§ 20-28-3-1 — Accredited teacher preparation programs; science of reading; review process; outside evaluation

(a) As used in this section, "teacher candidate"
means an individual recommended for an initial teaching license from
a teacher preparation program located in Indiana.
(b) As used in this section, "teacher preparation program" includes,
but is not limited to, the following:
(1) A teacher education school or department.
(2) A transition to teaching program under IC 20-28-4.
(3) Any other entity approved by the department to offer a course
of study leading to an initial teaching license.
(c) The department shall:
(1) arrange a statewide system of professional instruction for
teacher education;
(2) accredit and review teacher preparation programs that comply
with the rules of the department;
(3) approve content area licensure programs for particular kinds
of teachers in accredited teacher preparation programs; and
(4) specify the types of licenses for individuals who complete
programs of approved courses.
(d) The department shall work with teacher preparation programs to
develop a system of teacher education that ensures individuals who
complete teacher preparation programs are able to meet the highest
professional standards.
(e) Before July 1, 2015, the department shall establish standards for
the continuous improvement of program processes and the performance
of individuals who complete teacher preparation programs. The state
board shall adopt rules containing the standards not later than two
hundred seventy (270) days after the department finishes the standards.
(f) The standards established under subsection (e) must include
benchmarks for performance, including test score data for each teacher
preparation entity on content area licensure tests and test score data for
each teacher preparation entity on pedagogy licensure tests.
(g) Each teacher preparation program shall annually report the
program's performance on the standards and benchmarks established
under this section to the department. The department shall make the
information reported under this subsection available to the public on
the department's website. Each teacher preparation program shall make
the information reported under this subsection available to the public
on the teacher preparation program's website. In addition to reporting
performance, each teacher preparation program must report to the
department the following:
(1) The attrition, retention, and completion rates of teacher
candidates for the previous three (3) calendar years. The teacher
preparation program must also provide underlying data, as
determined by the department, used as part of calculating the
teacher preparation program's retention rates.
(2) The number of teacher candidates in each content area who
complete the teacher preparation program during the year,
disaggregated by ranges of cumulative grade point averages.
(3) The number of teacher candidates in each content area who,
during the year:
(A) do not pass a content area licensure examination; and
(B) do not retake the content area licensure examination.
(h) In making information available to the public on the
department's website, the department shall include in the report under
subsection (g), in addition to the matrix ratings described in subsection
(i), the following information:
(1) Average scaled or standard scores of teacher candidates who
complete teacher preparation programs on basic skills, content
area, and pedagogy licensure examinations.
(2) The average number of times teacher candidates who
complete a teacher preparation program take each licensing test
before receiving a passing score and the percentage of teacher
candidates who receive a passing score on each licensing test on
the teacher candidates' first attempts.
(i) Not later than July 30, 2016, the department and the commission
for higher education, in conjunction with the state board, the
Independent Colleges of Indiana, Inc., and teacher preparation
programs, shall establish a matrix rating system for teacher preparation
programs based on the performance of the programs as demonstrated
by the data collected under subsections (g) and (h). The matrix rating
system must be based on data collected for teachers who initially
receive their teaching license during the previous three (3) years. The
department shall make the matrix ratings available to the public on the
department's website.
(j) Each teacher preparation program shall report to the department,
in a manner prescribed by the department, the teacher preparation
program's admission practices, in accordance with:
(1) the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation
standards, for teacher preparation programs accredited by the
Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation;
(2) rigorous academic entry requirements for admission into a
teacher preparatory program that are equivalent to the minimum
academic requirements determined by the Council for the
Accreditation of Educator Preparation, for teacher preparation
programs that are not accredited by the Council for the
Accreditation of Educator Preparation; or
(3) the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator
Preparation standards, for teacher preparation programs
accredited by the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator
Preparation.
The department shall include information reported to the department
on the department's website.
(k) Not later than July 30, 2016, the department and the commission
for higher education, in conjunction with the state board, the
Independent Colleges of Indiana, Inc., and teacher preparation
programs, shall establish a minimum rating under the matrix rating
system established under subsection (i) that teacher preparation
programs must achieve to avoid referral under subsection (l).
(l) Not later than July 1 of each year, the department shall submit a
list of teacher preparation programs that do not meet the minimum
rating established under subsection (k) or the requirements of section
3.1 or 3.2 of this chapter to the commission for higher education and
the Independent Colleges of Indiana, Inc. for one (1) of the following
actions:
(1) In the case of a state educational institution, the commission
for higher education shall place the teacher preparation program
on an improvement plan with clear performance goals and a
designated period in which the performance goals must be
achieved.
(2) In the case of a proprietary postsecondary educational
institution, the commission for higher education shall recommend
to the teacher preparation program an improvement plan with
clear performance goals and a designated period in which the
performance goals should be achieved.
(3) In the case of a nonprofit college or university, the
Independent Colleges of Indiana, Inc., shall coordinate a peer
review process to make recommendations to the peer institution
in achieving the department's performance metrics.
(m) The department shall approve at least two (2) accreditors that:
(1) accredit teacher preparation programs; and
(2) are recognized by the Council for Higher Education
Accreditation;
to accredit teacher preparation programs for use in Indiana.
(n) Not later than December 31, 2024, the department and the
commission for higher education, in conjunction with the state board,
shall partner with teacher preparation programs to receive an outside
evaluation by a nationally recognized nonprofit, nonpartisan
organization that leverages evidence based approaches on the science
of reading to evaluate teacher preparation reading instruction programs.
[Pre-2005 Elementary and Secondary Education
Recodification Citation: 20-6.1-2-1.]

Legislative History

As added by P.L.1-2005, SEC.12. Amended by P.L.246-2005, SEC.147; P.L.254-2013, SEC.2; P.L.192-2014, SEC.2; P.L.233-2019, SEC.1; P.L.41-2022, SEC.1; P.L.170-2023, SEC.16; P.L.200-2023, SEC.7; P.L.243-2023, SEC.6; P.L.150-2024, SEC.21; P.L.180-2025, SEC.1; P.L.190-2025, SEC.3.