The bill creates the student educator stipend program. The purpose
of the student educator stipend program is to award stipend money to an eligible student to reduce the financial barriers of participating in required clinical practice as a student educator. An eligible student placed as a student educator in a 16-week academic residency may receive a stipend
of $11,000, and an eligible student placed as a student educator in a 32-week academic residency may receive a stipend of $22,000.
The bill also creates the educator test stipend program. The
purpose of the educator test stipend program is to award stipend money to approved programs of preparation to reduce financial barriers for eligible students preparing for the assessment of professional competencies for licensure and each required endorsement area. The approved program of preparation shall distribute the stipend money to an eligible student to pay the fees and costs associated with the assessment of professional competencies, which may include travel and lodging costs.
The bill requires the department of education (department), in
collaboration with the department of higher education and institutions of higher education, to create a multiple measures approach to measure the professional competencies of an applicant for an initial teacher license, in addition to the assessments currently approved by the state board of education.
Current law allows the department to issue a temporary educator
eligibility authorization to a person enrolled in an approved program of preparation for a special education educator license who has not yet met the requirements for the applicable initial educator license. The bill allows the department to issue a temporary educator eligibility authorization to a person enrolled in an approved alternative teacher preparation program who has not yet met the requirements for the applicable initial educator license.
