Student teaching minimum raised to 70 days |
On Board Online • April 29, 2019
By Cathy Woodruff
Senior Writer
Student teachers will need to spend at least 14 weeks, the equivalent of a full college semester, working in schools with experienced teachers under regulations approved this month by the Board of Regents.
The revised certification requirements, the first approved for New York in nearly two decades, will increase the minimum required student teaching time from 40 days to 70 days.
The revisions also seek to strengthen collaboration between teacher preparation programs and their partner schools and school districts. The partners will be required to craft formal "memorandum of understanding" agreements that outline standards and expectations for all who are involved in the clinical experience portion of teacher preparation, including the school-based cooperating teachers and the university-based supervisors working with the student teachers.
The revised requirements take effect for college students who first enroll in a traditional four-year program in the fall of 2022, putting them on track for graduation in the spring of 2026.
Students enrolling in two-year master's degree programs leading to an initial certification will need to complete their clinical experience by the end of the 2023-24 academic year.
In a presentation to the Regents, Deputy Commissioner John D'Agati said the change responds to concerns that student teaching requirements vary widely among New York's colleges, leading to inconsistent levels of readiness, competence and comfort in the classroom for new teachers.
A Clinical Practice Workgroup, which studied the issue and advised the State Education Department on the changes, cited research pointing to multiple benefits of high-quality student teaching, or "clinical practice," spanning at least one semester. The benefits include:
- New teachers are less likely to leave the profession after their first year.
- Teachers of color are more likely to stay and succeed as teachers, contributing to efforts to build a more diverse teaching workforce.
- Teachers are more effective, based on measures of student achievement.
- Teachers' understanding of students' lives, communities and cultures improve with longer clinical classroom experience.
As a result of those findings, D'Agati said in a written presentation for the Regents, "States are following the guiding principle that more clinical experiences - intentionally constructed in partnership between P-12 and higher education and with a focus on quality, in addition to quantity - are better in teacher education programs."
New York's revised regulations also streamline the process for some experienced teachers, including those already certified in other states and those already certified in other subject areas.
New professional learning requirements have been added for the university-based and school-based teacher educators who work with candidates during their clinical practice work.
In other action related to teacher certification requirements, the Regents approved:
- A 60-day public comment period on a proposal that would require teacher preparation programs to dedicate a portion of instruction time in language acquisition and literacy development to the needs of students who are English language learners.
The change would affect programs that prepare teachers in fields including: early childhood, childhood, middle childhood and adolescent education; students with disabilities; deaf or hard-of-hearing students; blind or visually impaired students; students with speed and language disabilities; students who speak other languages; and library media specialists.
- Extension of a safety net for candidates for certification as education technology specialists while development of a revised content specialty test continues. The safety net, which is to expire six months after a new test is developed and in effect, offers candidates the option of taking the current version of the test or a predecessor version of the exam.
- Extension of a safety net through 2021 for those who fail the edTPA exam for certification as a library specialist to allow more time for completion of updates to the edTPA library specialist handbook. The library specialist safety net, which was set to expire at the end of September this year, allows candidates to take an alternative exam called the ATS-W if they do not pass the current version of the library specialist edTPA.
- Approved a public comment period for more revisions to rules for college-level school counselor preparation programs. The changes would require at least 48 semester hours of graduate study in all eight core content areas required for certification as a school counselor. Another 12 semester hours in any one of the eight core content areas would be required for 12-credit programs leading to professional certification.