West Virginia Code of State Rules
Agency 126 - Education
Title 126 - PROCEDURAL RULE BOARD OF EDUCATION
Series 126-114 - Approval of Educational Personnel Preparation Programs (Policy 5100)
Section 126-114-6 - Professional Educator Preparation Program (EPP) Requirements: Teacher Clinical Partnerships

6.3.a.1. written agreement between all partners filed with the WVDE;

6.3.a.2. defined roles and responsibilities for all partners;

6.3.a.3. duration of clinical experiences at all levels;

6.3.a.4. professional learning activities for the EPP and school(s) included in the partnership(s); and

6.3.a.5. formalized periodic evaluation of the partnership including evaluation of shared accountability, scheduled planning and ongoing feedback between the EPP, school, and county leadership.

6.3.b.1. EPPs shall provide a liaison to work with each partnering county board of education and school.

6.3.b.2. EPPs shall outline services and assistance they may provide to the partnering county board of education and school(s).

6.3.b.3. The county board of education or school shall provide access to appropriate placement sites; access to technology and eligible systems; opportunities related to the instruction of students including duties and memberships to committees, meetings, and responsibilities allowed by privacy laws and county relations; and any feasible effort to conduct onsite meetings and/or instruction of pre-service teachers including, but not limited to, methods courses and co-teaching collaboration that includes a college supervisor.

6.3.b.4. The county board of education or school shall include EPP faculty and/or staff in professional learning opportunities that would benefit such faculty and staff to better prepare teachers.

6.5.b.1. The cohort must attain a group average minimum GPA requirement of 3.0 in the core subjects and using a 4-point scale with A=4, B=3, C=2, and D=l.

6.5.b.2. The EPP shall establish the assessments and acceptable levels for the speaking, listening, and educational technology skills.

6.5.b.3. The EPP will include as part of its admission criteria candidates' successful completion of a disposition screening assessment chosen by the EPP.

6.6.a.1. WVBE-recognized national content specialization standards for the public school curriculum pertaining to the specialization;

6.6.a.2. WVBE policies or legislative initiatives that have implications for the teaching specialization;

6.6.a.3. state-approved content standards for the public school curriculum pertaining to the specialization standards;

6.6.a.4. content description(s) for the Praxis II tests identified for the specialization in West Virginia licensure requirements;

6.6.a.5. institutionally identified content standards;

6.6.a.6. preparation standards promulgated by national professional associations for specific specializations and WVBE-approved national accreditors (if applicable); and

6.6.a.7. educational technology skills and knowledge related to specializations offered by the IHE. See International Society for Technology and Education (ISTE) Teaching Standards referenced under the Resources for Policy 5100 tab found on the WVDE Office of Educator Preparation web page.

6.6.b.1. Elementary Education (K-G) Programs. Elementary education programs shall include a minimum of 30 credit hours of coursework in English language arts (including speaking, listening, writing, and reading utilizing the WVDE adopted approaches), health, mathematics, physical education, science, social studies, and the arts such that the coursework is relevant to the curriculum delivered in the elementary classroom and meets all requirements for all curriculum as defined by the WVBE.

6.6.b.2. Middle Level (5-9) Programs. Individuals choosing to complete two middle level programs shall complete the minimum of a subject-area minor in each subject and meet all requirements for all curriculum as defined by the WVBE.

6.6.b.3. Secondary Level Programs.

6.6.b.4. Special Education Programs. All special education programs, including gifted, shall align to the Council for Exceptional Children preparation standards and address the six pillars of the IDEA: development, implementation, and evaluation of an Individualized Education Program (lEP), Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) guidelines, understanding and applying the concept of Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), Appropriate Evaluation requirements and techniques, Parent and Teacher Participation, and Procedural Safeguards.

6.6.b.5. Within all WVBE-approved programs, IHEs should seek to hire full-time faculty who have a minimum of one degree higher than the degree level at which they are teaching. Faculty shall have a degree(s) and/or professional licensure and/or expertise in the area(s) in which they are teaching.

6.6.c.1. Each elementary (K-6) teacher preparation program must contain:

6.6.c.2. Each middle childhood (5-9) mathematics teacher preparation program must contain:

6.6.d.1. Each elementary education EPP must contain a minimum of nine credit hours of reading, which includes a focus on the five essential components of reading (i.e., phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension), methods for teaching writing to reinforce reading and language acquisition, as well as how to effectively use data to assess students' reading ability, use that assessment information for reteaching, remediation, and/or enrichment as appropriate for individual students, and how to identify and correct reading difficulties.

6.6.d.2. Each middle and secondary (Pre-k-Adult, 5-Adult, 9-Adult) preparation program must contain a minimum of three hours of reading in the content area which include a focus on vocabulary, comprehension, and writing as well as how to effectively use data to assess students' reading abilities in the content area, use that assessment information for reteaching, remediation, supplementary supports and/or enrichment as appropriate for individual students.

6.6.e.1. All general programs of study must contain a minimum of six hours of preparation in special education, including a focus on the impact of disability on academic, behavior, and social/emotional development; the use of progress-monitoring data generated from established tiered systems of support and other pre-referral interventions to assist with instruction, the responsibilities of all educators under the IDEA including the implementation of lEPs, and the accommodations and modifications needed to support the learning of students with disabilities throughout the continuum of services.

6.6.e.2. All EPPs must address differentiated instruction techniques for diverse learners using best practices such as: collaborative methods, co-teaching models, formative assessment. Universal Design for Learning, and Direct Instruction techniques.

6.6.e.3. All special education instruction for teacher candidates must include and designate focused instruction and practice in co-teaching.

6.6.e.4. All special education instruction for teacher candidates must include explicit instruction in the characteristics and best practices for instruction of students with dyslexia and dyscalculia.

1) a conferred bachelor's degree in the same content area that they are seeking professional licensure,

2) a minimum 3.0 in the specific content area, and

3) successfully completed the Praxis II content test for licensure.

6.7.b.1. Educational Technology Proficiency Levels. The IHE shall, with the cooperating public school(s), collaboratively establish the assessments and acceptable performance levels for the educational technology skills (see ISTE Standards referenced under the Resources for Policy 5100 tab found on the WVDE Office of Educator Preparation web page) associated with the professional education component.

6.7.b.2. Clinical Experience Performance Assessment Instruments. Candidates completing a teacher education program recommended by the EPPRB and approved by the WVBE for any initial professional educator license shall pass an EPP-adopted performance assessment that is also approved by the WVBE. All institutions must adopt a WVBE-approved TPA, with robust reliability and validity evidence that supports the intended interpretations and uses of the assessment results, for initial licensure by September 1, 2024. Before a TPA can be approved for use, each assessment developer must submit documentation of the instrument for review of technical quality and soundness to the WVDE. The WVDE review framework for the technical review process shall be aligned with industry-wide accepted practices and national accreditor guidelines for reliability and validity evidence. The evidence categories analyzed shall include, but not be limited to, supports for the assessment system, assessment system operations, the evidential aspect of validity, process-oriented technical quality, and achievement standards reporting.

6.7.b.3. Field-based Experiences. All teacher candidates completing a WVBE-approved EPP for initial teacher licensure must complete a minimum of 125 clock hours of field experience under the direction of a teacher licensed to teach in the state, by the state's authorized agency, or their university supervisor in which the field experience is occurring, in each area in which they are seeking an endorsement. No less than 85 clock hours of the required 125 shall be completed in a public school. Field experiences in a virtual/online environment shall not constitute more than 50 percent of the minimum required experience.

6.7.b.4. Field-based Experiences for Special Education. All teacher candidates completing a stand-alone special education program, must meet the field based requirements outlined in 6.7.b.3. and include instructional and behavioral support for students in each of the areas of emotional disorders, intellectual disabilities, developmental delay, and specific learning disabilities.

6.7.b.5. Student Teaching Clinical Experiences Completed in the Public Schools. Each candidate completing an approved program shall spend a minimum of 12 weeks in the clinical portion of the program unless the candidate is able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the college supervisor and the cooperating public school supervisor that the candidate has achieved the proficiency level in less than the specified time.

6.8.c.1. During the Residency 1 clinical classroom placement, candidates completing an approved program shall spend a minimum of 14 weeks/250 hours during the first semester.

6.8.c.2. During the Residency 2 clinical classroom placement candidates completing an approved program shall spend a minimum of 14 weeks/500 hours during the second semester.

6.8.c.3. The yearlong residency clinical experience must be completed under the direction of a teacher licensed to teach in the state of the placement and in the content area in which the candidate is seeking an endorsement, issued by the state's authorizing agency. Candidates who are completing their clinical experience as the teacher of record (e.g., CTR, candidates seeking alternative certification or on a first-class permit) will have professional support team in lieu of a cooperating teacher as described in W. Va. Code § 18A-3C-1. The candidate must be assessed during the clinical experience in all specializations for which the candidate is requesting licensure during field-based and/or clinical experiences. Candidates must successfully complete all Praxis II exams prior to entering Residency 2 or meet approved criteria stated in the West Virginia Licensure and Testing Directory. The IHE is also required to document the candidates' field-based and/or clinical experiences with diverse multicultural, at-risk, and special needs learners at each programmatic level for which they anticipate licensure. Yearlong clinical experiences completed in a virtual/online environment shall not constitute more than 50 percent of the minimum required experience. Five requirements for the programmatic level coverage for required field-based experiences exist in the current system.

6.8.c.4. Residents who have not completed their content exam when applying for the Yearlong Resident Permit will be issued a Short-Term Residency Permit. All content exams must be successfully completed prior to applying for the Long-Term Residency Permit or meet approved criteria stated in the West Virginia Licensure and Testing Directory.

6.8.c.5. Resident Emails. Each candidate completing an approved yearlong residency clinical experience, as defined in section 5 for candidates completing their program, shall be assigned a k-12 email address by the county for the duration of the residency to allow for the full immersion of the student resident into the school environment.