La. Admin. Code tit. 67 § III-5117
Approved Courses-courses that are deemed approved by the department.
Assistant Directors-must be on site for a minimum of 20 hours per week for centers with an enrollment of 101 or more.
Assistant Teachers-any staff who cares for children in a classroom setting that can be assessed using the ITERS-R/ECERS-R and works at least 16 hours per week in the center.
Child Care Center-a licensed day care center.
Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR and R)- a state and/or local organization with whom the department has contracted to provide services to families, early childhood professionals, and communities statewide.
Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential-a nationally recognized credential which can be used to meet staff qualification requirements.
Director- an administrator who meets the director qualifications as outlined in Louisiana Administrative Code, Title 67, Chapter 73, Section 7311 and is on site a minimum of 30 hours per week during operating hours when children are present.
Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R)-a research-based assessment tool that measures environmental indicators of quality in preschool classrooms with children ages 2.5-5 years of age.
Environment Rating Scales (ERS)-the assessment tools developed at Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina that measure environmental indicators of quality. They include the Infant Toddler Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ITERS-R) and the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R), as well as the School Age Care Environment Rating Scale (SACERS) for school age programs, and the Family Child Care Environment Rating Scale-Revised (FCCERS-R) for family child care homes. Only the ITERS-R/ECERS-R apply for purposes of the Quality Start Child Care Rating System at this time.
Group-those children who are assigned for most of the day to a specific teacher and who occupy an individual classroom or well defined space that prevents intermingling of children from different groups within a larger group or area.
Infant Toddler Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ITERS-R)-a research-based assessment tool that measures environmental indicators of quality in preschool classrooms with children 0-2.5 years of age.
Lead Teacher-a teacher who has primary responsibility for a designated classroom that can be assessed using the ITERS-R/ECERS-R, including planning and supervision, and spends at least 25 hours a week in that classroom. All classrooms must have a lead teacher
Louisiana Pathways Child Care Career Development System- the state practitioner registry maintained by the Department of Children and Family Services and/or its contractor. LA Pathways registers child care directors and staff according to requirements based on training and education, experience, and professional activities, as approved by the Department of Children and Family Services. Categories are established for child care staff, child care assistant teacher, child care teacher, child care assistant director and child care director. Information on LA Pathways can be found at http://pathways.louisiana.gov/ or www.dss.state.la.us.
Quality Start Child Care Rating System Points-points given in the Program, Staff Qualifications, Administration Practices, and Family and Community Involvement areas. All items within a point must be verified to receive credit. The total points earned determine the star award at star rating three, four, and five.
Service Period-the months within the calendar quarter for which a child received care.
Social Emotional Subscales of the Environment Rating Scales-a subscale of the ECERS-R and ITERS-R generated by the scores earned on the Language-Reasoning, Interaction and Program Structure subscales of the ECERS-R and the Listening and Talking, Interaction and Program Structure subscales of the ITERS-R. This new subscale score will be used to determine the ERS score for Program Points 1-4.
La. Admin. Code tit. 67, § III-5117