II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2174 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for the preparation 

of career and technical education teachers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 8, 2015 

Mr. KAINE (for himself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. PORTMAN, and Mrs. CAPITO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide 

for the preparation of career and technical education 

teachers. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Creating Quality Tech5 nical Educators Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PARTNERSHIP GRANTS FOR THE PREPARATION OF 

2 CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION 

3 TEACHERS. 

4 Section 202 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

5 U.S.C. 1022a) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating subsections (f) through (k) 

7 as subsections (g) through (l), respectively; 

8 (2) in subsection (b)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and ca10 reer and technical education teachers’’ after 

11 ‘‘early childhood educators’’; and 

12 (B) in paragraph (6)(C), by striking ‘‘sub13 section (f) or (g)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (g) 

14 or (h)’’; 

15 (3) in subsection (c)— 

16 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘a pro17 gram for the preparation of career and tech18 nical education teachers under subsection (f),’’ 

19 after ‘‘subsection (e),’’; and 

20 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘sub21 section (f)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (g)’’; and 

22 (4) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(f) PARTNERSHIP GRANTS FOR THE PREPARATION

25 OF CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION TEACHERS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible partnership that 

2 receives a grant under this section to carry out a 

3 program for the preparation of career and technical 

4 education teachers shall establish an effective sec5 ondary school career and technical education teacher 

6 preparation program that shall be— 

7 ‘‘(A) available to mid-career professionals 

8 or recent graduates of an institution of higher 

9 education, who have expertise in a program 

10 area in which a skilled career and technical 

11 education teacher shortage has been identified 

12 through a needs assessment described in para13 graph (2); 

14 ‘‘(B) an opportunity for program partici15 pants to obtain initial licensure based on State 

16 requirements and the basic skills required for 

17 entry into the education profession, and the op18 tion of earning a bachelor’s degree or a mas19 ter’s degree; and 

20 ‘‘(C) an opportunity for program partici21 pants who are current educators and who do 

22 not have subject matter expertise in a career 

23 and technical education field identified through 

24 the needs assessment under paragraph (2) to 

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1 fectively teach in a classroom setting the career 

2 and technical skills identified in such assess3 ment based on industry standards. 

4 ‘‘(2) NEEDS ASSESSMENT.—Each of the part5 ners in an eligible partnership that receives a grant 

6 under this section to carry out a program for the 

7 preparation of career and technical education teach8 ers shall conduct a needs assessment— 

9 ‘‘(A) with respect to the preparation, ongo10 ing training, professional development, and re11 tention of career and technical education teach12 ers in program areas linked to the education 

13 and skill needs of the local or regional economy; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(B) that takes into account the current 

16 needs of a State, local, or regional market, as 

17 well as trends identified in section 102(b)(1)(B) 

18 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 

19 Act. 

20 ‘‘(3) PARTICIPANT ELIGIBILITY, APPLICATION, 

21 AND SELECTION.— 

22 ‘‘(A) PARTICIPANT ELIGIBILITY.—In order 

23 to be eligible to participate in a career and 

24 technical education teacher preparation pro25 gram under this subsection, an individual— 


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1 ‘‘(i) shall— 

2 ‘‘(I) have at least a bachelor’s de3 gree; 

4 ‘‘(II) have an active industry-rec5 ognized credential in a technical pro6 fession if the eligible partnership de7 termines that the program leading to 

8 the credential is of high quality, and 

9 meets the State’s minimum require10 ments for career and technical edu11 cation teachers in the field, based ei12 ther on years of related work experi13 ence or a number of specified hours in 

14 the field; or 

15 ‘‘(III) be a former member of the 

16 Armed Forces with a Department of 

17 Defense recognized active technical 

18 credential; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) may be a licensed teacher with a 

20 need for technical skills training. 

21 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION AND SELECTION.— 

22 ‘‘(i) APPLICATION.—Each eligible in23 dividual described in subparagraph (A) 

24 who desires to participate in the career 

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1 tion program under this subsection shall 

2 submit an application to the eligible part3 nership. 

4 ‘‘(ii) SELECTION.— 

5 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible 

6 partnership shall select applicants for 

7 participation in the career and tech8 nical education teacher preparation 

9 program based on the career and 

10 technical education program needs of 

11 any high-need local educational agen12 cies in the partnership. 

13 ‘‘(II) REQUIREMENT FOR VA14 CANT POSITIONS.—Any vacant career 

15 and technical educator positions or 

16 positions with a demonstrated connec17 tion to the needs assessment described 

18 in paragraph (2) within the high-need 

19 local educational agency in an eligible 

20 partnership that receives a grant 

21 under this section to carry out a pro22 gram for the preparation of career 

23 and technical education teachers shall 

24 be filled with career and technical 


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1 education teacher preparation pro2 gram participants. 

3 ‘‘(iii) RECRUITMENT.—An eligible 

4 partnership may develop and implement a 

5 teacher recruitment program to invite eligi6 ble individuals to participate in the career 

7 and technical education program. 

8 ‘‘(4) REQUIRED CLINICAL EXPERIENCE COMPO9 NENTS.—Each career and technical education teach10 er preparation program carried out under this sub11 section shall include the following program compo12 nents: 

13 ‘‘(A) Training in pedagogy, including class14 room management, lesson planning, student 

15 learning methods, and academic and career and 

16 technical education content integration. 

17 ‘‘(B) Training in using empirically based 

18 practice and scientifically valid research in 

19 classroom instruction. 

20 ‘‘(C) Necessary preparation to obtain a 

21 teaching license based on State licensing re22 quirements in the State in which the partner23 ship operates, prior to entering the classroom. 

24 ‘‘(D) Literacy training for incorporating 

25 technical texts into the classroom. 


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1 ‘‘(E) At least 1 year of clinical experience 

2 concurrent with the pre-classroom training pro3 gram. 

4 ‘‘(F) Training to effectively teach technical 

5 skills to industry standards in a classroom set6 ting. 

7 ‘‘(G) For licensed teachers, technical skills 

8 and pedagogical training related to the career 

9 and technical education program they are in10 tending to teach. 

11 ‘‘(5) REQUIRED PRE-SERVICE COMPONENTS.— 

12 Each career and technical education teacher prepa13 ration program carried out under this subsection 

14 shall require— 

15 ‘‘(A) program participants, after com16 pleting pre-classroom training and who have at 

17 least State recognized provisional licensure to 

18 teach, to be paired with a mentor teacher with 

19 expertise in teaching the same or similar con20 tent for a period of not less than 2 years within 

21 the same school or school district, if available, 

22 and, if not available, the program shall specify 

23 how the program participant will be mentored; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(B) continuing professional development 

2 coursework for such program participants over 

3 the course of 3 years to ensure that such teach4 ers— 

5 ‘‘(i) are able to understand and imple6 ment research-based teaching practices in 

7 classroom instruction; 

8 ‘‘(ii) have knowledge of student learn9 ing methods; 

10 ‘‘(iii) are data literate to continuously, 

11 effectively, and ethically access, interpret, 

12 act on, and communicate multiple types of 

13 data from State, local, classroom, and 

14 other sources to improve outcomes for stu15 dents in a manner appropriate to edu16 cators’ professional roles and responsibil17 ities; 

18 ‘‘(iv) possess skills to analyze student 

19 academic and technical achievement data 

20 and other measures of student learning, 

21 and use such data and measures to im22 prove classroom instruction; 

23 ‘‘(v) possess the skills to develop, im24 plement, and utilize interim and formative 


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1 assessments to improve classroom instruc2 tion; 

3 ‘‘(vi) possess teaching skills and an 

4 understanding of effective instructional 

5 strategies across the technical and all ap6 plicable academic content areas that enable 

7 such teachers to— 

8 ‘‘(I) meet the specific learning 

9 needs of all students, including stu10 dents with disabilities, students who 

11 are limited English proficient, stu12 dents who are gifted and talented, and 

13 students with low literacy levels; and 

14 ‘‘(II) differentiate instruction for 

15 such students; 

16 ‘‘(vii) possess strategies for incor17 porating content from noncareer and tech18 nical education courses and standards for 

19 college and career into career and technical 

20 education courses; 

21 ‘‘(viii) are able to effectively partici22 pate as a member of an individualized edu23 cation program team, as defined in section 

24 614(d)(1)(B) of the Individuals with Dis25 abilities Education Act; and 


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1 ‘‘(ix) are able to successfully employ 

2 effective strategies for literacy instruction 

3 in technical coursework. 

4 ‘‘(6) AGREEMENT TO SERVE.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

6 subparagraph (B), each career and technical 

7 education teacher preparation program carried 

8 out under this subsection shall require program 

9 participants to serve as a full-time career and 

10 technical education teacher in a high-need local 

11 educational agency that is a part of the eligible 

12 partnership for a total of not less than 3 aca13 demic years immediately after successfully com14 pleting the pre-classroom training program 

15 component. 

16 ‘‘(B) SERVING LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN17 CIES OUTSIDE OF THE PARTNERSHIP.—If there 

18 are no full-time career and technical education 

19 teacher positions in a high-need local edu20 cational agency that is a part of the eligible 

21 partnership, a program participant may fulfill 

22 the service requirement under subparagraph 

23 (A) through serving as a full-time career and 

24 technical education teacher in a high-need local 


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1 educational agency that is not a part of the eli2 gible partnership. 

3 ‘‘(C) CERTIFICATION OF EMPLOYMENT.— 

4 A program participant under this subsection 

5 shall provide the eligible partnership with cer6 tification of the employment that is required 

7 under this paragraph. 

8 ‘‘(7) STIPENDS OR SALARIES; APPLICATIONS; 

9 REPAYMENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) STIPENDS OR SALARIES.—A career 

11 and technical education teacher preparation 

12 program under this subsection shall provide a 

13 one-year living stipend or salary to program 

14 participants during the pre-classroom training 

15 program component. 

16 ‘‘(B) APPLICATIONS FOR STIPENDS OR

17 SALARIES.—Each career and technical edu18 cation teacher preparation program participant 

19 desiring a stipend or salary during the pre20 classroom training program component shall 

21 submit an application to the eligible partnership 

22 at such time, and containing such information 

23 and assurances, as the eligible partnership may 

24 require. 

25 ‘‘(C) REPAYMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A grantee car2 rying out a career and technical education 

3 teacher preparation program under this 

4 subsection shall require a recipient of a sti5 pend or salary under subparagraph (A) 

6 who does not complete, or who notifies the 

7 partnership that the recipient intends not 

8 to complete, the service obligation required 

9 by paragraph (6) to repay such stipend or 

10 salary to the eligible partnership, together 

11 with interest, at a rate specified by the 

12 partnership in the agreement, and in ac13 cordance with such other terms and condi14 tions specified by the eligible partnership, 

15 as necessary. 

16 ‘‘(ii) OTHER TERMS AND CONDI17 TIONS.—Any other terms and conditions 

18 specified by the eligible partnership may 

19 include reasonable provisions for pro-rata 

20 repayment of the stipend or salary de21 scribed in subparagraph (A) or for deferral 

22 of a program participant’s service obliga23 tion required by paragraph (6), on grounds 

24 of health, incapacitation, inability to secure 

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1 nical education teacher, being called to ac2 tive duty in the Armed Forces of the 

3 United States, or other extraordinary cir4 cumstances. 

5 ‘‘(iii) USE OF REPAYMENTS.—An eli6 gible partnership shall use any repayment 

7 received under this subparagraph to carry 

8 out additional activities that are consistent 

9 with the purposes of this subsection. 

10 ‘‘(8) REPORTS; PARENTS RIGHT-TO-KNOW; DE11 VELOPMENT OF PERFORMANCE MEASURES.— 

12 ‘‘(A) ANNUAL REPORT.—An eligible part13 nership that receives a grant under this section 

14 to carry out a program for the preparation of 

15 career and technical education teachers shall 

16 submit to the Secretary and make publicly 

17 available, at such time and in such manner as 

18 the Secretary may require, an annual report 

19 that includes— 

20 ‘‘(i) data on the eligible partnership’s 

21 progress on the performance measures de22 scribed in section 204(a); and 

23 ‘‘(ii) a description of the challenges 

24 the eligible partnership has faced in imple25 menting the grant and how the eligible 


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1 partnership has addressed or plans to ad2 dress such challenges. 

3 ‘‘(B) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.—Each eligible 

4 partnership that receives a grant under this 

5 section to carry out a program for the prepara6 tion of career and technical education teachers 

7 shall complete and make publicly available, not 

8 later than 90 days after the grant period for 

9 such eligible partnership ends, an evaluation 

10 based on the evaluation plan described in sec11 tion 204(a). 

12 ‘‘(C) PARENTS RIGHT-TO-KNOW.—At the 

13 beginning of each school year, a high-need local 

14 educational agency that receives funds under 

15 this subsection shall— 

16 ‘‘(i) notify the parents of each student 

17 attending any school receiving funds under 

18 this subsection that the parents may re19 quest, and the agency will provide the par20 ents on request (and in a timely manner), 

21 the information described in section 

22 1111(h)(6)(A) of the Elementary and Sec23 ondary Education Act of 1965; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) provide to each such parent the 

2 information and notice described in section 

3 1111(h)(6)(B) of such Act. 

4 ‘‘(D) DEVELOPMENT OF PERFORMANCE

5 MEASURES.—The Secretary shall develop per6 formance measures prior to awarding grants 

7 under this section, with input and consultation 

8 of schools of education, school administrators, 

9 teachers, professional non profit technical and 

10 career organizations, and the opportunity for a 

11 60-day public comment period. The Secretary 

12 shall ensure that such measures are made avail13 able to potential applicants prior to seeking ap14 plications for such grants.’’. 

Æ 


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