Information for Iowa Secondary School Administrators

Program Descriptor

Professionals holding a baccalaureate degree or higher and possessing three years work experience may earn a teaching license in a secondary (7 - 12) content area by completing 18 hours of coursework, followed by successful teaching for one full, paid internship year in an Iowa secondary classroom under a IAC 279 probationary contract. A minimum of 60 hours of field experience prior to the internship year are completed from August through May and may occur in the school in which the internship is to take place. During the internship year, teacher interns complete 6 credit hours of courses/seminars and fully participate in the district mentor program.

Interns must have an Intern License. The internship year counts as the first year of the Initial License. Upon successful completion of the program, the intern will be eligible to apply for the Initial Teaching License and may complete the second year of teaching. Upon successful completion of the second year of teaching, the school administrator may recommend the teacher for the Standard Teaching License.

Intern teachers will be contracted with the district for the internship year and have the same rights and responsibilities as all other contracted probationary teachers within the district. Thus, the intern teacher is expected to be treated the same as all beginning teachers.

The number of hours/periods of teaching per day is determined by the needs of the school, but the intern does need to complete 160 days of service during his/her intern teaching year.

Pre-internship Field Experiences

Candidates will locate pre-intern field experience sites and present a Letter of Introduction from the ITILP for signature by the principal. Schools agree to provide experiences described in:

Fall Term Letter of Introduction    
Spring Term Letter of Introduction        
May Term Letter of Introduction          

Expectations and Requirements from Districts for Intern Success

Once the contract (IAC 279) has been accepted by the intern, the principal will need to:

  1. Ensure a successful school climate for candidates such as resources, support, and instruction, recognizing that the intern must participate in the final two 3-credit hour courses/seminars during internship year.
  2. Ensure that the intern, as you would an initially licensed teacher, will not be assigned multiple extra-curricular assignments*.
  3. Assign a state approved mentor to the candidate and monitor the candidate’s participation in the district’s state-approved mentor program. Progress reports will be provided to the Board of Educational Examiners on a monthly basis. This report form will be provided to you by the BoEE.
  4. Provide supervision of the intern in accordance with your districts supervision/evaluation process for an initially licensed teacher. The building principal will conduct quarterly evaluations of the intern, using the Iowa Evaluator Model, to determine whether the intern is progressing toward meeting the Iowa Teaching Standards and will file the quarterly reports with the Iowa Teacher Intern License Pathway (ITILP) Coordinator. The report form will be provided by ITILP. The ITILP is responsible for making the recommendation for the Initial License in consultation with the evaluating principal.
  5. Participate in a cooperative, communicative process with the ITILP faculty, supervisors, and program administrators to ensure the success of the intern candidate throughout the intern year. As part of the Intern Teacher License application process, the intern will sign a waiver allowing school district administration, mentors and ITILP members to share information that is helpful in ensuring the success.
  6. Anticipate scheduled visits to the school and candidate by ITILP supervisors, program coordinator, and program faculty. The district administrator will receive prior notice of an impending visit.
  7. Provide data to program coordinator upon request.

*By Iowa Code, interns complete the licensure course requirements during the internship year and are, therefore, not to be overloaded with extracurricular duties not directly related to the intern's teaching assignment.