State Requirements

In addition to meeting all national CAEP standards for accreditation, EPPs must meet ten state requirements.

The unit has a policy in place that ensures that educator preparation candidates demonstrate:

• Conversational skills at a novice high level, as defined by the American Council on the Teacher of Foreign Languages, in a language other than English. Demonstration of competency must occur prior to candidate completion of the educator preparation program; or

• The knowledge and skills necessary to address the needs of Emergent Bilingual (English Learner) students in the P-12 classroom and are proficient in the strategies required for successful delivery of P-12 instruction in that area. The assessment for such competency may occur at any point in the teacher candidate's program through specified course work, approved by the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability (OEQA), and as may be required by the institution.

• The institution has an established process for seeking program information and input from educator preparation faculty, faculty from arts and sciences, other programs and disciplines which are appropriate, candidates within the teacher education program, teachers, administrators, parents, guardians or custodians of students, and business and community leaders. This process may include surveys, websites, or other means of seeking input from stakeholders..
  
• The institution will report annually to Office of Educational Quality and Accountability the procedures used to inform the public regarding the institution’s educator preparation program and the manner through which public input is solicited and received. The Institutional Plan shall be accessible to any interested party under the Oklahoma Open Records Act.

• Secondary and elementary/secondary teacher candidates have undergraduate majors, or their equivalents, in a subject area.
  
• Teacher candidates in early childhood, elementary, and special education have subject area concentrations that qualify them as generalists. Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education require 12 semester hours in mathematics, science, language arts, and social studies. Candidates must document they meet subject matter competencies in mathematics, science, language arts, and social studies.. 
• Teacher candidates study, in existing coursework or training: 
  • Substance abuse symptoms identification and prevention, 
  • Mental illness symptoms identification and mental health issues, 
  • Classroom management skills, 
  • Classroom safety and discipline techniques, 
  • The use of digital and other instructional technology, 
  • Research based instructional strategies for instruction, assessment and intervention for literacy development for all students (including students with dyslexia), 
  • Trauma-informed responsive instruction, and 
  • Multi-tiered systems of support designed to address the core academic and non-academic needs of all students.

Teacher candidates are provided with advisement services to assist them in taking course work designed to maximize their opportunities for certification and employment. At the minimum teacher candidates are provided information on the latest supply and demand information concerning teacher employment, state salary structure and teaching shortage areas.

• A minimum of 60 hours of diverse field experiences or its equivalent is completed by all initial candidates prior to student teaching.
• A minimum of 12 weeks or 360 hours of full-time student teaching or its equivalent is completed by all initial candidates prior to program completion.
• In advanced programs, practicum/clinical experiences are in place that adequately addresses the requirements established by their respective learned societies.

Admission Requirements:

• Candidates document experiences working with children.
• Candidates achievie a GPA of 2.75 or higher in all general education courses or meet criteria established by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (see Regent’s Policy 3.21 Teacher Education).

Exit Requirements:

The unit provides information on the criteria for exit adhering to all rules and regulations established by the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

• Units have an active system in place documenting and reporting the annual professional development activities of all educator preparation faculty members. 
• All full-time educator preparation faculty members directly involved in the teacher education process, including all administrators of teacher education programs, are required to serve in a state accredited public school for at least ten (10) clock hours per school year in direct contact with meaningful and relevant responsibilities related to their respective educator preparation fields.

• A plan for alternative placement is in place that addresses the unique needs of candidates who seek teacher certification following professional experience in other professions.
• The unit maintains records on alternative placement candidates as required by law, including the submission of data on alternative placement candidates as part of the annual reports submitted to the Office of Educational Quality and Accountability.

Educator preparation faculty workload policies, including class-size and online course delivery, allow faculty members to be effectively engaged in teaching, scholarship, assessment, advisement, collaborative work in P–12 schools, and service. Faculty loads for teaching on campus and online generally do not exceed 12 hours for undergraduate teaching and nine hours for graduate teaching per semester or the equivalent. Supervision of clinical practice does not generally exceed 18 candidates for each full-time equivalent faculty member per semester or the equivalent.

Mentor teachers are required to have minimum of three years of teaching experience in the area in which they are certified.