Elevating Educator Preparation Through Innovation Act of 2016

Summary: Elevating Educator Preparation Through Innovation Act of 2016 This bill amends title II (Teacher Quality Enhancement) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to&nbsp;revise provisions related to the Teacher Quality Partnership grant program.&nbsp;Specifically, the bill:  modifies requirements regarding which types of entities must, or may, be included in a grant-eligible partnership; eliminates the requirement that a teaching residency program must culminate in the attainment of a master's degree; and expands the purposes for which grant funds may be used.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Elevating Educator Preparation 
Through Innovation Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS UNDER TITLE II.

    Section 200 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking paragraph (6) and inserting the following:
            ``(6) Eligible partnership.--
                    ``(A) Eligible entity.--In this paragraph, the term 
                `eligible entity' means an entity that shall include--
                            ``(i) a high-need local educational agency; 
                        and
                            ``(ii)(I) a high-need school or a 
                        consortium of high-need schools served by the 
                        high-need local educational agency; or
                            ``(II) as applicable, a high-need early 
                        childhood education program.
                    ``(B) In general.--Except as otherwise provided in 
                section 251, the term `eligible partnership' means an 
                eligible entity that is in partnership with at least 
                one of the following entities that has a demonstrated 
                record of success with high-need local educational 
                agencies (including addressing the eligible entity's 
                current human capital needs):
                            ``(i) A partner institution.
                            ``(ii) A school, department, or program of 
                        education within such partner institution, 
                        which may include an existing teacher 
                        professional development program with proven 
                        outcomes within a four-year institution of 
                        higher education that provides intensive and 
                        sustained collaboration between faculty and 
                        local educational agencies consistent with the 
                        requirements of this title.
                            ``(iii) A school or department of arts and 
                        sciences within such partner institution.
                            ``(iv) An entity operating a program that 
                        provides alternative routes to State 
                        certification of teachers.
                            ``(v) A public or private nonprofit 
                        educational organization.
                            ``(vi) An educational service agency.
                    ``(C) Permissive partners.--An `eligible 
                partnership' may include any of the following:
                            ``(i) The Governor of the State.
                            ``(ii) The State educational agency.
                            ``(iii) The State board of education.
                            ``(iv) The State agency for higher 
                        education.
                            ``(v) A business.
                            ``(vi) A teacher organization.
                            ``(vii) A high-performing local educational 
                        agency, or a consortium of such local 
                        educational agencies, that can serve as a 
                        resource to the partnership.
                            ``(viii) A charter school (as defined in 
                        section 4310 of the Elementary and Secondary 
                        Education Act of 1965).
                            ``(ix) A school or department within the 
                        partner institution that focuses on psychology 
                        and human development.
                            ``(x) A school or department within the 
                        partner institution with comparable expertise 
                        in the disciplines of teaching, learning, and 
                        child and adolescent development.'';
            (2) in paragraph (22)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``the partner 
                institution'' and inserting ``an eligible partner 
                described in any of clauses (i) through (vi) of 
                paragraph (6)(B)''; and
                    (B) by striking subparagraph (D) and inserting the 
                following:
                    ``(D) prior to completion of the program, attains 
                full State teacher certification or licensure and, with 
                respect to special education teachers, meets the 
                qualifications described in section 612(a)(14)(C) of 
                the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.''; and
            (3) in paragraph (23)(A), by inserting ``, which may 
        include through the use of data, including data from interim, 
        formative, and summative assessments, and student growth data, 
        attendance, behavior, and course grades to improve student 
        achievement and to improve classroom instruction'' after 
        ``knowledge''.

SEC. 3. USE OF GRANTS.

    Section 202(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1022a(c)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) may use not more than 10 percent of grant funds to--
                    ``(A) encourage the preservice and inservice 
                clinical experiences and interactions of prospective 
                and resident teachers to inform the design of high-
                quality professional development, as described in 
                section 8101(42) of the Elementary and Secondary 
                Education Act of 1965, and induction programs for new 
                teachers, if the student teaching or teaching residency 
                program school and the placement school of such 
                teachers are served by the same local educational 
                agency;
                    ``(B) improve teacher preparation programs' 
                clinical experiences, interactions, and curricula by 
                identifying skill deficits of prospective teachers; and
                    ``(C) create a feedback loop using data between 
                teacher preparation programs and local educational 
                agencies' professional development for new teachers.''.

SEC. 4. EVALUATIONS.

    Section 204(d) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1022b) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(d) Evaluation and Dissemination.--From amounts appropriated 
under section 209, the Secretary, acting through the Director of the 
Institute of Education Sciences, shall--
            ``(1) carry out an independent evaluation to measure the 
        effectiveness of the programs operated by the partnerships 
        assisted under this part;
            ``(2) report the findings regarding the evaluation to the 
        authorizing committees; and
            ``(3) disseminate--
                    ``(A) successful practices developed by eligible 
                partnerships under this part; and
                    ``(B) information regarding such practices that 
                were found to be ineffective.''.