MN SF2811

Board of Teaching must approve alternative teacher preparation programs that grant two-year limited-term licenses and prepare candidates for standard entrance licenses through partnerships between school districts or charter schools and colleges, universities, or nonprofit education corporations.

Partnerships may offer programs if school districts or charter schools experience teacher shortages, lack racial and cultural diversity in staff compared to student population, or need to address student achievement gaps based on school performance data.

Program candidates must have a bachelor's degree with minimum 3.0 GPA (or meet alternative board criteria), pass reading, writing, and mathematics skills examinations, and obtain qualifying scores on board-approved content and pedagogy tests.

Alternative preparation programs must include minimum 200-hour instructional phase, research-based teaching practices, formal peer coaching, classroom-embedded staff development, and evaluation of participant progress toward standard entrance licensure.

Board of Teaching must submit interim report on program efficacy by February 15, 2012, and final report by February 15, 2014; program becomes effective for the 2010-2011 school year.