Minn. R. agency 188, ch. 8710, TEACHER STANDARDS, pt. 8710.3310

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 24, December 9, 2024

Part 8710.3310 - MIDDLE LEVEL ENDORSEMENT LICENSE FOR TEACHERS OF COMMUNICATION ARTS AND LITERATURE

Subpart 1.Scope of practice.

A teacher of communication arts and literature with a middle level endorsement license is authorized to teach students in grades 5 through 8 in any school organizational pattern.

Subp. 2.Licensure requirements.

A candidate for licensure as a middle level teacher of communication arts and literature shall:

A. hold one or more of the following classroom teaching licenses granted by the Board of Teaching: a life license; a current nonvocational entrance, nonrenewable, or professional license; or a current entrance or continuing secondary vocational license based on a degree program in agriculture education, business education, consumer homemaking and family life education, industrial education, or marketing education;

B. show verification of completing a preparation program approved under part 8700.7600 leading to licensure in middle level teaching of communication arts and literature for grades 5 through 8 in subpart 3; and

C. demonstrate completion of the equivalent of a college minor in communication arts and literature.

Subp. 3.Subject matter standards.

A candidate for licensure as a middle level teacher of communication arts and literature must complete a preparation program under subpart 2, items B and C, that includes the candidate's demonstration of the knowledge and skills in items A to D.

A. A teacher of middle level students understands the nature of early adolescence and the needs of young adolescents. The teacher must understand and apply:

(1) the research base for and best practices of middle level education;

(2) the educational principles relevant to the physical, social, emotional, moral, and cognitive development of young adolescents;

(3) the concepts of "belonging" and "family connectedness" as crucial to the development of young adolescents; and

(4) the process and necessity of collaboration with families and other adults in support of the learning of young adolescents.

B. A teacher of middle level students understands the teaching of an academic subject area that integrates understanding of the academic content with the teacher's understanding of pedagogy, students, learning, classroom management, and professional development. The teacher of middle level students in grades 5 through 8 must:

(1) develop curriculum goals and purposes based on the central concepts of the academic specialty and know how to apply instructional strategies and materials that are appropriate for middle level students and are specific to the academic content area;

(2) understand how to integrate curriculum across subject areas in developmentally appropriate ways;

(3) understand the role and alignment of district, school, and department mission and goals in program planning;

(4) understand the need for and how to connect student's schooling experiences with everyday life, the workplace, and further educational opportunities;

(5) know how to involve representatives of business, industry, and community organizations as active partners in creating educational opportunities;

(6) understand the role and purpose of cocurricular and extracurricular activities in the teaching and learning process; and

(7) understand the impact of reading ability on student achievement in the academic specialty, recognize the varying reading comprehension and fluency levels represented by students, and possess the strategies to assist students to read the academic specialty content more effectively.

C. A teacher with a middle level endorsement for teaching communication arts and literature in grades 5 through 8 must demonstrate knowledge of fundamental concepts of communication arts and literature and the connections among them. The teacher must:

(1) understand the literacy needs of young adolescents encompassing the need to comprehend narrative and technical writing; the need to successfully access available databases; the need to write at an interactive level, including a variety of personal formats; and the ability to interact on all cognitive levels through writing;

(2) understand the importance of building student schema and metacognition in comprehending new information at higher levels of thinking;

(3) possess the strategies and skills necessary to teach young adolescents how to use content area text structure as an aid to comprehension;

(4) possess the ability to use authentic assessment practices for the evaluation of young adolescents' development in literacy skills;

(5) possess the strategies and skills necessary to expand the vocabulary acquisition strategies of young adolescents as they grow in their literacy behaviors; and

(6) possess the strategies and skills necessary to develop the reading and writing behaviors of young adolescents across a breadth of content areas.

D. A teacher with a middle level endorsement for teaching communication arts and literature in grades 5 through 8 must demonstrate understanding and skills essential to the teaching and learning of reading, writing, speaking, listening, media literacy, and literature. The teacher must demonstrate the:

(1) knowledge of reading processes and instruction, including:

(a) orthographic knowledge and morphological relationships within words;

(b) the relation between word recognition and vocabulary knowledge, fluency, and comprehension in understanding text and content materials;

(c) the importance of direct and indirect vocabulary instruction that leads to enhanced general and domain-specific word knowledge;

(d) the relationships between and among comprehension processes related to print processing abilities, motivation, reader's interest, background knowledge, cognitive abilities, knowledge of academic discourse, and print and digital text; and

(e) the development of academic language and its impact on learning and school success;

(2) ability to use a wide range of instructional practices, approaches, methods, and curriculum materials to support reading instruction, including:

(a) the appropriate applications of a variety of instructional frameworks that are effective in meeting the needs of readers of varying proficiency levels and linguistic backgrounds in secondary settings;

(b) the ability to scaffold instruction for students who experience comprehension difficulties;

(c) the ability to develop and implement effective vocabulary strategies that help students understand words, including domain-specific content words;

(d) the ability to identify instructional practices, approaches, and methods, and match materials, print and digital, to the cognitive levels of readers, guided by an evidence-based rationale, which support the developmental, cultural, and linguistic differences of readers;

(e) implementation of a variety of grouping strategies that include individual, small group, and whole group reading experiences that promote enhanced comprehension of text; and

(f) the ability to plan instruction and select strategies that help students read and understand language, arts, and texts, and spur student interest in more complex reading materials, including the ability to help students:

i distinguish fact from opinion and the words that signal opinions and judgments in persuasive texts;

ii think critically: draw inferences or conclusions from facts, analyze author's purpose and point of view, evaluate author's argument and evidence, and synthesize information from more than one text; and

iii use aids such as glossaries and appendixes that pertain to reading, writing, and English language conventions;

(3) use of a variety of assessment practices to evaluate effective reading:

(a) understand the measurement systems and proper interpretation of assessment tools that determine individual student's reading level, fluency, comprehension abilities, and reading interests;

(b) use of data to set goals and objectives, make effective instructional decisions, and demonstrate responsiveness to student needs; and

(c) the ability to communicate results of assessments to specific individuals in accurate and coherent ways that indicate how the results might impact student achievement.

Subp. 3a.Student teaching and field experiences.

A candidate for licensure to teach communication arts and literature in grades 5 through 8 must apply the standards of effective practice in teaching students in this academic subject by completing a minimum of a four-week student teaching experience in a middle level placement in which the candidate is supervised by a cooperating teacher, and evaluated at least twice by qualified faculty supervisors in collaboration with the cooperating teachers. Candidates for licensure who hold a license at the elementary level must complete the student teaching experience with students in grade 7 or 8. Candidates for licensure who hold a license at the secondary level must complete the student teaching experience with students in grade 5 or 6.

Subp. 4. [See repealer.]

Subp. 5.Effective date.

The requirements of this part for licensure as a teacher of communication arts and literature to middle level students in grades 5 through 8 are effective on September 1, 2015, and thereafter.

Minn. R. agency 188, ch. 8710, TEACHER STANDARDS, pt. 8710.3310

34 SR 595; 39 SR 822

47 SR 983

Statutory Authority: MS s 122A.09