Section 281.12.2. Definitions.

For purposes of these rules, the following definitions shall apply:

“Alternative options education programs” means alternative programs or schools as identified in Iowa Code section 280.19A.

“Alternative program” means a class or environment established within the regular educational program and designed to accommodate specific student educational needs such as, but not limited to, work-related training; reading, mathematics or science skills; communication skills; social skills; physical skills; employability skills; study skills; or life skills.

“Alternative school” means an environment established apart from the regular educational program and that includes policies and rules, staff, and resources designed to accommodate student needs and to provide a comprehensive education consistent with the student learning goals and content standards established by the school district or by the school districts participating in a consortium. Students attend by choice.

“Annual improvement goals” means the desired one-year rate of improvement for students. Data from multiple measures may be used to determine the rate of improvement.

“At-risk student” means any identified student who needs additional support and who is not meeting or not expected to meet the established goals of the educational program (academic, personal/social, career/vocational). At-risk students include but are not limited to students in the following groups: homeless children and youth, dropouts, returning dropouts, and potential dropouts.

“Baseline data” means information gathered at a selected point in time and used thereafter as a basis from which to monitor change.

“Benchmarks” means specific knowledge and skills anchored to content standards that a student needs to accomplish by a specific grade or grade span.

“Board” means the board of directors in charge of a public school district or the authorities in charge of an accredited nonpublic school.

“Competency-based education” means that learners advance through content or earn credit based on demonstration of proficiency of competencies. Proficiency for this context is the demonstrated skill or knowledge required to advance to and be successful in higher levels of learning in that content area. Some students may advance through more content or earn more credit than in a traditional school year while others might take more than a traditional school year to advance through the same content and to earn credit. A student must meet the requirements of 12.5(14) to be awarded credit in a competency-based system of education.

“Comprehensive school improvement plan” means a design that shall describe how the school or school district will increase student learning, achievement, and performance. This ongoing improvement design may address more than student learning, achievement, and performance.

“Content standards” means broad statements about what students are expected to know and be able to do.

“Curriculum” means a plan that outlines what students shall be taught. Curriculum refers to all the courses offered, or all the courses offered in a particular area of study.

“Department” means the department of education.

“Districtwide” means all attendance centers within a school district or accredited nonpublic school.

“Districtwide assessments” means large-scale achievement or performance measures. At least one districtwide assessment shall allow for the following: the comparison of the same group of students over time as they progress through the grades or the cross-sectional comparison of students at the same grades over multiple years.

“Districtwide progress” means the quantifiable change in school or school district student achievement and performance.

“Dropout” means a school-age student who is served by a public school district and enrolled in any of grades seven through twelve and who does not attend school or withdraws from school for a reason other than death or transfer to another approved school or school district or has been expelled with no option to return.

“Educational program.” The educational program adopted by the board is the entire offering of the school, including out-of-class activities and the sequence of curriculum areas and activities. The educational program shall provide articulated, developmental learning experiences from the date of student entrance until high school graduation.

“Enrolled student” means a person that has officially registered with the school or school district and is taking part in the educational program.

“Incorporate” means integrating career education, multicultural and gender fair education, technology education, global education, higher-order thinking skills, learning skills, and communication skills into the total educational program.

“Indicators” provide information about the general status, quality, or performance of an educational system.

“Library program” means an articulated sequential kindergarten through grade 12 library or media program that enhances student achievement and is integral to the school district’s curricula and instructional program. The library program is planned and implemented by a qualified teacher librarian working collaboratively with the district’s administration and instructional staff. The library program services provided to students and staff shall include the following:

        1.            Support of the overall school curricula;

        2.            Collaborative planning and teaching;

        3.            Promotion of reading and literacy;

        4.            Information literacy instruction;

        5.            Access to a diverse and appropriate school library collection; and

        6.            Learning enhancement through technologies.

“Long-range goals” means desired targets to be reached over an extended period of time.

“Multiple assessment measures,” for reporting to the local community or the state, means more than one valid and reliable instrument that quantifies districtwide student learning, including specific grade-level data.

“Performance levels.” The federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) requires that at least three levels of performance be established to assist in determining which students have or have not achieved a satisfactory or proficient level of performance. At least two of those three levels shall describe what all students ought to know or be able to do if their achievement or performance is deemed proficient or advanced. The third level shall describe students who are not yet performing at the proficient level. A school or school district may establish more than three performance levels that include all students for districtwide or other assessments.

“Physical activity” means any movement, manipulation, or exertion of the body that can lead to improved levels of physical fitness and quality of life.

“Potential dropouts” means resident pupils who are enrolled in a public or nonpublic school who demonstrate poor school adjustment as indicated by two or more of the following:

        1.            High rate of absenteeism, truancy, or frequent tardiness.

        2.            Limited or no extracurricular participation or lack of identification with school including, but not limited to, expressed feelings of not belonging.

        3.            Poor grades including, but not limited to, failing in one or more school subjects or grade levels.

        4.            Low achievement scores in reading or mathematics which reflect achievement at two years or more below grade level.

“Prekindergarten program” includes a school district’s implementation of the preschool program established pursuant to 2007 Iowa Acts, House File 877, section 2, and is otherwise described herein in subrule 12.5(1).

“Proficient,” as it relates to content standards, characterizes student performance at a level that is acceptable by the school or school district.

“Returning dropouts” means resident pupils who have been enrolled in a public or nonpublic school in any of grades seven through twelve who withdrew from school for a reason other than transfer to another school or school district and who subsequently enrolled in a public school in the district.

“School” means an accredited nonpublic school.

“School counseling program” means an articulated sequential kindergarten through grade 12 program that is comprehensive in scope, preventive in design, developmental in nature, driven by data, and integral to the school district’s curricula and instructional program. The program is implemented by at least one school counselor, appropriately licensed by the board of educational examiners, who works collaboratively with the district’s administration and instructional staff. The program standards are described in subrule 12.3(11). The program’s delivery system components shall include the following:

        1.            School guidance curriculum;

        2.            Support of the overall school curriculum;

        3.            Individual student planning;

        4.            Responsive services; and

        5.            System support.

“School district” means a public school district.

“School improvement advisory committee” means a committee, as defined in Iowa Code section 280.12, that is appointed by the board. Committee membership shall include students, parents, teachers, administrators, and representatives from the local community which may include business, industry, labor, community agencies, higher education, or other community constituents. To the extent possible, committee membership shall have balanced representation of the following: race, gender, national origin, and disability. The school improvement advisory committee as defined by Iowa Code section 280.12 and the board are also part of, but not inclusive of, the local community.

“Student learning goals” means general statements of expectations for all graduates.

“Students with disabilities” means students who have individualized education programs regardless of the disability.

“Subgroups” means a subset of the student population that has a common characteristic. Subgroups include, but are not limited to, gender, race, students with disabilities, and socioeconomic status.

“Successful employment in Iowa” may be determined by, but is not limited to, reviewing student achievement and performance based on locally identified indicators such as earnings, educational attainment, reduced unemployment, and the attainment of employability skills.

[ARC 7783B, IAB 5/20/09, effective 6/24/09; ARC 1116C, IAB 10/16/13, effective 11/20/13]