281—79.14 (256) Teacher preparation clinical practice standard. The unit and its school partners shall provide field experiences and student teaching opportunities that assist candidates in becoming successful teachers in accordance with the following provisions. All provisions of this standard shall be demonstrated appropriately and equitably for all programs regardless of delivery model, including programs delivered by distance learning and programs offered on campus, off campus, and through any other model of delivery.
	 79.14(1) Candidates admitted to a teacher preparation program participate in field experiences including both observation and participation in teaching activities in a variety of school settings and totaling at least 80 hours’ duration, with at least 10 hours occurring prior to acceptance into the program. A maximum of 40 hours of previous experience as a teacher or teaching associate may be credited toward the 80 hours if a program chooses to implement specific criteria for this option.
	 79.14(2) Clinical practice for teacher candidates supports the development of knowledge, dispositions, and skills that are identified in the unit standards. The unit ensures that clinical experiences occurring in all locations are well-sequenced, supervised by appropriately qualified personnel, monitored by the unit, and integrated into the conceptual framework of the program.
	 79.14(3) Programs document clinical expectations at various developmental levels throughout the program. These expectations are shared with candidates, supervisors, and cooperating teachers.
	 79.14(4) Environments for clinical practice support learning in context, and include all of the following:
	  a.   	 Scheduling and use of time and resources to allow candidates to participate with teachers and other practitioners and learners in the school setting.
	  b.   	 Teacher candidate learning that takes place in the context of providing high-quality instructional programs for children in a state-approved school or educational facility.
	  c.   	 Opportunities for teacher candidates to observe and be observed by others and to engage in discussion and reflection on clinical practice.
	  d.   	 The involvement of teacher candidates in assessment, planning and instruction as well as in activities directed toward the improvement of teaching and learning.
	 79.14(5) PK-12 school and college/university personnel share responsibility for the selection of cooperating teachers who demonstrate skills, knowledge, and dispositions of highly accomplished practitioners.
	 79.14(6) Cooperating teachers and college/university supervisors share responsibility for supervising the candidate’s achievement of unit standards.
	 79.14(7) The unit is responsible for all of the following:
	  a.   	 Defining qualifications for practitioner candidates entering clinical practice.
	  b.   	 Providing quality supervision that includes primary responsibility for communication/collaboration with cooperating teachers and candidates.
	  c.   	 Responding to specific needs of cooperating schools.
	  d.   	 Implementing an evaluation process that assists in selecting quality cooperating teachers.
	 79.14(8) Teacher candidates develop and demonstrate the capacity to utilize assessment data in effecting student learning within their classrooms.
	 79.14(9) Accountability for student teaching experiences is demonstrated through all of the following:
	  a.   	 Involvement of the cooperating teacher in the continuous formative evaluation and support of practitioner candidates.
	  b.   	 Involvement of the college or university supervisor in the formative evaluation of practitioner candidates through a minimum of biweekly observations and consultations.
	  c.   	 Collaboration of the cooperating teacher and the college/university supervisor in determining areas for improvement, developing and implementing plans for improvement, and determining final evaluation of the student teacher.
	  d.   	 Use of written evaluation procedures, with completed evaluation forms included in practitioner candidates’ permanent institutional records.
	 79.14(10) The student teaching experience for initial licensure meets all of the following:
	  a.   	 Includes full-time experience for a minimum of 14 consecutive weeks during the student’s final year of the practitioner preparation program.
	  b.   	 Takes place in the classroom of an appropriately licensed cooperating teacher in the subject area and grade level endorsement desired.
	  c.   	 Consists of interactive experiences that involve college or university personnel, the student teacher, and the cooperating teacher.
	  d.   	 Includes prescribed minimum expectations and responsibilities, including ethical behavior, for the student teacher.
	  e.   	 Includes prescribed minimum expectations and responsibilities for cooperating teachers, the school district or accredited nonpublic school, and higher education supervising faculty members.
	  f.   	 Requires the student teacher to become knowledgeable about the Iowa teaching standards and to experience a mock evaluation performed by the cooperating teacher or a person who holds an Iowa evaluator license (see rule 282—20.51(272) and Iowa Code section 284.10), which shall not be used as an assessment tool by the program.
	  g.   	 Requires the student teacher to bear primary responsibility for planning and instruction within the classroom for a minimum of two weeks (ten school days).
	  h.   	 Involves the student teacher in professional meetings and other school-based activities directed toward the improvement of teaching and learning.
	  i.   	 Involves the student teacher in communication and interaction with parents or guardians of students in the student teacher’s classroom.
	 79.14(11) The institution annually offers one or more workshops for all cooperating teachers to define the objectives of the student teaching experience, review the responsibilities of the cooperating teacher, and provide the cooperating teacher other information and assistance the institution deems necessary. The cumulative instructional time for the workshops shall be one school day or the equivalent hours, and the workshops shall utilize delivery strategies identified as appropriate for staff development and reflect information gathered through feedback from workshop participants.
	 79.14(12) The institution shall enter into a written contract with each cooperating school providing clinical experiences, including field experiences and student teaching, as stipulated in Iowa Code section 272.27.
[ARC 8053B, IAB 8/26/09, effective 9/30/09]