1. a) This Part establishes the procedures and criteria for the approval of proposals submitted to the State Board of Education by eligible applicants for grants to establish programs to assist individuals employed in State-funded preschool education programs and other early childhood education programs to enroll as candidates in and complete a teacher preparation program leading to a professional educator license endorsed in early childhood education. The Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Assistance Grant program shall:

   1. 1) be designed to enroll a single group of individuals who will move through their coursework and educational experiences at the same time;
   2. 2) offer the coursework necessary for individuals possessing a bachelor's degree to obtain a professional educator license endorsed in early childhood education or the coursework necessary for individuals possessing an associate's degree to obtain a bachelor's degree and a professional educator license endorsed in early childhood education; and
   3. 3) make a commitment to continue the program with the group of candidates so that those candidates will be able to successfully complete their education and teaching experiences in an amount of time that is commensurate with the amount of time it would take a candidate in the institution's regular program to complete the same course of study and experiences, provided that the program continues to receive State funding.
2. b) The provisions of this Part shall not apply to a school district that receives funding for early childhood programs as part of its general education block grant pursuant to Section 1D-1 of the School Code [105 ILCS 5/1D-1] nor to any entity that receives a grant from that school district for early childhood programs funded under Section 1D-1 of the School Code.

The goal of the Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Assistance Grant is to address the shortages experienced by preschool education programs funded under Section 2-3.71 of the School Code [105 ILCS 5/2-3.71] of teachers holding a professional educator license endorsed for early childhood education issued pursuant to Section 21B-25 of the School Code [105 ILCS 5/21B-25] and State Board of Education rules governing Standards for All Illinois Teachers (23 Ill. Adm. Code 24), Educator Licensure (23 Ill. Adm. Code 25) and Standards for Endorsements in Early Childhood Education and in Elementary Education (23 Ill. Adm. Code 26).

(Source: Amended at 40 Ill. Reg. 2202, effective January 13, 2016)