Kentucky Statutes 161.028 – Education Professional Standards Board — Powers and duties regarding the preparation and certification of professional school personnel — Membership
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(1) The Education Professional Standards Board is recognized to be a public body corporate and politic and an agency and instrumentality of the Commonwealth, in the performance of essential governmental functions. The Education Professional Standards Board has the authority and responsibility to:
(a) Establish standards and requirements for obtaining and maintaining a teaching certificate;
(b) Set standards for, approve, and evaluate college, university, and school district programs for the preparation of teachers and other professional school personnel. College or university programs may be approved by the board for a college or university with regional institutional level accreditation or national institutional level accreditation that is recognized by the United States Department of Education and is eligible to receive federal funding under 20
U.S.C. secs. 1061 to 1063. Program standards shall reflect national standards and shall address, at a minimum, the following:
1. The alignment of programs with the state‘s core content for assessment as defined in KRS § 158.6457;
2. Research-based classroom practices, including effective classroom management techniques;
3. Emphasis on subject matter competency of teacher education students;
4. Methodologies to meet diverse educational needs of all students;
5. The consistency and quality of classroom and field experiences, including early practicums and student teaching experiences;
6. The amount of college-wide or university-wide involvement and support during the preparation as well as the induction of new teachers;
7. The diversity of faculty;
8. The effectiveness of partnerships with local school districts; and
9. The performance of graduates on various measures as determined by the board;
(c) Conduct an annual review of diversity in teacher preparation programs;
(d) Provide assistance to universities and colleges in addressing diversity, which may include researching successful strategies and disseminating the information, encouraging the development of nontraditional avenues of recruitment and providing incentives, waiving administrative regulations when needed, and other assistance as deemed necessary;
(e) Discontinue approval of programs that do not meet standards or whose graduates do not perform according to criteria set by the board;
(f) Issue, renew, revoke, suspend, or refuse to issue or renew; impose probationary or supervisory conditions upon; issue a written reprimand or admonishment; or any combination of actions regarding any certificate;
(g) Develop specific guidelines to follow upon receipt of an allegation of sexual
misconduct by an employee certified by the Education Professional Standards Board. The guidelines shall include investigation, inquiry, and hearing procedures which ensure the process does not revictimize the alleged victim or cause harm if an employee is falsely accused;
(h) Receive, along with investigators hired by the Education Professional Standards Board, training on the dynamics of sexual misconduct of professionals, including the nature of this abuse of authority, characteristics of the offender, the impact on the victim, the possibility and the impact of false accusations, investigative procedures in sex offense cases, and effective intervention with victims and offenders;
(i) Recommend to the Kentucky Board of Education the essential data elements relating to teacher preparation and certification, teacher supply and demand, teacher attrition, teacher diversity, and employment trends to be included in a state comprehensive data and information system and periodically report data to the Interim Joint Committee on Education;
(j) Submit reports to the Governor and the Legislative Research Commission and inform the public on the status of teaching in Kentucky;
(k) Devise a credentialing system that provides alternative routes to gaining certification and greater flexibility in staffing local schools while maintaining standards for teacher competence;
(l) Develop a professional code of ethics;
(m) Charge reasonable fees for the issuance, reissuance, and renewal of certificates that are established by administrative regulation. The proceeds shall be used to meet a portion of the costs of the issuance, reissuance, and renewal of certificates, and the costs associated with disciplinary action against a certificate holder under KRS § 161.120;
(n) Waive a requirement that may be established in an administrative regulation promulgated by the board. A request for a waiver shall be submitted to the board, in writing, by an applicant for certification, a postsecondary institution, or a superintendent of a local school district, with appropriate justification for the waiver. The board may approve the request if the person or institution seeking the waiver has demonstrated extraordinary circumstances justifying the waiver. Any waiver granted under this subsection shall be subject to revocation if the person or institution falsifies information or subsequently fails to meet the intent of the waiver;
(o) Promote the development of one (1) or more innovative, nontraditional or alternative administrator or teacher preparation programs through public or private colleges or universities, private contractors, the Department of Education, or the Kentucky Commonwealth Virtual University and waive administrative regulations if needed in order to implement the program;
(p) Grant approval, if appropriate, of a university’s request for an alternative program that enrolls an administrator candidate in a postbaccalaureate administrator preparation program concurrently with employment as an assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent, or superintendent in a local school district. An administrator candidate in the alternative program
shall be granted a temporary provisional certificate and shall be a candidate in the Kentucky Principal Internship Program, notwithstanding provisions of KRS § 161.030, or the Superintendent’s Assessment process, notwithstanding provisions of KRS § 156.111, as appropriate. The temporary certificate shall be valid for a maximum of two (2) years, and shall be contingent upon the candidate’s continued enrollment in the preparation program and compliance with all requirements established by the board. A professional certificate shall be issued upon the candidate’s successful completion of the program, internship requirements, and assessments as required by the board;
(q) Employ consultants as needed;
(r) Enter into contracts. Disbursements to professional educators who receive less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) in compensation per fiscal year from the board for serving on an assessment validation panel or as a test scorer or proctor shall not be subject to KRS § 45A.690 to KRS § 45A.725;
(s) Sponsor studies, conduct research, conduct conferences, and publish information as appropriate; and
(t) Issue orders as necessary in any administrative action before the board.
(2) (a) The board shall be composed of seventeen (17) members. The secretary of the Education and Labor Cabinet and the president of the Council on Postsecondary Education, or their designees, shall serve as ex officio voting members. The Governor shall make the following fifteen (15) appointments:
1. Nine (9) members who shall be teachers representative of elementary, middle or junior high, secondary, special education, and secondary vocational classrooms;
2. Two (2) members who shall be school administrators, one (1) of whom shall be a school principal;
3. One (1) member representative of local boards of education; and
4. Three (3) members representative of postsecondary institutions, two (2) of whom shall be deans of colleges of education at public universities and one (1) of whom shall be the chief academic officer of an independent not-for-profit college or university.
(b) The members appointed by the Governor shall be confirmed by the Senate under KRS § 11.160. If the General Assembly is not in session at the time of the appointment, persons appointed shall serve prior to confirmation, but the Governor shall seek the consent of the Senate at the next regular session or at an intervening extraordinary session if the matter is included in the call of the General Assembly.
(c) Each appointed member shall serve a three (3) year term. A vacancy on the board shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment within sixty (60) days after it occurs. A member shall continue to serve until his or her successor is named. Any member who, through change of employment status or residence, or for other reasons, no longer meets the criteria for the position to which he or she was appointed shall no longer be eligible to serve in that position.
(d) Members of the board shall serve without compensation but shall be permitted to attend board meetings and perform other board business without loss of income or other benefits.
(e) A state agency or any political subdivision of the state, including a school district, required to hire a substitute for a member of the board who is absent from the member’s place of employment while performing board business shall be reimbursed by the board for the actual amount of any costs incurred.
(f) A chairman shall be elected by and from the membership. A member shall be eligible to serve no more than three (3) one (1) year terms in succession as chairman. Regular meetings shall be held at least semiannually on call of the chairman.
(g) The commissioner of education shall serve as executive secretary to the board and may designate staff to facilitate his or her duties.
(h) To carry out the functions relating to its duties and responsibilities, the board is empowered to receive donations and grants of funds; to appoint consultants as needed; and to sponsor studies, conduct conferences, and publish information.
Effective: July 1, 2022
History: Amended 2022 Ky. Acts ch. 236, sec. 78, effective July 1, 2022. — Amended
2021 Ky. Acts ch. 26, sec. 8, effective June 29, 2021; and ch. 204, sec. 1, effective June 29, 2021. — Amended 2004 Ky. Acts ch. 117, sec. 2, effective July 13, 2004. — Amended 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 288, sec. 3, effective July 15, 2002. — Amended 2001
Ky. Acts ch. 137, sec. 7, effective June 21, 2001. — Amended 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 527, sec. 15, effective July 14, 2000. — Amended 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 362, sec. 3, effective July 15, 1998. — Amended 1997 (1st Extra. Sess.) Ky. Acts ch. 1, sec. 66, effective May 30, 1997. — Amended 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 107, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1996; and ch. 343, sec. 4, effective July 15, 1996. — Amended 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 265, sec.
1, effective July 15, 1994; and ch. 470, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1994. — Created
1990 Ky. Acts ch. 476, Pt. II, sec. 56, effective July 13, 1990.
2022-2024 Budget Reference. See State/Executive Branch Budget, 2022 Ky. Acts ch.
199, Pt. I, C, 3, (10) at 1660.
(a) Establish standards and requirements for obtaining and maintaining a teaching certificate;
Terms Used In Kentucky Statutes 161.028
- Action: includes all proceedings in any court of this state. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
- Allegation: something that someone says happened.
- branch budget: means an enactment by the General Assembly which provides appropriations and establishes fiscal policies and conditions for the biennial financial plan for the judicial branch, the legislative branch, and the executive branch, which shall include a separate budget bill for the Transportation Cabinet. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
- Devise: To gift property by will.
- Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
- Federal: refers to the United States. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes territories, outlying possessions, and the District of Columbia. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
- Year: means calendar year. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
(b) Set standards for, approve, and evaluate college, university, and school district programs for the preparation of teachers and other professional school personnel. College or university programs may be approved by the board for a college or university with regional institutional level accreditation or national institutional level accreditation that is recognized by the United States Department of Education and is eligible to receive federal funding under 20
U.S.C. secs. 1061 to 1063. Program standards shall reflect national standards and shall address, at a minimum, the following:
1. The alignment of programs with the state‘s core content for assessment as defined in KRS § 158.6457;
2. Research-based classroom practices, including effective classroom management techniques;
3. Emphasis on subject matter competency of teacher education students;
4. Methodologies to meet diverse educational needs of all students;
5. The consistency and quality of classroom and field experiences, including early practicums and student teaching experiences;
6. The amount of college-wide or university-wide involvement and support during the preparation as well as the induction of new teachers;
7. The diversity of faculty;
8. The effectiveness of partnerships with local school districts; and
9. The performance of graduates on various measures as determined by the board;
(c) Conduct an annual review of diversity in teacher preparation programs;
(d) Provide assistance to universities and colleges in addressing diversity, which may include researching successful strategies and disseminating the information, encouraging the development of nontraditional avenues of recruitment and providing incentives, waiving administrative regulations when needed, and other assistance as deemed necessary;
(e) Discontinue approval of programs that do not meet standards or whose graduates do not perform according to criteria set by the board;
(f) Issue, renew, revoke, suspend, or refuse to issue or renew; impose probationary or supervisory conditions upon; issue a written reprimand or admonishment; or any combination of actions regarding any certificate;
(g) Develop specific guidelines to follow upon receipt of an allegation of sexual
misconduct by an employee certified by the Education Professional Standards Board. The guidelines shall include investigation, inquiry, and hearing procedures which ensure the process does not revictimize the alleged victim or cause harm if an employee is falsely accused;
(h) Receive, along with investigators hired by the Education Professional Standards Board, training on the dynamics of sexual misconduct of professionals, including the nature of this abuse of authority, characteristics of the offender, the impact on the victim, the possibility and the impact of false accusations, investigative procedures in sex offense cases, and effective intervention with victims and offenders;
(i) Recommend to the Kentucky Board of Education the essential data elements relating to teacher preparation and certification, teacher supply and demand, teacher attrition, teacher diversity, and employment trends to be included in a state comprehensive data and information system and periodically report data to the Interim Joint Committee on Education;
(j) Submit reports to the Governor and the Legislative Research Commission and inform the public on the status of teaching in Kentucky;
(k) Devise a credentialing system that provides alternative routes to gaining certification and greater flexibility in staffing local schools while maintaining standards for teacher competence;
(l) Develop a professional code of ethics;
(m) Charge reasonable fees for the issuance, reissuance, and renewal of certificates that are established by administrative regulation. The proceeds shall be used to meet a portion of the costs of the issuance, reissuance, and renewal of certificates, and the costs associated with disciplinary action against a certificate holder under KRS § 161.120;
(n) Waive a requirement that may be established in an administrative regulation promulgated by the board. A request for a waiver shall be submitted to the board, in writing, by an applicant for certification, a postsecondary institution, or a superintendent of a local school district, with appropriate justification for the waiver. The board may approve the request if the person or institution seeking the waiver has demonstrated extraordinary circumstances justifying the waiver. Any waiver granted under this subsection shall be subject to revocation if the person or institution falsifies information or subsequently fails to meet the intent of the waiver;
(o) Promote the development of one (1) or more innovative, nontraditional or alternative administrator or teacher preparation programs through public or private colleges or universities, private contractors, the Department of Education, or the Kentucky Commonwealth Virtual University and waive administrative regulations if needed in order to implement the program;
(p) Grant approval, if appropriate, of a university’s request for an alternative program that enrolls an administrator candidate in a postbaccalaureate administrator preparation program concurrently with employment as an assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent, or superintendent in a local school district. An administrator candidate in the alternative program
shall be granted a temporary provisional certificate and shall be a candidate in the Kentucky Principal Internship Program, notwithstanding provisions of KRS § 161.030, or the Superintendent’s Assessment process, notwithstanding provisions of KRS § 156.111, as appropriate. The temporary certificate shall be valid for a maximum of two (2) years, and shall be contingent upon the candidate’s continued enrollment in the preparation program and compliance with all requirements established by the board. A professional certificate shall be issued upon the candidate’s successful completion of the program, internship requirements, and assessments as required by the board;
(q) Employ consultants as needed;
(r) Enter into contracts. Disbursements to professional educators who receive less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) in compensation per fiscal year from the board for serving on an assessment validation panel or as a test scorer or proctor shall not be subject to KRS § 45A.690 to KRS § 45A.725;
(s) Sponsor studies, conduct research, conduct conferences, and publish information as appropriate; and
(t) Issue orders as necessary in any administrative action before the board.
(2) (a) The board shall be composed of seventeen (17) members. The secretary of the Education and Labor Cabinet and the president of the Council on Postsecondary Education, or their designees, shall serve as ex officio voting members. The Governor shall make the following fifteen (15) appointments:
1. Nine (9) members who shall be teachers representative of elementary, middle or junior high, secondary, special education, and secondary vocational classrooms;
2. Two (2) members who shall be school administrators, one (1) of whom shall be a school principal;
3. One (1) member representative of local boards of education; and
4. Three (3) members representative of postsecondary institutions, two (2) of whom shall be deans of colleges of education at public universities and one (1) of whom shall be the chief academic officer of an independent not-for-profit college or university.
(b) The members appointed by the Governor shall be confirmed by the Senate under KRS § 11.160. If the General Assembly is not in session at the time of the appointment, persons appointed shall serve prior to confirmation, but the Governor shall seek the consent of the Senate at the next regular session or at an intervening extraordinary session if the matter is included in the call of the General Assembly.
(c) Each appointed member shall serve a three (3) year term. A vacancy on the board shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment within sixty (60) days after it occurs. A member shall continue to serve until his or her successor is named. Any member who, through change of employment status or residence, or for other reasons, no longer meets the criteria for the position to which he or she was appointed shall no longer be eligible to serve in that position.
(d) Members of the board shall serve without compensation but shall be permitted to attend board meetings and perform other board business without loss of income or other benefits.
(e) A state agency or any political subdivision of the state, including a school district, required to hire a substitute for a member of the board who is absent from the member’s place of employment while performing board business shall be reimbursed by the board for the actual amount of any costs incurred.
(f) A chairman shall be elected by and from the membership. A member shall be eligible to serve no more than three (3) one (1) year terms in succession as chairman. Regular meetings shall be held at least semiannually on call of the chairman.
(g) The commissioner of education shall serve as executive secretary to the board and may designate staff to facilitate his or her duties.
(h) To carry out the functions relating to its duties and responsibilities, the board is empowered to receive donations and grants of funds; to appoint consultants as needed; and to sponsor studies, conduct conferences, and publish information.
Effective: July 1, 2022
History: Amended 2022 Ky. Acts ch. 236, sec. 78, effective July 1, 2022. — Amended
2021 Ky. Acts ch. 26, sec. 8, effective June 29, 2021; and ch. 204, sec. 1, effective June 29, 2021. — Amended 2004 Ky. Acts ch. 117, sec. 2, effective July 13, 2004. — Amended 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 288, sec. 3, effective July 15, 2002. — Amended 2001
Ky. Acts ch. 137, sec. 7, effective June 21, 2001. — Amended 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 527, sec. 15, effective July 14, 2000. — Amended 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 362, sec. 3, effective July 15, 1998. — Amended 1997 (1st Extra. Sess.) Ky. Acts ch. 1, sec. 66, effective May 30, 1997. — Amended 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 107, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1996; and ch. 343, sec. 4, effective July 15, 1996. — Amended 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 265, sec.
1, effective July 15, 1994; and ch. 470, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1994. — Created
1990 Ky. Acts ch. 476, Pt. II, sec. 56, effective July 13, 1990.
2022-2024 Budget Reference. See State/Executive Branch Budget, 2022 Ky. Acts ch.
199, Pt. I, C, 3, (10) at 1660.