05- 071 C.M.R. ch. 114, § 4
As educators prepare for renewal of a prior approved program, they are encouraged to view the relationship with staff of the Department of Education as one of partnership. Both unit representatives and departmental staff have a shared interest in assuring quality programs that are successful in the development of highly qualified educator candidates.
A request for renewal of a prior program approval must be initiated with the Commissioner at least six (6) months prior to the site visit by a Review Team. The unit must develop and submit to the Commissioner a Status Report that may not exceed twenty-five (25) pages in length (including plus electronic appendices). The Status Report must clearly demonstrate that the teacher education unit continues to meet the performance-based unit and program standards. The Status Report must address unit capacity, compliance with state priorities and initiatives, and changes that have occurred since prior approval.
A unit preparing for continuation of prior program approval must include an overview of its conceptual framework in the application for renewal in accordance with Section 2 of this rule. This overview must include a description of the framework(s), its development, and changes since the previous visit, including the relationship of these changes to updated standards and assessments of the unit, to the profession, and/or to new state initiatives. The unit must also report on any evaluations of the conceptual framework(s) and resulting changes in the application materials.
A Review Team, approved by the State Board of Education, will conduct a site visit, not to exceed three (3) days except by agreement of the parties, for the purpose of verifying the conditions set forth in the Status Report. The Team Report must contain the Review Team's findings and recommendation(s) to the Board on continued program approval.
Approval by the State Board of Education may be in any one of the following categories:
At any point through the completion of the final Review Team report, the applicant unit may file an appeal of any procedural matter governed by sections 3.4, 3.5, 3.6 and 3.7 of this rule in writing directly to the Commissioner of Education. Such appeal must be made within five (5) days of the time of the action in question. At the discretion of the Commissioner, the request for approval process may be delayed In such cases when a delay is necessary, every effort shall be made to resolve the question within ten (10) days. In all cases, requests and decisions must be made in writing but in no case shall any procedural appeal be made a part of the report for action by the State Board of Education except at the request of the applicant unit.
In cases when the applicant unit wishes to question formally the recommendation(s) of the Review Team prior to action of the State Board of Education, it may do so by filing a description of its concern. The applicant unit must indicate its intent to take this action within ten (10) days of the receipt of the final Review Team report and have its description of concern on file with the Department within fifteen (15) days of the statement of intent. All such information then becomes a part of the record for review by the State Board of Education.
The applicant unit may, in all cases when it does not accept the action of the State Board of Education, request a hearing before the State Board of Education at which time any new or additional information and evidence may be presented for the consideration of the Board. The State Board of Education shall then take action again on the request in one of the three approval categories as described in Section 3.11 (d, 1-4 of this rule), and such action will constitute final agency action.
05- 071 C.M.R. ch. 114, § 4