(1) Candidates for agricultural education teacher endorsement shall have one year (2000 hours) of practical farm or agricultural-related experience within five years prior to completion of the program.

(2) The program requires that successful candidates:

(a) demonstrate essential skills and knowledge including the scientific/technical, safety, and career information in the following areas:

(i) agricultural, natural, and environmental resource science;

(ii) agricultural business management and entrepreneurship;

(iii) horticultural science;

(iv) animal science;

(v) crop science;

(vi) soil science;

(vii) food science;

(viii) agriculture mechanical technology;

(ix) biotechnology; and

(x) technology applications in agriculture;

(b) demonstrates a philosophy of vocational education, which reflects the unique student/community and industry interaction and includes the biological, physical, and applied sciences, personal leadership, and school-to-career components of a comprehensive agricultural education program;

(c) demonstrate competence in the development of a comprehensive instructional program based on identified agriculture industry demographic and technological advances, including Montana American Indian agricultural contributions, while recognizing the social, economic, and demographic diversity of the community in conjunction with a partnership of students, community, business, industry, tribes, families, and an appointed advisory committee;

(d) demonstrate the development of personal and leadership competencies (e.g., citizenship, personal development, goal setting, parliamentary procedure, and teamwork);

(e) demonstrate the skills and abilities to implement and manage student supervised agricultural experience programs including:

(i) accounting practices;

(ii) career experiences;

(iii) entrepreneurial activities;

(iv) student portfolio development;

(v) on-site instruction; and

(vi) job-related skills;

(f) demonstrates the skills and abilities to develop, utilize, and manage dedicated educational facilities with current and emerging equipment, resources, library, media, and electronic technology, and maintain a safe environment during classroom, laboratory, leadership, and supervised agricultural experiences (facilities are related to instructional areas mentioned in (1));

(g) demonstrate the scientific process of critical thinking and problem-solving in the preparation of research experiences in the classroom, laboratory, greenhouse, leadership, and supervised agricultural experiences; and

(h) demonstrate research-based strategies to meet the diverse learning needs of all students by applying and integrating the state's learning goals, agricultural workplace competencies, and essential academic learning requirements in program implementation and assessment, including 20-1-501, MCA.