Section 65.170  Terms of the Grant

a)         In accordance with Section 21A-25 of the School Code, each school district shall decide, in conjunction with its exclusive bargaining representative, if any, which eligible applicant offers the most suitable program. If a mentor teacher receives release time to support a new teacher, the total workload of other teachers regularly employed by the public school shall not increase in any substantial manner.  (Section 21A-25(b) of the School Code)

b)         The grantee shall participate in external reviews and statewide data collection, as determined by the State Superintendent of Education, to be used to assess the overall effectiveness of induction and mentoring in the State and to understand the effects of intensive induction programs on new teacher practice and effectiveness.

c)         The grantee shall participate in State-provided technical assistance activities and State-developed trainings related to the use of the Illinois Standards of Quality and Effectiveness for New Teacher Programs and the Illinois Induction Program Continuum.  (See Appendix A and Appendix B.)

d)         Reporting.  The grantee shall submit data and information about the new teacher induction program each year to the State Superintendent of Education in a format specified by and according to the timeline set forth by the State Superintendent.  The report shall include, at a minimum, an assessment of the grantee's progress towards meeting any locally established goals for the program, as set forth in the approved application, and the number of new teachers and mentors served during the grant period.

e)         Each grantee shall submit to the State Board of Education by December 31 of each grant year a final count of the teachers to be served in the new teacher induction program for the respective grant period.  In instances in which the final count is less than the number of teachers proposed to be served in the approved application, the State Board of Education shall reduce grant proceeds not yet received by an amount equal to the difference between the proposed and actual number of teachers served multiplied by the per-teacher amount awarded pursuant to either Section 65.160(a) or (c), as applicable. 

(Source:  Amended at 46 Ill. Reg. 13208, effective July 13, 2022)