THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPLNES 
First Regular Session 
SENATE 
INTRODUCED BY HON. MANUEL B. VILLm, JR. 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
What teachers know and can do has a critical impact on student achievement. 
Unfortunately, teachers are not receiving the initial preparation they need in order to teach 
children, from diverse backgrounds, to meet challenging standards. 
As a result of this, schools are having trouble recruiting qualified teachers. Many 
uncertified individuals annually enter teaching because schools,, frequently those in urban and 
rural areas with large concentrations of children from low-income families, cannot find all the 
certified and competent teachers they need. 
The Government, by itself, cannot provide the needed improvement in teacher 
preparation or solve the problem of qualified teacher shortages. However, the Government can 
make limited and targeted investments that - 
(a) encourage more institutions of higher education that, operate teacher preparation 
programs, to adopt the practices and strategies of the best programs; 
(b) encourage a more diverse mix of Filipino to enter teaching and complete high-quality 
.preparation programs; and 
(c) encourage more Filipinos to serve as teachers in indigent communities. 
In order to achieve these goals, this bill seeks to improve and strengthen the recruitment 
and training of Filipino teachers. 
MANU 


THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
SENATE 
s. No. 534 
INTRODUCED BY HON. MANUEL B. VILLAR JR. 
AN ACT IMPROVING AND STRENGTHENING THE RECRUITMENT AND 
TRAINING OF FILIPINO TEACHERS 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. This Act shall be lmown as the "Improving the Quality of Teachers 
Act." 
SECTION 2. Purpose. The purpose of this act is to help meet the national need to recruit, 
prepare, and retain a high-quality and diverse supply of elementary and secondary education 
teachers, and to help meet the needs of schools in urban and rural areas with concentrations of 
children from low-income families, by 
il 
1. authorizing support for partrierships among institutions of higher education that operate 
exemplary teacher preparation programs, other institutions of higher education seeking to 
improve their programs, public elementary and secondary schools, in order to improve 
the quality of the initial preparation of teachers for high-poverty communities; 
authorizing support for partnerships to increase the number and diversity of students who 
enter education programs and complete high-quality preparation programs, and to 
increase the quality of teaching in undeserved urban and rural communities, and 
encouraging, through such partnerships, the creation of a more diverse teaching force, 
through the recruitment and preparation of minority individuals, including language 
minority individuals, and individuals with disabilities, to enter teaching. 
2. 
3. 
SECTION 3. Authorization of Appropriations. 
AUTHORIZATION FOR PARTS A AND B - There are authorized to be appropriated- 
1. P50,000,000 for fiscal year 2002 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the four 
succeeding fiscal years to carry out the program of Lighthouse Partnerships under par A; 
and 
2. P57,000,000 for fiscal year 2002 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the four 
succeeding fiscal years to carry out program of Recruiting New Teachers for Undeserved 
Areas under part B. 


PART A - LIGHTHOUSE PARTNERSHIPS 
SECTION 4. Definitions. 
meanings: 
As used in this part, the following terms have the following 
(l)(A) 
institution that- 
The term “lead institution” means a state university or even a private educational 
(i) operates an exemplary teacher preparation program of significant size in one or more 
areas of teacher preparation, which include the preparation of principals and other 
educational administrators; 
(ii) desires to assist other institutions of higher education in improving their 
programs 
and to serve as a national model for effective teacher preparation; and 
(iii) places a significant percentage of its teacher preparation graduates in teaching 
position in urban and rural communities with concentrations of children from low-income 
families. 
(B) A lead institution may participate in a consortium with one or more two-year colleges with 
which it has articulation agreements relating to teacher preparation. 
(2) The term “lighthouse partnerships” means a partnership of a lead institution, partner 
institutions, and the government, particularly educational agencies, that is dedicated to 
improving the quality of teacher preparation programs. Within each partnership, the lead 
institution shall act as the fiscal agent for the grant. 
(B) desires to improve its program with assistance from a lead institution; and 
(C) prepares teachers for teaching positions in urban and rural communities with 
concentrations of children from low-income families. 
(4) The term “teacher preparation program” means a program operated by an institution of 
higher education that prepares students to obtain initial teacher licensure and to teach in 
elementary and secondary schools provided as free, public education. 
SECTION 5. Grants to Lighthouse Partnerships. 
(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED 
1. 
2. 
3. The Secretary shall: 
(A) 
(B) 
From funds appropriated under Section 3, for this part of each fiscal year, the Secretary 
shall make competitive grants to lighthouse partnerships. 
Subject to the availability of appropriations therefore, each grant under paragraph (1) 
shall be for a period not to exceed five years. 
make continuation awards, for the second and succeeding years, only after determining 
that the partnership is making satisfactory programs in carrying out the grant; and 
conduct an intensive review of the partnership’s progress, with the assistance of outside 
experts, before malting the continuation award for the fourth year of the grant. 
(b) LIMITATION. No partnership may receive more than two grants under this part. 
SECTION 6. Pre-applications an Applications. 
(a) PRE-APPLICATIONS. Each lead institution that wishes to participate in a lighthouse 
partnership that will apply for a grant under this part shall submit a pre-application to the 
Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary 
may require, except that the lead institution need not identify the other members of the 


partnership until it submits an application under subsection (b). The Secretary shall use a 
peer review process to review these applications. 
(b) APPLICATIONS REQUIRED. Any lighlhouse partnership desiring to receive a grant 
under this part shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such form, and 
containing such information as the Secretary may require, 
(c) CONTENTS Each application shall include: 
1. a description of the teacher preparation program operated by the lead institution, 
including information on the curriculum, the faculty, and the number and characteristics 
of students served; 
2. evidence of the quality of the institution’s teacher preparation program, covering 
(A) the extent to which the institution provides a coherent program that- 
(i) 
(ii) 
reflects the best of what is known, from research and practice; 
prepares teachers to implement research-based instructional programs of 
demonstrated effectiveness and to teach their students, particularly those in 
high-poverty schools, to high State and local content standards; and 
reflects high standards for teaching. 
(iii) 
(B) the commitment of the institution to its program of teacher preparation; 
(C) the connections between the institution’s teacher preparation program and its departments 
or schools or arts and sciences, to ensure the integration of pedagogy and content in 
teacher preparation; 
(D) the extent to which the institution operates a clinically based teacher preparation 
program, particularly in high-poverty schools, through which prospective teachers 
participate in intensive, structured clinical experiences, with extensive faculty 
involvement, throughout their pre-service education, and the extent to which those 
experiences are integrated into the curriculum; 
(E) the extent to which the institution’s program offers continuous assistance to its graduates 
during their initial years in the classroom; 
(F) the extent to which the institution’s program meets the needs of, and has strong 
connections with, elementary and secondary education (particularly with urban and rural 
schools and school systems that serves concentrations of students form low-income 
families), which may include the involvement of elementary and secondary educators in 
the continuing development, improvement, and implementation of the teacher 
preparation program; 
(G) the success of the institution in preparing teachers to teach individuals from diverse 
populations effectively; 
(H) the extent to which the institution is preparing teachers to use technology to teach 
children to high standards; 
(I) the record of the institution’s teacher preparation program in attracting and graduating a 
diverse student body (including the recruitment and enrollment of individuals with 
disabilities); 
(J) the procedures the institution uses to measure the quality of its teacher preparation 
program (including the extent to which graduates improve their subject matter knowledge 
and teaching ability as a result of their participation in the program) and to improve its 
program, using information generated through those procedures; 
(K) the success of the program in graduating students who are fblly qualified to teach to high 
standards in the region served by the institution; 
(L) the quality of the program’s graduates, as documented through such evidence as the 
graduates’ record of obtaining (and training) teaching positions and the opinions of the 
school district officials, in the region, of the quality of those graduates; 
(M)if applicable, the quality of institution’s program for the preparation of school principals 
and other school administrators, and of the success of that program; 
(N) involvement and leadership of the institution in national, regional efforts to improve 
teacher education and licensure; 


3. evidence of the extent to which- 
(A) graduates have taken teaching position in urban and rural schools in communities with 
(B) the institution recruits and serves students (such as education paraprofessionals) form 
concentrations of students form low-income families; and 
those communities; 
4. evidence of the experience of the lead institution in creating or participating in networks 
with other institution to improve the quality of teacher preparation programs; 
5. a description of how the partnership will operate a program under this part, including- 
(A) a description of the governance structure that the partnership will establish (through a 
written partnership agreement) for the grant, which shall include the active involvement 
of high-level administrators of the lead institution and representatives of: 
both the teacher preparation program and the school or department of arts and 
sciences in the lead institution; 
the partner institutions involved with the grant; 
local educational agencies (including teachers and other school-level officials) 
served by the lead institution and one or more of the partner institutions; and 
officials with authority over teacher licensure and teacher preparation in the 
region in which the lead institution and one or more of the partner institutions 
are located 
(i) 
(ii) 
(iii) 
(iv) 
(B) a description of how the partnership will fully engage local educational agencies in the 
activities carried out under the &ant, including how the partnership will use grant funds 
to address the teacher training needs of the local educational agencies that are members 
of the partnership. 
SECTION 7. Uses of Funds. 
REiQUlRED ACTIVITIES - In order to increase the quality and number of teachers it is 
preparing for positions in urban and rural areas with concentrations of low-income families, and 
to increase the diversity of elementary and secondary teachers, each partnership selected to 
receive under this part shall use the grant fbnds for each of the following purposes: 
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
Further development, refinement, assessment of, and dissemination of information on, the 
teacher preparation programs operated by the lead institution, including activities that 
document, for other institutions nationally and for policy-makers, effective practices in 
the teacher preparation and that produce curricular and other materials for use by other 
institutions preparing teachers. 
Technical assistance by the lead institution to the partner institutions in improving the 
partner institutions’ teacher preparation programs (and, if applicable, their principal and 
other administrator preparation programs), based on the experience of the lead institution 
and the particular needs of the partners. 
Making subgrants to the partner institutions for implementation of program 
improvements at those institutions, through adoption or adaptation of the teacher 
preparation practices of the. lead institutions, to meet the needs of the high-poverty 
schools in the urban and rural communities they serve. Each partnership shall use at least 
40 percent of its for this purpose. 
Joint activities with the local education agencies in the partnership, and with other local 
educational agencies, that increase the involvement of classroom teachers and school 
administrators in the design and implementation of teacher preparation programs operated 
by the lead and partner institutions (and thereby make those programs more responsive to 


the needs of teachers and administrators), and other activities to improve teaching and 
administration, and to support new teachers, in the high-poverty schools of those local 
educational agencies. 
5. Cooperation and interaction with other lighthouse partnerships and with other institutions, 
organizations, and public agencies, on activities aimed at the improvement of teacher 
preparation nationally, including improvement of teacher licensure and relicensure 
requirements. 
6. Assessment of the effectiveness of the activities carried out under the grant, including the 
extent to which the partnership is achieving its goals. 
SECTION 8. Selection of Applications. 
(a) PEER REVIEW - The Secretary shall, suing a peer review process, select applicants to 
receive grants under this part on the basis oE 
1. the quality of the teacher preparation program operated by the lead institution in s 
proposed partnership; 
2. the quality of the partnership's plan for carrying out activities under the grant; and 
3. the capacity of the lead institution and its partners to cany out the proposed activities 
successfully. 
(b) CRITERIA 
(1) In selecting grantees under this part, the Secretary shall seek to ensure that- 
(A) lighthouse partnerships represent a variety of approaches to teacher preparation; 
(B) lead institutions represent a variety of institutions of higher education; and 
(C) there is an equitable geographic distribution of awards.' 
(2) In addition to complying with paragraph (l), the Secretary shall give special consideration 
(A) projects that ate likely to have the most significant impact on the quality of teaching in 
high-poverty urban and rural schools; 
(B) projects that are likely to result in improvement of teacher preparation in the areas of 
mathematics and reading; and 
(C) projects that are likely to prepare a significant number of minority individuals, including 
language minority individuals, and individuals with disabilities to be effective teachers. 
to applications for- 
(c) SECOND FIVE-YEAR GRANTS - In selecting grantees to receive second grants under 
this part, the Secretary shall give a preference to applicants whose projects have resulted 
in- 
1. the placement and retention of a substantial number of high-quality graduates in teaching 
positions in undeserved, high-poverty schools; 
2. the adoption of effective teacher preparation programs, particularly those meeting the 
needs of high-poverty urban and rural areas, by the partner institutions; and 
3. effective partnerships with elementary and secondary schools that are supporting 
improvements in student achievement. 
SECTION 9. Evaluation. The Secretary shall provide for an evaluation of the program carried 
out under this part, including an assessment of such issues as- 
1. the extend to which the activities carried out through Lighthouse Partnership grants result 
in significant and positive changes in the teacher preparation programs operated by 
partner institutions, as well as improvements in the programs operated by lead 
institutions, that are likely to lead to improvements in teaching and learning; 


2. the extent to which Lighthouse Partnership grants enhance the effectiveness, including 
the technological proficiency, and the diversity, of students completing teacher 
preparations in the institutions of higher education participating in the grants; and 
3. the involvement of elementary and secondary schools and school districts serving 
concentrations of children from low-income families in the activities carried out under 
this part, and the extent to which those activities result in benefits to those schools and 
districts, including information on the extent to which involvement in the grants improves 
the instructional programs and the educational outcomes for students in those schools and 
district. 
SECTION 10. National Activities. The Secretary may reserve up to 5 percent of the funds 
appropriated to carry out this part for any fiscal year for - 
(1) peer review of applications; 
(2) evaluation of the program and measurement of its effectiveness; 
(3) conferences and networks of lighthouse partnerships, and other entities, in order to 
facilitate the exchange of information and ideas among the participating partnerships and 
other institutions, agencies, and individuals, including recipients of funds under part B of 
this title, who are interested in the improvement of teacher preparation and parallel 
improvements in principal and administrator preparation; and 
(4) technical assistance and other activities to enhance the success of the program carried out 
under this part or of teacher education more generally. 
PART B - RECRUITING NEW TEACHERS FOR UNDESERVED AREAS 
SECTION 11. 
Secretary shall make competitive grants to eligible applicants for programs that - 
Program Authorized. From finds appropriated to carry out thus part, the 
(1) provide scholarships and, as necessary, support services for students with high potential 
to become effective teachers; 
(2) increase the quality and number of new teachers nationally; and 
(3) increase the ability of schools in undeserved areas to recruit a qualified teaching staff. 
SECTION 12. 
meanings: 
Definitions. As used in this part, the following terms have the following 
(1) The tern “eligible applicant” means a partnership of - 
(i) 
(ii) 
an institution of higher education that grants baccalaureate degrees and prepares 
teachers for their initial entry into the teaching profession; and 
one or more local educational agencies that are in undeserved areas. 
(2) The term “support services” includes - 
(A) academic advice and counseling; 
(B) tutorial service; 
(C) monitoring; and 
. (D) child care and transportation, if funding for those services cannot be arranged 
from other sources. 
SECTION 13. Grant Conditions. 
(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED 


(l)(A) The Secretary shall carry out this part by making competitive grants to eligible 
applicants. 
(B) 
appropriations therefore, each grant under 
subparagraph (A) shall be for a period not to exceed five years. 
Subject to the availability of 
(2) The Secretary shall- 
(A) make continuation awards, for the second and succeeding years, only after 
determining that the grantee is making satisfactory progress in carrying out the 
grant; and 
(B)conduct an intensive review of the grantee’s progress, with the assistance of 
outside experts, before making the award for the fourth year of the grant. 
(3) No partnership may receive more than two grants under this subsection. 
(b) PLANNING GRANTS 
(1) The, Secretary may make planning grafits to eligible applicants that are not yet ready to 
implement programs under subsection (a). 
(2) Each planning grant shall be for a period of not more than one year, which shall be in 
addition to the period of any grant under subsection (a). 
(3) Any recipient of a planning grant under this subsection that wishes to receive a grant 
under subsection (a)(l) shall separately apply for a competitive grant under that 
subsection. 
SECTION 14. Grant Applications. 
(a) APPLICATIONS REQUIRED - Any eligible applicant desiring to receive a grant under 
this part shall submit an application at such time, in such form, and containing such 
information as the Secretary may require. 
(b) APPLICATION CONTENTS - Each application for a grant shall include - 
(1) a designation of the institution or agency, within the partnership, that will serve as the 
fiscal agent for the grant; 
(2) information on the quality of the institution’s teacher preparation program, which may 
include the types of information and how the applicant will ensure, through 
improvements in its teacher preparation, practices or other appropriate strategies, that 
scholarship recipients will receive high-quality preparation; 
(3) a description of the assessment the institution, the local educational agency partners, and 
other partners have undertaken- 
I 1 
(A) to determine 
(i) 
the most critical needs of the local educational agencies, particularly 
the needs of schools in high-poverty areas, for new teachers (which 
may include teachers in particular subject areas pr at certain grade 
levels, including the prekindergarten level, minority teachers, and 
teachers who are disabled who will contribute to the diversity of the 
preparation programs that the grant would support, or to increase the 
number of their graduates with high potential to be effective teachers 
who are minority individuals, including language minority 
individuals, or individuals with disabilities; 
’ 
(6) 
a description of commitments, by the partner local educational agencies, to hire 
qualified scholarship recipients in their schools and in the subject areas or grade levels for 
which the recipients will be trained, and a description of the actions to grantee institution, the 


local educational agencies, and the other partners will take to facilitate the successfid 
transition of those recipients into teaching; and 
(7) a description of the applicant’s plan for institutionalizing the activities it is canying out 
under this part, so that those activities will continue once funding ceases. 
SECTION 15. Uses of Funds. 
IN GENERAL - Each grantee shall use the grant funds for the following: 
(1) Scholarships to help students pay the costs of tuition, room, board, and other expenses 
of completing a teacher preparation program. 
(2) Support services, if needed to enable scholarship recipients to complete postsecondary 
education programs. 
(3) Follow-up services provided to former scholarship recipients during their first three 
years of teaching. 
(4) Payments to partner local educational agencies, if needed to enable them to permit 
paraprofessional staff to participate in teacher preparation programs (such as the cost of 
“release time” for those staff). 
If appropriate, and if no other funds are available, paying the costs of additional courses 
taken by former scholarship recipients during their initial three years of teaching. 
(5) 
SECTION 16. Selection of Applicants. 
(a) PEER VIEW - The Secretary, suing a peer view process, shall select applicants to 
receive funding under this part on the basis of- 
(1) the quality of the teacher preparation program offered by the institution; 
(2) the quality of the program that would be carried out under the application, and 
(3) the capacity of the partnership to carry out the grant successfully. 
(b) CRITERIA 
(1) In making selections, the Secretary shall seek to ensure that - 
(A) in the aggregate, grantees carry out a variety of approaches to preparing new 
(B) there is an equitable geographic distribution of awards. 
teachers; and 
(2) In addition to complying with paragraph (l), the Secretary shall give special 
consideration to applications most likely to result in the preparation of increased numbers 
of individuals with high potential for effective teaching who are minority individuals, 
including language minority individuals, and individuals with disabilities, and 
(c) SECOND FIVE-YEAR GRANTS - In selecting grantees to receive second grants under 
this part, the Secretary shall give a preference to applicants whose projects have resulted 
in - 
(1) the placement and retention of a substantial number of high-quality graduates in 
teaching positions in undeserved, high-poverty schools; 
(2) the adoption of effective programs that meet the teacher preparation needs of high- 
poverty urban and rural areas; and 
(3) effective partnerships with elementary and secondary schools that are supporting 
improvements in student achievement. 
SECTION 17. Duration and Amount of Assistance; Relation to Other Assistance. 


, 
(a) DURATION OF ASSISTANCE - No individual may receive scholarship assistance 
under this part for more than five years of postsecondary education 
(b) AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE - No individual may receive an award under this program 
that exceeds the cost of attendance at the institution the individual is attending. 
(c) RELATION TO OTHER ASSISTANCE - A scholarship awarded under this part shall 
not be reduced on the basis of the individual’s receipt of other forms of student financial 
assistance; and 
SECTION 18. Scholarship Conditions. 
IN GENERAL - A recipient of a scholarship under this part shall continue to receive that 
assistance only as long as he or she is: 
(1) enrolled as a full-time student and pursuing a course of study leading to teacher 
certification, unless he or she is working in a public school (as a paraprofessional, or as 
a teacher under emergency credentials) while participating in the program; and 
(2) maintaining satisfactory progress as determined by the institution. 
SECTION 19. Service Requirements. 
(a) REQUIREMENT - Each partnership receiving a grant under this part shall enter into an 
agreement, with each student to whom it awards a scholarship under this part, providing 
that a scholarship recipient who completes a teacher preparation program under this part 
shall, within five years of completing that program, teach full-time for at least threes 
years in a high-poverty school in an undeserved geographic area or repay the amount of 
the scholarship, under the terms and conditions established by the Secretary. 
(b) REGULATIONS - The Secretary shall prescribe regulation relating to the requirements 
of subsection (a), including any provisions for a waiver of those requirements. 
SECTION 20. Evaluation. The Secretary shall provide for an evaluation of the program carried 
out under this part, which shall assess such issues as- 
(1) whether institutions taking part of the partnerships are successful in preparing 
scholarship recipients to teach; 
(2) whether scholarship recipients are successful in completing teacher preparation 
programs, becoming fully certified teachers, and obtaining teaching positions in 
undeserved areas, and whether they continue teaching in those areas over a period of 
years; 
(3) the national impact of the program in assisting local educational agencies in undeserved 
areas to recruit, prepare, and retain diverse, high-quality teachers in the areas in which 
they have the greatest needs; the long-term impact of the grants on the teacher 
preparation programs conducted by grantees and on grantees’ relationships with their 
partner local educational agencies and other partners; and 
the relative effectiveness of different approaches for preparing new teachers to teach in 
undeserved areas, including their effectiveness in preparing new teachers to teach to 
high content and performance standards. 
(4) 
SECTION 21. 
If any provision or part hereof, is held invalid or 
unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall remain 
valid and subsisting. 
Separability Clause. 


SECTION 22. Repealing Clause. Any law, presidential decree or issuance, executive order, 
letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation contrary to or inconsistent with the 
provision of this Act is hereby repealed, modified or amended accordingly. 
SECTION 23. 
publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Effectivity Clause. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
Approved,