Virginia Administrative Code › Title 8 - EDUCATION › Agency 20 - STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION › Chapter 543 - REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN VIRGINIA › Part I - Definitions › Section 8VAC20-543-10 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms when used in this chapter
					 shall have the meanings indicated unless the context implies otherwise:
"Accreditation" means a process for assessing and improving
					 academic and educational quality through voluntary peer review. This process
					 informs the public that an institution has a professional education program
					 that has met national standards of educational quality.
"Accredited institution" means an institution of higher
					 education accredited by a regional accrediting agency recognized by the United
					 States Department of Education.
"Accredited program" means a Virginia professional
					 education program nationally accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of
					 Educator Preparation (CAEP).
"Annual professional education program profile" means the
					 Virginia Department of Education yearly data program profile required of all
					 professional education programs in Virginia that offer approved programs for
					 the preparation of school personnel.
"Biennial accountability measures" means those specific
					 benchmarks set forth in
					 8VAC20-543-40
					 to meet the standards required to obtain or maintain education endorsement
					 program approval status.
"Biennial accountability measurement report" means the
					 compliance report submitted to the Virginia Department of Education every two
					 years by an accredited professional education program.
"Candidates" means individuals enrolled in education
					 programs.
"Department" means the Virginia Department of
					 Education.
"Diversity" means the wide range of differences among
					 groups of people and individuals based on ethnicity, race, socioeconomic
					 status, gender, exceptionalities, language, religion, and geographical
					 area.
"Education endorsement program" means a state-approved
					 course of study, the completion of which signifies that an enrollee has met all
					 the state's educational and training requirements for initial licensure in a
					 specified endorsement area.
"Field experiences" means program components that are (i)
					 conducted in off-campus settings or on-campus settings dedicated to the
					 instruction of children who would or could otherwise be served by school
					 divisions in Virginia or accredited nonpublic schools and (ii) accredited for
					 this purpose by external entities such as regional accrediting agencies. Field
					 experiences include classroom observations, tutoring, assisting teachers and
					 school administrators, and supervised clinical experiences (i.e., practica,
					 student teaching, and internships). Field experiences are required for all
					 programs.
"Indicators" means operational definitions that suggest the
					 kinds of evidence that professional education programs shall provide to
					 demonstrate that a standard is met.
"Instructional technology" means the theory and practice of
					 design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and
					 resources for learning and the use of computers and other technologies.
"Licensing" means the official recognition by a state
					 governmental agency that an individual has met state requirements and is,
					 therefore, approved to practice as a licensed professional.
"Professional education program" or "education preparation
					 program" means the Virginia institution, college, school, department or other
					 administrative body within a Virginia institution of higher education, or
					 another Virginia entity, for a defined education program that is primarily
					 responsible for the preparation of teachers and other professional school
					 personnel, and for purposes of this chapter, includes four-year bachelor's
					 degree programs in teacher education.
"Professional studies" means courses and other learning
					 experiences designed to prepare candidates to demonstrate competence in the
					 areas of human development and learning, curriculum and instruction, assessment
					 of and for learning, classroom and behavior management, the foundations of
					 education and the teaching profession, reading, and supervised clinical
					 experiences.
"Program approval" means the process by which a state
					 governmental agency reviews an education program to determine if it meets the
					 state's standards for the preparation of school personnel.
"Program completers" means individuals who have
					 successfully completed all coursework, required licensure assessments,
					 including those prescribed by the Board of Education, and supervised student
					 teaching or the required internship.
"Program noncompleters" means individuals who have been
					 officially admitted into an education program and who have taken, regardless of
					 whether the individuals passed or failed, required licensure assessments and
					 have successfully completed all coursework, but who have not completed
					 supervised student teaching or the required internship. Program noncompleters
					 shall have been officially released in writing from an education endorsement
					 program by an authorized administrator of the program. Program noncompleters
					 who did not take required assessments are not included in biennial reporting
					 pass rates.
"Regional accrediting agency" means one of the six
					 accrediting associations recognized by the United States Department of
					 Education as follows: New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Middle
					 States Association of Colleges and Schools, North Central Association of
					 Colleges and Schools, Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities,
					 Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and Western Association of
					 Schools and Colleges.
"Virginia Standards of Learning for Virginia public
					 schools" means the Commonwealth's expectations for student learning and
					 achievement in grades K-12 in English, mathematics, science, history/social
					 science, technology, fine arts, foreign language, health and physical
					 education, and driver education.
Statutory Authority: §§
												22.1-16
						and
						22.1-298.2
						of the Code of Virginia.