SECTION 1.  Section 6 of chapter 69 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the third paragraph, the following paragraphs:-

Consistent with the purpose of this section and the department’s stated goal of attracting and retaining highly qualified teachers, the department shall establish a performance review program for the initial licensure of teacher candidates who hold a preliminary license, are hired as teachers of record and are working in a district that does not have an approved program for the initial license.  The department shall determine which teacher and specialist teacher licenses may be eligible for attainment through the performance review program pursuant to its regulatory authority under sections 1B, 1J and 1K of chapter 69. 

Teacher candidates seeking appropriate licensure through the performance review program shall be required to meet the following criteria:

(a)possession of a preliminary license in the field and at the level of the license sought;

(b)at least three full years of employment in the role of the preliminary license;

(c)documentation of seminars, courses and experience relevant to the professional standards for teachers set by the department pursuant to its regulatory authority;

(d)a recommendation from the principal of each school where the candidate was employed under the preliminary license or in the role of the license sought;

(e)a competency review for those license fields that have no subject matter knowledge test, or for which not all the subject matter knowledge required for the license is measured by the test; and

(f)for core academic teachers, possession of a sheltered English immersion teacher endorsement.

Fees associated with the performance review program, including application and tuition fees, shall be eligible for full reimbursement by the district in which the candidate works pursuant to section 38I of chapter 71 or otherwise waived by the department.