Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
A planning grant shall be used to support costs associated with
developing a plan for implementation of an Early Childhood Teacher Preparation
Assistance Grant program, which shall include the identification and
recruitment of the group of individuals to be enrolled in the program.
a) When sufficient funding is available, the
State Superintendent of Education shall issue a Request for Proposals (RFP)
specifying the information that applicants shall include in their planning
proposals, informing applicants of any bidders' conferences, and requiring that
proposals be submitted no later than the date specified in the RFP. The RFP
shall provide at least 30 calendar days in which to submit proposals.
b) Each proposal submitted in response to an
RFP shall include the following components.
1)
Demographic information about the area to be served by the program, which shall
include statistics about number of programs funded under Section 2-3.71 of the
School Code that serve the area and their need for educator licensed
teachers.
2) Demographic
information about individuals employed by State-funded preschool education
programs and other early childhood education programs who do not hold
professional educator licenses endorsed in early childhood education,
including, but not limited to, their race/ethnicity, language (other than
English) and cultural background, and educational attainment.
3) Descriptive information about each entity
involved in the partnership:
A) the teacher
preparation program must provide the specific information about the
institution's success in preparing teachers for early childhood teaching
positions, particularly in areas serving bilingual and minority children;
and
B) the community-based or
nonpublic educational organization must include its mission statement,
organizational structure, and goals or policies regarding early childhood
programs and services, including the applicant's existing competencies to
provide early childhood education programs, if applicable, and a list of any
early childhood accreditations that have been achieved.
4) A list of the persons, and their
affiliations, who will be involved in the planning process.
5) A plan of work for the planning process
that includes objectives, specific activities, timelines and responsible
parties.
6) Budget information that
corresponds to the categories of allowable expenditures identified in
subsection (c), completed on the forms provided and detailing each line item of
expenditure.
7) Any certifications
and assurances as the State Superintendent of Education may require.
c) Allowable uses of planning
grant funds shall include:
1) activities that
are designed to secure the participation and commitment of the required
partners;
2) activities that are
designed to attract or identify individuals for teacher preparation who
currently work in State-funded preschool education programs or other early
childhood education programs and hold either a bachelor's degree or an
associate's degree but do not have a professional educator license endorsed for
early childhood education; and
3)
activities that are designed to identify barriers to educator licensure for the
individuals to be enrolled and to identify strategies and resources for
mitigating those barriers.
