KRS 156.553: Teachers' professional growth fund -- Purposes -- Courses -- Duties of

Department of Education -- Professional development programs --

Administrative regulations -- Advancement by local boards of funds to

teachers for professional development edu cation -- Reimbursement -- Priority

for use of funds from 2010 to 2016.

(1) The teachers' professional growth fund is hereby created to provide teachers with

high quality professional development in content knowledge in mathematics,

reading, science, language arts, social studies, arts and humanities, practical living,

vocational studies, and foreign languages; classroom -based screening, diagnostic,

assessment, and intervention strategies; and teaching methodologies, including

professional development that may lead to additional certification endorsements or

renewal of certification. Based on available funds, student achievement data, and

teacher data, the Kentucky Board of Education shall annually determine the priority

for content emphasis based on the greatest needs.

(2) (a) The fund may provide moneys to teachers for:

1. Tuition reimbursement for successful completion of college or

university level courses, including online courses and seminars,

approved for this purpose by the Education Professio nal Standards

Board;

2. Stipends for participation in and successful completion of:

a. College or university courses, including online courses and

seminars, approved for this purpose by the Education Professional

Standards Board;

b. Teacher institutes deve loped for core content instructors by the

Department of Education in compliance with KRS 156.095; and

c. Other professional development programs approved by the

Kentucky Department of Education, including professional

development for teachers participating in grants awarded by the

Middle School Mathematics and Science Scholars Program

established under KRS 158.848;

3. Reimbursement for the purchase of materials required for professional

development programs; and

4. Reimbursement for other approved professional development activities

throughout the school year, including reimbursement for:

a. Travel to and from professional development workshops; and

b. Travel to and from other schools for the observation of, and

consultation with, peer mentors.

(b) The fund may be used to provide grants to local school districts to support

staff participation in specific, statewide initi atives for the professional

development of teachers and administrators in specific content areas as

established by the Kentucky Department of Education and the Kentucky

Board of Education under the provisions of subsections (4), (5), and (6) of this

section and referenced in KRS 158.842.

(c) The fund may be used to provide grants to colleges and universities to plan

and develop statewide professional development institutes and other

professional development services.

(d) The fund may be used to provide gran ts to local school districts, to colleges

and universities, or other entities to assist the Kentucky Department of

Education in evaluating costs and the effectiveness of activities and initiatives

established under this section.

(3) The Education Professio nal Standards Board shall determine the college and

university courses, including online courses and seminars, for which teachers may

receive reimbursement from the fund.

(4) The Department of Education shall:

(a) Administer the fund. In order to process reimbursements to teachers promptly,

the reimbursements shall not be subject to KRS 45A.690 to 45A.725;

(b) Determine the professional development programs for which teachers may

receive reimbursement, or districts or colleges and universities may receive

grants, from the fund;

(c) Determine the level of stipend or reimbursement, subject to the availability of

appropriated funds, for particular courses and programs, under subsection (2)

of this section; and

(d) Provide an accounting of fund expenditures and results of the use of the funds

for each biennium to the Interim Joint Committee on Education by November

1 of each odd-numbered year.

(5) The professional development programs approved by the Department of Education

for which teachers may receive support from the fund shall:

(a) Focus on improving the content knowledge of teachers;

(b) Provide training in the use of research -based and developmentally appropriate

classroom-based screening, diagnostic, assessment, and intervention

strategies;

(c) Provide ins truction on teaching methods to effectively impart content

knowledge to all students;

(d) Include intensive training institutes and workshops during the summer;

(e) Provide programs for the ongoing support of teacher participants throughout

the year, which may include:

1. A peer coaching or mentoring, and assessment program; and

2. Planned activities, including:

a. Follow-up workshops; and

b. Support networks of teachers of the core disciplines using

technologies, including but not limited to telephone, vid eo, and

online computer networks;

(f) Provide teacher participants with professional development credit toward

renewal of certification under the provisions of KRS 161.095, relating to

continuing education for teachers; and

(g) Provide teacher participants with the opportunity to obtain certificate

endorsements or extensions in critical shortage areas, with priority given to

mathematics and science through 2016, and in core content areas to their

existing certifications through the TC -HQ process, establishe d by the

Education Professional Standards Board to meet the requirements of the No

Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 20 U.S.C. sec. 6301 et seq.

(6) The Kentucky Board of Education shall specify through promulgation of

administrative regulations:

(a) The application and approval process for receipt of funds;

(b) The requirements and process for the disbursal of funds; and

(c) The number of each kind of approved course for which applicants may

receive funds.

(7) Notwithstanding any other provisions to t he contrary, a local school board may

advance the funds necessary for its teachers to participate in a college course or

professional development seminar or activity approved by the Kentucky

Department of Education and the Education Professional Standards Board under

provisions of this section and receive reimbursement from the department at the

conclusion of the activity or course by the teacher. If funds are advanced for the

benefit of a teacher under this subsection, but the teacher does not fulfill his or her

obligation, the teacher shall reimburse the school district for the funds expended by

the district on the teacher's behalf.

(8) Notwithstanding the provisions of KRS 45.229, unexpended funds in the teachers'

professional growth fund in the 2000 -2001 fiscal year or in any subsequent fiscal

year shall not lapse but shall carry forward to the next fiscal year and shall be used

for the purposes established in subsections (1) and (2) of this section.

(9) Notwithstanding any provisions of this section to t he contrary, beginning June 1,

2006, through the 2009 -2010 school year, priority for the use of funds from the

teachers' professional growth fund shall be used to train and support teams of

teachers from all school levels to be trained as reading coaches a nd mentors or as

mathematics coaches and mentors in statewide institutes referenced in KRS

158.840 and 158.842, and for selected teachers to be highly trained in providing

diagnostic assessment and intervention services for students in the primary program

struggling with mathematics.

(a) The design of the statewide mathematics institutes to train mathematics

coaches and mentors shall be developed by the Committee for Mathematics

Achievement established in KRS 158.842. The committee shall provide

recommendations to the Kentucky Department of Education and the Kentucky

Board of Education in the preparation of administrative regulations that may

be promulgated by the board to implement the provisions of this subsection

relating to mathematics.

(b) The design of the professional development program to provide highly trained

mathematics intervention teachers in the primary program shall be developed

by the Center for Mathematics in collaboration with public and private

institutions of postsecondary education.

(c) The development of the statewide program to train reading coaches and

mentors shall be coordinated by the Kentucky Department of Education with

recommendations from the statewide reading research center established

under KRS 164.0207 and the reading steeri ng committee established in KRS

158.794. The design of the program shall reflect a consensus of the agencies

involved in the development of the program. The training program for reading

coaches and mentors shall complement other statewide reading initiativ es,

funded with state and federal funds, and shall give priority to teachers in

grades four (4) through twelve (12). The program shall be implemented no

later than June 1, 2006. The board shall promulgate administrative regulations

required to implement the provisions of this subsection relating to reading.

(10) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, beginning June 1,

2010, through the 2015 -2016 school year, priority for the use of funds from the

teachers' professional growth fund shall be for the purpose of increasing the number

of certified teachers with extensions or endorsements in mathematics and science as

described in subsection (5)(g) of this section.