• Teacher: Person directly responsible for the care and education of a group of children in an early childhood program.
• Teacher Certification: In order to teach in Illinois public elementary and secondary schools the teacher must be certified by the state of Illinois. See the recommendations for the following baccalaureate majors: Early Childhood, Elementary, Secondary and Special Education.
• Teacher Educator: College instructor or professor who teaches early childhood practitioners.
• Tech Prep: Administered by ICCB, Tech Prep is a federally funded education program built upon three critical components intended to develop seamless pathways that prepare students for high-wage, high-demand careers: 1) linkages between academic and career and technical educators; 2) articulation between secondary and postsecondary education; & 3) collaboration between educators and the business community. Programs are run locally through an educational partnership between the community college, high schools, and various other entities involved with the delivery of career and technical education in their region. There are 40 local Tech Prep Consortium in Illinois.
• Technical assistance: The provision of targeted and customized supports by a professional or professionals with subject matter and adult learning knowledge and skills to develop or strengthen processes, knowledge application, or implementation of services by recipients. See also Early Childhood Education Professional Development: Training and Technical Assistance Glossary. See also Peer-to-peer technical assistance.
• Technical Assistance (TA) Credential: A voluntary credential awarded at multiple levels that identifies what individuals working as a relationship-based coach, mentor, or technical assistance provider in the field of ECE/School-Age should know and be able to demonstrate at various levels of training, education, and experience.
• Tiered Reimbursement: Increased payment rates based on quality in a state’s child care subsidy system. In tiered reimbursement systems, states provide higher rates for child care centers and family child care homes that achieve one or more levels of quality beyond basic licensing requirements.
• Toddler: Children between 15 months and 2 years of age. The term may include a child up to 30 months of age depending upon physical or social development.
• Trainer approval (standards and registries): Set of standards and qualifications for individuals who offer training. A registry is a database that sets standards for trainers and tracks trainers’ qualifications and the standards they have met.
• Training: A learning experience, or series of experiences, specific to an area of inquiry and related set of skills or dispositions delivered by a professional or professionals with subject matter and adult learning knowledge and skills. See also Early Childhood Education Professional Development: Training and Technical Assistance Glossary.
• Training approval: Set of standards that trainers must meet, usually linked to core knowledge and to principles of adult learning.
• Transcript: The transcript is an official document that is a record of a student's academic work. To request a copy of the transcript or to have it sent to another party a student would need to contact each institution that was attended for information.
• Transfer Student: A transfer student is a person who begins an academic career at one institution, but leaves that institution and enrolls in another institution.
• Turnover: The percentage of staff that cease employment within a 12-month or other specified period. Turnover is calculated by dividing the number of staff who have left employment by the number of staff on the payroll.
• Two-Year School: An institution that awards a student an associate degree. In Illinois, community colleges award associate degrees.