Rhode Island Code of Regulations
Title 200 - Board of Education
Chapter 20 - Council on Elementary and Secondary Education
Subchapter 10 - Academic Standards, Programs and Operations
Part 3 - Regulations Governing Career and Technical Education in Rhode Island (200-RICR-20-10-3)
Section 200-RICR-20-10-3.1 - DEFINITIONS

1. "Apprenticeship" means a relationship between an employer and an employee during which the worker or apprentice learns an occupation in a structured program sponsored jointly by employers and labor unions or operated by employers and employee associations.

2. "Articulation agreement" means a formal agreement acknowledging, authorizing and conferring specific academic credit, advanced standing and/or status for education or work.

3. "Career cluster" means groupings of occupations and industries established by the United States Department of Education and used to organize career and technical education and career and technical education preparation programs.

4. "Career and Technical Education (CTE)" means organized academic and work-related education that offers students opportunities for career awareness, career exploration and career preparation focused on providing them with the academic and technical knowledge and work-related skills necessary to be successful in postsecondary education, training activities, and employment.

5. "Career and technical education center" means a grade 9-12 public educational facility with the primary purpose of providing career preparation programs and other forms of career and technical education, either as a stand-alone institution or in conjunction with collaborating secondary schools.

6. "Career and Technical Education System (CTE System)" means an organized, coherent, and comprehensive set of educational opportunities that promote strong academic skills, an awareness of careers and occupations, and the mastery of rigorous and relevant technical skills that prepare students for college, careers, and life.

7. "Career innovation programs" means one of two forms of RIDE-approved career preparation programs that provide CTE academic and technical instruction and training through diverse venues and differing instructional approaches while meeting all of the outcomes defined by career preparation program standards and the program approval process.

8. "Career pathway(s)" means industry sector-specific CTE programs coordinated with postsecondary education and/or training programs that provide students opportunities to attain necessary technical skills and credentials for successful entry into the workforce.

9. "Career preparation programs" means career preparation programs are the most intense level of career and technical educational services available to secondary students. Career preparation programs are of two types:

10. "Career preparation program review and approval process" means a RIDE-managed standards-based review process that results in a written report that includes the career preparation program's approval status.

11. "Career preparation program standards" means Regents-adopted RIDE-published standards that provide the basis for the quality assurance process and clearly articulate the requirements for the quality, scope, and breadth of LEA-administered career preparation programs.

12. "Career programs of study" means one of two forms of RIDE-approved career preparation programs offered through the CTE System at the secondary level. A career program of study provides structured, sequenced academic and technical courses that lead to an industry-recognized credential, where available or appropriate, or a nationally-recognized certificate that validates skill attainment.

13. "Certificate" means documentation or credential that can be earned by a student, which validates his or her mastery of specific skills or sets of skills, completion of training requirements set forth by a certifying body, and/or that validates demonstrated readiness to enter an industry, educational setting, or the workplace.

14. "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education.

15. "Credential" means a specialized subset of certificates, credentials provide portable, meaningful documentation that a student has mastered an industry-established and validated range of skills, met necessary training and education requirements, and demonstrated readiness to enter a specific industry.

16. "Embedded credit programs" means career and technical education courses and/or learning opportunities that provide students multiple opportunities to reach and demonstrate proficiency simultaneously in technical and core academic areas including ELA, math, science, technology, and the arts.

17. "Graduation coursework requirements" means the coursework requirements set forth in §2.3.1 of this Subchapter (Secondary Design: Middle and High School Learning Environments and the Rhode Island Diploma System), which can be met through enrollment in a state approved career preparation program, expanded learning opportunities, dual enrollment, on-line learning, and other non-traditional academic and career-readiness programs.

18. "Individual Learning Plan (ILP)" means a student-centered planning and monitoring process that guides and directs students' goals and educational development in three domains: academic, career, and personal/social.

19. "Local Education Agency (LEA)" means a public board of education/school committee or other public authority legally constituted within the State for either administrative control or direction of one or more Rhode Island public elementary schools or secondary schools.

20. "Resident Local Education Authority (LEA)" means the LEA in which a student should be enrolled on the basis of residency.

21. "State Education Agency (SEA)" means state department of education responsible for ensuring the implementation of federal, state and Regents laws, statutes, and regulations.