April 13, 2020
This document provides answers to frequently asked questions related to clinical practice for all credential preparation programs during the COVID-19 emergency. This document will be updated regularly as more information becomes available.
Preliminary Multiple and Single Subject Minimum Hours Requirements
Q1. If a teacher candidate participates in teaching (under the direction of a supervisor OR mentor teacher) in an online environment, could the hours be counted towards the fulfillment of their 600 clinical hours?
A1. Candidates must be supervised and guided for the hours of interaction to be included in the 600 hours. If the candidates continue to work with EITHER program OR district employed supervisors in an online teaching environment, the hours of teaching/interacting online may be counted toward the 600 hours. This could be appropriate for both secondary and elementary settings.
Q2. If schools close but teachers are still required to work, can candidates still attend their placement and engage in the professional development (PD), continued lesson planning, etc. and have those hours count towards the 600 hours?
A2. YES. It is a local program decision as to when candidates do or do not remain in their placements. Candidates must be engaged with experienced teachers, focused on planning instruction, delivering instruction, reflecting on instruction, analyzing student work or these types of activities to have the hours included in the 600 hours. If the PD that the teachers and candidates are attending meets these criteria, then the time may be included in the 600 hours.
Q3. Do the 600 hours of clinical practice need to be completed in one semester, or is there flexibility?
A3. Currently, a candidate must complete 600 hours of clinical practice in total. The Commission does not require any specific number of hours in any one grading period. The decision to count the hours from a prior grading period can be made by the program after reviewing the time spent in the classroom to determine if it meets the guidelines for either appropriate fieldwork or clinical practice.
Q4. (NEW) Is there an hourly requirement for a day of solo teaching to count as part of the four weeks?
A4. The intent of the standard is that during solo teaching candidates experience a full teaching day or the equivalent. However, the language of the standard does not explicitly call for a full teaching day. Therefore, programs have flexibility in ensuring candidates have an opportunity in planning lessons, delivering the lesson, and During routine times, the solo teaching is one or more blocks of days when the candidate plans whole class instruction, delivers the instruction, is responsible for monitoring student understanding, adjusting the instructional plan for the next lesson, and assesses student learning for the unit/week/lesson. Usually the candidate is also responsible for all auxiliary activities that the classroom teacher would have during the solo time frame.
During the COVID-19 crisis, any time a candidate has planned, taught, assessed and reflected on a teaching experience, it may be counted as part of the solo teaching. Solo teaching does not have to be sequential days. Solo teaching does not need to be in a physical classroom.
Preliminary Multiple and Single Subject Field Experience
Q5. (NEW) Can candidates work with experienced teachers outside their grade or content area as long as they are adhering to the program standards and performance expectations?
A5. Yes. In these exceptional times, candidates may work with experienced teachers outside their grade or content area as long as they are adhering to the program standards and performance expectations and as long as the program ensures that the candidate receives the support, guidance and assistance they need specific to their needs. In other words, if the person providing support is not assigned to the same grade level or content area, there are resources available and other professionals available to provided that support and guidance.
Educator Preparation Programs
Education Specialist Credential Guidelines
Q7. (NEW) Do the Multiple and Single Subject clinical practice guidelines also cover requirements for candidates earning an Education Specialist Credential?
A7. The Clinical Practice Guidelines are drafted specifically for the Preliminary Multiple and Single Subject credential programs. The general information in the guidance document can be applied to Education Specialist programs but the number of observations and the total number of hours of clinical practice requirement do not apply to current Education Specialist candidates. Please refer to the Education Specialist standards. As the new Education specialist standards take effect in the Fall of 2022, the Commission anticipates providing a Clinical Practice Guidelines for these credential programs.
Q8. (NEW) Current Education Specialist teaching performance expectations do not have minimum hour requirements. Does this mean that candidates have technically met their requirement for clinical practice already, if they have been attending two different placements since beginning the program last fall? Is there an additional CTC requirement for the four-week full-time student teaching that they must still satisfy?
A8. It would be up to the approved program to determine if a candidate has met the requirements of the program. The Education Specialist Program Standards that govern programs at this time state:
Program Standard 15: Field Experience in a Broad Range of Service Delivery Options
The program will ensure that candidates have planned experiences and/or interactions with the full range of the service delivery system, the providers of such services, and parents and families, including experiences in general education. The experiences must reflect the full diversity of grades/ages, federal disability categories and the continuum of special education services outlined in the specific credential authorization. The experiences are planned from the beginning of the program to include experiences in general education, experiences with parents and families, and experiences with a broad range of service delivery options leading to an extendedculminating placement in which the candidate works toward assuming fullresponsibility for the provision of services in the specific credential authorization and isof sufficient duration for the candidate to demonstrate the teacher performanceexpectations for special educators. The culminating placement may be in any school,agency or program as defined in Education Code Sections 56031, 56360, and 56361 for the purpose of providing special education services.
When accompanied by Program Standard 16 (included below), if a program has made the determination that a candidate has fulfilled the requirements of the approved educator preparation program then, it would be acceptable for the approved program ;to verify that the candidate has completed his/her responsibilities with respect to field experience.
Program Standard 16: Assessment of Candidate Performance
Prior to recommending each candidate for a teaching credential, one or more persons responsible for the program shall determine on the basis of thoroughly documented evidence that each candidate has demonstrated a satisfactory performance on the full range of Teaching Performance Expectations (TPEs) as they apply to the subjects and specialties authorized by the credential. During the program, candidates are guided and coached on their performance in relation to the TPEs using formative processes. Verification of candidate performance is provided by at least one supervising teacher and one institutional supervisor trained to assess the TPEs. At least one assessor shall hold authorization in the candidate's credential area. An individual development plan will be written before the candidate exits the Preliminary Credential Preparation Program and will include recommendations for further study during the candidate's Induction Program.
Speech Language Pathology Minimum Hours Requirements
Q9. (UPDATED) For Speech Language Pathology Programs, can clinical clock hours be counted toward the credential if they are obtained by telepractice?
A9. Speech-language pathology programs are permitted to count clinical hours earned through telepractice as part of their required supervised clinical practicum hours. Candidates should be supervised and guided during the telepractice. The master clinician could also be at another location and participating via technology.
Q10. (UPDATED) The Council on Academic Accreditation of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association allows speech-language pathology graduates students to obtain 75 clinical clock hours through clinical simulation software. Can our students use this software to help fulfill our preliminary program's required hours?
A10. Yes. Speech-language pathology programs are allowed to use clinical simulation for up to 75 hours of clinical hours. Please refer
to the CAA/ASHA COVID-19 guidelines for more information.
School Psychologists Minimum Hours Requirements
Q11. The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) has taken the following position to reduce the required 1,200 hours of field supervised experience. "The NASP Program Accreditation Board and National School Psychology Certification Board have agreed to waive the 1,200 hour requirement for all programs and graduate students on internship during this period. Given the time of year, we will require a minimum of 800 hours in direct, field-based supervised experiences, with a minimum of 400 hours in a school setting. Programs may employ flexibility on the remainder of hours. " Is the Commission planning to join NASP in changing the hours requirement?
A11. This type of change needs Commission action to implement. Staff is preparing an agenda item for the April Commission meeting requesting this type of flexibility for ;this year's candidates.
For More Information
The Commission is committed to supporting institutions, programs, and candidates. Staff will continue to be responsive to programs and facilitate ways to enable all candidates to complete their induction programs and earn their clear credentials. Please continue to monitor the Commission’s COVID-19 website for updates and direct specific questions to appropriate staff.
Additional questions? Email ClinicalQuestions@ctc.ca.gov.