Section 25.127  Review of Individual Programs

a)         No later than one year before its Accreditation Review will be held, the institution shall submit a report for each of its programs, including any alternative program established pursuant to Section 21-5b, 21-5c, or 21-5d of the School Code.  These reports shall be submitted in quantity and format required by either the State Superintendent or NCATE, as provided in subsection (c) of this Section, and shall include all the following information.

1)         A description of the program's alignment with the unit's conceptual framework.

2)         A description of the criteria for admission to, retention in, and exit from the program, including the required grade point average and minimum grade requirements for the college or university and how the key assessments used in the program are derived from or informed by the unit's assessment system (see Section 25.140 of this Part).

3)         Data on candidates enrolled in the program and candidates completing the program, beginning with the most recent academic year for which numbers have been tabulated and including three years' information if available.  If a program is offered at more than one level (i.e., baccalaureate, post-baccalaureate, or graduate, or as an alternative program), data shall be reported separately for each of these arrangements.

4)         Identification of the faculty members with primary responsibility for preparing professional educators in the program and their qualifications for their positions.

5)         A description of the course of study, including required courses, State standards addressed, and related field experiences or clinical practice as applicable to specified courses.

6)         A description of the required field experiences and clinical practice, including criteria, measures taken to ensure placements in diverse settings and with diverse students, and the program's requirements for faculty supervision of these experiences.

7)         A description of the key assessments that are required of candidates in the program under Section 25.142 of this Part, including:

A)        the specific standards addressed by each assessment that is used to comply with the requirements of Section 25.142(a)(1)-(4) or Section 25.142(b)(1)-(4), as applicable;

B)        a summary of findings based on data from all the assessments described under subsection (a)(7)(A) of this Section, from the applicable content-area test identified in Section 25.710 of this Part, and from the Assessment of Professional Teaching, if applicable; and

C)        a discussion of how the assessment data demonstrate candidates' mastery of the identified standards.

8)         A description of information related to two or three additional assessments that address relevant standards, if inclusion of this information is desired by the unit offering the program.

b)         The State Board of Education shall recognize "Specialized Professional Associations" ("SPAs") that are affiliated with NCATE and specialized accrediting organizations ("SAOs") that are recognized by either the U.S. Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation for purposes of program review in accordance with the provisions of this subsection (b).

1)         Each program conducted by an Illinois institution that is accredited by NCATE will be reviewed by a panel convened under the auspices of the relevant SPA or SAO if one exists.

2)         In an Illinois institution not accredited by NCATE, each program that is accredited by an SAO will be reviewed by that SAO.

3)         The State Board of Education shall review the content-area standards of each SPA and each SAO and determine the degree to which those standards are aligned with the comparable standards established by the State Board.  The State Board shall identify any applicable Illinois content-area standards that are not addressed by the standards applied by the relevant SPA or SAO and shall require supplementary evidence from the institution regarding these standards (see subsection (e) of this Section).

4)         Each program not subject to review by an SPA or SAO will be reviewed by a panel convened by the State Superintendent of Education.  The members of each panel shall be chosen from a pool of individuals with expertise in the respective content area and shall have been trained in the program review process.

c)         The State Board of Education shall notify each institution no later than two years prior to its scheduled Accreditation Review as to which of its program reports are to be submitted to the State Superintendent and which, if any, are to be directed to NCATE or to an SAO.  The State Board of Education will not include in its review of an institution's programs any new program that is approved for operation after the date for submission of the institution's program reports.

d)         Each institution shall submit the reports required pursuant to this Section to NCATE if they are to be reviewed by SPAs and to the State Superintendent of Education if they are to be reviewed by a panel convened by the Superintendent.

e)         As part of the notification provided under subsection (c) of this Section, the State Board shall identify for each affected institution any applicable Illinois content-area standards that are not addressed by the standards applied by the relevant SPA or SAO.  For each affected program, the institution shall submit to the State Superintendent a concurrent addendum to the program report, which shall be submitted in a format prescribed by the State Board and, by means of two exemplars of activities or assessments, shall describe how the program meets the State standards in question.

f)          No later than 30 days after the State Superintendent or NCATE receives a program report, the responsible staff shall notify the affected institution as to whether the report is complete.  An institution may provide additional material to complete a program report within 30 days after receiving a notification to the effect that it is incomplete.

g)         No later than six months prior to the scheduled date of the review visit, each review panel shall submit a critique for each program reviewed, either to NCATE or to the State Superintendent of Education, as applicable.  Each critique shall indicate the recognition status that should be assigned to the program (see subsection (j) of this Section) and include the panel's rationale for that determination.  Each critique shall be forwarded to the affected institution within ten business days after its receipt.

h)         NCATE and the State Superintendent shall ensure that each critique is received by the affected institution no later than 60 days prior to the scheduled date of the institution's review visit.

i)          Each institution whose programs have been reviewed by an SPA or SAO shall provide or make available to the State Superintendent of Education all reports sent by the institution to the SPA or SAO and by the SPA or SAO to the institution.  The State Superintendent shall keep this information as part of the institution's permanent file.

j)          As part of the accreditation process described in Section 25.125 of this Part, the State Teacher Certification Board shall convey to the State Board of Education a recommendation regarding each preparation program offered by the affected educational unit.  

1)         In making these recommendations, the State Teacher Certification Board shall accept the decision made by the relevant SPA or SAO, if any, regarding the national recognition of each program, unless the staff review of the report on additional standards required under subsection (e) of this Section indicates that certain State standards are not being addressed.  A program's nonrecognition by an SPA or SAO shall be treated as discussed in subsection (j)(2) of this Section.

A)        The State Teacher Certification Board may recommend approval of programs that meet the applicable content standards; or

B)        The Certification Board may recommend provisional approval of programs whose program reports are found to exhibit less than full compliance with the applicable content standards.  No later than 18 months after provisional approval of a program is granted by the State Board of Education, the institution shall submit to the State Superintendent, or to the relevant SPA or SAO, if applicable, a revised program report that shall be reviewed as provided in this Section.  Staff of the State Board of Education shall convey to the State Teacher Certification Board the report of the review panel.  After consideration of this report, the State Teacher Certification Board shall convey its recommendation that the State Board of Education:

i)          Continue the approval of the affected program, thereby authorizing the institution to continue offering it; or

ii)         Revoke the program's approval, thereby prohibiting the institution from continuing to offer it.

2)         If a program's national recognition is denied or discontinued after review by a relevant SPA or SAO, the State Teacher Certification Board may recommend an 18-month period of probation for the program, during which no new candidates shall be enrolled.  While the program is on probation, the institution may submit to the SPA or SAO either a revised program report addressing the unmet standards or a complete, new program report.  At the conclusion of the probationary period, the State Teacher Certification Board may:

A)        Recommend continuing approval of the program, if national recognition is granted or restored by the relevant SPA; or

B)        Recommend revocation of the program's approval, if national recognition is denied by the relevant SPA.

k)         Actions following upon the recommendation of the State Teacher Certification Board shall be as described in Section 25.160 of this Part.  Discontinuation of a program pursuant to revocation of its approval shall be subject to the requirements of Section 25.165(b) of this Part.

(Source:  Amended at 30 Ill. Reg. 8494, effective April 21, 2006)