Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024
A. Initial approval is granted upon approval
by BESE and, when applicable, BOR, through submission of a proposal to the
LDE.
B. University and
non-university providers seeking approval to offer a teacher preparation
program, educational leader preparation program, or add-on certification
program shall demonstrate eligibility by providing, at a minimum:
1. official declaration of intent in the form
of a letter from the head of the institution or organization;
2. evidence of regional accreditation status
(e.g., Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) for universities
only;
3. evidence that the faculty
who teach courses or provide direct coaching to teacher or educational leader
candidates possess sufficient knowledge, skills, training, and
expertise;
4. evidence to show that
the governing structure of the institution or organization endorses and
financially supports a teacher preparation program, educational leader
preparation, or add-on programs (e.g., full budget report for the
implementation of programs, including internal and external sources of funding,
and including both hard and soft monies);
5. evidence of an articulation agreement to
transfer credit hours with another Louisiana-approved teacher or educational
leader preparation institution that agrees to recommend the institution's
candidates for certification, as needed, for continuous progress and program
completion or, for non-university providers, a plan to make students
financially whole in the event of institution or program closure;
6. a description of the provider's system for
monitoring and evaluating its candidates, programs, operations, and the
performance of its graduates. This description must reflect how the education
unit or education program assesses programs, effectiveness, and candidates as
well as how the provider provides follow-up data on its graduates;
7. if the provider is currently operating or
has operated in Louisiana or any other state, evidence of program completer's
teaching and/or leading effectiveness, including but not limited to principal
survey results, state accountability system and evaluation results, and local
assessment or evaluation results.
C. In order to be recommended for BESE
approval, teacher preparation programs must, at minimum:
1. be designed to develop and ensure
candidates'mastery of the teacher preparation competencies, educational leader
competencies, and/or requirements for existing certificate endorsements
required for certification. The program design must center on courses and
practice experiences that integrate content, theory, and practice; expressly
treat current Louisiana student standards and instructional resources; and
require candidates to demonstrate mastery of required competencies or
requirements through a series of performance assessments and tasks:
a. in undergraduate programs offered by
university providers, descriptions of coursework must include evidence of ample
opportunity to develop content area mastery, instruments for assessing
candidates'content knowledge, and procedures for remediation, if necessary. For
the purposes of initial approval, an academic major in the content area for
secondary certification areas may be considered evidence of "ample
opportunity;"
b. in
post-baccalaureate programs offered by university and non-university providers,
descriptions of coursework or contact hours must include instruments for
assessing candidates'content knowledge for teaching and/or leading, and
procedures for remediation, if necessary;
c. in add-on certification programs offered
by nonuniversity providers, descriptions of coursework and contract hours must
include instruments for assessing candidate content knowledge, include
procedures for addressing unfinished learning, and align with the requirements
to add endorsements to existing certificates, which are found in Part CXXI,
Bulletin 746 - Louisiana Standards for State Certification of School
Personnel;
2.
pursuant to R.S. 17:7.1.4(a)(b), teacher preparation programs shall include the
minimum number of credit hours or equivalent contact hours in the teaching of
reading and literacy as follows. The required courses or training shall:
a. develop and assess candidate mastery of
applicable literacy competencies, which are found in Part CXXXI, Bulletin 746 -
Louisiana Standards for State Certification of School
Personnel;
b.
systematically and explicitly address the foundational literacy skills of
phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Each
course shall, at a minimum, integrate:
i. how
to effectively teach the foundational literacy skills of phonological
awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension;
ii. how to differentiate instruction for
teaching students with advanced literacy skills and students with significant
literacy deficiencies, including dyslexia;
iii. how to implement effective literacy
instruction using high-quality instructional materials;
iv. how to administer literacy assessments to
students and use the resulting data to improve literacy instruction for
students;
c.
systematically and explicitly address behavior management, trauma-informed
principles and practices for the classroom, and other developmentally
appropriate supports to ensure that students can effectively access literacy
instruction.
3. include
required practice experiences for teacher preparation, including, at minimum, a
one-year supervised residency in a school setting. In addition to the one-year
residency, the candidate must be provided actual practice experience in
classroom settings within schools with varied socioeconomic characteristics.
The requirements for the one-year residency and for required practice
experiences for undergraduate and post-baccalaureate preparation programs are
described in detail in Chapter 7 of this bulletin. Evidence of quality must
include, but is not limited to, the provider's commitment to:
a. recruit, develop, and evaluate clinical
faculty who model effective practical teaching knowledge and skills;
and
b. ensure alignment of program
faculty, residency school site administrator, and residency school site mentor
teacher expectations for candidate's development and
performance;
4. be jointly
developed and administered in partnership with one or more local educational
agencies in which candidates complete the one-year residency. Evidence of
partnership shall include, but not be limited to, a formal agreement, such as a
memorandum of understanding or memorandum of agreement, that includes:
a. roles of and responsibilities of program
faculty, LEA leaders, residency school site administrators, and/or residency
school site mentor teachers;
b.
criteria and process for residency school site selection, development, and
evaluation of effectiveness, to occur in concert with LEA leadership;
c. targets, criteria, and process
for mentor teacher recruitment, development, and evaluation, to occur in
concert with LEA leadership;
d.
protocols for administering assessments of candidates teaching skill in
cooperation with the residency school site administrator or his/her designee
during the one-year residency and in general alignment with the partner LEA's
teacher evaluation system pursuant to the requirements in teacher
preparation/certification/evaluation, Bulletin 130 -
Regulations for the Evaluation and Assessment of School
Personnel; and
e.
protocols for the secure exchange of data relative to program improvement and
evaluation.
D.
The LDE shall utilize evaluation tools to conduct qualitative assessments of
teacher and/or educational leader proposals to make initial approval
recommendations. The evaluation tools must align to the requirements set forth
in this bulletin, including, but not limited, to Louisiana state standards for
teacher preparation outlined in Chapter 1 of this bulletin.
E. Upon receipt, teacher, early childhood
ancillary certificate program, and/or educational leader proposals will undergo
a preliminary review by the LDE for completeness. Proposals that are determined
to be complete and meet all initial submission requirements will undergo an
evaluation process conducted by a panel of reviewers. Proposals that do not
meet all initial submission requirements will receive a notice of pending
denial. Providers must provide the required material within seven days. If
providers do not provide the required material, the proposal will be denied.
Proposals may be resubmitted no sooner than one calendar year following denied
applications at two consecutive approval cycles.
F. Teacher, early childhood ancillary
certificate program, and/or educational leader proposals that meet all initial
submission requirements will be evaluated by a panel of reviewers. The panel
will include at least one external reviewer. An external reviewer may serve as
a preparation program administrator, a preparation program faculty member, or a
current or former K-12 educator or leader. The panel will evaluate each
proposal using an evaluation tool that was reviewed by representatives from LDE
and BOR and will evaluate the proposal to ensure the proposal meets
professional, state, and, when applicable, national standards for quality and
state certification policy. The panel's evaluation will include an interview
with the provider and at least one partner LEA. The panel may interview
additional representatives of the provider and LEA partner
organizations.
G. The result of the
evaluation will be sent by the LDE to the teacher, early childhood ancillary
certificate program, and/or educational leader provider. A proposal that fully
meets all structural and policy requirements according to the program proposal
guidelines will be recommended for BESE approval at the next scheduled BESE
meeting. A proposal that is not recommended by the LDE for approval because it
does not meet the policy or structural requirements according to the program
proposal guidelines may be resubmitted to the LDE for reconsideration no sooner
than one calendar year following the date of initial submission to the LDE.
Proposals that are not recommended for approval a second time, or are
recommended for approval by the LDE but not approved by BESE, may be
resubmitted to the LDE for reconsideration no sooner than two calendar years
following the date of resubmission to the LDE.
H. BESE will notify the point of contact
listed in the proposal submitted by the teacher, early childhood ancillary
certificate program, and/or educational leader providers of the decision.
Notification will be sent in writing via U.S. mail.
1. Once BESE has granted initial approval of
the proposed program, the provider is authorized to admit candidates to the
program and recommend program completers for certification. Providers subject
to BOR regulations shall gain BOR approval prior to admitting candidates to the
program.
2. If BESE does not grant
initial approval of the proposed program, the teacher, early childhood
ancillary certificate program, or educational leader provider is eligible to
resubmit the proposal. Proposals may be resubmitted no sooner than one calendar
year following denied applications at two consecutive approval
cycles.
I. Teacher,
early childhood ancillary certificate program, and/or educational leader
proposals for initial approval will be accepted and considered by BESE twice
per year. Application timelines will be established and published annually one
year in advance of the notice of intent deadline for the first application
cycle.
J. Approved teacher, early
childhood ancillary certificate program, and/or educational leader preparation
providers seeking approval to pilot innovative approaches to training teacher
and/or educational leader candidates must request BESE approval to pilot such
approaches and recommend certification of candidates upon completion of the
program.
K. BESE may rescind
program approval if the teacher, early childhood ancillary certificate program,
and/or educational leader preparation program has been found to be or has been
operating outside of the teacher preparation program requirements outlined in
this Chapter and in LAC 28:CXXXI, Bulletin
746-Louisiana Standards for State Certification of School
Personnel.
L. Providers
seeking approval to offer a mentor teacher or content leader training program
must submit:
1. a proposal from the director
of the institution or organization that outlines the training design,
coursework, and a system for evaluating the quality of training content,
delivery, and operations, including analysis of the performance of
participants;
2. evidence to show
that the governing authority of the institution or organization endorses and
financially supports mentor teacher or content leader training;
3. a full budget report for the
implementation of training, including internal and external sources of funding:
a. university-based BESE-approved
teacher preparation providers are exempt from this requirement;
4. evidence that the training program, if
offered as a university course, will be offered for graduate credit; and
5. any additional information
required by the state superintendent of education.
M. Mentor teacher and content leader training
proposals will be accepted by the LDE and considered at least twice per year by
BESE, beginning in the fall of 2019.
N. The LDE will review applications from
providers to offer mentor teacher or content leader training. The state
superintendent will provide a recommendation for the board's consideration for
each complete application received. Upon approval by BESE, the provider may
begin admitting candidates to the mentor teacher or content leader training
program.
O. Candidates completing
training programs from providers or programs not approved by BESE in accordance
with this Section will not qualify to receive an ancillary certificate as a
mentor teacher or content leader in accordance with LAC 28:CXXXI (Bulletin
746).
AUTHORITY NOTE:
Promulgated in accordance with
R.S.
17:6(10),
17:7(6), and
17:7.2.
