(a) The Department of Education, with cooperation from local and regional school districts, regional educational service centers, representatives of the exclusive bargaining representative for certified employees chosen pursuant to § 10-153b, and public institutions of higher education, shall establish and administer a teacher education and mentoring program that includes guided teacher support and coaching and the completion of instructional modules, pursuant to subsection (e) of this section, for beginning teachers. The program shall be aligned with the principles of teaching approved by the State Board of Education. As part of the program, each beginning teacher shall develop a two-year individualized mentoring plan.

(b) In administering the teacher education and mentoring program under this section:

(1) The Department of Education shall (A) develop a statement for the teacher education and mentoring program that includes the state’s goals for state-wide teacher induction, mentoring, professional development and evaluation, using state-wide data and national research findings; (B) distribute state funding to local and regional school districts to assist with implementation of district teacher education and mentoring plans; (C) manage and make accessible to local and regional school districts the data systems needed to document that teachers and mentors have satisfactorily completed the instructional modules; (D) monitor district implementation of the teacher education and mentoring program to ensure fidelity to the program’s plan and goals, including random district audits and observations by state personnel; (E) issue provisional educator certificates to teachers that have satisfactorily completed the induction program; (F) develop guidelines for the creation and approval of district teacher education and mentoring plans, based on input and recommendations from stakeholder groups; and (G) oversee an outside evaluation of the teacher education and mentoring program every three to five years;

(2) The Department of Education, in collaboration with EASTCONN, the RESC Alliance, institutions of higher education and other stakeholders, shall (A) develop instructional modules for beginning teachers to complete; (B) train mentors to carry out responsibilities at the district level; (C) provide professional development and training for regional mentors working at the district level; (D) provide professional development and training for district teams and principals in managing, designing and administering teacher education and mentoring plans; and (E) provide technical assistance to districts based on district size and needs;

(3) The Department of Education and public institutions of higher education shall (A) work with regional educational service centers to align modules with National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education approved preservice teacher preparation programs; (B) develop and deliver regional strategies for supporting mentor assistance programs; and (C) train cooperating teachers to work with teacher preparation candidates during student teaching and internships;

(4) Local and regional boards of education shall (A) develop a three-year teacher education and mentoring plan in accordance with subsection (c) of this section; (B) form a local or regional coordinating committee or committees, with representatives of the exclusive bargaining representative for certified employees chosen pursuant to § 10-153b, based on district size, to guide the activities outlined in the three-year teacher education and mentoring plan; (C) develop an annual budget to support the activities detailed in the three-year teacher education and mentoring plan and submit such budget annually to the Department of Education to receive state assistance for such activities; (D) recruit and pair mentors from within and outside of the district to work with beginning teachers; (E) ensure substitute teacher coverage for mentors and beginning teachers to participate in the activities and modules required in the three-year teacher education and mentoring plan; (F) communicate regularly with beginning teachers about training opportunities, state-wide workshops and support group work; (G) coordinate the teacher education and mentoring program and teacher evaluation and supervision program, provided they are kept separate; (H) verify, through the local or regional coordinating committee, that the work of beginning teachers and instructional modules has been successfully completed to warrant provisional certification; (I) when a beginning teacher has satisfactorily completed all modules, attest to that fact and that the teacher is eligible for provisional certification; and (J) ensure that schools under the board’s jurisdiction (i) administer the state’s on-line needs assessment to establish the goals and priorities of each beginning teacher as such teacher develops an individualized mentoring plan, (ii) review and approve beginning teachers’ individualized, two-year mentoring plan, (iii) organize mentoring opportunities by grade, department or specialty area, (iv) take steps to make time available, as needed, to help teachers achieve the goals of their mentoring plans, (v) coordinate the activities and schedules of mentors and beginning teachers to ensure faithful implementation of the district plan, and (vi) submit annual report on mentor-teacher activities to the district coordinating committee for review and approval.

(c) Local and regional school districts shall develop a three-year teacher education and mentoring plan that incorporates the Department of Education’s goals and instructional priorities, as well as any local considerations based on community and student needs. Such plan shall include: (1) Background information about the district that includes a community profile, district profile, student profile, faculty profile, mentor profile and beginning teacher profile; (2) a statement of three-year objectives related to the state’s goal statement for the teacher education and mentoring program; (3) a general timeline for district coordinating teams to meet with central office personnel, principals, mentors or district facilitators; (4) a description of the process used to select mentors and assign them to beginning teachers, based on subject areas, levels and need; (5) a description of the process used to train and update mentors in best practices and essential knowledge; (6) a timeline of district-wide mentoring days for observations, individual discussion, small group meetings, professional development days, regional educational service center training sessions and beginning teachers’ completion of tasks associated with each module; (7) a description of the process used to collect, review and coordinate teachers’ mentoring plans; (8) a description of the process to resolve internal disputes over the district’s recommendations to the state concerning which individuals have satisfactorily completed the instructional modules; and (9) a description of the resources and budget needed to carry out the activities described in the plan.

(d) Local and regional boards of education shall not consider a teacher’s completion of the teacher education and mentoring program as a factor in its decision to continue a teacher’s employment in the district.

(e) (1) Beginning teachers shall satisfactorily complete instructional modules in the following areas: (A) Classroom management and climate, which shall include training regarding the prevention, identification and response to school bullying, as defined in § 10-222d, and the prevention of and response to youth suicide; (B) lesson planning and unit design; (C) delivering instruction; (D) assessing student learning; and (E) professional practice. Beginning teachers shall complete two modules in their first year in the program and three modules in their second year in the program, except as otherwise provided by the Commissioner of Education, or as provided for in subsection (h) of this section.

(2) Beginning teachers shall work with their mentors in developing a planned set of activities, based on the topics offered within each instructional module, to complete each such instructional module, and such activities shall be reflected in the beginning teacher needs assessment. Such activities may be presented in person by mentors, offered in workshops, through on-line courses or through the completion of a set of readings. For each instructional module, beginning teachers shall (A) apply the knowledge gained through such activities in a lesson, project or demonstration of how the activity impacted student learning, and (B) submit a reflection paper or project, to be signed by the mentor, that summarizes, describes or analyzes what has been learned by the beginning teacher and their students throughout the module and how the learning contributed to the development of such beginning teacher. Such reflection paper or project shall be forwarded to the district’s coordinating committee for approval.

(3) Upon successful completion of the instructional modules and final review by the coordinating committee, the superintendent of the school district shall submit the names of the beginning teachers eligible for receipt of a provisional educator certificate to the State Board of Education.

(f) Local and regional boards of education, in cooperation with the Department of Education, institutions of higher education and regional educational service centers, shall recruit mentors for their teacher education and mentoring program. Those persons eligible to serve as mentors for such programs shall hold a provisional educator certificate or a professional educator certificate, or a distinguished educator designation pursuant to § 10-145s, and have at least three years teaching experience in Connecticut, including at least one year of experience in the district in which they are presently employed. Retired certified teachers may also serve as mentors, provided they successfully complete a mentor training program offered by a regional educational service center. Each mentor shall be assigned two beginning teachers, except that in certain circumstances, a mentor may be assigned three beginning teachers. Such assignment shall be reflected in each district’s three-year plan. Each mentor shall provide fifty contact hours to each beginning teacher during the program, with the expectation of approximately ten contact hours per module. Mentors shall receive a minimum of a five-hundred-dollar annual stipend for each beginning teacher assigned to such mentor from the local or regional board of education for participation in the teacher education and mentoring program. Such stipend shall be included in a person’s total earnings for purposes of retirement.

(g) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (h) of this section, for the school year commencing July 1, 2010, beginning teachers who hold an initial educator certificate and have not participated in any beginning educator program as of July 1, 2009, shall participate in the teacher education and mentoring programs as follows:

(1) Beginning teachers in the following subject areas and endorsement areas shall be required to successfully complete the teacher education and mentoring program in full: Elementary education, English and language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, special education, bilingual education, music, physical education, visual arts, world languages and teachers of English as a second language.

(2) Beginning teachers in any other endorsement area and whose primary function is providing direct instruction to students shall be required to successfully complete one year of mentorship and two instructional modules.

(h) Teachers who began in a beginning educator program, pursuant to § 10-145b of the general statutes, revision of 1958, revised to January 1, 2009, but have not completed that program as of July 1, 2009, and teach during the 2009-2010 school year, shall be granted a one-year extension of their initial educator certificates, if necessary, and shall participate in the teacher education and mentoring program, pursuant to this section, through the completion of two instructional modules during the 2010-2011 school year. Such teachers shall exit the program at the end of the 2010-2011 school year upon the successful completion of the two instructional modules.

(i) The Department of Education, in consultation with EASTCONN, shall create a data system for local and regional school districts to access the resources and record-keeping tools to manage the teacher education and mentoring program at the local level. Such data system shall include (1) templates for (A) writing and updating each district’s plan, (B) recording each teacher’s completion of each of the five instructional modules, and (C) teachers to record the completion of instructional module activities and submit written reflection papers or projects, and (2) links to on-line programs or workshops that are part of the five modules.

(j) Not later than July 1, 2010, the State Board of Education shall adopt guidelines to provide for the implementation of the teacher education and mentoring program in accordance with this section and the Report of the Beginning Educator Support and Training Program (BEST)/Mentor Assistance Program (MAP) Task Force dated December 29, 2008.