(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.
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