H.R. 4137 (110^th): Higher Education Opportunity Act

shall include—

may include any of the following:

High-quality teacher mentoring.

Periodic, structured time for collaboration with mentor teachers in the same department or field, as well as time for information-sharing among teachers, principals, administrators, and participating faculty in the partner institution.

The application of empirically based practice and scientifically valid research on instructional practices.

Opportunities for new teachers to draw directly upon the expertise of teacher mentors, faculty, and researchers to support the integration of empirically based practice and scientifically valid research with practice.

The development of skills in instructional and behavioral interventions derived from empirically based practice and, where applicable, scientifically valid research.

Faculty who—

Interdisciplinary collaboration among exemplary teachers, faculty, researchers, and other staff who prepare new teachers with respect to the learning process and the assessment of learning.

Assistance with the understanding of data, particularly student achievement data, and the data’s applicability in classroom instruction.

Structured and formal observation of new teachers, and feedback for such teachers, at least 4 times each school year by multiple evaluators, including master teachers and the principal, using valid and reliable benchmarks of teaching skills and standards developed with input from teachers.

whose graduates exhibit strong performance on State-determined qualifying assessments for new teachers through—

that requires—

includes clear criteria for the selection of teacher mentors who will provide role model relationships for mentees, which criteria shall be developed by the eligible partnership and based on measures of teacher effectiveness;

provides high-quality training for such mentors, including instructional strategies for literacy instruction and classroom management;

provides regular and ongoing opportunities for mentors and mentees to observe each other’s teaching methods in classroom settings during the day in a high-need school in the high-need local educational agency in the eligible partnership;

provides paid release time for mentors;

provides mentoring to each mentee by a colleague who teaches in the same field, grade, or subject as the mentee;

promotes empirically based practice of, and scientifically valid research on, where applicable—

includes—

for 1 academic year, teaches alongside a mentor teacher, who is the teacher of record;

receives concurrent instruction during the year described in subparagraph (A) from the partner institution, which may include courses taught by local educational agency personnel or residency program faculty, in the teaching of the content area in which the teacher will become certified or licensed;

acquires effective teaching skills; and

prior to completion of the program, earns a master’s degree, attains full State teacher certification or licensure, and becomes highly qualified.

the integration of funds from other sources;

the intended use of the grant funds;

the commitment of the resources of the partnership, including financial support, faculty participation, and time commitments, to the activities assisted under this section and to the continuation of the activities when the grant ends;

how the partnership will meet the purposes of this part;

how the partnership will carry out the activities required under subsection (d) or (e) based on the needs identified in paragraph (1), with the goal of improving student achievement;

the partnership’s evaluation plan under section 204(a);

how the partnership will align the teacher preparation program with the—

how the partnership will prepare general education teachers to teach students with disabilities, including training related to participation as a member of individualized education program teams, as defined in section 614(d)(1)(B) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act;

how the partnership will prepare general education and special education teachers to teach students with limited English proficiency;

how faculty at the partner institution will work, during the term of the grant, with highly qualified teachers in the classrooms of schools served by the high-need local educational agency in the partnership to provide high-quality professional development activities;

how the partnership will design, implement, or enhance a year-long, rigorous, and enriching teaching pre-service clinical program component;

how the partnership will support in-service professional development strategies and activities; and

how the partnership will collect, analyze, and use data on the retention of all teachers and early childhood educators in schools and early childhood programs located in the geographic area served by the partnership to evaluate the effectiveness of the partnership’s teacher and educator support system; and

a description of how the teacher preparation program will design and implement an induction program to support all new teachers through not less than the first 2 years of teaching in the further development of the new teachers’ teaching skills, including the use of mentors who are trained and compensated by such program for the mentors’ work with new teachers;

a demonstration that the schools and departments within the institution of higher education that are part of the induction program have relevant and essential roles in the effective preparation of teachers, including content expertise and expertise in teaching;

a demonstration of the partnership’s capability and commitment to the use of empirically based practice and scientifically valid research related to teaching and learning, and the accessibility to and involvement of faculty;

a description of how faculty involved in the induction program will be able to substantially participate in an early childhood education program or an elementary or secondary school classroom setting, as applicable, including release time and receiving workload credit for such participation.

In general

Implementing reforms, described in subparagraph (B), within each teacher preparation program and, as applicable, each preparation program for early childhood education programs, of the eligible partnership that is assisted under this section, to hold each program accountable for—

Required reforms

The reforms described in subparagraph (A) shall include—

Incorporate year-long opportunities for enrichment activity or a combination of activities, including—

Integrate pedagogy and classroom practice and promote effective teaching skills in academic content areas, which may include preparation for meeting the unique needs of teaching in rural communities.

Provide high-quality teacher mentoring.

Provide support and training for those individuals participating in an activity for prospective teachers described in this paragraph or paragraph (1) or (3), and for those who serve as mentors for such teachers, based on each individual’s experience. Such support may include—

underrepresented populations;

individuals to teach in rural communities and teacher shortage areas, including mathematics, science, special education, and instruction of limited English proficient students; and

mid-career professionals from other occupations, former military personnel, and recent college graduates with proven records of academic distinction.

provides teacher training in reading instruction for literacy coaches who—

develops or redesigns rigorous evidenced-based reading curricula that are aligned with challenging State academic content standards, as required under section 1111(b)(1) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, and with postsecondary standards for reading and writing;

provides opportunities for teachers to plan and assess instruction with other teachers, school leaders, and faculty at institutions of higher education;

provides training and professional development for principals to prepare them to understand the teaching of reading, guide instruction, and foster school improvement; and

establishes an evaluation and accountability plan for activities conducted under this paragraph to measure the impact of such activities.

Supporting a teaching residency program described in paragraph (2) for high-need subjects and areas, as determined by the needs of the high-need local educational agency in the partnership.

Modifying staffing procedures to provide greater flexibility for local educational agency and school leaders to establish effective school-level staffing in order to facilitate placement of graduates of the teaching residency program in cohorts that facilitate professional collaboration, both among graduates of the teaching residency program and between such graduates and mentor teachers in the receiving school.

Ensuring that teaching residents that participated in the teaching residency program receive—

Establishment and design

A teaching residency program under this subsection shall be a program based upon models of successful teaching residencies that serves as a mechanism to prepare teachers for success in the high-need schools in the eligible partnership, and shall be designed to include the following characteristics of successful programs:

Selection of individuals as teacher residents

Stipend and service requirement

Preparing students currently enrolled or preparing to enroll in education administration programs in preparation for careers as superintendents, principals, or other school administrators (including students preparing to work in rural school districts who may perform multiple duties in addition to the role of administrator).

Promoting strong administrative skills and, as applicable, techniques for education administrators to improve the school environment and effectively manage schools.

Ensuring that students who participate in the leadership program receive—

Developing and improving a sustained and high-quality pre-service clinical education program to further develop the leadership skills of all prospective educational administrators involved in the program. Such program shall do the following:

Creating an induction program for new administrators.

Developing and implementing effective mechanisms to ensure that the eligible partnership is able to recruit qualified individuals to become educational administrators through the activities of the eligible partnership, which may include an emphasis on recruiting into the education administration profession—

be enrolled in or preparing to enroll in an institution of higher education, or a recent graduate of an institution of higher education, or a mid-career professional from outside the field of education possessing strong content knowledge or a record of professional accomplishment;

be current teachers who would like to become principals or principals who would like to be superintendents; and

submit an application to the leadership program.

to partnerships that include an institution of higher education whose teacher preparation program has a rigorous selection process to ensure the highest quality of students entering such programs; and

the percentage of highly qualified teachers hired by the high-need local educational agency participating in the eligible partnership;

the percentage of such teachers who are members of underrepresented groups;

the percentage of such teachers who teach high-need academic subject areas (such as reading, mathematics, science, and foreign languages, including less commonly taught languages and critical foreign languages);

the percentage of such teachers who teach in high-need areas (including special education, language instruction educational programs for limited English proficient students, and early childhood education);

the percentage of such teachers in high-need schools, disaggregated by the elementary, middle, and high school levels;

as applicable, the percentage of early childhood education program classes in the geographic area served by the eligible partnership taught by early childhood educators who are highly competent; and

as applicable, the number of teachers trained effectively to integrate technology into curricula and instruction and who use technology to collect, manage, and analyze data to improve teaching, learning, and decision making for the purpose of improving student academic achievement.

Pass rates and scaled scores

For the most recent year for which the information is available for those students who took the assessments and are enrolled in the traditional teacher preparation program or alternative routes to State certification or licensure program, and for those who have taken the assessments and have completed the traditional teacher preparation program or alternative routes to State certification or licensure program during the 2-year period preceding such year, for each of the assessments used for teacher certification or licensure by the State in which the program is located—

Program information

The criteria for admission into the program, the number of students in the program (disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and gender), the average number of hours of supervised clinical experience required for those in the program, the number of full-time equivalent faculty and students in the supervised clinical experience, and the total number of students who have been certified or licensed as teachers, disaggregated by subject and area of certification or licensure.

Statement

In States that require approval or accreditation of teacher preparation programs, a statement of whether the institution’s program is so approved or accredited, and by whom.

Designation as low-performing

Whether the program has been designated as low-performing by the State under section 208(a).

Use of technology

A description of the activities that prepare teachers to effectively integrate technology into curricula and instruction and effectively use technology to collect, manage, and analyze data in order to improve teaching, learning, and decision making for the purpose of increasing student academic achievement.

Teacher training

A description of the activities that prepare general and special education teachers to effectively teach students with disabilities, including training related to participation as a member of individualized education program teams, as defined in section 614(d)(1)(B) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and to effectively teach students with limited English proficiency.

A description of the reliability and validity of the teacher certification and licensure assessments, and any other certification and licensure requirements, used by the State.

The standards and criteria that prospective teachers must meet to attain initial teacher certification or licensure and to be certified or licensed to teach particular academic subject areas or in particular grades within the State.

A description of how the assessments and requirements described in subparagraph (A) are aligned with the State’s challenging academic content standards required under section 1111(b)(1) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and State early learning standards for early childhood education programs.

For each of the assessments used by the State for teacher certification or licensure—

A description of alternative routes to teacher certification or licensure in the State (including any such routes operated by entities that are not institutions of higher education), if any, including, for each of the assessments used by the State for teacher certification or licensure—

A description of the State’s criteria for assessing the performance of teacher preparation programs within institutions of higher education in the State. Such criteria shall include indicators of the academic content knowledge and teaching skills of students enrolled in such programs.

For each teacher preparation program in the State, the criteria for admission into the program, the number of students in the program, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, and gender (except that such disaggregation shall not be required in a case in which the number of students in a category is insufficient to yield statistically reliable information or the results would reveal personally identifiable information about an individual student), the average number of hours of supervised clinical experience required for those in the program, and the number of full-time equivalent faculty, adjunct faculty, and students in supervised clinical experience.

For the State as a whole, and for each teacher preparation program in the State, the number of teachers prepared, in the aggregate and reported separately by—

Using the data generated under subparagraphs (G) and (H), a description of the extent to which teacher preparation programs are helping to address shortages of highly qualified teachers, by area of certification or licensure, subject, and specialty, in the State’s public schools.

A description of the activities that prepare general and special education teachers to effectively teach students with disabilities, including training related to participation as a member of individualized education program teams, as defined in section 614(d)(1)(B) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

A description of the activities that prepare teachers to effectively integrate technology into curricula and instruction and effectively use technology to collect, manage, and analyze data to improve teaching, learning, and decision making for the purpose of increasing student academic achievement.

A description of the activities that prepare general education and special education teachers to effectively teach students with limited English proficiency.

A comparison of States’ efforts to improve the quality of the current and future teaching force.

A comparison of eligible partnerships’ efforts to improve the quality of the current and future teaching force.

The national mean and median scaled scores and pass rate on any standardized test that is used in more than 1 State for teacher certification or licensure.

may enable the teacher preparation program to evaluate the effectiveness of the program’s graduates or the program itself; and

is possessed, controlled, or accessible by the State educational agency.

shall include an identification of specific individuals who graduated from the teacher preparation program to enable the teacher preparation program to evaluate the information provided to the program from the State educational agency with the program’s own data about the specific courses taken by, and field experiences of, the individual graduates; and

may include—

improve student learning, assessment, and learning management; and

help students develop skills to enter the workforce;

develop and implement a plan for pre-service teachers and continuing educators that demonstrates effective instructional strategies and application of such strategies in the use of digital tools to transform the teaching and learning process; and

better reach underrepresented pre-service teacher populations with programs that connect such pre-service teacher populations with applications of technology;