Rhode Island § 16-98-2 - Access to Advanced Placement Courses for All Students Act [See Title 16 Chapter 97 — The Rhode Island Board of Education Act]

§ 16-98-2. Definitions.

The following words and phrases when used in this chapter shall have the following meanings given to them unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(1) “Advanced placement” means a college-level class taught at the high school level that provides students the opportunity to earn college credit upon passage of an exam that:

(i) Incorporates all topics specified by the College Board on its standards syllabus for a given subject area; and

(ii) Is authorized by the College Board.

(2) [Deleted by P.L. 2021, ch. 162, art. 10, § 4.]

(3) “College Board” means and refers to the nonprofit organization that develops and administers standardized tests and curricula used by kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12) and postsecondary education institutions to promote college readiness.

(4) “Department” means the Rhode Island department of elementary and secondary education.

(5) “Eligible teacher” means a professional employee who is certified in the subject area of the advanced placement course that he or she will be teaching.

(6) “Examination” or “exam” means the test provided by the College Board to measure a student’s mastery of the advanced placement subject matter.

(7) “Four core academic areas” means advanced placement courses in English, mathematics, science, and social science.

(8) “Poverty level” means students whose family income is at or below one hundred eighty-five percent (185%) of federal poverty guidelines.

(9) “Program” means furtherance of the advanced placement classes in the public schools and includes teacher training and increased student participation.

(10) “School district” means any public school district, school unit, area-vocational-technical school, charter school, or mayoral academy that composes a school district; the term also encompasses a single high school or multiple high schools within a school district where applicable.

(11) “Teacher training entities” means institutions of higher education, intermediate units or organizations approved/certified by the College Board to train teachers to teach advanced placement courses.

(12) “Virtual learning instruction” means providing academic courses to students via the Internet and/or the use of technology in providing instruction to students.