THE BILL ITSELF
CS/HB 851
Professional Learning for Instructional and School Administrative Personnel
2
An act relating to professional learning for
3
instructional and school administrative personnel;
4
amending s. 1012.98, F.S.; requiring certain
5
professional learning systems to provide at least one
6
autism-specific professional learning opportunity;
7
providing requirements for the professional learning;
8
providing an effective date.
10
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
12
Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (5) of section
13
1012.98, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
14
1012.98 School Community Professional Learning Act.—
15
(5) The Department of Education, school districts,
16
schools, Florida College System institutions, and state
17
universities share the responsibilities described in this
18
section. These responsibilities include the following:
19
(b) Each school district shall develop a professional
20
learning system as specified in subsection (4). The system shall
21
be developed in consultation with teachers, teacher-educators of
22
Florida College System institutions and state universities,
23
business and community representatives, and local education
24
foundations, consortia, and professional organizations. The
25
professional learning system must:
26
1. Be reviewed and approved by the department for
27
compliance with s. 1003.42(3) and this section. Effective March
28
1, 2024, the department shall establish a calendar for the
29
review and approval of all professional learning systems. A
30
professional learning system must be reviewed and approved every
31
5 years. Any substantial revisions to the system must be
32
submitted to the department for review and approval. The
33
department shall establish a format for the review and approval
34
of a professional learning system.
35
2. Be based on analyses of student achievement data and
36
instructional strategies and methods that support rigorous,
37
relevant, and challenging curricula for all students. Schools
38
and districts, in developing and refining the professional
39
learning system, shall also review and monitor school discipline
40
data; school environment surveys; assessments of parental
41
satisfaction; performance appraisal data of teachers, managers,
42
and administrative personnel; and other performance indicators
43
to identify school and student needs that can be met by improved
44
professional performance.
45
3. Provide inservice activities coupled with follow-up
46
followup support appropriate to accomplish district-level and
47
school-level improvement goals and standards. The inservice
48
activities for instructional and school administrative personnel
49
shall focus on analysis of student achievement data; ongoing
50
formal and informal assessments of student achievement;
51
identification and use of enhanced and differentiated
52
instructional strategies that emphasize rigor, relevance, and
53
reading in the content areas; enhancement of subject content
54
expertise; integrated use of classroom technology that enhances
55
teaching and learning; classroom management; parent involvement;
56
and school safety.
57
4. Provide inservice activities and support targeted to
58
the individual needs of new teachers participating in the
59
professional learning certification and education competency
60
program under s. 1012.56(8)(a).
61
5. Include a professional learning catalog for inservice
62
activities, pursuant to rules of the State Board of Education,
63
for all district employees from all fund sources. The catalog
64
must be updated annually by September 1, must be based on input
65
from teachers and district and school instructional leaders, and
66
must use the latest available student achievement data and
67
research to enhance rigor and relevance in the classroom. Each
68
district inservice catalog must be aligned to and support the
69
school-based inservice catalog and school improvement plans
70
pursuant to s. 1001.42(18). Each district inservice catalog must
71
provide a description of the training that middle grades
72
instructional personnel and school administrators receive on the
73
district's code of student conduct adopted pursuant to s.
74
1006.07; integrated digital instruction and competency-based
75
instruction and CAPE Digital Tool certificates and CAPE industry
76
certifications; classroom management; student behavior and
77
interaction; extended learning opportunities for students; and
78
instructional leadership. District plans must be approved by the
79
district school board annually in order to ensure compliance
80
with subsection (1) and to allow for dissemination of research-
81
based best practices to other districts. District school boards
82
shall submit verification of their approval to the Commissioner
83
of Education no later than October 1, annually. Each school
84
principal may establish and maintain an individual professional
85
learning plan for each instructional employee assigned to the
86
school as a seamless component to the school improvement plans
87
developed pursuant to s. 1001.42(18). An individual professional
88
learning plan must be related to specific performance data for
89
the students to whom the teacher is assigned, define the
90
inservice objectives and specific measurable improvements
91
expected in student performance as a result of the inservice
92
activity, and include an evaluation component that determines
93
the effectiveness of the professional learning plan.
94
6. Include inservice activities for school administrative
95
personnel, aligned to the state's educational leadership
96
standards, which address updated skills necessary for
97
instructional leadership and effective school management
98
pursuant to s. 1012.986.
99
7. Provide for systematic consultation with regional and
100
state personnel designated to provide technical assistance and
101
evaluation of local professional learning programs.
102
8. Provide for delivery of professional learning by
103
distance learning and other technology-based delivery systems to
104
reach more educators at lower costs.
105
9. Provide for the continuous evaluation of the quality
106
and effectiveness of professional learning programs in order to
107
eliminate ineffective programs and strategies and to expand
108
effective ones. Evaluations must consider the impact of such
109
activities on the performance of participating educators and
110
their students' achievement and behavior.
111
10. For all grades, emphasize:
112
a. Interdisciplinary planning, collaboration, and
113
instruction.
114
b. Alignment of curriculum and instructional materials to
115
the state academic standards adopted pursuant to s. 1003.41.
116
c. Use of small learning communities; problem-solving,
117
inquiry-driven research and analytical approaches for students;
118
strategies and tools based on student needs; competency-based
119
instruction; integrated digital instruction; and project-based
120
instruction.
122
Each school that includes any of grades 6, 7, or 8 shall include
123
in its school improvement plan, required under s. 1001.42(18), a
124
description of the specific strategies used by the school to
125
implement each item listed in this subparagraph.
126
11. Provide training to reading coaches, classroom
127
teachers, and school administrators in effective methods of
128
identifying characteristics of conditions such as dyslexia and
129
other causes of diminished phonological processing skills;
130
incorporating instructional techniques into the general
131
education setting which are proven to improve reading
132
performance for all students; and using predictive and other
133
data to make instructional decisions based on individual student
134
needs. The training must help teachers integrate phonemic
135
awareness; phonics, word study, and spelling; reading fluency;
136
vocabulary, including academic vocabulary; and text
137
comprehension strategies into an explicit, systematic, and
138
sequential approach to reading instruction, including
139
multisensory intervention strategies. Such training for teaching
140
foundational skills must be based on the science of reading and
141
include phonics instruction for decoding and encoding as the
142
primary instructional strategy for word reading. Instructional
143
strategies included in the training may not employ the three-
144
cueing system model of reading or visual memory as a basis for
145
teaching word reading. Such instructional strategies may include
146
visual information and strategies which improve background and
147
experiential knowledge, add context, and increase oral language
148
and vocabulary to support comprehension, but may not be used to
149
teach word reading. Each district must provide all elementary
150
grades instructional personnel access to training sufficient to
151
meet the requirements of s. 1012.585(3)(f).
152
12. Provide at least one autism-specific professional
153
learning opportunity annually for instructional personnel and
154
school-based administrators. The professional learning must be
155
developed in consultation with the district's assigned Center
156
for Autism and Related Disabilities and must include evidence-
157
based practices for supporting students with autism spectrum
158
disorder across all levels of need, including academic
159
instruction, behavioral supports, communication strategies, and
160
inclusive practices.
161
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.