The State Board of Education approved several last minute changes related to clinical practice/student teaching requirements as part of the current regulatory proposal related to teacher preparation and certification.
Last Minute Changes
The changes, proposed by State Board President Mark Biedron, amends proposed clinical practice requirements to give preparation programs more flexibility for clinical practice within course sequences. Specifically, the last minute change still requires teacher prep programs to provide 175 hrs of clinical practice/student teaching leading up to one semester of full-time clinical practice/student teaching; but permits teacher candidates to complete the 175 hours over more than one semester; as long as at least 100 hours still occur in the semester immediately preceding the full semester of clinical practice/student teaching.
Along with extending the time for student teaching, the state is also requiring more training hours for career and technical educators who transition from jobs in their industry and limiting the amount of time substitute teachers can spend in individual classrooms.
At the Board meeting yesterday, the Department also announced the creation o