{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-6-186.1","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 70, § 70-6-186.1","heading":"TeachForwardOK pilot program — Applications for","body":"teacher education programs — Report.\n\nA. The Commission for Educational Quality and Accountability\n\nshall establish and maintain a two-year pilot program to be known as\n\nTeachForwardOK to provide new, high-quality pathways to enter the\n\nteaching profession and increase the number of teachers in this\n\nstate’s workforce.\n\nB. Within thirty (30) days of the effective date of this act,\n\nthe Commission shall issue a request for proposals to select\n\ntechnical assistance providers to evaluate teacher education\n\nprograms in institutions of higher education within The Oklahoma\n\nState System of Higher Education that are accredited by the\n\nCommission pursuant to Section 6-186 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma\n\nStatutes.\n\nC. To participate in TeachForwardOK, a teacher education\n\nprogram shall submit an application to the Commission in the manner\n\nand on a form prescribed by the Commission. The Commission shall\n\nestablish criteria to approve applicants. Subject to the\n\navailability of funds, the Commission shall award grants to approved\n\napplicant teacher education programs. The Commission may use any\n\ngifts, grants, devises, and donations from any public or private\n\nsource and monies appropriated by the Legislature for the purpose of\n\nimplementing the provisions of this section. Grants shall be used\n\nas incentives to participate and to contract with a technical\n\nassistance provider selected by the Commission pursuant to\n\nsubsection B of this section. The provider shall evaluate, at a\n\nminimum, the following:\n\n1. Teacher candidate recruitment and completion;\n\n2. Whether the teacher education program prepares teacher\n\ncandidates effectively;\n\n3. Whether the teacher education program meets workforce needs\n\nin this state; and\n\n4. Innovative ways to recruit nontraditional teacher candidates\n\nunique to the teacher education program.\n\nD. 1. Evaluation reports prepared by a technical assistance\n\nprovider shall be electronically submitted to the approved applicant\n\nteacher education program and the Commission.\n\n2. Within ninety (90) days of receiving the report, the teacher\n\neducation program shall electronically submit a report response to\n\nthe Commission detailing how the teacher education program plans to\n\naddress the evaluation report’s findings. The report response shall\n\nprioritize innovative approaches to provide new, high-quality\n\npathways to enter the teaching profession and increase the number of\n\nteachers in this state’s workforce including, but not limited to:\n\na. developing a system for recruiting eligible teacher\n\ncandidates, such as:\n\n(1) a pathway for high school students to become\n\nparaprofessionals,\n\n(2) a pathway for paraprofessionals to become\n\nteachers, and\n\n(3) a pathway for individuals with bachelor’s degrees\n\nto become teachers,\n\nb. developing a curriculum that includes intensive on-\n\nthe-job training for teacher candidates,\n\nc. identifying a mastery-based evaluation system to\n\ndetermine when eligible teacher candidates have\n\nmastered the skills and competencies necessary for\n\ngraduation from an apprenticeship program and\n\noutlining benchmarks that teacher candidates must meet\n\nas they progress through on-the-job training,\n\nd. offering a schedule that enables teacher candidates to\n\nwork full time in a public school district while\n\nparticipating in an apprenticeship program and\n\nallowing paraprofessionals to continue in their\n\npositions, or\n\ne. providing a flexible schedule for paraprofessionals\n\nparticipating in an apprenticeship program to support\n\ntheir success in the program that will facilitate\n\ncourse completion and on-the-job training.\n\nE. Subject to the availability of funding, the Commission shall\n\nreview the report responses submitted pursuant to subsection D of\n\nthis section and select one approved applicant teacher education\n\nprogram to receive Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00) to\n\nenact the initiatives outlined in the program’s report response.\ngram that will facilitate\n\ncourse completion and on-the-job training.\n\nE. Subject to the availability of funding, the Commission shall\n\nreview the report responses submitted pursuant to subsection D of\n\nthis section and select one approved applicant teacher education\n\nprogram to receive Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00) to\n\nenact the initiatives outlined in the program’s report response.\n\nF. By December 31, 2027, the Commission shall electronically\n\nsubmit a report of TeachForwardOK’s findings and recommendations to\n\nthe Governor, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the\n\nSpeaker of the House of Representatives.\n\nG. The Commission shall promulgate rules to implement the\n\nprovisions of this section.","path":["OK Code","Title 70"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os70.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"1c216f440f29028320ff49842fda9629b4f94ac051028726d89e2975d73fc122","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-6-186","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-6-187"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}