La. Admin. Code tit. 28 § CLXVII-103
8(g) Program- the Student Enhancement Block Grant Program administered by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education that provides funding through the Louisiana education quality start fund that may be used to serve at-risk PreK children.
Assessment- see early childhood care and education assessment.
Assurances-see program partner assurances.
At-Risk-children are considered at-risk if they have any of the characteristics listed in the definition of "economically disadvantaged" found in Title 28, Part I of the Louisiana Administrative Code), or they meet the definition of an "infant or toddler with a disability" found in 34 CFR § 303.21 for children ages birth to three years or a "child with a disability" found in 34 CFR § 300.8 for children ages 3 and older.
BESE- Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Caregiver- any person legally obligated to provide or secure care for a child, including a parent, legal custodian, foster home parent, or other person providing a residence for the child.
CCAP- Child Care Assistance Program.
Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP)- federal program administered by the Louisiana Department of Education that makes payments to child care providers for child care services provided to eligible families.
CLASS®- Classroom Assessment Scoring System.
Classroom- see early childhood care and education classroom.
Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS®)- a classroom observation-based system used to assess and rate classroom quality across multiple areas using a scale of one to seven.
Community Network Coverage Area- the geographic area of a community network, which typically is the same geographical area as the local school district or school districts, but may be other coverage areas, as determined by the community network and approved by the department.
Coverage Area- see community network coverage area.
Department- Louisiana Department of Education.
Early Childhood Care and Education Assessment (Assessment)- observation-based process used to determine whether children ages birth to five years are growing and developing across all the areas of development and learning provided in Bulletin 136-The Louisiana Standards for Early Childhood Care and Education Programs Serving Children Birth-Five Years.
Early Childhood Care and Education Classroom (Classroom)- an infant, toddler or PreK classroom.
Early Childhood Care and Education Performance Profile (Performance Profile)- information regarding performance in preparing children for kindergarten that is reported each school year for each publicly-funded site and community network composed of the site or community networks performance rating and informational metrics.
Early Childhood Care and Education Performance Rating (Performance Rating)- measure of performance in preparing children for kindergarten that is reported each school year for each publicly-funded site and community network.
Early Childhood Care and Education Program (Program)-an early learning center-based, school-based organization, or family child care home with current academic approval, that is providing early childhood care and education to children ages birth to five years who have not yet entered kindergarten.
Early Childhood Care and Education Site (Site)-a distinct early learning center-based, school-based location, or family child care home with current academic approval, that is providing early childhood care and education to children ages birth to five years who have not yet entered kindergarten.
Early Learning Center- any child day care center, early Head Start, Head Start, or stand-alone prekindergarten program that is not attached to a school.
EarlySteps Program-program administered by the Louisiana Department of Health that provides early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities ages birth to three years and their families according to the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), part C.
Equitable Access- the point at which every family who wishes to enroll their at-risk child in a publicly-funded program is able to do so.
Fall Observation Period- observation period between August 1 and December 15 of each year.
Fiscal Year- July 1-June 30.
Full Day- at least 6 continuous hours per day or more than 20 hours per week of care and instruction aligned with a typical school day.
Head Start and Early Head Start Programs- federally-funded early childhood care and education programs that promote and teach school readiness to children ages birth to five from low-income families and provide services in the areas of education, social services for families, nutrition, family engagement, health and mental health, as well as providing the physical plant and instructional staff members for such purposes (42 USC 9801 et seq., 45 CFR part 1300).
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part B- federal program administered by the Louisiana Department of Education that provides education funding for children with disabilities, ages 3 through 21.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part C-federal program administered by the Louisiana Department of Health that provides early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities ages birth to three years and their families to meet the developmental needs as identified by the individualized family services plan. See EarlySteps Program.
Infant- a child who has not yet reached 15 months of age.
Infant Classroom- a classroom in which the majority of children are infants.
Informational Metric- measure of early childhood care and education best practices at the site or community network level.
LA 4 Program-the Cecil J. Picard LA 4 Early Childhood Program that provides funding for PreK classrooms for four-year-old children who are eligible to enter kindergarten the following school year.
LDOE-Louisiana Department of Education, may also be referenced as LDE or department.
Lead Teacher-the early childhood care and education classroom teacher that is primarily responsible for the classroom and is required to meet the certification requirements in Bulletin 746-Louisiana Standards for State Certification of School Personnel.
Learning Year-the 2015-2016 school year shall be a learning year for the early childhood care and education network.
Nonpublic School Early Childhood Development Program (NSECD)- Louisiana program administered by the Department of Education that provides funding for four-year-old preschool in BESE-approved nonpublic schools and type III early learning centers.
Notice- written notice is considered given:
NSECD-Nonpublic Early Childhood Development Program.
Performance Profile- see early childhood care and education performance profile.
Performance Rating- see early childhood care and education performance rating.
PreK- prekindergarten.
PreK Child- a child age 36 months to 5 years who has not yet entered kindergarten.
PreK Classroom- a classroom in which the majority of children are PreK children.
Program- see early childhood care and education program.
Program Partner Assurances-assurances that early childhood care and education programs must submit to the department in order to access their public funding.
Publicly-Funded Children-children ages birth to five years who have not yet entered kindergarten that are being served full-day with funds from either CCAP, Early Head Start, Head Start, LA 4 Program, NSECD, 8(g) block grant, title 1 of ESSA, other local, state, or federal funds, or IDEA part B in a full-day setting.
Publicly-Funded Classroom- see publicly-funded early childhood care and education classroom.
Publicly-Funded Early Childhood Care and Education Classroom-any infant, toddler or PreK classroom that includes a publicly-funded child or children.
Publicly-Funded Early Childhood Care and Education Program-an early learning center-based, school-based organization, or family child care home with current academic approval, that is providing early childhood care and education to children ages birth to five years who have not yet entered kindergarten with funds from either CCAP, Early Head Start, Head Start, NSECD, LA 4 Program, 8(g) block grant, title 1 of ESSA or IDEA part B, other local, state, or federal funds, or that is authorized to receive CCAP, or that participates in the quality start child care rating system.
Publicly-Funded Early Childhood Care and Education Site-a distinct early learning center-based, school-based location, or family child care home with current academic approval, that is providing early childhood care and education to children ages birth to five years who have not yet entered kindergarten in a full-day setting with funds from either CCAP, Early Head Start, Head Start, NSECD, LA 4 Program, 8(g) block grant, title 1 of ESSA or IDEA part B, other local, state, or federal funds, or that is authorized to receive CCAP, or that participates in the quality start child care rating system.
Publicly-Funded Program- see publicly-funded early childhood care and education program.
Publicly-Funded Site- see publicly-funded early childhood care and education site.
School Year-for purposes of this bulletin, July 1-June 30.
Site- see early childhood care and education site.
Spring Observation Period- observation period between January 1 and May 15 of each school year
State Superintendent- state superintendent of education.
Title I- title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) that provides funding that may be used for preschool programs for disadvantaged children.
Third-Party Independent Contractor (Third-Party Contractor)- contractor that is separate from and independent of the lead agency and the community network with whom the department enters into a contract to perform CLASS® observations on behalf of the department.
Toddler- a child age 15 months to 36 months.
Toddler Classroom- a classroom in which the majority of children are toddlers.
Type III Early Learning Center- an early learning center that directly or indirectly receives state or federal funds from any source other than the federal food and nutrition programs.
La. Admin. Code tit. 28, § CLXVII-103