Colorado § 23-78-102 Legislative declaration

Colorado Statutes

§ 23-78-102 — Legislative declaration

Colorado § 23-78-102

Title 23Postsecondary Education

Art.Teacher Preparation Programs

This text of Colorado § 23-78-102 (Legislative declaration) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 23-78-102 (2026).

Text

(1)The general assembly finds that:

(a)High-quality teaching is the linchpin for effective, high-quality education in the schools of the state. To be an excellent, effective educator, an individual must receive comprehensive, rigorous, and effective training in the art and science of teaching and in the skills and subjects that the individual will teach.

(b)Local education providers who hire teachers who have not completed an adequate preparation program, including high-quality clinical practice, are likely to experience a high turnover rate because new teachers who are not well trained leave the profession in their first year of teaching at more than twice the rate of those who have had clinical practice and rigorous preparation;

(c)Student achievement is likely to suffer wh

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(1) The general assembly finds that:

(a) High-quality teaching is the linchpin for effective, high-quality education
in the schools of the state. To be an excellent, effective educator, an individual
must receive comprehensive, rigorous, and effective training in the art and science
of teaching and in the skills and subjects that the individual will teach.

(b) Local education providers who hire teachers who have not completed an
adequate preparation program, including high-quality clinical practice, are likely to
experience a high turnover rate because new teachers who are not well trained
leave the profession in their first year of teaching at more than twice the rate of
those who have had clinical practice and rigorous preparation;

(c) Student achievement is likely to suffer when teachers are not well
prepared for the challenges of the classroom and when teachers do not remain on
the job for more than one or two years. In addition, schools with high teacher
turnover rates struggle to make long-term improvement.

(d) Research suggests that an effective teacher preparation program should
include opportunities for teacher candidates to spend time in the classroom
beginning in the first year of the program and continuing and increasing throughout
the program, culminating in a full year of clinical practice using a classroom
residency model in the final year of the program;

(e) To be effective, clinical practice must be directed and mentored by an
experienced, high-quality master teacher who devotes significant time to working
with the teacher candidate. These master teachers should receive training for the
role of mentor teacher that results in a license endorsement as well as meaningful
compensation for the time spent working with a teacher candidate and sufficient
time within the daily work schedule to spend with the teacher candidate.

(f) Expanding mentorship to novice teachers not only creates valuable
professional support for additional members of the education workforce, but also
ultimately increases the number of capable, high-quality teachers, promotes job
satisfaction, decreases teacher turnover, offers opportunities for experienced
teachers to further their careers, and likely improves student achievement; and

(g) Sufficiently expanding mentorship opportunities for novice teachers
requires a multi-faceted approach that also creates and builds future capacity for
school- and district-level supports, including local induction and mentoring.

(2) The general assembly finds, therefore, that it is appropriate to direct the
department of education and the department of higher education to collaborate
with local education providers, approved educator preparation programs,
alternative teacher programs, and other interested parties to identify best practices
in providing comprehensive, rigorous, and effective teacher preparation and
guidelines for implementing these best practices. The general assembly further
finds that it is in the best interests of the state to establish a grant program to
provide funding for training and reimbursements for mentor teachers who provide
guidance and oversight for teacher candidates while they participate in clinical
practice or for novice teachers.

Legislative History

Source: L. 2019: Entire article added with relocations, (SB 19-190), ch. 153, p. 1806, � 1, effective May 10. L. 2024: (1)(d) and (2) amended and (1)(f) and (1)(g) added, (HB 24-1376), ch. 349, p. 2358, � 2, effective June 3.