(a) The Legislature encourages any public or private institution of higher education that conducts any program of professional preparation for a teaching or services credential to operate and supervise, within that program, a field experience program, and to grant up to and including three semester units, or the equivalent, to any student who participates in that field experience program, whether that participation occurs before or after the granting of a credential. For purposes of this section, “field experience program” means a program under which students work with truant, habitual truant, or other at-promise pupils enrolled in any public elementary or secondary school, and may include student participation in home-school conferences and home referrals.
(b) School districts are encouraged to cooperate with public and private institutions of higher education in the operation of the field experience programs described in subdivision (a).