Missouri Code of State Regulations
Title 5 - DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
Division 20 - Division of Learning Services
Chapter 200 - Office of College and Career Readiness
Section 5 CSR 20-200.250 - Standards for Innovative and Experimental Programs

Universal Citation: 5 MO Code of State Regs 20-200.250

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, March 15, 2024

PURPOSE: This rule provides specific policies governing off-campus programs and teacher aide programs.

(1) Off-Campus Instruction and Work Experience Programs.

(A) The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) recognizes and will approve four (4) types of off-campus programs for students who are sixteen (16) years old or older and juniors or seniors in high school, except that handicapped students must be only sixteen (16) years old or older: academic programs, cooperative vocational education programs, work experience programs for special education students and career exploration programs. School districts may offer other types of off-campus programs without departmental approval but the students enrolled in them may not be counted in membership and attendance for state aid purposes, and the students enrolled in unapproved programs may not be granted high school credit for the off-campus experience.
1. Off-campus academic programs are programs for students who are enrolled in advanced academic or fine arts classes and which have as their goals the acquisition of specialized knowledge and the ability to apply the knowledge to situations which cannot be replicated in a school classroom.

2. Cooperative vocational education programs are programs developed and implemented in accordance with the Handbook for Vocational Education, which is filed as an administrative rule of the Division of Career and Adult Education at 5 CSR 60-120.020.

3. Work experience programs for special education students are programs developed and implemented in accordance with State Plan for Part B of the Education of the Handicapped Act, which is filed as an administrative rule of the Division of Special Education at 5 CSR 70-742.140.

4. Career exploration programs are programs designed to provide students exposure to a variety of occupations as practices on the job site so they may develop their own occupational objectives from direct experience. Students in career exploration programs may spend no more than nine (9) weeks at a particular job site, and then must be rotated through other job sites of interest at least every nine (9) weeks for the duration of the program.

5. Students in cooperative vocational education programs and work experience programs for special education students may be paid for work performed at off-campus locations and will normally be covered by the cooperating sponsors' Workers' Compensation insurance and general liability insurance. Students in off-campus academic programs and in career exploration programs are not expected to perform productive work at off-campus assignments and may not receive pay for their experience in the programs. School districts must arrange for liability insurance to cover accidental injury and job-related illness insurance for students and liability insurance to cover any injuries or damages caused by students on the sponsor's premises. The school district should also provide liability insurance to protect the supervising teacher and any other school district employees who might be exposed to liability risk due to the placement of students in off-campus programs.

(B) Students in off-campus programs must be adequately supervised by appropriately qualified teachers employed by the public school district and must be working or studying under a written instructional plan, cooperatively developed between the supervising teacher or coordinator and appropriate persons at the off-campus site. The written plan must set forth specific measurable objectives to be achieved by the student and describe a plan for evaluating student achievement. Students are considered to be adequately supervised by appropriately qualified teachers if the following standards are met:
1. Teachers supervising off-campus academic programs must be certificated in the subject in which related instruction is provided and must have assigned time for supervision at the rate of one (1) class period daily for each ten (10) participating students;

2. Teachers supervising cooperative vocational education programs must be certificated in accordance with 5 CSR 60-120.020

and must be provided supervision time in accordance with that rule;

3. Teachers supervising work experience programs for special education students must be certificated in accordance with 5 CSR 70742.140 and must be provided supervision time in accordance with that rule;

4. Teachers supervising off-campus career exploration programs must be certificated as secondary social studies teachers or as guidance counselors and must be provided supervision time at the rate of one (1) class period daily for each fifteen (15) participating students; and

5. If any part of the off-campus program is scheduled outside the regular six (6)-hour school day, the school district must pay the supervising teacher or coordinator for the outside-of-school-hours time necessary to provide the required amount of supervision time.

(C) Off-campus students must be enrolled in and receiving related classroom instruction in the regular high school program before credit may be awarded for off-campus study or work experience. This restriction does not apply to handicapped students whose Individual Education Programs (IEP) indicate full-time work experience or to students participating in Option One of the Trade and Industrial/Health Occupations Internship program. Related instruction must be provided daily for at least one (1) class period for students in cooperative vocational education programs and may be provided less frequently than daily for other types of off-campus programs. In every case, the related instruction must be sufficient to justify the granting of at least one-half (1/2) unit of credit. In addition to credit for related instruction, students may be granted credit for the off-campus experiences under the following standards:
1. Students may be awarded one (1) unit of credit for ten to nineteen (10-19) hours weekly of off-campus study or work experience, which totals between three hundred and six hundred (300-600) hours during a school year; or two (2) units of credit for twenty (20) or more hours weekly of off-campus study or work experience, which would total over six hundred (600) hours during a school year;

2. No more than two (2) units of credit, or twice the number of units of credit granted for related instruction, whichever is less, may be awarded for off-campus study or work experience during any school year for off-campus academic programs, cooperative vocational education programs and career exploration programs;

3. Handicapped students whose IEPs indicate a need for additional work experience to make the transition from school to an occupation may earn up to four (4) units of credit during an academic year for off-campus work experience. The additional credit will be based on increments of twenty to thirty (20-30) hours weekly and from thirty to forty (30-40) hours weekly of supervised work experience; and

4. High school credit awarded students for off-campus programs will be assigned to subject areas on the basis of the certification of the supervising teacher or coordinator, the related regular classroom instruction, and the nature of the off-campus program. Credit granted for off-campus instruction or work experience shall be counted as elective credit. Off-campus credit may be counted toward meeting the classification and accreditation standards for curriculum only when approved in the areas of Trade and Industrial, Technical, Health Occupations and Cooperative Occupational Education/Distributive Education (COE/DE). Other types of off-campus credit may not be counted toward meeting the curriculum standards.

(D) Community Learning Sponsor.
1. A learning sponsor shall have competence, knowledge and skill to provide effective and worthwhile instruction in the learning activities; have good facilities which support the learning activities to be conducted; make definite commitments to assist pupils in the learning activities; maintain a safe and wholesome learning atmosphere for young people; participate in planning, directing and evaluating the instructional program; and make periodic reports to the assigned teacher on the educational progress of the pupil.

2. It shall be the responsibility of the local public school personnel assigned to off-campus instruction to make the previous determinations and obtain necessary cooperation and commitments. It is recommended that agreements be reduced to written form.

(E) Pupils shall meet the minimum age requirements and other provisions of the laws for the off-campus learning activity in which they engage; not replace regular employees at the off-campus community learning station; have parent or guardian consent to participate in the off-campus learning activities; be limited to off-campus instruction which is related to his/her interest, ability and course of study; attend regularly and demonstrate a willingness to learn from the off-campus instruction activities; attend on-campus classes of the public school for at least half time; and be regularly enrolled full-time in the public school program.

(F) Instruction.
1. A principal and counselor shall work with the instructional staff in approval of pupils participating in appropriate off-campus activities.

2. The teacher and pupil shall plan an educational project with written behavioral objectives relating to the pupil's course of study. The educational project shall include a written plan of learning activities developed cooperatively by the teacher, learning sponsor and pupil. A definite written schedule of conferences between teacher and pupil and on-site visits shall be developed and carried out.

3. A written evaluation plan shall be developed cooperatively by the pupil, teacher and learning sponsor prior to initiation of off-campus instruction.

(G) School districts wishing to establish and implement off-campus instructional or work experience programs must submit written proposals annually, and in advance of the beginning date of the program, for review and action by the appropriate section of the DESE. Written proposals to establish off-campus academic programs and career exploration programs must be submitted to the director, supervision of instruction; proposals to establish cooperative vocational education programs must be submitted to the appropriate section of the Division of Career and Adult Education; and written proposals for work experience programs for special education students must be submitted to the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. School districts will be notified of the action taken by the department.

(H) A school district that plans off-campus educational activities in compliance with these policies and statutory provisions regulating the school day, compulsory school attendance, computation of average daily attendance, etc., will have a program that would qualify participating pupils to be counted for regular state aid if they meet all other requirements. Pupils who simply want to work part of the day do not qualify for attendance for state aid.

(2) Teacher Aide Program for High School Students.

(A) Teacher aide programs for high school students may be established in accordance with the provisions for innovation and experimental programs which supplement, improve or enrich the educational program.

(B) The student teacher aide program must be closely supervised by the school district's certificated teachers since Missouri law requires a school day of six (6) hours in which pupils are under the guidance and direction of teachers in the teaching process for both compulsory attendance and state aid purposes.

(C) Meaningful educational experiences shall be planned for participants in the program so that each day's activities will provide learning experiences for students.

(D) Provisions should be made for teaching the students how to tutor and the steps to be followed in the tutoring process before they are permitted to tutor pupils.

(E) The certificated staff member who sponsors the program should have sufficient time available to confer with the supervising teachers and to conduct regular group and individual conferences with the high school tutors. If there are as many as ten (10) tutors in the school scheduled for tutoring one (1) or two (2) periods daily, the sponsor should have the equivalent of at least one (1) period daily to supervise and confer with a maximum of thirty (30) tutors. One (1) additional period daily should be provided when the number of tutors exceeds thirty (30) and one (1) additional period for each additional thirty (30) tutors in the program.

(F) A list of the responsibilities of the sponsoring teacher, building principal, supervising teacher and student shall be developed in writing and disseminated to all concerned. All activities of the student must be under the direct control of a certificated teacher of the public school district.

(G) Provisions for evaluating effectiveness of the program should be developed during the planning stages and the program shall be evaluated at least annually.

*Original authority: 161.092 RSMo 1963, amended 1973.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Missouri may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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