Section 75.1  Definitions

"ACTE" means the Association of Career and Technical Education.

"Approvable Agricultural Education Program at the Middle School Level" means an agricultural education program that includes at least one State-approved introductory agricultural education course with an appropriately licensed teacher in an agricultural education career pathway that connects to a secondary program.  This introductory course must include a career exploration component with SAE as a part of instruction. A middle school program shall also connect to either a stand-alone middle school or a secondary FFA chapter.

"Approvable Agricultural Education Program at the Secondary Level" means an agricultural education program, taught by appropriately licensed teachers, that includes one foundational course and one skill course for which no fewer than two credits are awarded for the successful completion of the course sequence (see https://www.ilaged.org/courseoutlines).

"Curricular/Intra-curricular Related Activities" means activities that are connected to the classroom instruction. Grant funds from Subpart F shall be used only to support activities related to the classroom outside of the regularly scheduled teaching duties for the benefit of agricultural education.  Examples of these activities include, but are not limited to, professional development, professional organization conferences, curriculum development or improvement, and classroom and laboratory facilities maintenance. The recommended maximum level of activity for this component is 16 days or 128 hours.

"FFA" means a State and federally recognized career and technical student organization for students in State-approved agricultural education programs. (FFA was formerly known as Future Farmers of America and is now the National FFA Organization.)

"FFA Activities" means those activities that demonstrably relate to the intra-curricular nature of the career and technical student organizations and focus on premier leadership, personal growth, or career success.  Examples of these activities include leadership training or events, community service or education activities, career development event preparation or competitions, chapter program management, program/chapter recruitment and marketing activities, alumni meetings and professional events, program fundraising events, and public events related to agricultural education.  The recommended minimum level of activity for this component is 17 days or 136 hours.

"Full-Time Teacher" means an agricultural education teacher with at least a nine-month (180 day) contract based on an eight-hour day when the teacher is teaching at least one approved agricultural education class published in the Agricultural, Food, and Natural Resources course matrix.

"Illinois Agricultural Company" means any company in this State that has an interest in the agricultural industry, as determined by the pre-service teaching student's public university.  [105 ILCS 5/2-3.80d(a)]

"IAVAT" means the Illinois Association of Vocational Agriculture Teachers.

"Middle School" means grades five through eight.

"New Education Program" means an education program approved by the State Board of Education in a school district that has not had an education program for a period of 10 years or more prior to the date of application for a grant. [105 ILCS 5/2-3.80b(a)]

"Personal Services Cost" means the cost (salary and benefits) of a teacher providing 60 additional days, which shall mean 400 additional hours, outside the teacher's regularly scheduled teaching duties for the benefit of education.  The 400 additional hours shall be any activity that is to the benefit of education, as defined by the State Board in Subpart E, regardless of the time of year the activity occurs. [105 ILCS 5/2-3.80b(a)]

"Post-secondary Agricultural Courses" means college courses directly relating to technical industry knowledge in Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources (AFNR) as well as those relating to the teaching of agricultural concepts to classes, groups, and organizations.

"Post-secondary Agricultural Program of Study" means a community college or university that offers a series of courses in agriculture, foods, or natural resources that may be transferred to other universities or enables a student to pursue either a minor or major concentration in one of those areas of study.

"Pre-service Teaching Student" means a student who:

is a declared agricultural education major accepted into an approved agricultural teacher education program at a public university in this State;

has completed at least 30 credit hours; and

has maintained, at a minimum, a 2.5 cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale or its equivalent.  [105 ILCS 5/2-3.80d(a)]

"Restart program" means an agricultural education program approved by the State Board of Education in a school district that has not had an agricultural education program for a period of 9 years or less prior to the date of application for a grant.

"School Code" or "Code" means the Illinois School Code [105 ILCS 5].

"School District" means a public school district or area career center.

"Supervised Agricultural Experience" or "SAE" means activities that are work-based learning activities such as degree/award preparation, SAE visits, record book instruction, training or assistance. The recommended minimum level of activity for this component is 17 days or 136 hours.

"Three Circle Model" means a model used to identify the central components of an agricultural education program.  The central components are:

Classroom/laboratory instruction, which includes contextual, inquiry-based instruction and learning;

FFA, which fosters the development of premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through engagement in its programs and activities; and

SAE, which includes experiential, service, and work-based learning.

"Work-based Learning" means an activity or interaction among the teacher, student, or employer or industry representative who provides experience related to an agricultural career interest. Work-based learning includes, but is not limited to, SAEs, job shadowing, internships, apprenticeships, school-based enterprises, industry-led projects and challenges or competitions. 

(Source:  Added at 45 Ill. Reg. 16012, effective December 1, 2021)