Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 441 - Human Services Department › Title XII - Licensing and Approved Standards › Chapter 118 - Child Care Quality Rating System › Rule 441-118.9 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
"Action plan"
means a written, detailed
				  sequence of steps taken or activities performed to reach one or more
				  goals.
"All staff"
means program administrator or
				  director, assistant program administrator or assistant director, on-site
				  supervisor, lead teacher and staff counted as part of the staff-to-child
				  ratio.
"Area education agency"
or
"AEA"
means an agency working as an educational partner with
				  public and accredited nonpublic schools to help learners, school staff, parents
				  and communities. AEAs provide early intervention services, special education
				  support services, media and technology services, a variety of instructional
				  services, professional development and leadership to promote school improvement
				  as established in Iowa Code chapter 273.
"Assessment tool"
means a tool used to
				  gather and provide educators, parents, guardians, and caretakers with critical
				  information about a child's educational growth and development. Assessment
				  tools are used to determine what children in care know, understand and are able
				  to do. Assessment results drive the ways teachers support and assess children's
				  learning, plan their curriculum to support each child, monitor progress and
				  identify next steps.
"Assistant program administrator"
or
"assistant director"
means the staff member working directly
				  under the administrator or director and assisting with program planning,
				  managing, marketing and directing.
"Assistant teacher"
means any staff member
				  working under the supervision of a lead teacher or other licensed personnel who
				  has the ultimate responsibility for the design and implementation of education
				  and related service programs. Other terms used may include paraprofessional,
				  educational aide, associate, or instructional aide.
"Caring for our children"
or
"CFOC"
means the national health and safety performance
				  standard guidelines for early care and education programs representing the best
				  practices based on evidence, expertise, and experience for quality health and
				  safety policies for early care and education settings.
"Child and adult care food program"
or
"CACFP"
means a federal United States Department of
				  Agriculture (USDA) CNP that provides a subsidy for serving nutritious meals and
				  snacks to eligible children and adults who are enrolled at participating child
				  care centers, homes, and adult day care centers. CACFP also provides
				  reimbursements for meals served to children and youth participating in after
				  school care programs, children residing in emergency shelters, and adults over
				  the age of 60 or living with a disability and enrolled in adult day care
				  facilities. In order to qualify for reimbursement, the meals served must meet
				  federal guidelines.
"Child care experience"
means knowledge and
				  skills learned through employment or volunteer work in a licensed child care
				  center, a school-aged only program, a preschool, a registered child development
				  home or as a child care home provider.
"Child care nurse consultant"
or
"CCNC"
means a registered nurse licensed in the state of Iowa
				  who has completed training incorporating the nationally approved child care
				  health competencies for health and safety in child care and early education.
				  The CCNC provides on-site consultation, technical assistance, care planning for
				  children with special health needs and training to child care and early
				  education providers regarding health and safety. The CCNC is employed by or has
				  a written agreement with the local Title V maternal and child health agency or
				  the Iowa department of public health (IDPH) for service delivery directly
				  through the state-level Title V maternal and child health program administered
				  by the IDPH bureau of family health.
"Child care resource and referral"
or
"CCR&R"
means the statewide (regionally based) agency
				  focused on supporting quality child care throughout the state of Iowa.
				  CCR&R serves as the starting point for all IQ4K applications and provides
				  free technical assistance and consultation to providers throughout the IQ4K
				  application process.
"Child development associate credential"
or
"CDA"
means a nationally recognized credential earned by
				  individuals working in the early child care and education field. The CDA
				  credential is based on a core set of competency standards and includes an
				  assessment process by the Council for Professional Recognition.
"Child development home"
means a person or
				  program registered under Iowa Code section
				  237A.3A
				  that may provide child care to seven or more children at any one time.
"Child Net certification"
means a verified
				  completion of the 25-hour ChildNet training series and completion of the
				  certification process.
"Child Net training"
means the 25-hour
				  training series offered through CCR&R focused on areas specifically
				  designed for child development home providers.
"Child nutrition programs"
or
"CNP"
means federally funded programs administered by the Food
				  and Nutrition Service (FNS). The programs are designed to help ensure that
				  children receive nutritious meals and snacks to assist in promoting health and
				  educational readiness. Programs serving nutritious meals and snacks are
				  reimbursed for participating.
"Classroom assessment scoring system"
or
"CLASS"
means an observation instrument that assesses the
				  quality of teacher-child interactions in center-based classrooms.
"Community resources"
means the various
				  people, places or services that offer support to child care programs and the
				  children and families they serve.
"Coprovider"
means a second approved
				  provider in a Category C registered child development home.
"Culturally sensitive"
means the knowledge,
				  skills, attributes and beliefs that enable people to work well with, respond
				  effectively to and be supportive of people in a cross-cultural setting.
"Curriculum"
means a written plan that
				  outlines how students shall be taught. The curriculum consists of the plans for
				  the learning experiences through which children acquire knowledge, skills,
				  abilities, and understanding. The curriculum may include lessons, instructional
				  materials, teaching techniques, or activities.
"Department"
means the Iowa department of
				  human services.
"Developmental screening tool"
means a
				  research-based questionnaire or checklist that asks questions about a child's
				  development, including but not limited to language, movement, thinking,
				  behavior and emotions. Developmental screening shall not be used to establish a
				  diagnosis for a child but rather to help educators, parents, guardians or
				  caretakers determine whether more in-depth assessment may be the next
				  appropriate step.
"Early childhood-positive behavioral interventions
				  and supports"
or
"EC-PBIS"
means Iowa's pyramid model
				  initiative which offers early childhood programs a comprehensive,
				  evidence-based approach to promoting social-emotional development and
				  addressing challenging behaviors among young children. EC-PBIS creates
				  nurturing environments for children equipped with supported staff trained to
				  respond to challenging behaviors to support the goal of fostering positive
				  mental health at a young age.
"EC-PBIS module training"
means a series of
				  training intended for staff working with young children. The training teaches
				  the pyramid model, which is a framework of evidence-based practices for
				  promoting young children's healthy social and emotional development. There are
				  different versions of the training depending on what setting and what age group
				  the staff member is working with. Versions include:
1. EC-PBIS for Preschool (modules 1-3) intended for staff
				  working in classroom-based programs with ages three to five.
2. EC-PBIS for Infants and Toddlers (modules 1-3) intended
				  for staff working in classroom-based programs with ages zero to three.
3. EC-PBIS for Family Child Care (modules 1-2) intended for
				  staff working with multiple ages of children in family child care settings.
"Eligible applicants"
means programs meeting
				  the definition of "facility."
"Environment rating scale"
or
"ERS"
means a set of early childhood tools or scales developed
				  through the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute of the University
				  of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The scales are used to measure classroom and
				  program quality through assessments by a trained, independent observer. The
				  scales may also be used for self-assessment and program improvement. Four
				  scales are available based on the type of program and ages of children in the
				  classroom assessed:
1. Family child care environment rating scale (FCCERS) for
				  programs in a family child care or child development home setting for children
				  from infancy through school age.
2. Infant and toddler environment rating scale (ITERS) for
				  groups of children in center-based care from birth up to three years of
				  age.
3. Early childhood environment rating scale (ECERS) for
				  center-based care with groups of children aged three through five years.
4. School-age care environment rating scale (SACERS) for
				  center-based programs with groups of school-age children aged 5 through 12
				  years.
"ERS assessment"
means an evaluation
				  conducted through an on-site observation of an early childhood care and
				  education classroom or program using one of the environment rating scales:
				  FCCERS, ITERS, ECERS, or SACERS. The assessment is completed by a trained
				  assessor and administered by entities approved by the department or the
				  department's designee.
"ERS improvement plan"
means the action plan
				  created by a program or classroom to lay out ideas for improving program
				  quality. It uses a framework based on ERS criteria and definitions. The ERS
				  improvement plan follows and builds upon a completed ERS classroom or program
				  self-assessment using the appropriate ERS.
"ERS score sheet"
means the form used to
				  evaluate and score a program or classroom based on the ERS items and
				  indicators.
"Facility"
means a licensed child care
				  center, a preschool, a program operating under the authority of an accredited
				  school district or nonpublic school, or a registered child development
				  home.
"Full-time child care experience"
means
				  knowledge and skills learned through employment or volunteer work, at least 30
				  hours per week or 130 hours per month, in a licensed child care center, a
				  school-aged only program, a preschool, or a registered child development home
				  or as a child care home provider.
"Head Start program performance standards"
means the mandatory regulations that grantees and delegate agencies must
				  implement in order to operate a Head Start program. The performance standards
				  are designed to ensure that Head Start goals and objectives are implemented
				  successfully.
"Health and safety checklist for early care and
				  education (ECE) programs"
means the nationally recognized quality
				  assessment tool, conducted by a CCNC or another designee as approved by the
				  department, that uses key observable health and safety standards from CFOC. If
				  followed, these standards are most likely to prevent adverse outcomes for
				  children and staff in ECE settings. For the health and safety checklist,
				  "observable" is defined as the following:
1. Requires interaction with the staff or director only to
				  ask where to find an item or identify products.
2. Able to observe when walking through a program over a
				  two-hour period of time.
3. The standard or item can be seen and evaluated in an
				  objective way.
4. Observation may include opening windows, taking
				  measurements (for example, measuring the depth of an impact surface or height
				  of equipment), smelling for odors and reading labels (for example, checking
				  dates on medication labels).
5. Does not require checking records or documents, such as
				  child immunizations, professional development records or written program
				  policies.
"Internal coach"
means the staff member,
				  identified by the program administrator, responsible for going into classrooms
				  and supporting staff on the implementation of the EC-PBIS policies and
				  practices. The internal coach shall be a member of the program's positive
				  behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) leadership team.
"Iowa early care and education program administrator
				  roles career pathway"
means the statewide professional development
				  path (
www.ecieducationpathway.org
) designed
				  to assist early childhood center administrators or other early childhood
				  leaders to develop a personal professional development plan as an early
				  childhood educator II or early childhood educator III.
"Iowa early care and education teaching roles career
				  pathway"
means the statewide professional development path (
www.ecieducationpathway.org
) designed
				  to assist early childhood teachers in a licensed center or a child development
				  home to develop a personal professional development plan as an early childhood
				  educator I, an early childhood educator II or an early childhood educator
				  III.
"Iowa early learning standards"
or
"IELS"
means a comprehensive resource tool developed to
				  support and enhance children's learning and development. The IELS provides
				  descriptions of the knowledge, behaviors and skills that children from birth
				  through age five may demonstrate and can be used to share information with
				  anyone who cares for or works with children during the first 2,000 days of
				  life.
"Iowa quality preschool program standards"
means standards developed by the Iowa department of education based on the ten
				  standards of the National Association for the Education of Young Children
				  accreditation.
"IQ4K teaching staff qualifications
				  worksheet"
means the tool used to calculate an average score in the
				  area of teaching staff qualification using a combination of the educational
				  background and related work experience of identified teaching staff
				  members.
"Leadership team"
means the team of people
				  that is working to implement a programwide EC-PBIS. The team is composed of
				  program administrators, teachers and a coach. The leadership team is
				  responsible for guiding the programwide process and making decisions on how to
				  support implementation of the EC-PBIS practices throughout the whole
				  program.
"Lead teacher"
means the staff member
				  responsible for providing a safe and developmentally appropriate classroom that
				  complies with legislation, policies, and procedures. The lead teacher nurtures
				  children, plans and provides instruction and other activities, ensures student
				  safety, directs the work of other teachers in the classroom, communicates with
				  parents and guardians, is familiar with emergency procedures, and ensures
				  children with diverse needs are included and have their needs met at all
				  times.
"Meals"
means any breakfasts, lunches,
				  snacks and suppers the child care program serves to children while in
				  care.
"National Administrator Credential"
or
"NAC"
means the 40-hour comprehensive training for child care
				  and education administrators and successful completion of the certification
				  process offered through the National Early Childhood Program Accreditation
				  (NECPA) Commission.
"National School Lunch Program"
or
"NSLP"
means a federal CNP operating in public and nonprofit
				  private schools and residential child care institutions. The NSLP provides
				  nutritionally balanced, low-cost or no-cost lunches to children each school
				  day.
"On-site supervisor"
means the individual
				  responsible for the daily supervision of the program who must be on site daily,
				  either during the hours of operation that children are present or at a minimum
				  of eight hours of the program's hours of operation.
"Prevent-Teach-Reinforce for Young Children"
or
"PTR-YC"
means the training based on the PTR-YC process for
				  use in early childhood care and education settings including pre-K classrooms
				  and consists of teams and goal setting, practical data collection, functional
				  behavioral assessment, intervention planning and implementation. All steps are
				  designed for use by early childhood providers.
"Professional development plan"
means the
				  individualized plan used to improve knowledge and skills. Professional
				  development plans shall address the following:
1. Assessment of an individual's current interests, knowledge
				  and skills.
2. Identification of specific areas for improvement.
3. Development of strategies and resources.
4. Creation of opportunities to reflect and demonstrate an
				  individual's professional growth.
"Professional development training"
means
				  continuing education and career training offered by a department-approved
				  training organization to child care and education providers to help them
				  develop new skills, stay up to date on current trends and advance their
				  careers.
"Program"
refers to the complete operation
				  of an eligible facility applying for an IQ4K rating.
"Program administrator or director"
means a
				  department-approved staff member responsible for overseeing the day-to-day
				  operations of a child care program. The person is in charge of all aspects of
				  running the program, including scheduling trainings, planning educational
				  activities, hiring and managing properly trained staff, handling the budget,
				  and establishing well-defined policies and procedures. The person is
				  responsible for everything that takes place within the program and acts as the
				  main communication hub between parents, teachers and children.
"Programwide PBIS training"
or
"PW
				  PBIS training"
means the training intended for leadership teams of
				  classroom-based early childhood programs. The purpose of the training is to
				  help guide and support the leadership team through the programwide EC-PBIS
				  process.
"Provider"
means the person or program that
				  applies for registration to provide child care and is approved as a child
				  development home.
"Quality rating oversight team"
means the
				  workgroup convened to provide oversight and guidance to the department
				  regarding Iowa's QRIS.
"School-aged only program"
means an eligible
				  facility providing care primarily to children aged 5 through 12 when school is
				  not in session, including but not limited to before school, after school,
				  out-of-school days during the school year and summer break.
"Seamless summer option"
or
"SSO"
means a federal CNP which allows school food authorities
				  participating in the National School Lunch or School Breakfast Program to serve
				  meals free of charge to children 18 years and under from low-income
				  areas.
"Self-assessment"
means an evaluation of
				  current program policies, practices and procedures in comparison to
				  best-practice standards based on the most up-to-date research.
"Social-emotional-behavioral mental health"
or
"SEBMH"
means the way in which an individual thinks, feels,
				  communicates, acts and learns. These skills contribute to resilience and to how
				  individuals relate to others, respond to stress and emotions, and make choices.
				  Foundational knowledge and skills that promote positive SEBMH include
				  self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, social awareness,
				  and relationship skills that support positive well-being and academic
				  success.
"Specialized track"
means a modified IQ4K
				  application for eligible applicants who have successfully provided adequate
				  documentation of current verification and certification in one of the
				  department's preapproved specialized track areas.
"Staff"
means any individual employed by and
				  working at the facility under the supervision of the program administrator or
				  director or assistant program administrator or assistant director.
"Summer food service program"
or
"SFSP"
means a federal CNP that reimburses program operators
				  who serve free healthy meals and snacks to children 18 years and under from
				  low-income areas.
"Teaching staff"
means all lead teachers and
				  assistant teachers.