Section 75.620  Eligible Applicants

a)         An eligible applicant for the Agricultural Education Pre-Service Teacher Internship Program Grant shall be a partnership consisting of:

1)         one or more educational entities serving elementary and secondary schools, including, but not limited to, school districts, private schools, or Regional Offices of Education or one or more community-based organizations that provide agricultural education programs or related services, such as technical assistance or professional development, to agricultural education programs and practitioners; and

2)         one or more postsecondary institutions that offer postsecondary credit-bearing internship programs.

b)         The partnership established under subsection (a) must designate one entity to serve as the administrative agent for the grant.

c)         Preference for funding must be provided to eligible applicants whose programs:

1)         recruit pre-service teachers in agricultural education from all institutions of higher education offering accredited programs with teacher licensure in agricultural education;

2)         are articulated to offer course credit for the internship experience at both the:

A)        undergraduate level at each institution of higher education offering accredited programs with teacher licensure in agricultural education; and

B)        graduate level at each institution of higher education offering accredited programs with teacher licensure in agricultural education at the post-baccalaureate level; and

3)         target Illinois agricultural companies, as defined in Section 75.600, who will provide the pre-service teacher intern with both breadth and depth of high-quality experiences in one or more agricultural industries. Priority will be given to programs that additionally focus efforts in recruiting Illinois agricultural companies that:

A)        are not currently or have not been engaged in formal internship programs with postsecondary institutions in the previous fiscal year;

B)        are located in Illinois communities that have hired at least one provisionally licensed agricultural education teacher within the previous three years; or

C)        are located in Illinois communities that have experienced annual teacher turnover for at least the two previous consecutive years.

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