R277-304-4. Early Childhood and Elementary Preparation Programs

  (1) Prior to approval by the Board, a preparation program for early childhood education or elementary education shall:

  (a) align, as appropriate, with:

  (i) the 2010 National Association for the Education of Young Children Standards for Initial and Advanced Early Childhood Professional Preparation Programs; or

  (ii) the CAEP 2018 K-6 Elementary Teacher Preparation Standards; and

  (b) require the demonstration of competency in:

  (i) the areas outlined in Section R277-304-3;

  (ii) the appropriate content knowledge needed to teach:

  (A) literacy, including listening, speaking, writing, and reading;

  (B) mathematics;

  (C) physical and life science;

  (D) health and physical education;

  (E) social studies; and

  (F) fine arts;

  (iii) the science of reading instruction including:

  (A) phonemic awareness;

  (B) phonics;

  (C) fluency;

  (D) vocabulary; and

  (E) comprehension;

  (iv) the science of mathematics instruction, including:

  (A) quantitative reasoning;

  (B) problem solving;

  (C) representation;

  (D) numeracy; and

  (E) a balance of procedural and conceptual understanding; and

  (v) early childhood development and learning.

  (2) For a program applicant accepted after January 1, 2020, a preparation program for early childhood or elementary education shall require multiple opportunities for a program applicant to successfully demonstrate application of knowledge and skills gained through the program in a school-based setting in each of the following:

  (a) all requirements outlined in Subsection R277-304-3(6);

  (b) demonstrating content specific pedagogy in each of the areas outlined in Subsection R277-304-4(1)(b)(ii);

  (c) diagnosing students struggling with reading and planning and implenting remediation for those students; and

  (d) diagnosing students struggling with mathematics and planning and implenting remediation for those students.

  (3) An educator preparation program shall apply the standards in this Section R277-304-4 to the specific age group or grade level for which the program of preparation is designed.

  (a) An early childhood education program shall focus primarily on early childhood development and learning in kindergarten through grade 3.

  (b) An elementary program shall include both early childhood development and learning and elementary content and pedagogy in kindergarten through grade 6.