(A) The superintendent of public instruction and the chancellor of higher education jointly shall establish the Ohio teacher residency program, which shall be a two-year, entry-level program for classroom teachers. Except as provided in division (B) of this section, the teacher residency program shall include at least the following components:

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(1) Mentoring by teachers, which may be provided online or in person. The state superintendent shall provide participants and mentors with access to online professional development resources and sample videos of Ohio classroom lessons submitted for the assessment prescribed under division (A)(3) of this section at no cost.

(2) Counseling, as determined necessary by the school district or school, to ensure that program participants receive needed professional development. The state superintendent shall provide to each participant who does not receive a passing score on the assessment under division (A)(3) of this section, at no cost, the opportunity to meet online with an instructional coach who is a certified assessor of the assessment to review the participant’s assessment score results and discuss improvement strategies and professional development.

Participants who choose to meet with an instructional coach shall select from an online pool of instructional coaches who have completed training and are approved by the state superintendent. The characteristics of each coach’s school or district, including its size, typology, and demographics, shall be made available. However, participants shall not be required to choose an instructional coach from a similar district or school.

Participants who have not taken the assessment under division (A)(3) of this section may meet online with instructional coaches approved by the state superintendent if the participant’s school district or school pays the costs associated with the meetings.

(3) Measures of appropriate progression through the program, which shall include the performance-based assessment prescribed by the state board of education for resident educators. The state board shall not limit the number of attempts to successfully complete the performance-based assessment.

An individual may submit the assessment between the first Tuesday of October and the first Friday of April of the individual’s second year of the program. The results of the assessment shall be returned within thirty days unless a new assessor is contracted, in which case the results shall be returned in forty-five days.

(B) No individual who is teaching career-technical courses under an alternative resident educator license issued under section 3319.26 of the Revised Code or rule of the state board shall be required to do either of the following:

(1) Complete the conditions of the Ohio teacher residency program that a participant, as of September 29, 2015, would have been required to complete during the participant’s first and second year of teaching under an alternative resident educator license.

(2) Take a performance-based assessment.

(C) The teacher residency program shall be aligned with the standards for teachers adopted by the state board under section 3319.61 of the Revised Code and best practices identified by the superintendent of public instruction.

(D) Each person who holds a resident educator license issued under section 3319.22 or 3319.227 of the Revised Code or an alternative resident educator license issued under section 3319.26 of the Revised Code shall participate in the teacher residency program. Successful completion of the program shall be required to qualify any such person for a professional educator license issued under section 3319.22 of the Revised Code.