44259.1. (a) (1) An integrated program of professional preparation shall enable candidates for teaching credentials to engage in professional preparation, concurrently with subject matter preparation, while completing baccalaureate degrees at regionally accredited institutions of higher education. An integrated program shall provide opportunities for candidates to complete intensive field experiences, including student teaching, in public schools maintaining prekindergarten, kindergarten, or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, early in the undergraduate sequence. The development and implementation of an integrated program shall be based on intensive collaboration among subject matter departments and education units within regionally accredited institutions of higher education and local public elementary and secondary school districts.
(2) A regionally accredited institution of higher education may offer a four-year or five-year integrated program of professional preparation that allows a student to earn a baccalaureate degree and a preliminary multiple or single subject teaching credential, early childhood specialist credential, or an education specialist instruction credential authorizing the holder to teach special education, including student teaching requirements, concurrently and within four or five years of study.
(3) The commission shall encourage regionally accredited institutions of higher education to offer integrated programs of professional preparation that follow the guidelines developed pursuant to this section. In approving integrated programs, the commission shall not compromise or reduce its standards of subject matter preparation pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 44310) or its standards of professional preparation pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 44259.
(4) The commission shall, as part of its accreditation process, collect information about integrated programs of professional preparation, including which regionally accredited institutions of higher education offer integrated programs of professional preparation and the number and type of credentials the programs produce.
(b) (1) Commencing with the 2005–06 school year, an integrated program offered by the California State University shall be designed to concurrently lead to a preliminary multiple subject or single subject teaching credential, early childhood specialist credential, or an education specialist instruction credential authorizing the holder to teach special education, and a baccalaureate degree. Recommendation for each shall be contingent upon satisfactory completion of the requirements for each.
(2) By July 1, 2004, the Chancellor of the California State University, in consultation with California State University faculty members, shall develop a framework defining appropriate balance for an integrated program of general education, subject matter preparation, and professional education courses, for both lower division and upper division students, including an appropriate range of units to be taken in professional education courses. In developing the framework, the Chancellor of the California State University and California State University faculty members shall consult with the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges on matters related to the effective and efficient use of, and appropriate role for, lower division coursework in an integrated program.
(c) (1) By January 1, 2005, the Chancellor of the California State University and the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges shall collaboratively ensure that both of the following occur:
(A) Lower division coursework completed by a community college student transferring to a California State University integrated program is articulated with the corresponding coursework of the California State University.
(B) The articulated community college lower division coursework is accepted as the equivalent to the coursework offered to students who enter that integrated program as freshman students.
(2) Commencing with the 2005–06 school year, each campus of the California State University shall invite the community colleges in its region that send significant numbers of transfer students to that campus to enter into articulation agreements. These articulation agreements shall be based on a fully transferable education curriculum that is developed pursuant to the framework developed under paragraph (2) of subdivision (b). Approval of one or more of the articulation agreements shall enable the coursework of a community college student to be accepted as the equivalent to the coursework offered to students who enter that integrated program as freshman students.
(d) A postbaccalaureate program of professional preparation may only be offered by a regionally accredited institution of higher education. These programs shall enable candidates for teaching credentials to commence and complete professional preparation after they have completed baccalaureate degrees at regionally accredited institutions of higher education. The development and implementation of a postbaccalaureate program of professional preparation shall be based on intensive collaboration among the regionally accredited institutions of higher education and local public elementary and secondary school districts.
(e) (1) (A) The commission shall develop and implement a program to award, on a competitive basis, planning grants of up to two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) each to regionally accredited institutions of higher education for the development of plans to guide the creation of four-year integrated programs of professional preparation, including student teaching, that lead to more credentialed teachers to teach, with an emphasis on the shortage fields identified in clause (i) of subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2).
(B) A regionally accredited institution of higher education awarded a planning grant under this paragraph may use the grant funds to create a new four-year integrated program of professional preparation or to adapt an existing integrated program of professional preparation to a four-year integrated program of professional preparation.
(C) A regionally accredited institution of higher education awarded a planning grant under this paragraph may use grant funds for any proper purpose in support of planning for a four-year integrated program of professional preparation, including, but not limited to, any of the following:
(i) To provide faculty release time to redesign existing courses.
(ii) To provide stipends for program coordinators to assist in collaboration with subject-matter professors and pedagogy professors.
(iii) To create summer courses for students in a four-year integrated program of professional preparation.
(iv) To recruit individuals for participation as students in four-year integrated programs of professional preparation.
(2) (A) The commission shall develop and implement a program to award, on a competitive basis, implementation or expansion grants of up to five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) each to regionally accredited institutions of higher education for any of the following purposes:
(i) Developing a new integrated program of professional preparation as specified in subparagraph (C).
(ii) Establishing a new partnership with California community colleges to create four-year integrated programs of professional preparation.
(B) The commission shall conduct outreach to eligible institutions to encourage applications to develop programs in the shortage areas identified in clause (i) of subparagraph (C), and support institutions that need assistance in developing programs in these shortage areas that meet the commission’s criteria.
(C) The commission shall award one-time grants pursuant to subparagraph (A) for proposals to establish new integrated programs of professional preparation that support either of the following:
(i) Producing teachers in the designated shortage fields of special education, bilingual education, science, health, computer science, technology, engineering, mathematics, transitional kindergarten, or kindergarten.
(ii) Partnering with a California community college to create a four-year integrated program of professional preparation.
(D) A regionally accredited institution of higher education awarded a grant under this paragraph may use the grant funds to create a new four-year integrated program of professional preparation or to adapt an existing integrated program of professional preparation to a four-year integrated program of professional preparation.
(E) A regionally accredited institution of higher education awarded a grant under this paragraph may use grant funds for any proper purpose in support of implementation or expansion of a four-year integrated program of professional preparation, including, but not limited to, any of the following:
(i) To provide faculty release time to redesign existing courses.
(ii) To provide stipends for program coordinators to assist in collaboration with subject-matter professors and pedagogy professors.
(iii) To create summer courses for students in a four-year integrated program of professional preparation.
(iv) To recruit individuals for participation as students in four-year integrated programs of professional preparation.
(F) As a condition of the receipt of an implementation or expansion grant, a regionally accredited institution of higher education shall provide to the commission program and outcome data for at least five years after receiving the grant. The information shall include program design and features, the number of graduates, the number and type of credentials earned, the time taken to earn a degree and credential, and any other information the commission may require for purposes of documenting the effect of the grant and identifying effective practices in program design and implementation.
(3) The commission shall require applicants for planning grants under paragraph (1) and for implementation or expansion grants under paragraph (2) to provide assurances of all of the following:
(A) A commitment to implement a planned integrated program of professional preparation.
(B) A plan for recruitment and retention of candidates for educator shortage areas in subjects identified in clause (i) of subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2) in teacher preparation programs, including integrated programs of professional preparation.
(C) Coordination with existing sources of candidate support, such as the Golden State Teacher Grant Program established pursuant to Article 5.1 (commencing with Section 69617) of Chapter 2 of Part 42 of Division 5 of Title 3, and other forms of financial aid.
(D) Demonstrated commitment to expand enrollment in, and access to, teacher preparation programs, including enrollment in programs of integrated professional preparation.
(4) A regionally accredited institution of higher education that previously received a planning grant or an implementation or expansion grant may apply for a new grant, if the institution reports on the implementation timeline and status of the program established with the grant funding previously received and proposes any of the following:
(A) Expansion of integrated program capacity.
(B) New integrated programs in other credentialing fields.
(C) New California community college partnerships.
(5) The commission may use up to two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) of moneys appropriated for purposes of this subdivision to administer the grants described in paragraphs (1) and (2), pursuant to Department of Finance approval.
(6) The commission shall annually report to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature on any grants funded pursuant to this subdivision until funds are fully expended. In addition to the data required to be reported to the commission in subparagraph (F) of paragraph (2), the report shall also include data on the progress of community college partnerships and institutions relative to the assurances made pursuant to paragraph (3).
(7) The requirements of this subdivision are contingent upon the appropriation of funds for purposes of this subdivision in the annual Budget Act or another statute.
(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 52, Sec. 50. (AB 181) Effective June 30, 2022.)
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