REPORT TITLE:
Distance Learning Instructors


DESCRIPTION:
Provides for the alternate licensing and credentialing of
distance learning instructors by the Hawaii teacher standards
board.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.620        
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO EDUCATION.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature declares that it is the ultimate
 
 2 responsibility of the State to guarantee students access to the
 
 3 best possible education.  Traditionally, this has been provided
 
 4 in Hawaii through on-site teachers, but increasingly other states
 
 5 are turning to private-sector experts as the best source for up-
 
 6 to-date instruction.  Often, these experts can be brought into
 
 7 the classroom through distance learning facilities.  In order to
 
 8 prepare students for the twenty-first century, they must learn
 
 9 from specialists--the technological experts in the constantly
 
10 changing, high demand areas of mathematics, science, and foreign
 
11 languages.
 
12      While many of these experts are not licensed or credentialed
 
13 teachers, they remain highly qualified instructors for children.
 
14 Accordingly, the State has an overriding interest, in the case of
 
15 educating its students, to provide an alternate to, and
 
16 interstate waivers from, teacher licensing and credentialing for
 
17 proficient distance learning instructors.
 
18      SECTION 2.  Chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
19 amended by adding a new section to subpart D of part III to be
 

 
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 1 appropriately designated and to read as follows:
 
 2      "§302A-     Alternate licensing and credentialing of
 
 3 distance learning instructors.  (a)  The Hawaii teacher standards
 
 4 board shall provide for the licensing and credentialing as
 
 5 distance learning instructors of persons who do not hold teaching
 
 6 licenses or credentials issued by the Hawaii teacher standards
 
 7 board.
 
 8      (b)  If a distance learning instructor is already a licensed
 
 9 or credentialed teacher in another state and the distance
 
10 learning class originates in that state, the instructor's license
 
11 or credential shall be deemed sufficient for the purposes of this
 
12 part.
 
13      (c)  Distance learning instructors who are not licensed or
 
14 credentialed by the Hawaii teacher standards board, but who have
 
15 expertise in the studies of mathematics, science, or foreign
 
16 languages, shall be approved by the Hawaii teacher standards
 
17 board to teach in the public schools as distance learning
 
18 instructors if:
 
19      (1)  There are no licensed or credentialed teachers
 
20           available who are of equal technical competence in
 
21           their area of expertise and in dealing with the
 
22           distance learning technology; and
 
23      (2)  There is a licensed or credentialed teacher/facilitator
 

 
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 1           in the classroom with the students during the distance
 
 2           learning class.
 
 3      (d)  The Hawaii teacher standards board shall require a
 
 4 person being licensed under this section to satisfactorily
 
 5 complete:
 
 6      (1)  An examination of general knowledge to determine if the
 
 7           person's basic skills in reading, writing, and
 
 8           mathematics are sufficient to perform satisfactorily as
 
 9           a teacher; and
 
10      (2)  A one-semester internship.
 
11      (e)  The Hawaii teacher standards board shall require a
 
12 person being credentialed under this section to satisfactorily
 
13 complete an examination of general knowledge to determine if the
 
14 person's basic skills in reading, writing, and mathematics are
 
15 sufficient to perform satisfactorily as a teacher.
 
16      (f)  To qualify under this section for alternate licensing
 
17 or credentialing to teach in grades kindergarten to twelve, a
 
18 person shall have a bachelor's degree from an institution of
 
19 higher education that is accredited by a nationally recognized
 
20 accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of
 
21 Education.
 
22      (g)  The Hawaii teacher standards board shall issue licenses
 
23 under this section based on an evaluation of:
 

 
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 1      (1)  The person's academic knowledge;
 
 2      (2)  The person's ability to communicate information
 
 3           effectively to pupils;
 
 4      (3)  The person's ability to utilize effectively the
 
 5           distance learning technology; and
 
 6      (4)  The academic achievement of pupils taught by the person
 
 7           during the person's internship.
 
 8      (h)  The Hawaii teacher standards board shall report the
 
 9 issuance of licenses and credentials and interstate waivers under
 
10 this section to the board of education.
 
11      (i)  A person licensed or credentialed under this section
 
12 shall be subject to all provisions of this part relating to
 
13 teachers.
 
14      (j)  This section shall be in addition to any alternative
 
15 certification and credentialing programs developed pursuant to
 
16 section 302A-802(b).
 
17      (k)  As used in this section, "distance learning" means the
 
18 transmission of educational information and the interaction of
 
19 geographically dispersed individuals or groups through a single
 
20 medium or a combination of audio, video, and data."
 
21      SECTION 3.  If any provision of this Act, or the application
 
22 thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the
 
23 invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of
 

 
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 1 the Act which can be given effect without the invalid provision
 
 2 or application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are
 
 3 severable.
 
 4      SECTION 4.  New statutory material is underscored.
 
 5      SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
 6 
 
 7                              INTRODUCED BY:______________________
 
 8