(1) The governing board of a rural local education provider may enter into an agreement with an institution of higher education to create a teaching fellowship program if the rural local education provider: (a) Is located within one of the geographic areas, or is seeking to fill a teaching position in one of the subjects, identified by the department of education pursuant to section 23-78-304; (b) Demonstrates a serious, chronic difficulty in hiring or retaining teachers; and (c) Demonstrates a level of financial need that makes payment of fifty percent of a teaching fellow's stipend a hardship for the rural local education provider. (2) At a minimum, each agreement must describe the roles and expectations of the rural local education provider and the institution of higher education in implementing the program, including at a minimum: (a) The commitment of the rural local education provider and the institution of higher education to jointly design an individualized, one-year teaching fellowship for each teaching fellow who is selected, which fellowship is designed to meet the needs of both the rural local education provider and the teaching fellow. At a minimum, the design must include: (I) An evaluation at the beginning of the fellowship year of each applying eligible student's strengths and areas for growth and improvement, the needs of the rural local education provider, and the competencies that the applying eligible student, if selected, must master over the course of the fellowship year, which the rural local education provider and the institution of higher education use, in part, for determining whether the eligible student is well-matched with the rural local education provider; (II) Joint selection by the rural local education provider and the institution of higher education of each teaching fellow and any criteria, in addition to that identified in subsection (2)(a)(I) of this section, that they apply in selecting the teaching fellows. The rural local education provider and the institution may give priority to an applying eligible student who resided within the area surrounding the rural local education provider before attending the institution and seeks to return to the rural local education provider as a teacher. (III) Identification of the competencies that each teaching fellow is expected to master by the completion of the fellowship year, which are in addition to the teacher quality standards adopted by the state board of education pursuant to section 22-2-109 and reflect the unique needs of the rural local education provider; (IV) Explanation of how the rural local education provider and the institution of higher education will support the teaching fellow in mastering the identified competencies; (V) Assignment by the rural local education provider of an experienced, nonprobationary teacher who has received a highly effective rating through the rural local education provider's performance evaluation system implemented pursuant to section 22-9-106 to act as a supervising teacher for the teaching fellow; and (VI) Inclusion of the teaching fellow in the range of activities expected of the teachers employed by the rural local education provider, including at a minimum professional development opportunities and the rural local education provider's new teacher induction program; (b) The commitment of the rural local education provider to extend an offer of employment to each teaching fellow who successfully completes the fellowship year, as determined by the rural local education provider based on the teaching fellow's mastery of the competencies, satisfactory completion of assigned duties, completion of graduation requirements, and attainment of an initial teacher license as provided in article 60.5 of title 22; (c) The commitment of the institution of higher education to: (I) Provide a stipend to each selected teaching fellow as provided in section 23-78-306; (II) Disburse the stipend using the standard methods for allocating state-based financial aid or as wages for employment, as selected by the teaching fellow pursuant to subsection (3) of this section; and (III) Award to the teaching fellow course credits for the fellowship and ensure the teaching fellow has the opportunity to complete during the fellowship year any other course work or other requirements to complete the approved educator preparation program in which the teaching fellow is enrolled; and (d) The acknowledgment of the rural local education provider and the institution of higher education that either party may cancel the agreement at any time for any reason. The agreement must specify the responsibilities of each party if either cancels the agreement, including at a minimum the responsibilities owed to a teaching fellow if the agreement is canceled during his or her fellowship year. (3) During the one-year teaching fellowship, each teaching fellow is expected to complete the approved educator preparation program in which he or she is enrolled and any additional requirements for completing his or her postsecondary credential. Each teaching fellow must choose whether to have a stipend awarded as state-based financial aid or as wages for employment. Each teaching fellow must commit to at least two full school years of employment by the rural local education provider following completion of the fellowship year if the teaching fellow receives an offer of employment from the rural local education provider for each of the two school years. A teaching fellow who receives offers of employment for both school years and does not complete the two full school years of employment must repay the amount received as a stipend during the fellowship year. (4) A rural local education provider that is located within one of the geographic areas, or that is seeking to fill a teaching position in one of the subjects, identified by the department of education pursuant to section 23-78-304, may enter into agreements with multiple institutions of higher education. A rural local education provider may enter into an agreement with an institution of higher education regardless of whether the rural local education provider is located within the institution's service area. A rural local education provider may seek assistance from the department of higher education in identifying an appropriate institution of higher education with which to enter into an agreement. (5) (a) The rural local education provider and institution of higher education that enter into an agreement shall annually prepare a report concerning the implementation of the agreement. The report, at a minimum, must include: (I) The number of teaching fellows participating in the program and the subjects they were teaching; (II) Whether the teaching fellows mastered the competencies identified by the rural local education provider and the institution of higher education; (III) The effectiveness of the agreement and any modifications necessary to improve the quality of the teaching fellowship program; (IV) Whether the participating rural local education provider employed the teaching fellow at the completion of the fellowship and the number of years the teaching fellow remains employed with the rural local education provider, to the extent the information is available; and (V) If available, data concerning the performance of teaching fellows after they are employed by the rural local education provider. (b) A rural local education provider and an institution of higher education that enter into an agreement shall annually decide whether to renew the agreement for the upcoming school year and may modify the agreement as appropriate. (6) An institution of higher education that enters into an agreement shall file the finalized agreement, notices of renewal of the agreement, any modifications to the agreement, documentation of the participating rural local education provider's chronic hiring difficulty and financial need, and copies of the annual report with the department of higher education.
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