The Senate passed two education bills Tuesday- one that address teacher mentoring programs and another that addresses the future of ISTEP. Here’s what the bills would do:
House Bill 1005 – Teacher Programs
- Create a mentoring program for teachers
- Give established educators a financial incentive to mentor other teachers
- Allow school districts to create their own programs (approved and monitored by the State Board of Education
House Bill 1395 – The ISTEP Committee
- Creates a panel of educators, community members and legislators who will study the future of the state’s assessment test
- Looks at alternatives to the ISTEP, the cost of assessments and how to make it take less time for students
- Issue a report for legislators to review
- Used to include language that would allow for a rescore of the 2015 ISTEP, but it was removed because of its high cost.
Both bills now go back to the House for scrutiny.
