Missouri Revised Statutes § 168.025 - Teacher externships, requirements — rulemaking authority
AI-assisted research summary: The two education departments must create, publish, and update teacher externship requirements and an equivalency schedule, and certain school districts or charter schools must credit completed certified teacher externships on salary schedules and pay teachers accordingly.
168.025. Teacher externships, requirements — rulemaking authority. — 1. For purposes of this section, "teacher externship" means an experience in which a teacher, supervised by his or her school or school district, gains practical experience at a business located in Missouri through observation and interaction with employers and employees. 2. The department of economic development and the department of elementary and secondary education shall develop and recommend: (1) Requirements for teacher externships that can be considered the equivalent of the completion of credit hours in graduate-level courses for purposes of salary schedules; and (2) An equivalency schedule that sets forth the number of credit hours in graduate-level courses that shall be considered equivalent to and awarded for each type of teacher externship. To classify teacher externships and determine the number of credit hours that would be appropriate for each type, the length of the teacher externship, the practical experience gained, or any other factor deemed relevant may be considered. 3. The department of economic development and the department of elementary and secondary education shall adopt and publish on their websites, before July 1, 2020, requirements for teacher externships that can be considered the equivalent of the completion of credit hours in graduate-level courses for purposes of salary schedules and an equivalency schedule as described in subsection 2 of this section. Any teacher externship that meets the published requirements shall be known as and considered a certified teacher externship for purposes of this section. 4. If a school district or charter school uses a salary schedule in which a teacher receives a higher salary if he or she has earned credit hours in graduate-level courses, the school district or charter school shall consider any teacher who has completed a certified teacher externship to have completed credit hours in graduate-level courses on its salary schedule in the manner prescribed by the equivalency schedule developed under this section and compensate the teacher accordingly. 5. The department of elementary and secondary education and the department of economic development may promulgate rules to implement the provisions of this section. Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028. This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable, and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536 to review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2019, shall be invalid and void. (L. 2019 H.B. 604, A.L. 2025 S.B. 68)