IIB 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2211

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 10, 2003

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

AN ACT

To reauthorize title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ready to Teach Act 

3 of 2003’’. 

4 SEC. 2. TEACHER QUALITY ENHANCEMENT GRANTS. 

5 Part A of title II of the Higher Education Act of 

6 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021 et seq.) is amended to read as fol7 lows:

8 ‘‘PART A—TEACHER QUALITY ENHANCEMENT 

9 GRANTS FOR STATES AND PARTNERSHIPS 

10 ‘‘SEC. 201. PURPOSES; DEFINITIONS. 

11 ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this part are to—

12 ‘‘(1) improve student academic achievement; 

13 ‘‘(2) improve the quality of the current and fu14 ture teaching force by improving the preparation of 

15 prospective teachers and enhancing professional de16 velopment activities; 

17 ‘‘(3) hold institutions of higher education ac18 countable for preparing highly qualified teachers; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(4) recruit qualified individuals, including mi21 norities and individuals from other occupations, into 

22 the teaching force. 

23 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this part: 

24 ‘‘(1) ARTS AND SCIENCES.—The term ‘arts and 

25 sciences’ means—
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1 ‘‘(A) when referring to an organizational 

2 unit of an institution of higher education, any 

3 academic unit that offers 1 or more academic 

4 majors in disciplines or content areas cor5 responding to the academic subject matter 

6 areas in which teachers provide instruction; and 

7 ‘‘(B) when referring to a specific academic 

8 subject matter area, the disciplines or content 

9 areas in which academic majors are offered by 

10 the arts and science organizational unit. 

11 ‘‘(2) EXEMPLARY TEACHER.—The term ‘exem12 plary teacher’ has the meaning given such term in 

13 section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu14 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

15 ‘‘(3) HIGHLY QUALIFIED.—The term ‘highly 

16 qualified’ has the meaning given such term in sec17 tion 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu18 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

19 ‘‘(4) HIGH-NEED LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN20 CY.—The term ‘high-need local educational agency’ 

21 means a local educational agency—

22 ‘‘(A)(i)(I) that serves not fewer than 

23 10,000 children from families with incomes 

24 below the poverty line; or 
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1 ‘‘(II) for which not less than 25 percent of 

2 the children served by the agency are from fam3 ilies with incomes below the poverty line; 

4 ‘‘(ii) that is among those serving the high5 est number or percentage of children from fam6 ilies with incomes below the poverty line in the 

7 State, but this clause applies only in a State 

8 that has no local educational agency meeting 

9 the requirements of clause (i); or 

10 ‘‘(iii) with a total of less than 600 students 

11 in average daily attendance at the schools that 

12 are served by the agency and all of whose 

13 schools are designated with a school locale code 

14 of 7, as determined by the Secretary; and 

15 ‘‘(B)(i) for which there is a high percent16 age of teachers not teaching in the academic 

17 subjects or grade levels that the teachers were 

18 trained to teach; or 

19 ‘‘(ii) for which there is a high percentage 

20 of teachers with emergency, provisional, or tem21 porary certification or licensing. 

22 ‘‘(5) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘poverty line’ 

23 means the poverty line (as defined by the Office of 

24 Management and Budget, and revised annually in 

25 accordance with section 673(2) of the Community 
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1 Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))) ap2 plicable to a family of the size involved. 

3 ‘‘(6) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.—The 

4 term ‘professional development’ has the meaning 

5 given such term in section 9101 of the Elementary 

6 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

7 7801). 

8 ‘‘(7) SCIENTIFICALLY BASED READING RE9 SEARCH.—The term ‘scientifically based reading re10 search’ has the meaning given such term in section 

11 1208 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

12 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6368). 

13 ‘‘(8) SCIENTIFICALLY BASED RESEARCH.—The 

14 term ‘scientifically based research’ has the meaning 

15 given such term in section 9101 of the Elementary 

16 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

17 7801). 

18 ‘‘(9) TEACHING SKILLS.—The term ‘teaching 

19 skills’ means skills that—

20 ‘‘(A) are based on scientifically based re21 search; 

22 ‘‘(B) enable teachers to effectively convey 

23 and explain subject matter content; 

24 ‘‘(C) lead to increased student academic 

25 achievement; and 
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1 ‘‘(D) use strategies that—

2 ‘‘(i) are specific to subject matter; 

3 ‘‘(ii) include ongoing assessment of 

4 student learning; 

5 ‘‘(iii) focus on identification and tai6 loring of academic instruction to students’s 

7 specific learning needs; and

8 ‘‘(iv) focus on classroom management. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 202. STATE GRANTS. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available 

11 under section 210(1) for a fiscal year, the Secretary is 

12 authorized to award grants under this section, on a com13 petitive basis, to eligible States to enable the eligible 

14 States to carry out the activities described in subsection 

15 (d). 

16 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE STATE.—

17 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this part, the term ‘eligi18 ble State’ means—

19 ‘‘(A) the Governor of a State; or 

20 ‘‘(B) in the case of a State for which the 

21 constitution or law of such State designates an22 other individual, entity, or agency in the State 

23 to be responsible for teacher certification and 

24 preparation activity, such individual, entity, or 

25 agency. 
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1 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—The Governor or the in2 dividual, entity, or agency designated under para3 graph (1)(B) shall consult with the Governor, State 

4 board of education, State educational agency, or 

5 State agency for higher education, as appropriate, 

6 with respect to the activities assisted under this sec7 tion. 

8 ‘‘(3) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sub9 section shall be construed to negate or supersede the 

10 legal authority under State law of any State agency, 

11 State entity, or State public official over programs 

12 that are under the jurisdiction of the agency, entity, 

13 or official. 

14 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

15 under this section, an eligible State shall submit an appli16 cation to the Secretary that—

17 ‘‘(1) meets the requirement of this section; 

18 ‘‘(2) demonstrates that the State is in full com19 pliance with sections 207 and 208; 

20 ‘‘(3) includes a description of how the eligible 

21 State intends to use funds provided under this sec22 tion; 

23 ‘‘(4) includes measurable objectives for the use 

24 of the funds provided under the grant; 
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1 ‘‘(5) demonstrates the State has submitted and 

2 is actively implementing a plan that meets the re3 quirements of sections 1111(h)(1)(C)(viii) and 1119 

4 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

5 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(h)(1)(C)(viii) and 6319); and 

6 ‘‘(6) contains such other information and assur7 ances as the Secretary may require. 

8 ‘‘(d) USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible State that re9 ceives a grant under this section shall use the grant funds 

10 to reform teacher preparation requirements, to coordinate 

11 with State activities under section 2113(c) of the Elemen12 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

13 6613(c)), and to ensure that current and future teachers 

14 are highly qualified, by carrying out one or more of the 

15 following activities: 

16 ‘‘(1) REFORMS.—Ensuring that all teacher 

17 preparation programs in the State are preparing 

18 teachers who are highly qualified, are able to under19 stand scientifically based research and its applica20 bility, and are able to use advanced technology effec21 tively in the classroom, including use for instruc22 tional techniques to improve student academic 

23 achievement, by assisting such programs—

24 ‘‘(A) to retrain faculty; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) to design (or redesign) teacher prepa2 ration programs so they—

3 ‘‘(i) are based on rigorous academic 

4 content, scientifically based research (in5 cluding scientifically based reading re6 search), and challenging State student aca7 demic content standards; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) promote strong teaching skills. 

9 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION OR LICENSURE REQUIRE10 MENTS.—Reforming teacher certification (including 

11 recertification) or licensing requirements to ensure 

12 that—

13 ‘‘(A) teachers have the subject matter 

14 knowledge and teaching skills in the academic 

15 subjects that the teachers teach that are nec16 essary to help students meet challenging State 

17 student academic achievement standards; and 

18 ‘‘(B) such requirements are aligned with 

19 challenging State academic content standards. 

20 ‘‘(3) ALTERNATIVES TO TRADITIONAL TEACHER

21 PREPARATION AND STATE CERTIFICATION.—Pro22 viding prospective teachers with alternative routes to 

23 State certification and traditional preparation to be24 come highly qualified teachers through—
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1 ‘‘(A) innovative approaches that reduce un2 necessary barriers to State certification while 

3 producing highly qualified teachers; 

4 ‘‘(B) programs that provide support to 

5 teachers during their initial years in the profes6 sion; and 

7 ‘‘(C) alternative routes to State certifi8 cation of teachers for qualified individuals, in9 cluding mid-career professionals from other oc10 cupations, former military personnel, and recent 

11 college graduates with records of academic dis12 tinction. 

13 ‘‘(4) INNOVATIVE PROGRAMS.—Planning and 

14 implementing innovative programs to enhance the 

15 ability of institutions of higher education to prepare 

16 highly qualified teachers, such as charter colleges of 

17 education or university and local educational agency 

18 partnership schools, that—

19 ‘‘(A) permit flexibility in meeting State re20 quirements as long as graduates, during their 

21 initial years in the profession, increase student 

22 academic achievement; 

23 ‘‘(B) provide long-term data gathered from 

24 teachers’ performance over multiple years in the 
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1 classroom on the ability to increase student aca2 demic achievement; 

3 ‘‘(C) ensure high-quality preparation of 

4 teachers from underrepresented groups; and 

5 ‘‘(D) create performance measures that 

6 can be used to document the effectiveness of in7 novative methods for preparing highly qualified 

8 teachers. 

9 ‘‘(5) MERIT PAY.—Developing, or assisting 

10 local educational agencies in developing—

11 ‘‘(A) merit-based performance systems that 

12 reward teachers who increase student academic 

13 achievement; and

14 ‘‘(B) strategies that provide differential 

15 and bonus pay in high-need local educational 

16 agencies to retain—

17 ‘‘(i) principals; 

18 ‘‘(ii) highly qualified teachers who 

19 teach in high-need academic subjects, such 

20 as reading, mathematics, and science; 

21 ‘‘(iii) highly qualified teachers who 

22 teach in schools identified for school im23 provement under section 1116(b) of the 

24 Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

25 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316(b)); 
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1 ‘‘(iv) special education teachers; 

2 ‘‘(v) teachers specializing in teaching 

3 limited English proficient children; and 

4 ‘‘(vi) highly qualified teachers in 

5 urban and rural schools or districts. 

6 ‘‘(6) TEACHER ADVANCEMENT.—Developing, or 

7 assisting local educational agencies in developing, 

8 teacher advancement and retention initiatives that 

9 promote professional growth and emphasize multiple 

10 career paths (such as paths to becoming a highly 

11 qualified mentor teacher or exemplary teacher) and 

12 pay differentiation. 

13 ‘‘(7) TEACHER REMOVAL.—Developing and im14 plementing effective mechanisms to ensure that local 

15 educational agencies and schools are able to remove 

16 expeditiously incompetent or unqualified teachers 

17 consistent with procedures to ensure due process for 

18 the teachers. 

19 ‘‘(8) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Providing tech20 nical assistance to low-performing teacher prepara21 tion programs within institutions of higher education 

22 identified under section 208(a). 

23 ‘‘(9) TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS.—Developing—
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1 ‘‘(A) systems to measure the effectiveness 

2 of teacher preparation programs and profes3 sional development programs; and 

4 ‘‘(B) strategies to document gains in stu5 dent academic achievement or increases in 

6 teacher mastery of the academic subjects the 

7 teachers teach as a result of such programs. 

8 ‘‘(10) TEACHER RECRUITMENT AND RETEN9 TION.—Undertaking activities that—

10 ‘‘(A) develop and implement effective 

11 mechanisms to ensure that local educational 

12 agencies and schools are able effectively to re13 cruit and retain highly qualified teachers; or 

14 ‘‘(B) are described in section 204(d).

15 ‘‘(11) PRESCHOOL TEACHERS.—Developing 

16 strategies—

17 ‘‘(A) to improve the qualifications of pre18 school teachers, which may include State certifi19 cation for such teachers; and 

20 ‘‘(B) to improve and expand preschool 

21 teacher preparation programs. 

22 ‘‘(e) EVALUATION.—

23 ‘‘(1) EVALUATION SYSTEM.—An eligible State 

24 that receives a grant under this section shall develop 

25 and utilize a system to evaluate annually the effec-
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1 tiveness of teacher preparation programs and profes2 sional development activities within the State in pro3 ducing gains in—

4 ‘‘(A) the teacher’s annual contribution to 

5 improving student academic achievement, as 

6 measured by State academic assessments re7 quired under section 1111(b)(3) of the Elemen8 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

9 U.S.C. 6311(b)(3)); and 

10 ‘‘(B) teacher mastery of the academic sub11 jects they teach, as measured by pre- and post12 participation tests of teacher knowledge, as ap13 propriate. 

14 ‘‘(2) USE OF EVALUATION SYSTEM.—Such eval15 uation system shall be used by the State to evalu16 ate—

17 ‘‘(A) activities carried out using funds pro18 vided under this section; and 

19 ‘‘(B) the quality of its teacher education 

20 programs. 

21 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC REPORTING.—The State shall 

22 make the information described in paragraph (1) 

23 widely available through public means, such as post24 ing on the Internet, distribution to the media, and 

25 distribution through public agencies. 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 203. PARTNERSHIP GRANTS. 

2 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.—From amounts made available under 

3 section 210(2) for a fiscal year, the Secretary is author4 ized to award grants under this section, on a competitive 

5 basis, to eligible partnerships to enable the eligible part6 nerships to carry out the activities described in subsections 

7 (d) and (e). 

8 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—

9 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIPS.—In this part, 

10 the term ‘eligible partnership’ means an entity 

11 that—

12 ‘‘(A) shall include—

13 ‘‘(i) a partner institution; 

14 ‘‘(ii) a school of arts and sciences; 

15 ‘‘(iii) a high-need local educational 

16 agency; and 

17 ‘‘(iv) a public or private educational 

18 organization; and 

19 ‘‘(B) may include a Governor, State edu20 cational agency, the State board of education, 

21 the State agency for higher education, an insti22 tution of higher education not described in sub23 paragraph (A), a public charter school, a public 

24 or private elementary school or secondary 

25 school, a public or private educational organiza26 tion, a business, a science-, mathematics-, or 
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1 technology-oriented entity, a faith-based or 

2 community organization, a prekindergarten pro3 gram, a teacher organization, an education 

4 service agency, a consortia of local educational 

5 agencies, or a nonprofit telecommunications en6 tity. 

7 ‘‘(2) PARTNER INSTITUTION.—In this section, 

8 the term ‘partner institution’ means an institution of 

9 higher education, the teacher training program of 

10 which demonstrates that—

11 ‘‘(A) graduates from the teacher training 

12 program exhibit strong performance on State13 determined qualifying assessments for new 

14 teachers through—

15 ‘‘(i) demonstrating that the graduates 

16 of the program who intend to enter the 

17 field of teaching have passed all of the ap18 plicable State qualification assessments for 

19 new teachers, which shall include an as20 sessment of each prospective teacher’s sub21 ject matter knowledge in the content area 

22 or areas in which the teacher intends to 

23 teach; or 
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1 ‘‘(ii) being ranked among the highest2 performing teacher preparation programs 

3 in the State as determined by the State—

4 ‘‘(I) using criteria consistent with 

5 the requirements for the State report 

6 card under section 207(a); and 

7 ‘‘(II) using the State report card 

8 on teacher preparation required under 

9 section 207(a); or 

10 ‘‘(B) the teacher training program requires 

11 all the students of the program to participate in 

12 intensive clinical experience, to meet high aca13 demic standards, and—

14 ‘‘(i) in the case of secondary school 

15 candidates, to successfully complete an 

16 academic major in the subject area in 

17 which the candidate intends to teach or to 

18 demonstrate competence through a high 

19 level of performance in relevant content 

20 areas; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) in the case of elementary school 

22 candidates, to successfully complete an 

23 academic major in the arts and sciences or 

24 to demonstrate competence through a high 
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1 level of performance in core academic sub2 ject areas. 

3 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—Each eligible partnership desir4 ing a grant under this section shall submit an application 

5 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accom6 panied by such information as the Secretary may require. 

7 Each such application shall—

8 ‘‘(1) contain a needs assessment of all the part9 ners with respect to teaching and learning and a de10 scription of how the partnership will coordinate with 

11 other teacher training or professional development 

12 programs, and how the activities of the partnership 

13 will be consistent with State, local, and other edu14 cation reform activities that promote student aca15 demic achievement; 

16 ‘‘(2) contain a resource assessment that de17 scribes the resources available to the partnership, 

18 the intended use of the grant funds, including a de19 scription of how the grant funds will be used in ac20 cordance with subsection (f), and the commitment of 

21 the resources of the partnership to the activities as22 sisted under this part, including financial support, 

23 faculty participation, time commitments, and con24 tinuation of the activities when the grant ends; 

25 ‘‘(3) contain a description of—
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1 ‘‘(A) how the partnership will meet the 

2 purposes of this part; 

3 ‘‘(B) how the partnership will carry out 

4 the activities required under subsection (d) and 

5 any permissible activities under subsection (e); 

6 ‘‘(C) the partnership’s evaluation plan pur7 suant to section 206(b); 

8 ‘‘(D) how faculty of the teacher prepara9 tion program at the partner institution will 

10 serve, over the term of the grant, with highly 

11 qualified teachers in the classrooms of the high12 need local educational agency included in the 

13 partnership; 

14 ‘‘(E) how the partnership will ensure that 

15 teachers, principals, and superintendents in pri16 vate elementary and secondary schools located 

17 in the geographic areas served by an eligible 

18 partnership under this section will participate 

19 equitably in accordance with section 9501 of 

20 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

21 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7881); 

22 ‘‘(F) how the partnership will design and 

23 implement a clinical program component that 

24 includes close supervision of student teachers by 
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1 faculty of the teacher preparation program at 

2 the partner institution and mentor teachers; 

3 ‘‘(G) how the partnership will design and 

4 implement an induction program to support all 

5 new teachers through the first 3 years of teach6 ing that includes mentors who are trained and 

7 compensated by the partnership for their work 

8 with new teachers; and 

9 ‘‘(H) how the partnership will collect, ana10 lyze, and use data on the retention of all teach11 ers in schools located in the geographic areas 

12 served by the partnership to evaluate the effec13 tiveness of its teacher support system; and 

14 ‘‘(4) contain a certification from the high-need 

15 local educational agency included in the partnership 

16 that it has reviewed the application and determined 

17 that the grant proposed will comply with subsection 

18 (f). 

19 ‘‘(d) REQUIRED USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible part20 nership that receives a grant under this section shall use 

21 the grant funds to reform teacher preparation require22 ments, to coordinate with State activities under section 

23 2113(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

24 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6613(c)), and to ensure that current 
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1 and future teachers are highly qualified, by carrying out 

2 one or more of the following activities: 

3 ‘‘(1) REFORMS.—Implementing reforms within 

4 teacher preparation programs to ensure that such 

5 programs are preparing teachers who are highly 

6 qualified, are able to understand scientifically based 

7 research and its applicability, and are able to use 

8 advanced technology effectively in the classroom, in9 cluding use for instructional techniques to improve 

10 student academic achievement, by—

11 ‘‘(A) retraining faculty; and 

12 ‘‘(B) designing (or redesigning) teacher 

13 preparation programs so they—

14 ‘‘(i) are based on rigorous academic 

15 content, scientifically based research (in16 cluding scientifically based reading re17 search), and challenging State student aca18 demic content standards; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) promote strong teaching skills. 

20 ‘‘(2) CLINICAL EXPERIENCE AND INTER21 ACTION.—Providing sustained and high-quality 

22 preservice and in-service clinical experience, includ23 ing the mentoring of prospective teachers by exem24 plary teachers, substantially increasing interaction 

25 between faculty at institutions of higher education 
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1 and new and experienced teachers, principals, and 

2 other administrators at elementary schools or sec3 ondary schools, and providing support for teachers, 

4 including preparation time and release time, for such 

5 interaction. 

6 ‘‘(3) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.—Creating 

7 opportunities for enhanced and ongoing professional 

8 development that improves the academic content 

9 knowledge of teachers in the subject areas in which 

10 the teachers are certified to teach or in which the 

11 teachers are working toward certification to teach, 

12 and that promotes strong teaching skills. 

13 ‘‘(4) TEACHER PREPARATION.—Developing, or 

14 assisting local educational agencies in developing, 

15 professional development activities that—

16 ‘‘(A) provide training in how to teach and 

17 address the needs of students with different 

18 learning styles, particularly students with dis19 abilities, limited English proficient students, 

20 and students with special learning needs; and 

21 ‘‘(B) provide training in methods of—

22 ‘‘(i) improving student behavior in the 

23 classroom; and 
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1 ‘‘(ii) identifying early and appropriate 

2 interventions to help students described in 

3 subparagraph (A) learn. 

4 ‘‘(e) ALLOWABLE USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible 

5 partnership that receives a grant under this section may 

6 use such funds to carry out the following activities: 

7 ‘‘(1) ALTERNATIVES TO TRADITIONAL TEACHER

8 PREPARATION AND STATE CERTIFICATION.—Pro9 viding prospective teachers with alternative routes to 

10 State certification and traditional preparation to be11 come highly qualified teachers through—

12 ‘‘(A) innovative approaches that reduce un13 necessary barriers to teacher preparation while 

14 producing highly qualified teachers; 

15 ‘‘(B) programs that provide support during 

16 a teacher’s initial years in the profession; and 

17 ‘‘(C) alternative routes to State certifi18 cation of teachers for qualified individuals, in19 cluding mid-career professionals from other oc20 cupations, former military personnel, and recent 

21 college graduates with records of academic dis22 tinction. 

23 ‘‘(2) DISSEMINATION AND COORDINATION.—

24 Broadly disseminating information on effective prac25 tices used by the partnership, and coordinating with 
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1 the activities of the Governor, State board of edu2 cation, State higher education agency, and State 

3 educational agency, as appropriate. 

4 ‘‘(3) MANAGERIAL AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS.—

5 Developing and implementing professional develop6 ment programs for principals and superintendents 

7 that enable them to be effective school leaders and 

8 prepare all students to meet challenging State aca9 demic content and student academic achievement 

10 standards. 

11 ‘‘(4) TEACHER RECRUITMENT.—Activities—

12 ‘‘(A) to encourage students to become 

13 highly qualified teachers, such as extra14 curricular enrichment activities; and 

15 ‘‘(B) activities described in section 204(d).

16 ‘‘(5) CLINICAL EXPERIENCE IN SCIENCE, MATH17 EMATICS, AND TECHNOLOGY.—Creating opportuni18 ties for clinical experience and training, by participa19 tion in the business, research, and work environ20 ments with professionals, in areas relating to 

21 science, mathematics, and technology for teachers 

22 and prospective teachers, including opportunities for 

23 use of laboratory equipment, in order for the teacher 

24 to return to the classroom for at least 2 years and 
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1 provide instruction that will raise student academic 

2 achievement. 

3 ‘‘(6) COORDINATION WITH COMMUNITY COL4 LEGES.—Coordinating with community colleges to 

5 implement teacher preparation programs, including 

6 through distance learning, for the purposes of allow7 ing prospective teachers—

8 ‘‘(A) to attain a bachelor’s degree and 

9 State certification or licensure; and 

10 ‘‘(B) to become highly qualified teachers. 

11 ‘‘(7) TEACHER MENTORING.—Establishing or 

12 implementing a teacher mentoring program that—

13 ‘‘(A) includes minimum qualifications for 

14 mentors; 

15 ‘‘(B) provides training and stipends for 

16 mentors; 

17 ‘‘(C) provides mentoring programs for 

18 teachers in their first 3 years of teaching; 

19 ‘‘(D) provides regular and ongoing oppor20 tunities for mentors and mentees to observe 

21 each other’s teaching methods in classroom set22 tings during the school day; 

23 ‘‘(E) establishes an evaluation and ac24 countability plan for activities conducted under 
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1 this paragraph that includes rigorous objectives 

2 to measure the impact of such activities; and 

3 ‘‘(F) provides for a report to the Secretary 

4 on an annual basis regarding the partnership’s 

5 progress in meeting the objectives described in 

6 subparagraph (E). 

7 ‘‘(8) COMPUTER SOFTWARE FOR MULTI8 LINGUAL EDUCATION.—Training teachers to use 

9 computer software for multilingual education to ad10 dress the needs of limited English proficient stu11 dents. 

12 ‘‘(f) SPECIAL RULE.—At least 50 percent of the 

13 funds made available to an eligible partnership under this 

14 section shall be used directly to benefit the high-need local 

15 educational agency included in the partnership. Any entity 

16 described in subsection (b)(1)(A) may be the fiscal agent 

17 under this section. 

18 ‘‘(g) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall 

19 be construed to prohibit an eligible partnership from using 

20 grant funds to coordinate with the activities of more than 

21 one Governor, State board of education, State educational 

22 agency, local educational agency, or State agency for high23 er education. 

24 ‘‘(h) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds made 

25 available under this section shall be used to supplement, 
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1 and not supplant, other Federal, State, and local funds 

2 that would otherwise be expended to carry out the pur3 poses of this section. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 204. TEACHER RECRUITMENT GRANTS. 

5 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From amounts made 

6 available under section 210(3) for a fiscal year, the Sec7 retary is authorized to award grants, on a competitive 

8 basis, to eligible applicants to enable the eligible applicants 

9 to carry out activities described in subsection (d). 

10 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE APPLICANT DEFINED.—In this part, 

11 the term ‘eligible applicant’ means—

12 ‘‘(1) an eligible State described in section 

13 202(b); or 

14 ‘‘(2) an eligible partnership described in section 

15 203(b). 

16 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—Any eligible applicant desiring 

17 to receive a grant under this section shall submit an appli18 cation to the Secretary at such time, in such form, and 

19 containing such information as the Secretary may require, 

20 including—

21 ‘‘(1) a description of the assessment that the el22 igible applicant, and the other entities with whom 

23 the eligible applicant will carry out the grant activi24 ties, have undertaken to determine the most critical 
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1 needs of the participating high-need local edu2 cational agencies; 

3 ‘‘(2) a description of the activities the eligible 

4 applicant will carry out with the grant, including the 

5 extent to which the applicant will use funds to re6 cruit minority students to become highly qualified 

7 teachers; and 

8 ‘‘(3) a description of the eligible applicant’s 

9 plan for continuing the activities carried out with 

10 the grant, once Federal funding ceases. 

11 ‘‘(d) USES OF FUNDS.—Each eligible applicant re12 ceiving a grant under this section shall use the grant 

13 funds—

14 ‘‘(1)(A) to award scholarships to help students, 

15 such as individuals who have been accepted for their 

16 first year, or who are enrolled in their first or second 

17 year, of a program of undergraduate education at an 

18 institution of higher education, pay the costs of tui19 tion, room, board, and other expenses of completing 

20 a teacher preparation program;

21 ‘‘(B) to provide support services, if needed to 

22 enable scholarship recipients—

23 ‘‘(i) to complete postsecondary education 

24 programs; or 
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1 ‘‘(ii) to transition from a career outside of 

2 the field of education into a teaching career; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(C) for followup services provided to former 

5 scholarship recipients during the recipients first 3 

6 years of teaching; or 

7 ‘‘(2) to develop and implement effective mecha8 nisms to ensure that high-need local educational 

9 agencies and schools are able effectively to recruit 

10 highly qualified teachers. 

11 ‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL DISCRETIONARY USES OF

12 FUNDS.—In addition to the uses described in subsection 

13 (d), each eligible applicant receiving a grant under this 

14 section may use the grant funds—

15 ‘‘(1) to develop and implement effective mecha16 nisms to recruit into the teaching profession employ17 ees from—

18 ‘‘(A) high-demand industries, including 

19 technology industries; and 

20 ‘‘(B) the fields of science, mathematics, 

21 and engineering; and 

22 ‘‘(2) to conduct outreach and coordinate with 

23 inner city and rural secondary schools to encourage 

24 students to pursue teaching as a career. 

25 ‘‘(f) SERVICE REQUIREMENTS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab2 lish such requirements as the Secretary determines 

3 necessary to ensure that recipients of scholarships 

4 under this section who complete teacher education 

5 programs—

6 ‘‘(A) subsequently teach in a high-need 

7 local educational agency for a period of time 

8 equivalent to—

9 ‘‘(i) one year; increased by 

10 ‘‘(ii) the period for which the recipient 

11 received scholarship assistance; or 

12 ‘‘(B) repay the amount of the scholarship.

13 ‘‘(2) USE OF REPAYMENTS.—The Secretary 

14 shall use any such repayments to carry out addi15 tional activities under this section. 

16 ‘‘(g) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give priority 

17 under this section to eligible applicants who provide an 

18 assurance that they will recruit a high percentage of mi19 nority students to become highly qualified teachers. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 205. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS. 

21 ‘‘(a) DURATION; ONE-TIME AWARDS; PAYMENTS.—

22 ‘‘(1) DURATION.—

23 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE STATES AND ELIGIBLE AP24 PLICANTS.—Grants awarded to eligible States 
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1 and eligible applicants under this part shall be 

2 awarded for a period not to exceed 3 years. 

3 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIPS.—Grants 

4 awarded to eligible partnerships under this part 

5 shall be awarded for a period of 5 years. 

6 ‘‘(2) ONE-TIME AWARD.—An eligible partner7 ship may receive a grant under each of sections 203 

8 and 204, as amended by the Ready to Teach Act of 

9 2003, only once. 

10 ‘‘(3) PAYMENTS.—The Secretary shall make 

11 annual payments of grant funds awarded under this 

12 part. 

13 ‘‘(b) PEER REVIEW.—

14 ‘‘(1) PANEL.—The Secretary shall provide the 

15 applications submitted under this part to a peer re16 view panel for evaluation. With respect to each ap17 plication, the peer review panel shall initially rec18 ommend the application for funding or for dis19 approval. 

20 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In recommending applications 

21 to the Secretary for funding under this part, the 

22 panel shall—

23 ‘‘(A) with respect to grants under section 

24 202, give priority to eligible States that—
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1 ‘‘(i) have initiatives to reform State 

2 teacher certification requirements that are 

3 based on rigorous academic content, sci4 entifically based research, including sci5 entifically based reading research, and 

6 challenging State student academic content 

7 standards; 

8 ‘‘(ii) have innovative reforms to hold 

9 institutions of higher education with teach10 er preparation programs accountable for 

11 preparing teachers who are highly qualified 

12 and have strong teaching skills; or 

13 ‘‘(iii) have innovative efforts aimed at 

14 reducing the shortage of highly qualified 

15 teachers in high poverty urban and rural 

16 areas; and 

17 ‘‘(B) with respect to grants under section 

18 203—

19 ‘‘(i) give priority to applications from 

20 broad-based eligible partnerships that in21 volve businesses and community organiza22 tions; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) take into consideration—
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1 ‘‘(I) providing an equitable geo2 graphic distribution of the grants 

3 throughout the United States; and 

4 ‘‘(II) the potential of the pro5 posed activities for creating improve6 ment and positive change. 

7 ‘‘(3) SECRETARIAL SELECTION.—The Secretary 

8 shall determine, based on the peer review process, 

9 which application shall receive funding and the 

10 amounts of the grants. In determining grant 

11 amounts, the Secretary shall take into account the 

12 total amount of funds available for all grants under 

13 this part and the types of activities proposed to be 

14 carried out. 

15 ‘‘(c) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.—

16 ‘‘(1) STATE GRANTS.—Each eligible State re17 ceiving a grant under section 202 or 204 shall pro18 vide, from non-Federal sources, an amount equal to 

19 50 percent of the amount of the grant (in cash or 

20 in kind) to carry out the activities supported by the 

21 grant. 

22 ‘‘(2) PARTNERSHIP GRANTS.—Each eligible 

23 partnership receiving a grant under section 203 or 

24 204 shall provide, from non-Federal sources (in cash 

25 or in kind), an amount equal to 25 percent of the 
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1 grant for the first year of the grant, 35 percent of 

2 the grant for the second year of the grant, and 50 

3 percent of the grant for each succeeding year of the 

4 grant. 

5 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—

6 An eligible State or eligible partnership that receives a 

7 grant under this part may not use more than 2 percent 

8 of the grant funds for purposes of administering the grant. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 206. ACCOUNTABILITY AND EVALUATION. 

10 ‘‘(a) STATE GRANT ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT.—An 

11 eligible State that receives a grant under section 202 shall 

12 submit an annual accountability report to the Secretary, 

13 the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen14 sions of the Senate, and the Committee on Education and 

15 the Workforce of the House of Representatives. Such re16 port shall include a description of the degree to which the 

17 eligible State, in using funds provided under such section, 

18 has made substantial progress in meeting the following 

19 goals: 

20 ‘‘(1) PERCENTAGE OF HIGHLY QUALIFIED

21 TEACHERS.—Increasing the percentage of highly 

22 qualified teachers in the State as required by section 

23 1119 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

24 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6319). 
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1 ‘‘(2) STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT.—In2 creasing student academic achievement for all stu3 dents as defined by the eligible State. 

4 ‘‘(3) RAISING STANDARDS.—Raising the State 

5 academic standards required to enter the teaching 

6 profession as a highly qualified teacher. 

7 ‘‘(4) INITIAL CERTIFICATION OR LICENSURE.—

8 Increasing success in the pass rate for initial State 

9 teacher certification or licensure, or increasing the 

10 numbers of qualified individuals being certified or li11 censed as teachers through alternative programs. 

12 ‘‘(5) DECREASING TEACHER SHORTAGES.—De13 creasing shortages of highly qualified teachers in 

14 poor urban and rural areas. 

15 ‘‘(6) INCREASING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PROFES16 SIONAL DEVELOPMENT.—Increasing opportunities 

17 for enhanced and ongoing professional development 

18 that—

19 ‘‘(A) improves the academic content knowl20 edge of teachers in the subject areas in which 

21 the teachers are certified or licensed to teach or 

22 in which the teachers are working toward cer23 tification or licensure to teach; and 

24 ‘‘(B) promotes strong teaching skills. 
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1 ‘‘(7) TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION.—Increasing 

2 the number of teachers prepared effectively to inte3 grate technology into curricula and instruction and 

4 who use technology to collect, manage, and analyze 

5 data to improve teaching, learning, and decision6 making for the purpose of increasing student aca7 demic achievement. 

8 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP EVALUATION.—Each 

9 eligible partnership applying for a grant under section 203 

10 shall establish, and include in the application submitted 

11 under section 203(c), an evaluation plan that includes 

12 strong performance objectives. The plan shall include ob13 jectives and measures for—

14 ‘‘(1) increased student achievement for all stu15 dents, as measured by the partnership; 

16 ‘‘(2) increased teacher retention in the first 3 

17 years of a teacher’s career; 

18 ‘‘(3) increased success in the pass rate for ini19 tial State certification or licensure of teachers; 

20 ‘‘(4) increased percentage of highly qualified 

21 teachers; and 

22 ‘‘(5) increasing the number of teachers trained 

23 effectively to integrate technology into curricula and 

24 instruction and who use technology to collect, man25 age, and analyze data to improve teaching, learning, 
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1 and decisionmaking for the purpose of improving 

2 student academic achievement. 

3 ‘‘(c) REVOCATION OF GRANT.—

4 ‘‘(1) REPORT.—Each eligible State or eligible 

5 partnership receiving a grant under section 202 or 

6 203 shall report annually on the progress of the eli7 gible State or eligible partnership toward meeting 

8 the purposes of this part and the goals, objectives, 

9 and measures described in subsections (a) and (b). 

10 ‘‘(2) REVOCATION.—

11 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE STATES AND ELIGIBLE AP12 PLICANTS.—If the Secretary determines that an 

13 eligible State or eligible applicant is not making 

14 substantial progress in meeting the purposes, 

15 goals, objectives, and measures, as appropriate, 

16 by the end of the second year of a grant under 

17 this part, then the grant payment shall not be 

18 made for the third year of the grant. 

19 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIPS.—If the 

20 Secretary determines that an eligible partner21 ship is not making substantial progress in 

22 meeting the purposes, goals, objectives, and 

23 measures, as appropriate, by the end of the 

24 third year of a grant under this part, then the 
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1 grant payments shall not be made for any suc2 ceeding year of the grant. 

3 ‘‘(d) EVALUATION AND DISSEMINATION.—The Sec4 retary shall evaluate the activities funded under this part 

5 and report annually the Secretary’s findings regarding the 

6 activities to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

7 and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Edu8 cation and the Workforce of the House of Representatives. 

9 The Secretary shall broadly disseminate successful prac10 tices developed by eligible States and eligible partnerships 

11 under this part, and shall broadly disseminate information 

12 regarding such practices that were found to be ineffective. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 207. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR PROGRAMS THAT PRE14 PARE TEACHERS. 

15 ‘‘(a) STATE REPORT CARD ON THE QUALITY OF

16 TEACHER PREPARATION.—Each State that receives funds 

17 under this Act shall provide to the Secretary annually, in 

18 a uniform and comprehensible manner that conforms with 

19 the definitions and methods established by the Secretary, 

20 a State report card on the quality of teacher preparation 

21 in the State, both for traditional certification or licensure 

22 programs and for alternative certification or licensure pro23 grams, which shall include at least the following: 

24 ‘‘(1) A description of the teacher certification 

25 and licensure assessments, and any other certifi-
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1 cation and licensure requirements, used by the 

2 State. 

3 ‘‘(2) The standards and criteria that prospec4 tive teachers must meet in order to attain initial 

5 teacher certification or licensure and to be certified 

6 or licensed to teach particular subjects or in par7 ticular grades within the State. 

8 ‘‘(3) A description of the extent to which the 

9 assessments and requirements described in para10 graph (1) are aligned with the State’s standards and 

11 assessments for students. 

12 ‘‘(4) The percentage of students who have com13 pleted at least 50 percent of the requirements for a 

14 teacher preparation program at an institution of 

15 higher education or alternative certification program 

16 and who have taken and passed each of the assess17 ments used by the State for teacher certification and 

18 licensure, and the passing score on each assessment 

19 that determines whether a candidate has passed that 

20 assessment. 

21 ‘‘(5) For students who have completed at least 

22 50 percent of the requirements for a teacher prepa23 ration program at an institution of higher education 

24 or alternative certification program, and who have 

25 taken and passed each of the assessments used by 
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1 the State for teacher certification and licensure, 

2 each such institution’s and each such program’s av3 erage raw score, ranked by teacher preparation pro4 gram, which shall be made available widely and pub5 licly. 

6 ‘‘(6) A description of each State’s alternative 

7 routes to teacher certification, if any, and the num8 ber and percentage of teachers certified through 

9 each alternative certification route who pass State 

10 teacher certification or licensure assessments. 

11 ‘‘(7) For each State, a description of proposed 

12 criteria for assessing the performance of teacher 

13 preparation programs in the State, including indica14 tors of teacher candidate skills and academic content 

15 knowledge and evidence of gains in student academic 

16 achievement. 

17 ‘‘(8) For each teacher preparation program in 

18 the State, the number of students in the program, 

19 the average number of hours of supervised practice 

20 teaching required for those in the program, and the 

21 number of full-time equivalent faculty and students 

22 in supervised practice teaching. 

23 ‘‘(b) REPORT OF THE SECRETARY ON THE QUALITY

24 OF TEACHER PREPARATION.—
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1 ‘‘(1) REPORT CARD.—The Secretary shall pro2 vide to Congress, and publish and make widely avail3 able, a report card on teacher qualifications and 

4 preparation in the United States, including all the 

5 information reported in paragraphs (1) through (8) 

6 of subsection (a). Such report shall identify States 

7 for which eligible States and eligible partnerships re8 ceived a grant under this part. Such report shall be 

9 so provided, published and made available annually. 

10 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 

11 shall report to Congress—

12 ‘‘(A) a comparison of States’ efforts to im13 prove teaching quality; and 

14 ‘‘(B) regarding the national mean and me15 dian scores on any standardized test that is 

16 used in more than 1 State for teacher certifi17 cation or licensure. 

18 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of programs 

19 with fewer than 10 students who have completed at 

20 least 50 percent of the requirements for a teacher

21 preparation program taking any single initial teacher 

22 certification or licensure assessment during an aca23 demic year, the Secretary shall collect and publish 

24 information with respect to an average pass rate on 
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1 State certification or licensure assessments taken 

2 over a 3-year period. 

3 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION.—The Secretary, to the extent 

4 practicable, shall coordinate the information collected and 

5 published under this part among States for individuals 

6 who took State teacher certification or licensure assess7 ments in a State other than the State in which the indi8 vidual received the individual’s most recent degree. 

9 ‘‘(d) INSTITUTION AND PROGRAM REPORT CARDS ON

10 QUALITY OF TEACHER PREPARATION.—

11 ‘‘(1) REPORT CARD.—Each institution of higher 

12 education or alternative certification program that 

13 conducts a teacher preparation program that enrolls 

14 students receiving Federal assistance under this Act 

15 shall report annually to the State and the general 

16 public, in a uniform and comprehensible manner 

17 that conforms with the definitions and methods es18 tablished by the Secretary, both for traditional cer19 tification or licensure programs and for alternative 

20 certification or licensure programs, the following in21 formation: 

22 ‘‘(A) PASS RATE.—(i) For the most recent 

23 year for which the information is available, the 

24 pass rate of each student who has completed at 

25 least 50 percent of the requirements for the 
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1 teacher preparation program on the teacher cer2 tification or licensure assessments of the State 

3 in which the institution is located, but only for 

4 those students who took those assessments 

5 within 3 years of receiving a degree from the 

6 institution or completing the program. 

7 ‘‘(ii) A comparison of the institution or 

8 program’s pass rate for students who have com9 pleted at least 50 percent of the requirements 

10 for the teacher preparation program with the 

11 average pass rate for institutions and programs 

12 in the State. 

13 ‘‘(iii) A comparison of the institution or 

14 program’s average raw score for students who 

15 have completed at least 50 percent of the re16 quirements for the teacher preparation program 

17 with the average raw scores for institutions and 

18 programs in the State. 

19 ‘‘(iv) In the case of programs with fewer 

20 than 10 students who have completed at least 

21 50 percent of the requirements for a teacher 

22 preparation program taking any single initial 

23 teacher certification or licensure assessment 

24 during an academic year, the institution shall 

25 collect and publish information with respect to 
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1 an average pass rate on State certification or li2 censure assessments taken over a 3-year period. 

3 ‘‘(B) PROGRAM INFORMATION.—The num4 ber of students in the program, the average 

5 number of hours of supervised practice teaching 

6 required for those in the program, and the 

7 number of full-time equivalent faculty and stu8 dents in supervised practice teaching. 

9 ‘‘(C) STATEMENT.—In States that require 

10 approval or accreditation of teacher education 

11 programs, a statement of whether the institu12 tion’s program is so approved or accredited, 

13 and by whom. 

14 ‘‘(D) DESIGNATION AS LOW-PER15 FORMING.—Whether the program has been des16 ignated as low-performing by the State under 

17 section 208(a). 

18 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—The information de19 scribed in paragraph (1) shall be reported through 

20 publications such as school catalogs and promotional 

21 materials sent to potential applicants, secondary 

22 school guidance counselors, and prospective employ23 ers of the institution’s program graduates, including 

24 materials sent by electronic means. 
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1 ‘‘(3) FINES.—In addition to the actions author2 ized in section 487(c), the Secretary may impose a 

3 fine not to exceed $25,000 on an institution of high4 er education for failure to provide the information 

5 described in this subsection in a timely or accurate 

6 manner. 

7 ‘‘(e) DATA QUALITY.—Either—

8 ‘‘(1) the Governor of the State; or 

9 ‘‘(2) in the case of a State for which the con10 stitution or law of such State designates another in11 dividual, entity, or agency in the State to be respon12 sible for teacher certification and preparation activ13 ity, such individual, entity, or agency; 

14 shall attest annually, in writing, as to the reliability, valid15 ity, integrity, and accuracy of the data submitted pursuant 

16 to this section. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 208. STATE FUNCTIONS. 

18 ‘‘(a) STATE ASSESSMENT.—In order to receive funds 

19 under this Act, a State shall have in place a procedure 

20 to identify and assist, through the provision of technical 

21 assistance, low-performing programs of teacher prepara22 tion within institutions of higher education. Such State 

23 shall provide the Secretary an annual list of such low-per24 forming institutions that includes an identification of 

25 those institutions at risk of being placed on such list. Such 
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1 levels of performance shall be determined solely by the 

2 State and may include criteria based upon information col3 lected pursuant to this part. Such assessment shall be de4 scribed in the report under section 207(a). 

5 ‘‘(b) TERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—Any institu6 tion of higher education that offers a program of teacher 

7 preparation in which the State has withdrawn the State’s 

8 approval or terminated the State’s financial support due 

9 to the low performance of the institution’s teacher prepa10 ration program based upon the State assessment described 

11 in subsection (a)—

12 ‘‘(1) shall be ineligible for any funding for pro13 fessional development activities awarded by the De14 partment of Education; and 

15 ‘‘(2) shall not be permitted to accept or enroll 

16 any student who receives aid under title IV of this 

17 Act in the institution’s teacher preparation program. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 209. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

19 ‘‘(a) METHODS.—In complying with sections 207 and 

20 208, the Secretary shall ensure that States and institu21 tions of higher education use fair and equitable methods 

22 in reporting and that the reporting methods do not allow 

23 identification of individuals.

24 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULE.—For each State in which there 

25 are no State certification or licensure assessments, or for 
47

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1 States that do not set minimum performance levels on 

2 those assessments—

3 ‘‘(1) the Secretary shall, to the extent prac4 ticable, collect data comparable to the data required 

5 under this part from States, local educational agen6 cies, institutions of higher education, or other enti7 ties that administer such assessments to teachers or 

8 prospective teachers; and 

9 ‘‘(2) notwithstanding any other provision of this 

10 part, the Secretary shall use such data to carry out 

11 requirements of this part related to assessments or 

12 pass rates. 

13 ‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS.—

14 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL CONTROL PROHIBITED.—Noth15 ing in this part shall be construed to permit, allow, 

16 encourage, or authorize any Federal control over any 

17 aspect of any private, religious, or home school, 

18 whether or not a home school is treated as a private 

19 school or home school under State law. This section 

20 shall not be construed to prohibit private, religious, 

21 or home schools from participation in programs or 

22 services under this part. 

23 ‘‘(2) NO CHANGE IN STATE CONTROL ENCOUR24 AGED OR REQUIRED.—Nothing in this part shall be 

25 construed to encourage or require any change in a 
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1 State’s treatment of any private, religious, or home 

2 school, whether or not a home school is treated as 

3 a private school or home school under State law. 

4 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL SYSTEM OF TEACHER CERTIFI5 CATION PROHIBITED.—Nothing in this part shall be 

6 construed to permit, allow, encourage, or authorize 

7 the Secretary to establish or support any national 

8 system of teacher certification. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 210. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

11 this part $300,000,000 for fiscal year 2004 and such sums 

12 as may be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal 

13 years, of which—

14 ‘‘(1) 45 percent shall be available for each fiscal 

15 year to award grants under section 202; 

16 ‘‘(2) 45 percent shall be available for each fiscal 

17 year to award grants under section 203; and 

18 ‘‘(3) 10 percent shall be available for each fiscal 

19 year to award grants under section 204.’’. 

20 SEC. 3. PREPARING TOMORROW’S TEACHERS TO USE TECH21 NOLOGY. 

22 (a) ELIGIBILITY.—Section 222(a)(3)(D) of the High23 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1042(a)(3)(D)) is 

24 amended by inserting ‘‘nonprofit telecommunications enti25 ty,’’ after ‘‘community-based organization,’’. 
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1 (b) PERMISSIBLE USES OF FUNDS.—Section 

2 223(b)(1)(E) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

3 U.S.C. 1043(b)(1)(E)) is amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(E) To use technology to collect, manage, 

5 and analyze data to improve teaching, learning, 

6 and decisionmaking for the purpose of increas7 ing student academic achievement.’’. 

8 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

9 224 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

10 1044) is amended by striking ‘‘each of fiscal years 2002 

11 and 2003.’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal year 2004 and each of 

12 the 4 succeeding fiscal years.’’.

13 SEC. 4. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE. 

14 Title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

15 U.S.C. 1021 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

16 the following:

17 ‘‘PART C—CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE 

18 ‘‘SEC. 231. PURPOSES; DEFINITIONS. 

19 ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this part are—

20 ‘‘(1) to help recruit and prepare teachers, in21 cluding minority teachers, to meet the national de22 mand for a highly qualified teacher in every class23 room; and 
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HR 2211 RFS 

1 ‘‘(2) to increase opportunities for Americans of 

2 all educational, ethnic, class, and geographic back3 grounds to become highly qualified teachers. 

4 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this part: 

5 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘eligi6 ble institution’ means—

7 ‘‘(A) an institution of higher education 

8 that has a teacher preparation program that 

9 meets the requirements of section 203(b)(2) 

10 and that is—

11 ‘‘(i) a part B institution (as defined in 

12 section 322); 

13 ‘‘(ii) a Hispanic-serving institution (as 

14 defined in section 502); 

15 ‘‘(iii) a Tribal College or University 

16 (as defined in section 316); 

17 ‘‘(iv) an Alaska Native-serving institu18 tion (as defined in section 317(b)); or 

19 ‘‘(v) a Native Hawaiian-serving insti20 tution (as defined in section 317(b)); 

21 ‘‘(B) a consortium of institutions described 

22 in subparagraph (A); or

23 ‘‘(C) an institution described in subpara24 graph (A), or a consortium described in sub25 paragraph (B), in partnership with any other 
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1 institution of higher education, but only if the 

2 center of excellence established under section 

3 232 is located at an institution described in 

4 subparagraph (A). 

5 ‘‘(2) HIGHLY QUALIFIED.—The term ‘highly 

6 qualified’ has the meaning given such term in sec7 tion 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu8 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

9 ‘‘(3) SCIENTIFICALLY BASED READING RE10 SEARCH.—The term ‘scientifically based reading re11 search’ has the meaning given such term in section 

12 1208 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

13 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6368). 

14 ‘‘(4) SCIENTIFICALLY BASED RESEARCH.—The 

15 term ‘scientifically based research’ has the meaning 

16 given such term in section 9101 of the Elementary 

17 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

18 7801). 

19 ‘‘SEC. 232. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE. 

20 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From the amounts 

21 appropriated to carry out this part, the Secretary is au22 thorized to award competitive grants to eligible institu23 tions to establish centers of excellence. 

24 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants provided by the Sec25 retary under this part shall be used to ensure that current 
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1 and future teachers are highly qualified, by carrying out 

2 one or more of the following activities: 

3 ‘‘(1) Implementing reforms within teacher prep4 aration programs to ensure that such programs are 

5 preparing teachers who are highly qualified, are able 

6 to understand scientifically based research, and are 

7 able to use advanced technology effectively in the 

8 classroom, including use for instructional techniques 

9 to improve student academic achievement, by—

10 ‘‘(A) retraining faculty; and 

11 ‘‘(B) designing (or redesigning) teacher 

12 preparation programs that—

13 ‘‘(i) prepare teachers to close student 

14 achievement gaps, are based on rigorous 

15 academic content, scientifically based re16 search (including scientifically based read17 ing research), and challenging State stu18 dent academic content standards; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) promote strong teaching skills. 

20 ‘‘(2) Providing sustained and high-quality 

21 preservice clinical experience, including the men22 toring of prospective teachers by exemplary teachers, 

23 substantially increasing interaction between faculty 

24 at institutions of higher education and new and ex25 perienced teachers, principals, and other administra-
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1 tors at elementary schools or secondary schools, and 

2 providing support, including preparation time, for 

3 such interaction. 

4 ‘‘(3) Developing and implementing initiatives to 

5 promote retention of highly qualified teachers and 

6 principals, including minority teachers and prin7 cipals, including programs that provide—

8 ‘‘(A) teacher or principal mentoring from 

9 exemplary teachers or principals; or 

10 ‘‘(B) induction and support for teachers 

11 and principals during their first 3 years of em12 ployment as teachers or principals, respectively. 

13 ‘‘(4) Awarding scholarships based on financial 

14 need to help students pay the costs of tuition, room, 

15 board, and other expenses of completing a teacher 

16 preparation program. 

17 ‘‘(5) Disseminating information on effective 

18 practices for teacher preparation and successful 

19 teacher certification and licensure assessment prepa20 ration strategies. 

21 ‘‘(6) Activities authorized under sections 202, 

22 203, and 204. 

23 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—Any eligible institution desiring 

24 a grant under this section shall submit an application to 
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1 the Secretary at such a time, in such a manner, and ac2 companied by such information the Secretary may require. 

3 ‘‘(d) MINIMUM GRANT AMOUNT.—The minimum 

4 amount of each grant under this part shall be $500,000. 

5 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—

6 An eligible institution that receives a grant under this part 

7 may not use more than 2 percent of the grant funds for 

8 purposes of administering the grant. 

9 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 

10 such regulations as may be necessary to carry out this 

11 part. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 233. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

13 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

14 this part $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2004 and such sums 

15 as may be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal 

16 years.’’. 

17 SEC. 5. TRANSITION. 

18 The Secretary of Education shall take such actions 

19 as the Secretary determines to be appropriate to provide 

20 for the orderly implementation of this Act.

Passed the House of Representatives July 9, 2003. 

Attest: JEFF TRANDAHL, 

Clerk.