Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 281 - Education Department › Title II - Accredited Schools and School Districts › Chapter 16 - Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program › Rule 281-16.1 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
"Applicant"
means a school district applying
				  to become an approved local program. Only public school districts in Iowa may
				  apply for state funds under this chapter.
"Approved local program"
means the same as
				  defined in Iowa Code section
				  256C.1.
"Assessment"
means a systematic ongoing
				  procedure for obtaining information from observations, interviews, portfolios,
				  and tests that can be used to make judgments about the strengths and needs of
				  individual children and plan appropriate instruction.
"Comprehensive services"
means the provision
				  of quality, developmentally appropriate early learning experiences consistent
				  with age-relevant abilities or milestones; extended day child care services;
				  developmental screenings, including health, hearing, and vision screenings;
				  transportation; and family education and support services.
"Curriculum"
means a research-based or
				  evidence-based written framework that is comprehensive, addresses the needs of
				  the whole child, and provides a guide for decision making about content,
				  instructional methods, and assessment.
"Department"
means the same as defined in
				  Iowa Code section 256C.1.
"Developmentally appropriate"
means
				  practices that are based upon knowledge of how children develop and learn and
				  that are responsive to the individual child's learning strengths, interests,
				  and needs.
"Director"
means the same as defined in Iowa
				  Code section 256C.1.
"Eligible child"
means the same as defined
				  in Iowa Code section 256C.3(1).
"Family education and support"
means any
				  developmentally appropriate activity or information, provided either formally
				  or informally to parents, that supports the success of children and their
				  families to reach desired results.
"Paraeducator"
means a certified educational
				  assistant as defined in Iowa Code section
				  272.1(7)  and
				  licensed under 282-Chapter 24.
"Prekindergarten program"
means an education
				  program offered by a school district or by an accredited nonpublic school as
				  defined in 281-Chapter 12.
"Preschool budget enrollment"
means the same
				  as defined in Iowa Code section
				  256C.5.
"Preschool foundation aid"
means the same as
				  defined in Iowa Code section
				  256C.5.
"Preschool program"
means the statewide
				  voluntary preschool program for four-year-old children created in Iowa Code
				  chapter 256C.
"Program standards"
means the expectations
				  for the characteristics or quality of early childhood settings, centers, and
				  schools approved by the department, on or before January 31, 2024. Approved
				  program standards include National Association for the Education of Young
				  Children (NAEYC) Program Standards and Accreditation Criteria, Head Start
				  Program Performance Standards, the Iowa Quality Preschool Program Standards
				  (QPPS) and Criteria, or other approved program standards as determined by the
				  department.
"School district"
means the same as defined
				  in Iowa Code section 257.2.
"Staff member"
means an individual who
				  implements preschool activities under the direct supervision of a teacher.
				  Staff members include paraeducators, teacher aides and teacher associates. All
				  staff members are to meet the program standards defined herein.
"Teacher"
means an individual who holds a
				  valid practitioner's license issued by the board of educational examiners under
				  Iowa Code chapter 272 and holds an endorsement from the board of educational
				  examiners that includes prekindergarten or kindergarten. There is no obligation
				  that the teacher be an employee of the applicant district; the teacher may be
				  employed by a private provider or other public agency with which the district
				  has entered into an agreement or contract under Iowa Code chapter
				  28E.