# Title 67.1 — Education Standards and Practices Board

## Article 67.1-02 — Program Approval and Educator Licensure

## Chapter 67.1-02-01 — Program Approval

### § 67.1-02-01-01. Student teachers.

A student teacher is one who teaches in a regular classroom situation as part of the requirements
in professional preparation.
1. All college students in education must have classroom-related preprofessional experience
prior to student teaching. A criminal background investigation including the bureau of criminal
investigation and federal bureau of investigation must be completed prior to any student
teaching experience.
2. The student teacher should be assigned by a college or university to a cooperating school on
a full-time block. A full-time block is construed as a full day for ten consecutive weeks with
exceptions documented through program approval. The student teacher must be placed in a
classroom where the cooperating teacher is regularly assigned. Additional student teaching
experiences shall be determined by the training institution. Participation in one continuous
semester of classroom teaching as authorized by section 67.1-02-01-06 must be considered a
qualifying student teaching experience.
3. In the event of an emergency, the student teacher may be placed as a substitute in the
student teacher's regularly assigned classroom for a period of time not to exceed two
consecutive days, one time, except as otherwise authorized by section 67.1-02-01-06.
4. Student teachers may be placed only in accredited schools.
5. Teaching experience cannot be used for a waiver of student teaching, except as specified in
section 67.1-02-01-06 or subdivision d of subsection 1 of section 67.1-02-02-02.
6. Student teachers may receive a stipend from the school where they have student taught.
7. A student teacher will be eligible for a forty-day provisional license upon completion of all
requirements for the student teacher's bachelor's degree minus the awarding of the degree
and the official transcript as documented by the institution of higher education registrar. Once
the degree has been awarded and the official transcript has been received, the student
teacher must complete the initial application process.

History: Effective July 1, 1995; amended effective October 1, 1998; March 1, 2000; April 1, 2006;
July 1, 2008; October 1, 2020; August 9, 2023; January 1, 2024; April 1, 2024.
General Authority: NDCC 15.1-13-08, 15.1-13-09, 15.1-13-10
Law Implemented: NDCC 15.1-13-08, 15.1-13-10
### § 67.1-02-01-02. Cooperating teachers.

A cooperating teacher is the teacher in the cooperating school who works with, helps, and advises
the student teacher. Every cooperating teacher must have acquired a minimum of two semester hours
or three quarter hours in supervision of a student teaching course or an inservice requirement that
meets the necessary essentials in preparing cooperating teachers to supervise student teachers.
1. The cooperating teacher must have at least three years of teaching experience. The
cooperating teacher must have at least one year of teaching experience in the school system
in which the student teacher is being supervised.
2. Before being accepted and approved as a cooperating teacher, the teacher must be
recommended by the administration of the school in which student teaching is performed.
3. A cooperating teacher who cannot recommend a student teacher for teaching or licensure
shall have a conference with the college supervisor and the student teacher prior to the
student teaching evaluation and recommendation.
History: Effective July 1, 1995; amended effective October 1, 1998; March 1, 2000; August 1, 2002;
October 1, 2020; January 1, 2024.
General Authority: NDCC 15.1-13-08, 15.1-13-09, 15.1-13-10
Law Implemented: NDCC 15.1-13-08, 15.1-13-10
### § 67.1-02-01-03. College supervisors.

A college supervisor is the college faculty member who is in charge of guiding, helping, and
directing the student teacher.
1. The college supervisor must have early childhood, elementary, middle level, or secondary
teaching experience at the level of supervision.
2. A college supervisor, after meeting with the administration of the school in which student
teaching is to be done, shall meet with the cooperating teacher and provide a copy of the state
student teaching guidelines.
3. The college supervisor shall make a copy of the student teacher's file available to the
cooperating teacher prior to the arrival of the student teacher.
4. A college supervisor shall make at least two visitations during the student's teaching
experience, after which the college supervisor shall hold a joint conference with the
cooperating teacher and the student teacher, or provide each a written critique of the
visitation.
History: Effective July 1, 1995; amended effective October 1, 1998; July 1, 2008; October 1, 2020.
General Authority: NDCC 15.1-13-08, 15.1-13-09, 15.1-13-10
Law Implemented: NDCC 15.1-13-08, 15.1-13-10
### § 67.1-02-01-04. Program approval of teacher education for licensure.

The board shall set procedures for and implement a system of program approval for teacher
education programs for state licensure of educators. The program approval process shall include the
federal requirement of identifying and reporting for title II of the Higher Education Act.

1. The board may enter into approval agreements with national accrediting agencies.
2. The procedures for program approval must be reviewed and revised at least every five years
with input from state-approved institutions. Public hearings must be provided in accordance
with North Dakota Century Code chapter 28-32.
3. New procedures become effective two years after their publication by the office of the
legislative council in accordance with North Dakota Century Code section 28-32-19. During
the two-year transition period following publication, institutions may elect to be reviewed either
under the previously published procedures or the newly published procedures.
4. The board shall gather information through the program approval process to determine
whether institutions and individual preparation programs meet the North Dakota standards for
the preparation of educators for state licensure. The board shall issue decisions of approval,
provisional approval, continuing approval, approval with conditions to be met, approval with
probation, or denial or revocation of approval.
5. The standards will be the criteria used to evaluate undergraduate and graduate education
programs leading to North Dakota educational licensure.
History: Effective July 1, 1995; amended effective October 1, 1998; March 1, 2000; August 1, 2002;
October 1, 2020.
General Authority: NDCC 15.1-13-08, 15.1-13-09
Law Implemented: NDCC 15.1-13-08
### § 67.1-02-01-05. Program approval standards.

Graduates successfully completing all the requirements of programs approved by the board must
have completed the criminal background investigation including the bureau of criminal investigation and
the federal bureau of investigation and be recommended by their degree granting institution for North
Dakota licensure on that basis. Graduates of programs other than those approved by the board are
subject to meeting the same standards criteria through the review of official transcripts.
History: Effective July 1, 1995; amended effective October 1, 1998; March 1, 2000; August 1, 2002;
July 1, 2008; July 1, 2010; October 1, 2020.
General Authority: NDCC 15.1-13-08, 15.1-13-09, 15.1-13-10
Law Implemented: NDCC 15.1-13-08, 15.1-13-10
### § 67.1-02-01-06. Preservice teacher authorization.

A student teacher may be eligible for a preservice teacher authorization to be the teacher of record
for one semester upon completion of the following:
1. Teacher education coursework;
2. Evidence of a positive evaluation from a field experience;
3. Letter of recommendation from the university or college;
4. Letter of request from a district indicating they were not able to find a regularly licensed
individual, and evidence of an onsite collaborating teacher, including the name and role of the
onsite collaborating teacher; and
5. A detailed plan of support, including release time for the teacher to observe another
classroom.
History: Effective August 9, 2023; amended effective July 1, 2025.
General Authority: NDCC 15.1-13-08, 15.1-13-09, 15.1-13-10

Law Implemented: NDCC 15.1-13-08, 15.1-13-10
