281—15.13(256) Department responsibilities.
	15.13(1) Course quality. The department shall annually evaluate the quality of courses offered under ILO to ensure that coursework is rigorous and of high quality and is aligned with Iowa’s core curriculum and core content requirements and standards as well as with national standards of quality for online courses issued by an internationally recognized association for elementary and secondary online learning. The department shall ensure that all ILO coursework is taught by a teacher who is appropriately licensed and endorsed for the educational level and content area being taught and who has completed an online-learning-for-Iowa-educators professional development course offered by an area education agency, a teacher preservice program, or comparable coursework. The director of the department shall maintain a list of approved online providers that meet the standards of this subrule and provide course content through an online learning platform taught by a teacher licensed under Iowa Code chapter 272 who has specialized training or experience in online learning. This list shall be maintained pursuant to subrule 15.16(2). Providers shall apply for approval annually or as determined by the department.
	15.13(2) Fiscal matters. The department shall establish fees payable by school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, and individuals providing instruction to students under Iowa Code chapter 299A as described in rule 281—15.10(256), for ILO coursework. Fees collected pursuant to this subrule are appropriated to the department to be used only for the purpose of administering ILO and shall be established so as not to exceed the cost of administering ILO. Providing professional development necessary to prepare teachers to participate in the initiative shall be considered a cost of ILO administration. Notwithstanding Iowa Code section 8.33, fees collected by the department that remain unencumbered or unobligated at the close of the fiscal year shall not revert but shall remain available for expenditure for the purpose of expanding ILO coursework offered in subsequent fiscal years.
[ARC 0522C, IAB 12/12/12, effective 1/16/13; ARC 3981C, IAB 8/29/18, effective 10/3/18; ARC 4295C, IAB 2/13/19, effective 3/20/19]