An Act To Strengthen the Teaching of Writing and Mathematics and Improve Maine High School Graduates' College and Career Readiness
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1361
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: NELSON, JORGENSEN, KUSIAK
Amends: 20-A MRSA §13012, 20-A MRSA §13016, 20-A MRSA §13032, 20-A MRSA §13035-A

Legislative Document 
No. 1361 
H.P. 969 
House of Representatives, April 9, 2013 
An Act To Strengthen the Teaching of Writing and Mathematics 
and Improve Maine High School Graduates' College and Career 
Readiness 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative NELSON of Falmouth. 
Cosponsored by Representatives: JORGENSEN of Portland, KUSIAK of Fairfield. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §13012, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1983, c. 845, §4, is 
amended to read: 
3.  Endorsements.  The provisional teacher certificate shall must be issued with an 
endorsement which that specifies the grades and subject area which that the teacher is 
deemed qualified to teach. The state board shall by rule establish the criteria for assessing 
teacher proficiency and subject matter competency for the provisional certificate.  A 
holder of a provisional teacher certificate may not teach outside his or her the holder's 
area of endorsement unless he or she the holder has received a waiver from the 
commissioner in accordance with state board rules.  These endorsements shall do not 
apply to teachers in private schools approved for attendance purposes only.  The state 
board rules adopted under this section must be amended to require that, beginning 
September 1, 2014, a provisional certificate may be issued only with an endorsement for 
specific grades and subject areas to an applicant who meets the requirements of 
subsection 3-A. 
Sec. 2.  20-A MRSA §13012, sub-§3-A is enacted to read: 
3-A.  Standards-based endorsements.  Beginning September 1, 2014, in order to 
help students achieve the core of standards in English language arts and mathematics for 
kindergarten to grade 12 education established in common with the other states under 
section 6209, a provisional teacher certificate must be issued with an endorsement that 
specifies the grades and subject area that the teacher is qualified to teach in accordance 
with rules established under subsection 3 and an applicant for a provisional teacher 
certificate must qualify as follows: 
A.  An applicant for a kindergarten to grade 3, a kindergarten to grade 8 or a literacy 
specialist endorsement or an English language arts endorsement at the secondary 
school level must have successfully completed 2 upper-level undergraduate courses 
focused on writing and the teaching of writing, including courses in composition 
studies, writing studies or composition and rhetoric that include the teaching of 
writing conventions; 
B.  An applicant for a social studies or a science endorsement at the secondary school 
level must have successfully completed an upper-level undergraduate course focused 
on writing and the teaching of writing, including courses in composition studies, 
writing studies or composition and rhetoric that include the teaching of writing 
conventions or on writing in the respective subject area and across subject areas at the 
secondary school level; and 
C.  An applicant for a kindergarten to grade 3 or a kindergarten to grade 8 
endorsement at the elementary school level must have successfully completed 2 
upper-level undergraduate courses focused on middle school level mathematics and 
introductory algebra, including courses in mathematics that are aligned with the core 
of standards in mathematics for kindergarten to grade 8 established in common with 
the other states. 
As an alternative pathway to an endorsement for the specific grades and subject areas set 
forth in this subsection, the applicant may be issued a provisional teacher certificate with 
an endorsement specifying the grades and subject area that the teacher is qualified to 
teach upon the applicant's passing a rigorous performance and standards-based 
assessment acceptable to the commissioner, including but not limited to the advanced 
placement test in English composition for endorsements in English and the examination 
approved by the state board in accordance with section 13011, subsection 7, paragraph B, 
subparagraph (3) for middle school mathematics for endorsements in mathematics. 
Sec. 3.  20-A MRSA §13016, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2011, c. 669, §8, is 
further amended to read: 
2.  Professional teacher certificates.  A professional teacher certificate may be 
renewed for 5-year periods in accordance with state board rules, which must require, at a 
minimum, that the teacher complete at least 6 hours of professional or academic study, or 
in-service training designed to improve the performance of the teacher in the field for 
which the teacher holds an endorsement, or in a related subject area, or to improve the 
teacher's knowledge of, and skill in, standards-based education. Teachers who desire to 
qualify for a master teacher certificate must coordinate their continuing professional 
education with the requirements of an applicable teacher action plan.  The state board 
rules adopted under this subsection must be amended to provide that, beginning 
September 1, 2014, in order to help students achieve the core of standards in English 
language arts and mathematics for kindergarten to grade 12 established in common with 
the other states under section 6209, a professional teacher certificate may be renewed 
with an endorsement for specific grades and subject areas for a teacher who meets the 
requirements of paragraph A, B or C. 
A.  Teachers seeking renewal of a professional teacher certificate in the subject area 
for which the teacher holds an endorsement, including teachers seeking renewal of 
their kindergarten to grade 8 endorsement, must successfully complete one upper-
level undergraduate course focused on nonfiction writing, including courses in 
writing across the content areas, composition studies, writing studies or composition 
and rhetoric.  The successful completion of a course in nonfiction writing counts as 
the equivalent of completing 3 credit hours of professional or academic study in 
fulfillment of the recertification requirements set forth in this subsection. 
B.  As an alternative pathway to completing a course in nonfiction writing in 
accordance with paragraph A, teachers may demonstrate that they are effective 
writers and writing instructors by passing a rigorous performance and standards-
based assessment acceptable to the commissioner, including but not limited to the 
advanced placement test in English composition, in which the teacher demonstrates 
pedagogical and subject matter competencies that are directly related to the 
endorsement being sought. 
The successful completion and approval of this alternative pathway to renewal of a 
professional teacher certification counts as the equivalent of completing 3 credit 
hours of professional or academic study in fulfillment of the recertification 
requirements set forth in this subsection. 
C.  Teachers seeking renewal of a professional teacher certificate with a kindergarten 
to grade 8 endorsement in mathematics must demonstrate sufficient mathematics 
skills through the middle school level and introductory algebra.  Teachers may meet 
this requirement by achieving the minimum score on the qualifying examination for 
middle school mathematics established in accordance with section 13032, subsection 
5.  The successful completion of the qualifying examination for middle school 
mathematics counts as the equivalent of completing 3 credit hours of professional or 
academic study in fulfillment of the recertification requirements set forth in this 
subsection. 
Sec. 4.  20-A MRSA §13032, as amended by PL 2001, c. 471, Pt. A, §24, is 
further amended to read: 
§13032.  Qualifying examination 
The provisional teacher certificate may only be issued to those applicants who have 
taken the teacher qualifying examination.  The examination may be administered in 
separate parts and may be taken by applicants for provisional teacher certificates at any 
time after completion of the sophomore year of attendance at a post-secondary higher 
education institution. The examination must test the applicant in the following area areas: 
4.  Basic skills.  Basic skills, which include reading, writing and mathematics.; and 
5.  Subject area knowledge.  Beginning September 1, 2014, subject area knowledge, 
which includes knowledge of a specific subject that a kindergarten to grade 12 teacher 
will teach, as well as general and subject-specific teaching skills and knowledge. 
The applicant is responsible for the costs associated with taking the teacher 
qualifying examination. 
Sec. 5.  20-A MRSA §13035-A, sub-§3 is enacted to read: 
3.  Subject area knowledge scores.  Beginning September 1, 2014, in order to be 
eligible for a provisional teacher certificate, an applicant must achieve the minimum 
qualifying scores on the teacher qualifying examination in subject area knowledge 
pursuant to section 13032, subsection 5.  A teacher seeking renewal of a professional 
teacher certificate with a kindergarten to grade 3 or a kindergarten to grade 8 
endorsement in mathematics must achieve the minimum qualifying score on the teacher 
qualifying examination for middle school mathematics in accordance with section 13016, 
subsection 2, paragraph C. 
Sec. 6.  Determination of minimum qualifying scores in basic skills and 
subject area knowledge.  The State Board of Education and the Commissioner of 
Education shall review the minimum qualifying examination scores established for 
issuing a provisional teaching certificate and endorsements in specific grades and subject 
areas in Department of Education Rule Chapter 13: Qualifying Examinations for 
Teachers, Educational Specialists and Administrators.  As part of this review, the State 
Board of Education and the Commissioner of Education shall consider the following 
changes to the rules: 
1. Increasing the minimum qualifying scores on the Pre-Professional Skills Test, also 
known as PRAXIS I, in the basic skill area of mathematics; and 
2.  Changing the requirement for the General Elementary endorsement for 
mathematics to provide that applicants for a provisional teaching certificate who will 
teach mathematics in kindergarten to grade 8 must pass the qualifying examination for 
middle school mathematics in grades 5 to 8. 
The State Board of Education and the Commissioner of Education shall determine the 
minimum qualifying scores in basic skills and subject area knowledge required for 
teaching mathematics by August 1, 2014.  These minimum qualifying scores and subject 
area knowledge requirements must be based on a study of qualifying examination data 
compiled during the 2013 and 2014 standard-setting meetings conducted by the State 
Board of Education. 
Sec. 7.  Rulemaking.  Not later than September 1, 2014, the Department of 
Education and the State Board of Education shall amend Department of Education Rule 
Chapter 13: Qualifying Examinations for Teachers, Educational Specialists and 
Administrators and Department of Education Rule Chapter 115: Certification, 
Authorization, and Approval of Education Personnel as necessary to implement this Act. 
Sec. 8.  Education Coordinating Committee; college readiness testing.  The 
Education Coordinating Committee, referred to in this section as "the committee,” 
established in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 9, shall conduct a review of 
the placement tests, including the ACCUPLACER test, used by the University of Maine 
System, the Maine Community College System, the Maine Maritime Academy and 
secondary schools in the State to determine a high school graduate’s college readiness.  
As part of this review, the committee shall determine a strategic plan or policies that 
recommend the use of an appropriate placement test or tests, including the 
ACCUPLACER test, as a means to determine the college readiness of Maine high school 
students.  The strategic plan or policies recommended by the committee must consider the 
following initiatives: 
1.  As long as the Maine Community College System uses the ACCUPLACER test to 
determine a high school graduate’s college readiness, a high school student in the State 
whose score on the Preliminary SAT or the assessment tests administered to measure 
student proficiency in the Common Core State Standards is not sufficient to qualify the 
student to take regular college classes at the Maine Community College System must be 
required to take the ACCUPLACER test at least once prior to November of the student's 
junior year; 
2.  Any student who does not meet the minimum qualifying score on the 
ACCUPLACER test that is sufficient to qualify the student to take regular college classes 
at the Maine Community College System must be assigned to classes or programs 
beginning before or during the 2nd semester of the student's 11th grade school year that 
will assist the student in improving the student's score, and the student must be assigned 
to continue in the classes or programs until the student meets the minimum qualifying 
score on the ACCUPLACER test; and 
3.  As long as the Maine Community College System uses the ACCUPLACER test to 
determine a high school graduate’s college readiness, the State's requirements for 
awarding a high school diploma must include the requirement that a student meet the 
minimum qualifying score on the ACCUPLACER test.  This requirement may not apply 
for special education students unless the student’s individualized education plan includes 
such a requirement. 
The Commissioner of Education shall convene the committee by October 1, 2013 to 
conduct this review.  The committee shall report on its deliberations and present its 
recommendations to the Governor and to the Joint Standing Committee on Education and 
Cultural Affairs by February 15, 2014.  The Joint Standing Committee on Education and 
Cultural Affairs may report out a bill related to this report to the Second Regular Session 
of the 126th Legislature. 
Sec. 9.  University of Maine System; graduation requirements.  Not later 
than March 1, 2014, the Board of Trustees of the University of Maine System shall 
establish graduation requirements that ensure that graduates of any baccalaureate degree 
program within the system can demonstrate writing competencies at a proficiency level 
that exceeds the course requirements established for introductory English courses and are 
appropriate to the demands of careers that require a baccalaureate degree.  The 
Chancellor of the University of Maine System, on or before April 1, 2014, shall present a 
report to the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs on the 
graduation requirements for writing competency adopted by the trustees.  The report must 
include a plan and a timeline for implementing the graduation requirements for writing 
competency adopted by the trustees. 
SUMMARY 
The purpose of this bill is to strengthen the teaching of writing and mathematics in 
public schools in the State, to improve literacy and mathematics education and to improve 
Maine high school graduates’ college and career readiness.  The bill does the following. 
1.  It establishes a standards-based approach to assessing the proficiency and 
competency of new teachers and teachers seeking a renewal of a professional teacher 
certificate in order to prepare teachers and ensure that school administrative units are 
prepared to implement the Common Core State Standards in English language arts and 
mathematics. 
2.  It requires the Education Coordinating Committee to conduct a review of college 
placement tests, including the ACCUPLACER test, used by the University of Maine 
System, the Maine Community College System, the Maine Maritime Academy and 
secondary schools in the State to determine a high school graduate’s college readiness. 
3.  It requires the Board of Trustees of the University of Maine System to establish 
graduation requirements that ensure that graduates of any baccalaureate degree program 
within the system can demonstrate writing competencies that are appropriate to the 
demands of careers that require a baccalaureate degree.