Section 281.79.2. Definitions.

For purposes of clarity, the following definitions are used throughout the chapter:

“Administrator candidates” means individuals who are enrolled in practitioner preparation programs leading to administrator licensure.

“Administrator preparation programs” means the programs of practitioner preparation leading to licensure of administrators.

“Area education agency”  or “AEA”  means a regional service agency that provides school improvement services for students, families, teachers, administrators and the community.

“Candidates” means individuals who are preparing to become educational practitioners through a practitioner preparation program.

“Clinical experiences” means a candidate’s direct experiences in PK-12 schools. “Clinical experiences” includes field experiences and student teaching or internships.

“College/university supervisors” means qualified employees or individuals contracted by the college or university offering teacher preparation who provide guidance and supervision to teacher candidates during the candidates’ clinical experiences in the schools.

“Cooperating administrators” means school administrators who provide guidance and supervision to administrator candidates during the candidates’ clinical experiences in the schools.

“Cooperating teachers” means appropriately licensed classroom teachers of record who provide guidance and supervision to teacher candidates in the cooperating teachers’ classrooms during the candidates’ field experiences in the schools.

“Delivery model” means the form in which the educator preparation program is delivered to candidates and may include conventional campus-based, face-to-face models, distance learning models, off-campus models, programs delivered through consortia arrangements, and programs or elements delivered by contracted outside providers.

“Department” means department of education.

“Director” means director of the department.

“Distance learning” means a formal education process in which the major portion of the instruction occurs when the learner and the instructor are not in the same place at the same time and occurs through virtually any media including printed materials, videotapes, audio recordings, facsimiles, telephone communications, the ICN, Internet communications through E-mail, and Web-based delivery systems.

“Distance learning program” means a program in which over half of the required courses in the program occur when the learner and the instructor are not in the same place at the same time (see definition of distance learning). These programs include those offered by the professional educational unit through a contract with an outside vendor or in a consortium arrangement with other higher education institutions, area education agencies, or other entities.

“Diverse groups” means one or more groups of individuals possessing certain traits or characteristics, including but not limited to age, color, creed, national origin, race, religion, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical attributes, physical or mental ability or disability, ancestry, political party preference, political belief, socioeconomic status, or familial status.

“Educator preparation program” means practitioner preparation program.

“ELPS” means Educational Leadership Policy Standards, national standards for educational administration.

“Facility” means a residential or other setting for a child in which the child receives an appropriate educational program. “Facility” includes a foster care facility as defined in Iowa Code section 237.1, a facility that provides residential treatment pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 125, an approved or licensed shelter care home as defined in Iowa Code section 232.2, subsection 34, an approved juvenile detention home as defined in Iowa Code section 232.2, subsection 32, and a psychiatric medical institution for children as defined in Iowa Code section 135H.1.

“Faculty” means the teaching staff of a university or college responsible for delivering instruction.

“ICN” means the Iowa communications network.

“Institution” means a college or university in Iowa offering practitioner preparation or an educational organization offering administrator preparation and seeking state board approval of its practitioner preparation program(s).

“InTASC” means Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium, the source of national standards for teachers.

“Iowa core” means a legislatively mandated state initiative that provides local school districts and nonpublic schools a guide to delivering instruction to students based on consistent, challenging and meaningful content.

“ISSL” means Iowa Standards for School Leaders.

“Leadership preparation program” means administrator preparation program.

“Mentor” means an experienced educator who provides guidance to a practitioner, administrator candidate or novice educator.

“National professional standards” means standards developed by nationally recognized organizations that establish best practices for education.

“Novice” means an individual in an educational position who has no previous experience in the role of that position or who is newly licensed by the board of educational examiners.

“Off-campus program” means a program offered by a unit on sites other than the main campus. Off-campus programs may be offered in the same state, in other states, or in countries other than the United States.

“Practitioner candidates” means individuals who are enrolled in practitioner preparation programs leading to licensure as teachers, as administrators or as other professional school personnel that require a license issued by the board of educational examiners.

“Practitioner preparation programs” means the programs of practitioner preparation leading to licensure of teachers, administrators, and other professional school personnel.

“Program” means a specific field of specialization leading to a specific endorsement.

“Regional accreditation” means official approval by an agency or organization approved or recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

“State board” means Iowa state board of education.

“Students” means PK-12 pupils.

“Teacher candidates” means individuals who are enrolled in practitioner preparation programs leading to teacher licensure.

“Unit” means the organizational entity within an institution with the responsibility of administering and delivering the practitioner preparation program(s).

[ARC 8053B, IAB 8/26/09, effective 9/30/09; ARC 1780C, IAB 12/10/14, effective 1/14/15]