Section 281.16.2. Definitions.

“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 a school district’s voluntary preschool program approved by the department of education to provide high-quality preschool instruction for eligible children.

“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.

“Base year” means the same as defined in Iowa Code section 257.2.

“Budget year” means the same as defined in Iowa Code section 257.2.

“Community empowerment area board” means a citizen-led board in local communities with broad representation to lead collaborative efforts involving education, health, and human service programs and services for young children and their families in the geographic area.

“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 department of education.

“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 director of the department of education.

“Early childhood special education”  or “ECSE”  means special education and related services for those individuals younger than six years of age as described in 281—Chapter 41.

“Eligible child” means a child who is a resident of Iowa and is four years of age on or before September 15 of the school year. If space and funding are available, a school district approved to participate in the preschool program may enroll a child who is younger or older than four years of age in the preschool program; however, the child shall not be counted for state funding purposes.

“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.

“Include” means that the items named are not all of the possible items that are covered, whether like or unlike the ones named.

“Individuals with Disabilities Education Act”  or “IDEA”  refers to 20 U.S.C. §1401 et seq., formerly the Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA). The federal regulations implementing IDEA are found at 34 CFR Parts 300 and 303.

“Para-educator” means a certified educational assistant as defined in Iowa Code section 272.1(6) and licensed under 282—Chapter 22.

“Prekindergarten program” means an education program offered by a school district or by an accredited nonpublic school as defined in 281—subrule 12.5(1).

“Preschool budget enrollment” means the figure that is equal to 60 percent of the actual enrollment of eligible students who receive preschool program services provided by a school district approved to participate in the preschool program by the date provided in Iowa Code section 257.6.

“Preschool foundation aid” means the product of the regular program state cost per pupil for the budget year multiplied by the school district’s preschool budget enrollment. Preschool foundation aid is based on enrollment of eligible students in the school district’s approved program regardless of whether an eligible student is a resident of the school district of enrollment.

“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. 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.

“Regular program state cost per pupil” means the same as described in Iowa Code section 257.9.

“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 para-educators, teacher aides and teacher associates. All staff members shall 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 requirement 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.

[ARC 7787B, IAB 5/20/09, effective 6/24/09]