Section 1085.20  Definitions

 

"Accredited Teacher Preparation Program" means, for the purposes of this Part, a regionally accredited, Illinois approved teacher education program authorized to prepare individuals to fulfill all of the requirements to receive an Illinois initial teaching license/certificate (Section 10 of the Act). 

 

"Act" means the Grow Your Own Teacher Education Act [110 ILCS 48].

 

"Awardee" or "Grantee" means, for the purposes of this Part, a consortium or Grow Your Own Illinois.

 

"Board" means the Board of Higher Education. 

 

"Candidate" means a person who is eligible to receive or is receiving assistance through a program offered by a consortium.  A candidate must:

 

hold a high school diploma or its equivalent, or be a high school student enrolled in a dual credit course offered by a participating institution of higher education;

 

meet either the definition of "parent and community leader" or the definition of "paraeducator";

 

maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.5 on a 4.0 scale (or the equivalent as determined by the Board of Higher Education);

 

attend monthly cohort meetings; and

 

apply for financial aid resources before applying for assistance from the program (Section 20 of the Act). 

 

"Paraeducator" means an individual with a history of demonstrated accomplishments in school staff positions (such as teacher assistants, school-community liaisons, school clerks, and security aides) in schools that meet the definition of a hard-to-staff school (Section 10 of the Act).

 

"Parent and Community Leader" means an individual who has or had a child enrolled in a school or schools that meet the definition of a hard-to-staff school under the definition of "eligible school" and who has a history of active involvement in the school or who has a history of working to improve schools serving a substantial percentage of low-income students, including membership in a community organization (Section 10 of the Act). 

 

"Student with a Non-traditional Background" means a student who does not hold a bachelor's degree and who begins a baccalaureate program at a point in time other than immediately following graduation from high school or one who began a baccalaureate program after high school, did not complete it, and re-enters a baccalaureate program after some passage of time.

 

"Cohort" means a group of teacher education candidates who are enrolled in and share experiences in the same program and are linked by their desire to become Illinois teachers in hard-to-staff schools and by their need for the services and supports offered by the Initiative.  A cohort may include a high school student enrolled in a dual credit course offered by a participating institution of higher education. (Section 10 of the Act)

 

"Community Organization" means a nonprofit organization that has a demonstrated capacity to train, develop, and organize parents and community leaders into a constituency that will hold the school and the school district accountable for achieving high academic standards; in addition to organizations with a geographic focus, "community organization" includes general parent organizations, organizations of special education or bilingual education parents, and school employee unions (Section 10 of the Act).

 

"Consortium" means, for the purposes of this Part, an association of entities pooling their resources to offer a program.  A consortium shall be composed of at least one 4-year institution of higher education with an Illinois accredited teacher education program, at least one school district or group of schools, and one or more community organizations.  The consortium may also include a 2-year institution of higher education, a school employee union, or a regional office of education. (Section 20 of the Act) 

 

"Continuation Grant" means an award of grant funds to a consortium for a program if an implementation grant or a continuation grant was awarded in the prior fiscal year pursuant to this Part and all requirements of the prior grant agreement were met. 

 

"Counsel Out" means a systematic approach to identify a candidate who may be struggling in the program, and to determine if the candidate is performing at an acceptable level to continue without intervention or if the candidate should discontinue the program. 

 

"Developmental Classes" means classes in basic skill areas, such as mathematics and language arts, that are prerequisite to, but not counted towards, degree requirements of a teacher preparation program (Section 10 of the Act).

 

"DFPR" means the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation or its successor.

 

"Dual Credit" means an instructional arrangement in which an academically qualified student currently enrolled in high school enrolls in a college-level course and, upon successful course completion, concurrently earns both college credit and high school credit.

 

"Early Childhood Program" means a program licensed by the Department of Children and Family Services in which no fewer than 40% of the children it serves are receiving subsidized care under the Department of Human Services' Child Care Assistance Program, a Head Start or Early Head Start Program, a Preschool for All Program, or a prevention initiative (Section 10 of the Act).

 

"Eligible School" means an early childhood program or a public elementary, middle, or secondary school in this State that serves a substantial percentage of low-income students and that is either hard-to-staff or has hard-to-staff teaching positions (Section 10 of the Act).

 

"Hard-to-staff School" means an early childhood program or a public elementary, middle, or secondary school in this State that, based on data compiled by the State Board of Education in conjunction with the Board of Higher Education, serves a substantial percentage of low-income students, as defined by the State Board (Section 10 of the Act). 

 

"Hard-to-staff Teaching Position " means a teaching category (such as special education, bilingual education, mathematics, or science) in which statewide data compiled by the State Board of Education in conjunction with the Board of Higher Education indicates a multi‑year pattern of substantial teacher shortage or that has been identified as a critical need by the local school board (Section 10 of the Act).

 

"Schools Serving a Substantial Percentage of Low-income Students" means schools that maintain any of grades pre-kindergarten through 8, in which at least 35% of the students are eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunches, and schools that maintain any of grades 9 through 12, in which at least 25% of the students are eligible to receive free or reduced price lunches (Section 10 of the Act). 

 

"Fiscal Agent" means the Illinois public institution pursuant to the Board of Higher Education Act [110 ILCS 205] or a private not-for-profit institution authorized to operate within the State of Illinois pursuant to the Private College Act [110 ILCS 1005] and/or the Academic Degree Act [110 ILCS 1010]; has been in continuous operation and granted degrees within the State of Illinois before the effective date of those Acts and has not modified the business entity since the effective dates of those Acts; or Grow Your Own Illinois.  This definition does not apply to consortia established before 2010.

 

"GATA" means the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act [30 ILCS 708].

 

"GATA Rule" means 44 Ill. Adm. Code 7000.

 

"GATU" means the Grant Accountability and Transparency Unit within the Illinois Governor's Office of Management and Budget.

 

"Grant Period" or "Period of Performance" means the time during which the awardee may incur new obligations to carry out the work authorized under the grant.  The start and end dates will be included in the Grant Agreement.

 

"Grow Your Own Illinois" or "GYOI" means the not-for-profit corporation that was incorporated in Illinois in 2007 and continues in good standing with the Illinois Secretary of State.

 

"Initiative" means the Grow Your Own Teacher Education Initiative created under the Act (Section 10 of the Act).

 

"Institution" means an institution of higher education.

 

"Implementation Grant" means an award of grant funds to a consortium for a program only if a planning grant was received in the prior fiscal year pursuant to this Part.  This award may also be available to a consortium in which the composition of the membership has changed. 

 

"Performance Goal" means a target level of performance expressed as a tangible, measurable objective or as a qualitative standard, value or rate.  A performance goal includes a performance indicator, a target, and a time period, and must be expressed in an objective, quantifiable or measurable form when possible.  When necessary, an alternative performance goal (such as a set of milestones) described in a way that makes it possible to discern whether progress is being made toward that goal may be used.

 

"Planning Grant" means a one-time award of grant funds to a potential consortium that will enable the group to work with GYOI to organize, coordinate and submit an application for an implementation grant. 

 

"Potential Consortium" means a consortium that has not received a planning grant pursuant to this Part. 

 

"Program" means a Grow Your Own Teacher preparation program established by a consortium under the Act (Section 10 of the Act). 

 

"Year of Service" means, for the purposes of this Part, full-time employment for at least half a school year, or an equivalent amount of part-time employment, in:

 

An early childhood program or a public school that, at the time the individual becomes employed, is either one of the schools targeted by the program completed by the individual with assistance under this Part or another school that is hard to staff; or

 

A teaching position that, at the time the individual becomes employed, is a hard-to-staff teaching position.

 

(Source:  Amended at 44 Ill. Reg. 11419, effective June 24, 2020)