Standard 3 Aspect B

Preparation programs ensure that candidates, upon completion, are ready to engage in professional practice, to adapt to a variety of professional settings, and to grow throughout their careers. Effective program practices include: consistent offering of coherent curricula; high-quality quality, diverse clinical experiences; dynamic, mutually beneficial partnerships with stakeholders; and comprehensive and transparent quality assurance processes informed by trustworthy evidence. Each aspect of the program is appropriate to its context and to the credential or degree sought.

Description of Rationale for Partnerships:
California Agricultural Education has a unique process for selecting cooperating schools and placing candidates in those schools. The California Department of Education staff develops and updates annually a list of approved cooperating schools for placing agriculture student teachers. There is an established list of criteria for schools to be placed on the approved cooperating schools list. First, the five California universities that place agriculture student teachers collaborate on selecting sites for each institution. Once sites are selected, each university contacts the schools allocated to them. Due to the small number of agriculture teachers at the schools, student teachers are often placed at a considerable distance from the home campus. For example, Fresno State often places student teachers at schools as far away as Bakersfield and Lodi and sometimes at a greater distance. In addition to following the above procedures, the Fresno State Agricultural Education Program also follows the Fresno State procedures for student teacher placement.

Description of Clinical Experiences: 
Candidates complete three field placements, the first is the Ag Ed 50 placement for undergraduate students to observe for a minimum of 45 hours and complete assignments to orient them to the teaching profession. After entering the credential program students are placed at an initial student teaching site for half a day and enrolled in a one-unit seminar that meets one day a week. Candidates during their final semester are placed at a different school site for full- time student teaching. Agriculture Specialist candidates are also enrolled in a three-unit seminar during this semester to share successes and problems and to develop strategies to improve their teaching. Cooperating master teachers complete three agriculture specialist evaluation forms and two single subject evaluation forms during this semester. They also verify the competencies that candidates meet during initial and final student teaching.

Partnerships Table:

Aspect C →