The purpose and effects of this rule are: 1) Adoption by reference of the 2023-2024 Master Credentials List; 2) Adoption of the 2023-2024 CAPE Industry Certification Funding List; 3) Updated language on the submission of ....

 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

State Board of Education

RULE NO.:RULE TITLE:

6A-6.0576CAPE Industry Certification Funding List

PURPOSE AND EFFECT: The purpose and effects of this rule are: 1) Adoption by reference of the 2023-2024 Master Credentials List; 2) Adoption of the 2023-2024 CAPE Industry Certification Funding List; 3) Updated language on the submission of digital tools certificates; 4) Addition of student conduct provisions for test administration; and 5) Updated language to conform with statutory changes made during the 2023 legislative session.

SUMMARY: District and Florida College System Postsecondary Industry Certification.

SUMMARY OF STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED REGULATORY COSTS AND LEGISLATIVE RATIFICATION:

The Agency has determined that this will not have an adverse impact on small business or likely increase directly or indirectly regulatory costs in excess of $200,000 in the aggregate within one year after the implementation of the rule. A SERC has not been prepared by the Agency.

The Agency has determined that the proposed rule is not expected to require legislative ratification based on the statement of estimated regulatory costs or if no SERC is required, the information expressly relied upon and described herein: The proposed rule is not expected to have any adverse impact on economic growth, business competitiveness or any other factors listed in s. 120.541(2)(a), F.S., and will not require legislative ratification. No increase in regulatory costs are anticipated as a result of the rule changes.

Any person who wishes to provide information regarding a statement of estimated regulatory costs or provide a proposal for a lower cost regulatory alternative must do so in writing within 21 days of this notice.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY: 1001.02(1), (2)(n), 1003.4203(5)(d), 1003.491(9), 1008.44, 1011.62(1), F.S.

LAW IMPLEMENTED: 1003.4203, (5)(d), 1003.491(9), 1003.492, 1003.493, 1003.4935, 1008.44, 1011.62(1), 1012.796, F.S.

A HEARING WILL BE HELD AT THE DATE, TIME AND PLACE SHOWN BELOW:

DATE AND TIME: August 23, 2023, 9:00 a.m.

PLACE: Collier County School Board Office 5775 Osceola Trail, Naples, FL 34109.

THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE IS: Tara Goodman, Vice Chancellor, Division of Career and Adult Education, [phone], [e-mail].

 

THE FULL TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE IS:

 

6A-6.0576 CAPE Industry Certification Funding List

(1) No change.

(2) Definitions. The following definitions must shall be used in this rule and incorporated documents:

(a) “CAPE” means career and professional education.

(b) “CAPE Industry Certification Funding List” or “Funding List” means the list of industry certifications and, certificates, and courses adopted by the State Board of Education for implementation of the Florida Career and Professional Education Act. Certifications and, certificates, and courses identified on the Funding List are assigned additional full-time equivalent (FTE) membership funding, as specified in Sections 1008.44 and 1011.62(1), F.S.

(c) “CAPE Acceleration Industry Certifications” means certifications identified on the Funding List pursuant to the requirements in Sections 1003.4203(4)(5)(b) and 1008.44(1)(e), F.S. These certifications have statewide articulation agreements for fifteen (15) or more college credits in a related postsecondary associate degree program.

(d) “CAPE Digital Tool Certificates” means certificates identified on the Funding List pursuant to the requirements in Sections 1003.4203(2)(3) and 1008.44(1)(b), F.S. These certificates assess digitals skills that are necessary for a student’s academic work and are appropriate for elementary school and middle grades students.

(e) “CAPE Industry Certifications” means certifications identified on the Funding List pursuant to the requirements in Sections 1003.4203(3)(4) and 1008.44(1)(a), F.S. An industry certification is a voluntary process through which students are assessed by an independent, third-party certifying entity using predetermined standards for knowledge, skills, and competencies, resulting in the award of a credential. These certifications either do not have a statewide articulation agreement for college credit or have a statewide articulation agreement for no more than fourteen (14) college credits in a related postsecondary associate degree program.

(f) “CAPE Innovation Courses” means courses identified by the Commissioner of Education pursuant to the requirements in Sections 1003.4203(5)(a) and 1008.44(1)(d), F.S. These courses combine academic and career content and include at least two (2) third-party assessments, one (1) of which must be associated with an industry certification identified on the Funding List.

(f) (g) “Career-themed course” means a course as defined in Section 1003.493(1)(b), F.S., offered in secondary schools which meets the requirements in Section 1003.493(4), F.S. This may be any course available to students in grades 6-12 with career education content related to an industry certification.

(g) (h) “Career and professional academy” means a program as defined in Section 1003.493(1)(a), F.S., offered in secondary schools which meets the requirements in Section 1003.493(4), F.S. An academy is a research-based program with rigorous academic and industry-specific curriculum aligned to the priority workforce needs.

(h) (i) “Master Credentials List” means the industry certification and digital tool certificate list adopted by Credentials Review Committee and CareerSource Florida and transmitted to the Department in accordance with Section 445.004, F.S. This list includes industry certifications and digital tool certificates, which must be used to determine eligibility for inclusion on the Funding List.

(i) (j) “Monitor” is the individual assigned to independently observe the administration of an industry certification exam.

(j) (k) “Proctor” is the individual assigned to administer industry certification exams.

(k) (l) “Remote proctoring” is the process of taking an exam while the test taker is in one location and the virtual proctor is in another location.

(l) (m) “Virtual proctor” is a live human who remotely watches the test taker during the exam. This person must see the test candidate and the exam synchronously, as well as the environment in which the test is taken.

(3) Adoption of the Master Credentials List. The “2023-2024 2022-2023 Master Credentials List, Updated” submitted to the Department by CareerSource Florida (http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-15315) is adopted by the State Board of Education and incorporated by reference in this rule. The list may be obtained from the Department of Education, Room 744, Turlington Building, 325 West Gaines Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399.

(4) Adoption of the annual Funding List. The Funding List is composed of industry certifications and, certificates, and courses as specified in Sections 1008.44 and 1011.62(1), F.S.

(a) through (c) No change.

(d) The 2023-2024 “2022-2023 CAPE Industry Certification Funding List, Updated” (http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-15316) is published by the Department of Education and is incorporated by reference in this rule. The list may be obtained from the Department of Education, Room 744, Turlington Building, 325 West Gaines Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399.

(5) No change.

(6) Designation of K-12 funding eligibility on the Funding List. In order for a certification or digital tool certificate to be eligible for additional FTE membership funding pursuant to Section 1011.62(1), F.S., the following criteria must be met:

(a) through (b) No change. 

(c) To be included as a CAPE Digital Tool Certificate, the certificate must be designated on the 2023-2024 Master Credentials List as a certificate as of June 30, 2023, or be approved by the Department of Education as specified that meets the requirements in Sections 1003.4203(3) and 1008.44(1)(b), F.S

1. School districts may request a review of assessments and credentials for approval as CAPE Digital Tool Certificates during a submission window from the first business day in March to first business day in April of each year. Submissions will be reviewed for approval for the following academic year. Form FCAPE-05, CAPE Digital Tool Certificate Submission Form, (DOS LINK) is hereby incorporated by reference in this rule, effective September 2023, and must be utilized by school districts for submission of new CAPE Digital Tool Certificates. Form FCAPE-05 may be found on the Department’s website at https://www.fldoe.org/academics/career-adult-edu/cape-secondary.

2. For Department of Education approval as a CAPE Digital Tool Certificate and inclusion on the Funding List, the assessment of digital skills must:

a. Require a written examination for students which is designed to award a certificate only when a student demonstrates competency or proficiency in the content area;

b. Be developed by a third party and administered in accordance with the test administration procedures specified by the certifying agency;

c. Require all written examinations be proctored;

d. Require the exam questions be delivered in a secure manner and not available to the test proctor for an extended period of time, other than the time necessary to receive, distribute, and return any written materials to the scoring entity;

e. Require that the written examinations be scored by the certifying agency; and,

f. Not be an exam required to earn a CAPE Industry Certification or CAPE Acceleration Certification.

(7) Publication Date for the Funding List. The Funding List for the school year must shall be published no later than August 1.

(8) K-12 Funding weights for certifications on the Funding List. Pursuant to Section 1011.62(1), F.S., the weight used for CAPE Industry Certifications and CAPE Acceleration Industry Certifications in the FEFP is based on statewide articulation agreements approved by the State Board of Education in Rule 6A-10.0401, F.A.C., which is incorporated herein by reference (http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-14693). If an articulation agreement is no longer current and is removed from Rule 6A-10.0401, F.A.C., after the start of the academic year, the funding weight will be updated during the adoption cycle for the following academic year. A copy of Rule 6A-10.0401, F.A.C. may be obtained from the Department of Education, Room 744, Turlington Building, 325 West Gaines Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399.

(9) Conditions for Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) calculation and reporting.

(a) A school district is eligible for additional FTE membership under the following conditions:

1. No change.

2. Elementary or middle grades student completes a CAPE Digital Tool Certificate on the Funding List., or

3. Middle grades or high school student is enrolled in a CAPE Innovation Course and completes all of the requirements for the CAPE Innovation Course.

(b) A certification reported with a prior year course may be funded if the certification is earned within two academic years after the course is taken and the certification is identified as eligible for lagged funding on the Funding List. Pursuant to Section 1011.62(1), F.S., middle grades students who earn additional FTE membership for a CAPE Digital Tool Certificate may not use the previously funded examination to satisfy the requirements for earning a CAPE Industry Certification, CAPE Acceleration Industry Certification, or CAPE Innovation Course. The district must shall not report a certification for which a portion of the industry certification exams were previously funded as a CAPE Digital Tool Certificate.

(c) To report successful attainment of certifications and, certificates, and course completion on the Funding List, the following test administration procedures for all examinations associated with earning the industry certification must be followed:

1. through 6. No change.

(d) through (f) No change.

(10) Registration of K-12 career and professional academies. School districts must annually register career and professional academies offered by the school district. Form FCAPE-01, Florida Career and Professional Education Act Career and Professional Academies, (http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-15317) is hereby incorporated by reference in this rule, effective May 2023, and must shall be utilized for reporting the information. Form FCAPE-01 may be found on the Department’s website at https://www.fldoe.org/academics/career-adult-edu/cape-secondary. Registration will take place during an annual reporting window which will be open no later than August 16 and close on September 15 or the next business day. After the close of the submission window, districts may submit corrections during an update window from October 1 to the last business day in October. The Department will assign a unique three-digit identifier to be used by school districts for reporting students in academies.

(11) Registration of career-themed courses eligible for funding as specified in Section 1011.62(1), F.S. School districts must annually register each career-themed course offered in their district by school using the web-based application available at https://web02.fldoe.org/CAPE/login.aspx.

(a) through (b) No change.

(c) The For the 2022-23 reporting year, the registration system includes all career education courses approved for grades 6 through 12 in the course code directory as adopted in Rule 6A-1.09441, F.A.C. Other courses available to students in grades 6 through 12 may be added to the registration system if requested by a school district and with documentation that student mastery of at least five (5) core standards are assessed by an industry certification exam adopted on the CAPE Industry Certification Funding List.  Beginning with the 2023-24 reporting year, the registration of career-themed courses is limited to an approved list of industry certification offerings for each eligible course. To request additions of non-career education courses to the registration system for the academic year, the school district must notify the department in writing with the course number, industry certification and academic standards for the course that align to the certification. The request must be received no later than the first business day of March in the academic year for the career-themed course registration. Upon validation of alignment between standards and the requirements for the industry certification, the course will be added to the registration system for use in the next open registration period. Beginning with the 2023-24 reporting year, the registration of career-themed courses is limited to an approved list of industry certification offerings for each eligible course.

(d) No change.

(e) A dual enrollment course at a public or private postsecondary institution may be registered by the district as a career themed course if the district has an articulation agreement with the postsecondary institution and the course leads to an industry certification on the Funding List and is not eligible for other performance funds as specified in Section 1011.62(1)(o)1.b., F.S. A district may submit requests for dual enrollment courses to be added to the registration system in writing with the course number, industry certification and academic standards for the course. The request must be received no later than the first business day of March in the academic year for the career-themed course registration. Upon validation of alignment between standards and the requirements for the industry certification, the course will be added to the registration system for use in the next open registration period.

(f) through (g) No change.

(h) Form FCAPE-02, Florida Career and Professional Education Act Career-Themed Course (CTC) Registration Form, (http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-14695) is hereby incorporated by reference in this rule to become effective September 2022 and must shall be utilized for reporting the career-themed course information. Form FCAPE-02 may be found on the Department’s website at: https://web02.fldoe.org/CAPE.

(12) Teacher and proctor conduct provisions for maintaining the validity of the industry certification credential for K-12 students. Industry certifications are independent, third-party verification of technical skills achieved by students. Any practice that jeopardizes the validity of industry certifications disadvantages the students and prospective employers. Teachers who provide direct instruction leading to industry certification exams and proctors assigned to administer industry certification exams must shall not engage in any conduct that jeopardizes the validity of the industry certification exam results. Only authorized proctors may be provided access to testing materials associated with industry certification exams.

(a) Teachers providing instruction leading to industry certification exams must shall not:

1. through 15. No change.

(b) Authorized proctors or monitors for the industry certification exams must shall not:

1. through 10. No change.

(c) No change.

(13) Teacher conduct provisions for maintaining the validity of digital tool certificates. Teachers of digital tool certificates may be authorized by the school district to administer and proctor the exams for digital tool certificates to their own students.

(a) Teachers providing instruction leading to digital tool certificate exams must shall not:

1. through 7. No change.

(b) No change.

(14) No change.

(15) Reporting requirements for violations of industry certification test administration provisions for K-12 students. In those situations, where provisions of subsections (12) and (13) of this rule are violated by a teacher or proctor, the district must shall prepare a report made to the department and the certifying agency. This notification must occur within five (5) business days, unless the certifying agency has a more stringent requirement. The report must shall include a description of the incident, the names of the persons involved in or witness to the incident, and other information as appropriate. Districts must shall report to the department using Form FCAPE-04, Florida Career and Professional Education Act Testing Violation Report, (http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-14697) which is hereby incorporated by reference in this rule to become effective September 2023 2022. Form FCAPE-04 may also be found on the department’s website at: http://fldoe.org/academics/career-adult-edu/cape-secondary/resources.stml.

(16) K-12 student conduct provisions during test administrations. School districts must have local policies and procedures for the review of student conduct during and after industry certification and certificate exam administrations. These procedures must address any student conduct that violates certifying agency requirements for test administration or jeopardizes the integrity of the test. This conduct includes but is not limited to use of unauthorized materials during the testing, use of a cell phone or any other device with the ability to take photos of exam materials, assisting any other test taker with exam questions, and the disclosure of any test questions after the test administration. If a district determines the student violated the conduct provisions, the student must be prohibited from testing on any industry certification or certificate for a minimum period of six (6) months. If the district determines that the student conduct jeopardized the integrity of the exam beyond the scope of the student’s own performance on the exam, the district must complete Form FCAPE-04 and report the incident to the department for review.

(17) (16) Remote proctoring of industry certification exams for K-12 students. Remote proctoring of industry certifications and digital tool certificates is allowed in circumstances where the certifying agencies offer remotely proctored testing options under certain conditions.

(a) through (b) No change.

(c) Certifications and certificates approved by the Department meeting these this criteria are posted on the following webpage: http://www.fldoe.org/academics/career-adult-edu/cape-secondary/cape-industry-cert-funding-list-current.stml.

Rulemaking Authority 1001.02(1), (2)(n), 1003.4203(9), 1003.491(5)(d), 1008.44, 1011.62(1) FS. Law Implemented 1003.4203, 1003.491, 1003.492, 1003.493, 1003.4935, 1011.80, 1011.81, 1008.44, 1011.62(1) FS. History‒New 9-20-22, Amended 5-23-23,       .

 

NAME OF PERSON ORIGINATING PROPOSED RULE: Tara Goodman, Vice Chancellor, Division of Career and Adult Education.

NAME OF AGENCY HEAD WHO APPROVED THE PROPOSED RULE: Manny Diaz Jr., Commissioner, Department of Education.

DATE PROPOSED RULE APPROVED BY AGENCY HEAD: July 14, 2023

DATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT PUBLISHED IN FAR: June 7, 2023