educators acquire needed perspectives to serve as active partners with parents and guardians in the education of pupils.

(b) The commission shall adopt standards and requirements pursuant to paragraphs (3) and (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 44259, Section 44265, Sections 44266 to 44270.1, inclusive, and Section 44372 that emphasize the preparation of prospective teachers and other certificated educators to serve as active partners with parents and guardians in the education of pupils. The standards shall address, through appropriate instruction and field experiences, the roles of parents and guardians in the educational process, strategies for involving and working with parents and guardians, and the changing conditions of childhood and adolescence, including, but not limited to, the changing family structure and ethnic and cultural diversity.

(c) An institution meets the standards set forth in subdivision (b) with the incorporation of appropriate content within existing professional preparation courses.

(d) The implementation of subdivision (b) as it applies to paragraphs (3) and (4) of Section 44259 shall occur in conjunction with the review of requirements for earning and renewing multiple and single subject teaching credentials, as required by subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 44259.2.

(e) The standards and requirements developed pursuant to subdivision (b) and the conditions described in subdivision (d) of this section shall not apply to any person holding a valid credential on December 31, 1993.

(f) The commission shall not, by regulation, revoke or restrict in any way a credential that was valid prior to the effective date of this section unless the commission issues the holder of the credential a valid substitute credential. The authorization of the substitute credential shall not be more restrictive than that of the former credential. The definition of the term “authorization,” in subdivision (d) of Section 44203 of Article 1 of Chapter 2 of Part 25 of the Education Code, applies to this subdivision.

(Added by Stats. 1993, Ch. 767, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1994.)