281—79.16(256) Administrator preparation clinical practice standard. The unit and its school partners shall provide clinical experiences that assist candidates in becoming successful school administrators in accordance with the following provisions.
	79.16(1) The unit ensures that:
	a. 	Principal candidates successfully complete clinical experiences that provide candidates with opportunities to synthesize and apply the knowledge and skills identified in subrule 79.17(2) in ways that approximate the full range of responsibilities required of building-level leaders and enable them to promote the current and future success and well-being of each student and adult in their school.
	b. 	Superintendent candidates successfully complete clinical experiences that provide candidates opportunities to synthesize and apply the knowledge and skills identified in subrule 79.17(3) in ways that approximate the full range of responsibilities required of district-level leaders and enable them to promote the current and future success and well-being of each student and adult in their district.
	79.16(2) The unit ensures that clinical experiences occurring in all locations are coherent, authentic, sustained, and purposeful opportunities that are monitored by the unit. These expectations are shared with candidates, supervisors and cooperating administrators.
	79.16(3) Candidates are supervised by knowledgeable and qualified practitioners. The PK-12 school and the unit share responsibility for selecting, preparing, supporting, evaluating, and retaining both:
	a. 	High‐quality college/university supervisors, and
	b. 	High-quality cooperating administrators.
	79.16(4) Cooperating administrators and college/university supervisors share responsibility for evaluating the candidate’s achievement of unit standards. Clinical experiences are structured to have multiple performance‐based assessments at key points within the program to demonstrate candidates’ attainment of unit standards.
	79.16(5) Clinical experiences include all of the following criteria:
	a. 	A minimum of 400 hours during the candidate’s preparation program.
	b. 	Take place with appropriately licensed cooperating administrators in state-approved schools or educational facilities.
	c. 	Take place in multiple high-quality educational settings that include diverse populations and students of different age groups.
	d. 	Include documented expectations and responsibilities for cooperating administrators, school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, or AEAs and for higher education supervising faculty members.
	e. 	 Provide opportunities for candidates to apply the knowledge, skills, and dispositions identified in subrules 79.17(2) and 79.17(3).
	79.16(6) The institution annually delivers one or more professional development opportunities for cooperating administrators to define the objectives of the field experience, review the responsibilities of the cooperating administrator, build skills in coaching and mentoring, and provide the cooperating administrator other information and assistance the institution deems necessary. The professional development opportunities incorporate feedback from participants and utilize appropriate delivery strategies.
	79.16(7) The institution shall enter into a written contract with the cooperating school districts that provide field experiences for administrator candidates.
[ARC 8053B, IAB 8/26/09, effective 9/30/09; ARC 1780C, IAB 12/10/14, effective 1/14/15; ARC 5330C, IAB 12/16/20, effective 1/20/21]