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The USDOE mandated a significant shift in the profession and required NCATE and TEAC (the former two accrediting bodies in education) to unite and allotted 5 years only for the emergence of a new professional accrediting body that would govern education for the US; thus, we have CAEP.   With this systemic shift, education became a "clinical profession" with rigorous standards committed to producing high-level practicing professionals for our nation's schools including all types of school personnel.

This course is the first course in a sequence of six clinical courses.Each clinical is part of the overall development of the professional educator with intentionally designed experiences. Clinicals V and VI are in consecutive semesters and creates a year-long educator preparation residency.  This system responds to the expectation of our industry that wants the professional semester (Clinical VI) not to be student teaching but the first semester of the professional career.  In Kentucky, student teaching is considered a professional teaching experience and candidates are considered in the same light as practicing educators.