Illinois Administrative Code
Title 23 - EDUCATION AND CULTURAL RESOURCES
Part 232 - SUMMER BRIDGES PROGRAM
Section 232.50 - Program Specifications
Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
a) Eligibility for services under this Part shall not be limited to students who attend the particular attendance centers whose performance led to the district's eligibility under Section 232.20. Any student in an eligible district may be served, provided that he or she was enrolled in prekindergarten, kindergarten, or any of grades 1 through 6 in the school year immediately preceding the summer when the program is offered and:
b) Funding under this Part shall be used only to provide a remedial summer program consisting of no fewer than 90 hours of instruction to each student served and addressing the components of the literacy framework displayed in Appendix A. Each district operating the program shall be required to purchase or demonstrate the availability of the materials listed in Appendix B.
c) The number of sites at which the program is offered within any district shall be limited to the number of sites whose performance led to the district's eligibility for funding under Section 232.20. The program may, however, be conducted at sites other than those whose performance led to the district's eligibility.
d) Except as otherwise specified in subsection (e), no fewer than 12 and no more than 15 students shall be served in each class for grades 1 through 6, and no fewer than seven and no more than 10 students shall be served in each class for prekindergarten and kindergarten. Each district shall report its enrollment count by grade level on the sixth day of attendance in the program and shall consolidate classes as needed to achieve class sizes within these ranges. The services of teachers in excess of the number required for the applicable class sizes shall not be paid for with funding provided under this Part.
e) In order to respond to developments that may occur after the sixth day of attendance, a district may seek approval from the State Superintendent of Education to add no more than two students to any class in excess of the applicable maximum. The State Superintendent shall approve a district's request if the Superintendent determines that doing so is necessary for reasons of cost-effectiveness or to avoid a disruption in learning opportunities for students, provided that the teacher responsible for the class has consented to the addition of the students.
f) Each district shall prepare a job description for the teachers who will be employed to provide instruction in the Summer Bridges Program. If the district executes individual contracts with the teachers, the contracts shall include the job description or incorporate it by reference. If the district does not execute individual contracts with the teachers, the district shall require a signed affirmation from each, acknowledging the obligations established in the job description. Each job description shall include at least the requirements set forth in this subsection (f).
g) Each teacher, paraprofessional educator, and administrator employed in the program shall be provided with, and shall be required to participate in, 30 hours of professional development.
h) No program funded under this Part shall begin sooner than five business days after the end of the school year unless approved in advance by the State Superintendent of Education. Approval shall be granted only when the school year has been extended to make up days missed due to severe weather or other emergencies.
i) Each district funded under this Part shall assess students' growth in reading prior to and following their participation in the program. No fewer than 20 percent of the students from each of grades 2 through 6 and no fewer than 20 percent of the total group of students from prekindergarten, kindergarten, and grade 1 shall participate in an assessment prescribed by the State Superintendent as appropriate to their respective grade levels. The results of these assessments shall be compiled to form part of each district's summative report under Section 232.70.