(a) Consistent with § 122 of this title, no individual, public or private educational association, corporation, or institution, including any institution of post-secondary education, may offer an educator preparation program for the training of educators to be licensed in this State without first having procured the assent of the Department for the offering of educator preparation programs. A program approval process based on standards adopted under this section must be established for educator preparation program approval, phased in according to timelines determined by the Department, and fully implemented for educator preparation programs in the State. Each program must be approved by the Department based upon significant, objective, and quantifiable performance measures.
(b) (1) Each educator preparation program approved by the Department shall establish rigorous entry requirements as prerequisites for admission into the program. At a minimum, each program shall require applicants to satisfy either of the following:
a. Have a grade point average of at least a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale or a grade point average in the top fiftieth percentile for coursework completed during the most recent 2 years of the applicant’s general education, whether secondary or post-secondary.
b. Demonstrate mastery of general knowledge, including the ability to read, write, and compute, by achieving a minimum score on a standardized test normed to the general college-bound population, such as Praxis, Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), or American College Test (ACT), as approved by the Department.
(2) Each educator preparation program may waive the admission requirements in this subsection for up to 10% of the students admitted. Programs shall implement strategies to ensure that students admitted under a waiver receive assistance to demonstrate competencies to successfully meet requirements for program completion.
(c) Each educator preparation program approved by the Department shall incorporate all of the following:
(1) A clinical residency component, supervised by high-quality educators, as defined by the Department. The clinical residency must consist of at least 10 weeks of full-time student teaching. Clinical experiences must also be interwoven throughout and aligned with program curriculum.
(2) Instruction for prospective elementary school teachers on age-appropriate mathematics content.
(3) Instruction for prospective elementary school teachers, early childhood teachers, special education teachers, and reading specialists must include a multi-componential instructional focus on all of following components of evidence-based reading instruction:
a. Language acquisition.
b. Literacy development.
c. Phonological processing.
d. Phonics and word recognition development.
e. Spelling.
f. Fluency and automaticity development.
g. Vocabulary development.
h. Text comprehension development.
i. Assessment administration and interpretation.
j. Letter formation.
k. Orthographic processing.
l. Morphological awareness.
m. Structure of language.
n. Language-based learning disabilities.
o. Written expression.
p. Interventions for struggling readers.
(4) Ongoing evaluation of students, consisting of no less than an annual evaluation, aligned to the state-approved educator evaluation system, as set forth in § 1270 of this title.
(d) (1) Each educator preparation program approved by the Department shall establish rigorous exit requirements. At a minimum, the prospective educator must achieve passing scores on both a content-readiness exam and an assessment of the prospective educator’s ability to apply pedagogical skills to meet the needs of the prospective educator’s students.
(2) The Department shall create a committee of stakeholders including teachers, principals, local education agency administrators, representatives of institutions of higher education, representatives of the Delaware State Education Association (DSEA), representatives of the Delaware Association of School Administrators (DASA), and national experts, to gather input and make recommendations regarding the options for an educator preparation program to assess the pedagogical skills of their participants.
(e) Educator preparation programs shall collaborate with the Department to collect and report data on the performance and effectiveness of program graduates. At a minimum, the data must measure performance and effectiveness of program graduates by student achievement. The effectiveness of each graduate must be reported for a period of 5 years following graduation for each graduate who is employed as an educator in the State. Data must be reported on an annual basis. The Department shall make the data available to the public.
(f) (1) The Department shall promulgate rules and regulations governing educator preparation programs under this subchapter in collaboration with Delaware educators.
(2) The Department regulations must require a minimum number of hours of training or professional development that instructors in an educator preparation program must complete in evidence-based reading instruction under paragraph (c)(3) of this section, if providing literacy instruction for any of the following concentration or certification areas:
a. Early childhood.
b. Elementary.
c. Special education.
d. Reading specialists.
(3) a. As part of the approval and renewal process for educator preparation programs under subsection (a) of this section, the Department shall perform an audit of a program’s compliance with the reading instruction requirements under paragraphs (c)(3) and (f)(2) of this section. For this audit, the Department may observe classrooms and review work samples of program candidates.
b. If an audit finds that an educator preparation program is not compliant with the reading instruction requirements, all of the following apply:
1. The audit findings must specifically identify each area in which the program is not compliant.
2. The Department must require that the program take corrective action in each area identified under paragraph (f)(3)b.1. of this section.
c. If an audit finds that an educator preparation program is compliant with all reading instruction requirements, the Department shall award the program a specific distinction.
d. The Department must use the information gained from these audits to identify how teacher preparation in reading instruction can be improved and when possible, revise the regulations under paragraph (f)(1) of this section to implement these improvements.
e. The Department must include the audit findings under paragraphs (f)(3)a. through (f)(3)c. of this section in the reports published under subsection (e) of this section.
(g) An educator preparation program must maintain compliance with paragraphs (c)(3) and (f)(2) of this section beginning the first time the program is accredited after June 30, 2023.