{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-6-200","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 70, § 70-6-200","heading":"Professional development institutes","body":"A. Subject to the availability of funds, the State Board of\n\nEducation shall have authority to develop and administer training\n\nfor residency committees and training for professional development\n\nthrough professional development institutes. Included in the\n\nprofessional development institute training shall be technology\n\ntraining. “Professional development institutes” shall be defined as\n\ncontinuing education experiences which consist of a minimum of\n\nthirty (30) clock hours. The institutes shall be competency-based,\n\nemphasize effective learning practices, require collaboration among\n\nparticipants, and require each participant to prepare a work product\n\nwhich can be utilized in the classroom by the participant. Any\n\nstate professional development institutes administered by the Board\n\nshall be chosen through a competitive bid process and, if funds are\n\navailable, subject to peer review. The Board, prior to offering any\n\nprofessional development institute, shall promulgate rules related\n\nto administering state professional development institutes.\n\nB. The State Board of Education shall develop, offer, and\n\nadminister professional development institutes to train elementary\n\nschool teachers in reading education and, if funds are available,\n\nwhich may include, but not be limited to, grant, foundation, or\n\nother funds, to train middle school teachers in reading education.\n\nFunds appropriated for this purpose shall be used for the cost of\n\ndeveloping, administering, and contracting for the professional\n\ndevelopment institutes. When possible, certified reading\n\nspecialists shall be included as consultants. All costs of the\n\ninstitutes shall be included in the contract price, and no tuition\n\nor registration fee shall be collected from teachers attending the\n\ninstitutes. The institutes shall be offered by or through the\n\nCommission for Educational Quality and Accountability. Working in\n\nconjunction with the State Department of Education, the Commission\n\nshall develop a state plan for administration of such institutes and\n\nshall report electronically on or before November 1 of each year to\n\nthe Governor and the Legislature on the format of and participation\n\nin the institutes. The State Department of Education shall\n\ncooperate with and provide any information requested, including data\n\navailable through the state student record system, to the State\n\nBoard of Education as is necessary to carry out the provisions of\n\nthis section.\n\nC. Subject to the availability of funds, the State Board of\n\nEducation shall:\n\n1. Contract for an independent evaluation of the reading\n\nprofessional development institutes. The evaluation shall determine\n\nadherence to program requirements as provided in this section and\n\nthe program’s effectiveness in increasing teacher knowledge and\n\nstudent achievement; and\n\n2. Provide continued support of the reading professional\n\ndevelopment institutes through ongoing teacher development at\n\nindividual school sites. Funds may be used for the cost of mentor\n\ntraining, payment for substitute teachers, on-site facilitation, and\n\nany other costs necessary to ensure improved reading by students.\n\nD. 1. For the purpose of implementing comprehensive reading\n\nreform and systemic change, the State Board of Education shall award\n\none-year grants renewable for up to two (2) additional years to\n\npublic schools that serve students in kindergarten through third\n\ngrade. The grants shall provide for:\n\na. a five-day initial professional development institute\n\nin elementary school reading for teachers of\n\nkindergarten through third grade, instructional\n\nleaders, and principals,\n\nb. a three-day follow-up professional development\n\ninstitute in elementary school reading for teachers of\n\nkindergarten through third grade and instructional\n\nleaders, and\n\nc. continued support through ongoing teacher development\n\nat school sites including four (4) days of\ntute\n\nin elementary school reading for teachers of\n\nkindergarten through third grade, instructional\n\nleaders, and principals,\n\nb. a three-day follow-up professional development\n\ninstitute in elementary school reading for teachers of\n\nkindergarten through third grade and instructional\n\nleaders, and\n\nc. continued support through ongoing teacher development\n\nat school sites including four (4) days of\n\nprofessional development for principals and literacy\n\nresource specialists and six (6) days of on-site\n\nvisits by a program consultant.\n\n2. In order to qualify for a grant pursuant to this subsection,\n\nthe following requirements shall be met:\n\na. at least eighty percent (80%) of the teachers of\n\nkindergarten through third grade at the school shall\n\nhave demonstrated support for the training program\n\nprovided pursuant to this subsection,\n\nb. the principal shall ensure that all members of the\n\nleadership team and all teachers of kindergarten\n\nthrough third grade will participate in all phases of\n\nthe training program,\n\nc. the school district shall ensure that any new teacher\n\nof kindergarten through third grade or principal at\n\nthe school will participate in all phases of the\n\ntraining program, and\n\nd. the school district shall employ a literacy resource\n\nspecialist for at least two (2) years after completion\n\nof the training provided in this subsection. One or\n\nmore districts may share a literacy resource\n\nspecialist upon approval of the Board.\n\n3. Any school which has been determined by the State Board of\n\nEducation to be a school in need of improvement shall be given\n\npriority for receipt of a grant. Grants to school districts may be\n\nawarded based on the amount of funds allocated to the State Board of\n\nEducation for the purposes of this section. Funds may be used for\n\npayment for substitute teachers, program consultants, on-site\n\nfacilitation, and literacy resource specialists.\n\n4. For program evaluation purposes, each school awarded a grant\n\npursuant to this subsection shall provide to the Commission for\n\nEducational Quality and Accountability student-level data and\n\nresults of the reading assessments administered pursuant to the\n\nOklahoma School Testing Program Act for the year prior to the grant\n\naward, for each year a grant is received by the school, and for\n\nthree (3) years after completion of the program. If funds are not\n\nsufficient to award grants to all eligible applicants, schools may\n\nbe placed on a waiting list for priority consideration for the\n\nfollowing year’s round of grant awards which shall be superior to\n\nthe priority given to schools as provided in paragraph 3 of this\n\nsubsection, if the school provides student data for the current year\n\nto the Board as provided in this paragraph.\n\n5. The professional development institutes in elementary\n\nreading provided pursuant to this section shall incorporate the\n\nrequirements of the Strong Readers Act.\n\nE. As additional funds become available for such purpose, the\n\nBoard shall develop and offer professional development institutes\n\nin:\n\n1. Mathematics for teachers in grades kindergarten through nine\n\nwhich incorporate the requirements of Sections 2 through 8 of this\n\nact;\n\n2. The use of technology in the classroom;\n\n3. Training of residency committee members in teacher\n\nmentoring; and\n\n4. Hands-on inquiry-based science for elementary teachers.","path":["OK Code","Title 70"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os70.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"0f2f5a70267d07aac3df0d2601517e404f34c07f0bce4f6ac1c52e5e78420edd","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-6-197","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-6-204"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}