Section 75.610  Purpose and Applicability

The goal of the Agricultural Education Pre-Service Teacher Internship Program is to address the shortages experienced by middle school and secondary agricultural education programs in this State by contributing to a highly qualified and effective agricultural education candidate pool that is sufficient in size to meet the workforce need.

a)         This Subpart establishes the procedures and criteria for the approval of proposals submitted to the State Board of Education by eligible applicants for grants to establish programs to assist pre-service teaching students in acquiring paid experience in the agricultural industry. The Agricultural Education Pre-Service Teacher Internship Program shall:

1)         offer, at a minimum, an 8-week experience or 300 hours of experience to prepare the pre-service teaching student for in-classroom experiences, including, but not limited to, experiences aligned to the pathways found within the Association of Career and Technical Education (ACTE) cluster for Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources;

2)         include both in-classroom lectures and hands-on, applied learning;

3)         be articulated with coursework at each of the agricultural teacher preparation institutions offering teacher licensure in agriculture in this State; and

4)         make a commitment to equity to pre-service teaching students across all agriculture teacher preparation institutions in this State.

b)         This Subpart does not apply to a school district or postsecondary institution that receives funding for agricultural education programs under Section 1D-1 of the School Code or to any entity that receives a grant from that school district for agricultural education programs funded under Section 1D-1 of the Code.

(Source:  Added at 44 Ill. Reg. 14770, effective August 27, 2020)