1. a) This Subpart establishes the procedures and criteria for the approval of proposals submitted to the State Board of Education by eligible applicants for grants to establish programs to assist pre-service teaching students in acquiring paid experience in the agricultural industry. The Agricultural Education Pre-Service Teacher Internship Program shall:

   1. 1) offer, at a minimum, an 8-week experience or 300 hours of experience to prepare the pre-service teaching student for in-classroom experiences, including, but not limited to, experiences aligned to the pathways found within the Association of Career and Technical Education (ACTE) cluster for Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources;

2. 2) include both in-classroom lectures and hands-on, applied learning;

   1. 3) be articulated with coursework at each of the agricultural teacher preparation institutions offering teacher licensure in agriculture in this State; and
   2. 4) make a commitment to equity to pre-service teaching students across all agriculture teacher preparation institutions in this State.
3. b) This Subpart does not apply to a school district or postsecondary institution that receives funding for agricultural education programs under Section 1D-1 of the School Code or to any entity that receives a grant from that school district for agricultural education programs funded under Section 1D-1 of the Code.

The goal of the Agricultural Education Pre-Service Teacher Internship Program is to address the shortages experienced by middle school and secondary agricultural education programs in this State by contributing to a highly qualified and effective agricultural education candidate pool that is sufficient in size to meet the workforce need.

(Source: Added at 44 Ill. Reg. 14770, effective August 27, 2020)