Sec. 1531.

(1) Except as provided in this act, the superintendent of public instruction shall determine the requirements for and issue all licenses and certificates for teachers, including preprimary teachers, and the requirements for an endorsement of teachers as qualified counselors and an endorsement of teachers for teaching a foreign language in an elementary grade in the public schools of the state.

(2) Except as otherwise provided in this act, the superintendent of public instruction shall only issue a teaching certificate to an individual who has passed appropriate examinations as follows:

(a) For a secondary level teaching certificate, has passed the appropriate available subject area examination for each subject area in which he or she applies to be certified.

(b) For an elementary level teaching certificate, has passed, if it is available, the elementary certification examination, and has passed the appropriate available subject area examination for each subject area, if any, in which he or she applies to be certified.

(3) Except as otherwise provided in this act, the superintendent of public instruction shall issue a Michigan teaching certificate to an individual holding a certificate from another state or a teaching degree from an out-of-state teacher preparation institution who applies for a Michigan teaching certificate only if the individual passes appropriate examinations as follows:

(a) For a secondary level teaching certificate, pass the appropriate available subject area examination for each subject area in which he or she applies to be certified. The superintendent of public instruction may accept passage of an equivalent examination approved by the superintendent of public instruction to meet this requirement.

(b) For an elementary level teaching certificate, pass, if it is available, the elementary certification examination, and pass the appropriate available subject area examination for each subject area, if any, in which he or she applies to be certified. The superintendent of public instruction may accept passage of an equivalent examination approved by the superintendent of public instruction to meet 1 or both of these requirements.

(4) Except as otherwise provided in this act, the superintendent of public instruction shall only issue a teaching certificate to an individual who has met the elementary or secondary, as applicable, reading credit requirements established under superintendent of public instruction rule. If an individual holds a teaching certificate, then beginning July 1, 2009, notwithstanding any rule to the contrary, the superintendent of public instruction shall not advance the individual's certification to professional certification unless the individual has successfully completed at least a 3-credit course of study with appropriate field experiences in the diagnosis and remediation of reading disabilities and differentiated instruction. To meet this requirement, the course of study should include the following elements, as determined by the department to be appropriate for the individual's certification level and endorsements: interest inventories, English language learning screening, visual and auditory discrimination tools, language expression and processing screening, phonemics, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, spelling and writing assessment tools, and instructional strategies. An individual may complete the course of study either as part of his or her teacher preparation program or during the first 6 years of his or her employment in classroom teaching.

(5) Not later than January 11, 2002, the superintendent of public instruction, in cooperation with appropriate curriculum specialists and teacher educators, shall revise existing reading standards to recognize reading disorders and to enable teachers to make referrals for instruction and support for pupils with reading disorders.

(6) Subject to subsection (8), if an individual holding a teaching certificate from another state applies to the superintendent of public instruction for a Michigan teaching certificate and meets the requirements of this subsection, the superintendent of public instruction shall issue to the individual a Michigan professional education teaching certificate and applicable endorsements comparable to those the individual holds in the other state, without requiring the individual to pass the applicable subject area examination otherwise required under subsection (2) or (3). To be eligible to receive a Michigan professional education teaching certificate under this subsection, an individual shall provide evidence satisfactory to the department that he or she meets all of the following requirements:

(a) Has taught successfully for at least 3 years in a position for which the individual's teaching certification from the other state was valid.

(b) Has earned, after his or her initial certification in another state, at least 18 semester credit hours in a planned course of study at an institution of higher education approved by the superintendent of public instruction or has earned, at any time, a master's or doctoral degree approved by the superintendent of public instruction.

(c) Has met the elementary or secondary, as applicable, reading credit requirement established under superintendent of public instruction rule.

(7) An individual who receives a teaching certificate and endorsement or endorsements under subsection (6) is eligible to receive 1 or more additional endorsements comparable to endorsements the individual holds in another state only if the individual passes the appropriate subject area examinations required under subsection (2) or (3).

(8) The superintendent of public instruction shall deny a Michigan teaching certificate to an individual described in subsection (6) for fraud, material misrepresentation, or concealment in the individual's application for a certificate or for a conviction for which an individual's teaching certificate may be revoked under section 1535a.

(9) The department, based upon criteria recommended under subsection (11), shall provide to approved teacher education institutions approved guidelines and criteria for use in the development or selection of subject area examinations.

(10) For the purposes of this section, the superintendent of public instruction, based upon criteria recommended under subsection (11), shall develop, select, or develop and select 1 or more subject area examinations. In addition, the superintendent of public instruction, based upon criteria recommended under subsection (11), shall approve an elementary certification examination and a reading subject area examination. If the department develops for use under this subsection an examination that had previously been contracted for using a competitive bid process, then the department shall not expend on the development of that examination an amount that exceeds the amount that the department expended on procurement of the most recent competitively-bid version of that examination.

(11) The superintendent of public instruction shall appoint an 11-member teacher examination advisory committee composed of representatives of approved teacher education institutions and Michigan education organizations and associations. Not more than 1/2 of the members comprising this committee shall be certified teachers. This committee shall recommend criteria to be used by the superintendent of public instruction in the development, selection, or development and selection of subject area examinations. In addition, the committee shall recommend guidelines for the use and administration of those examinations.

(12) The superintendent of public instruction shall appoint a 7-member standing technical advisory council composed of individuals who are experts in measurement and assessment. This council shall advise the superintendent of public instruction and the teacher examination committee on the validity, reliability, and other technical standards of the examinations that will be used or are being used and of the administration and use of those examinations.

(13) Not later than November 30 of each year, the superintendent of public instruction shall submit in writing a report on the development or selection and use of the elementary certification examination and the subject area examinations to the house and senate education committees. The report shall also contain a financial statement regarding revenue received from the assessment of fees levied under subsection (15) and the amount of and any purposes for which that revenue was expended.

(14) The elementary certification examination and the subject area examinations required by this section may be taken at different times during an approved teacher preparation program, but the elementary certification examination and the subject area examinations, as applicable, must be passed before an individual is recommended for certification.

(15) The department, or if approved by the superintendent of public instruction, a private testing service, may assess fees for taking the elementary certification examination and the subject area examinations. The fees, which shall be set by the superintendent of public instruction, shall not exceed the actual cost of the examination and of administering the examination. Fees received by the department shall be expended solely for administrative expenses that it incurs in implementing this section. If the superintendent of public instruction increases a fee charged for an examination under this subsection, at least 1 year before implementing the fee increase, the department shall notify each approved teacher education institution of the amount of the fee increase. An approved teacher education institution shall notify each of its affected students of the timing and amount of such a fee increase.

(16) If an individual holding a teaching certificate from another state applies for a Michigan teaching certificate and meets all requirements for the Michigan teaching certificate except passage of the appropriate examinations under subsection (3), the superintendent of public instruction shall issue a nonrenewable temporary teaching certificate, good for 1 year, to the individual. The superintendent of public instruction shall not issue a Michigan teaching certificate to the individual after expiration of the temporary teaching certificate unless the individual passes appropriate examinations as described in subsection (3).

(17) As used in this section:

(a) "Elementary certification examination" means a comprehensive examination for elementary certification that has been developed or selected by the superintendent of public instruction for demonstrating the applicant's knowledge and understanding of the core subjects normally taught in elementary classrooms and for determining whether or not an applicant is eligible for an elementary level teaching certificate.

(b) "Subject area examination" means an examination related to a specific area of certification, which examination has been developed or selected by the superintendent of public instruction for the purpose of demonstrating the applicant's knowledge and understanding of the subject matter and determining whether or not an applicant is eligible for a Michigan teaching certificate.

(18) The superintendent of public instruction shall promulgate rules for the implementation of this section.

(19) Notwithstanding any rule to the contrary, the superintendent of public instruction shall continue to issue state elementary or secondary continuing education certificates under R 390.1132(1) of the Michigan Administrative Code to individuals who completed the requirements of that rule by December 31, 1992 and who apply for that certificate not later than March 15, 1994. If the superintendent of public instruction has issued a state elementary or secondary professional education certificate to an individual described in this section, the superintendent of public instruction shall consider the individual to have a state elementary or secondary, as applicable, continuing education certificate.

(20) Not later than January 1, 2019, the superintendent of public instruction, in consultation with the department of talent and economic development and groups or individuals representing employers, economic development agencies, trade unions, secondary school principals, middle and elementary school principals, teachers, school district and intermediate school district superintendents, and others as determined appropriate by the department, shall promulgate rules to allow an individual to use time spent engaging with local employers or technical centers toward the renewal of a teaching certificate in the same manner as state continuing education or professional development.

History: 1976, Act 451, Imd. Eff. Jan. 13, 1977 ;-- Am. 1977, Act 226, Imd. Eff. Nov. 30, 1977 ;-- Am. 1978, Act 613, Imd. Eff. Jan. 6, 1979 ;-- Am. 1986, Act 267, Imd. Eff. Dec. 19, 1986 ;-- Am. 1992, Act 282, Imd. Eff. Dec. 18, 1992 ;-- Am. 1993, Act 335, Imd. Eff. Dec. 31, 1993 ;-- Am. 1995, Act 289, Eff. July 1, 1996 ;-- Am. 2000, Act 497, Imd. Eff. Jan. 11, 2001 ;-- Am. 2006, Act 118, Imd. Eff. Apr. 14, 2006 ;-- Am. 2007, Act 32, Imd. Eff. July 2, 2007 ;-- Am. 2015, Act 159, Eff. Jan. 18, 2016 ;-- Am. 2018, Act 233, Eff. Sept. 25, 2018 ;-- Am. 2018, Act 234, Eff. Sept. 25, 2018 ;-- Am. 2018, Act 235, Eff. Sept. 25, 2018 Popular Name: Act 451