Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Queson City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL noenes mes

Introduced by HON. LUIS RAYMUND “LRAY” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR.

AN ACT
IMPROVING AND STRENGTHENING THE RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING
OF FILIPINO TEACHERS

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
uncertain 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 improvements in teacher
preparation or solve the problem of shortage of qualified teachers. However, the
Government can make limited and targeted investments that —

(A) Encourage more institutions of higher education that operate teacher preparation
programs to adont the practices and strategies of the best programs;

(B) Encourage a more diverse mix of Filipinos 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.

LAFUERTE, JR.


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Quezon City
EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Sessi

HoUusE BILL No 8926

introduced by HON. LUIS RAYMUND “LRAY” F, VILLAFUERTE, JR.

AN ACT
IMPROVING AND STRENGTHENING THE RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING
OF FILIPINO TEACHERS

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known 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 retrain 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 —

(A) Authorizing support for partnerships 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;

(B) Authorizing support for partnerships to increase the number and diversity of students
who enter teacher education programs and complete high-quality preparation programs,
and to increase the quality of teaching in undeserved urban and rural communities; and

(C) 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.

SECTION 3. Authorization of Appropriations. - There are authorized to be appropriated


(A) Fifty Million Pesos (P50,000,000.00) for the fiscal year in which this Act is
promulgated and such sums as may be necessary for each of the four (4) succeeding
fiscal years to carry out the program of Lighthouse Partnerships under part A; and

(B) Fifty Seven Million Pesos (P57,000,000.00) for each succeeding fiscal year and such
sums as may be necessary for each of the four (4) succeeding fiscal years to carry out
the program of Recruiting New Teachers for Undeserved areas under part B.

PART A— LIGHTHOUSE PARTNERSHIPS

SECTION 4. Definitions. - As used in this part, the following terms have the following
meanings:

(A) The term ‘lead institution’ means a state university or even a private educational
institution that—

(1) Operates an exemplary teacher preparation program of significant size in one or
more areas of teacher preparation, which may include the preparation of principals
and other educational administrators;

(2) Desires to assist other institutions of higher education in improving their
programs and to serve as a national model for effective teacher preparation; and
nificant percentage of its teacher preparation graduates in teaching
positions in urban and rural communities with concentrations of children from
low-income families.

Alead institution may participate in a consortium with one or more two-year colleges with
which it has articulation agreements relating to teacher prepar:

(8) The term ‘lighthouse partnership’ means a partnership of a lead institution, partner
institution, 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.

(C) 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) From funds appropriated under section 3, for this part for each fiscal year, the
Secretary shall make competitive grants to lighthouse partnerships.
(2) Subject to the availability of appropriations therefore, each grant under
paragraph (1) shall be for a period not to exceed five (5) years.
(3) The Secretary shall—
(a) Make continuation awards, for the second and succeeding years, only after


determining that the partnership is making satisfactory progress in carrying out
the grant; and

(b) Conduct an intensive review of the partnership's progress, with the
assistance of outside experts, before making the continuation award for the
fourth year of the grant.

(8) Limitation. - No partnership may receive more than two (2) grants under this part.

SECTION 6. Pre-applications and 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 paragraph (B). The
Secretary shall use a peer process to review these pre-applications.

(B) Applications Required. — Any lighthouse 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) Adescription 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) Reflects the best of what is known, from research and practice;
(ji) Prepares teachers to implement research-based instructional programs
of demonstrated effectiveness and to teach students, particularly those in
high-poverty schools, to high State and local content standards; and
(iii) Reflects high standards of teaching.
(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 of arts and sciences, to ensure the integrity 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 preservice 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 serve concentrations of
students from 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 using 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 who are differently-abled;
(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 fully qualified to
teach to high standards in the region served by the institution;
() The quality of the program's graduates, as documented through such
evidence as the graduates’ record of obtaining and retaining teaching positions
and the opinions of school district officials, in the region, of the quality of those
graduates;
(m) If applicable, the quality of the instructions program for the preparation of
school principals and other school administrators, and of the success of that
program; and
(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 positions in urban and rural schools in
communities with concentrations of students from low-income families;
(b) The institution recruits and serves students such as education
paraprofessionals from those communities;
(4) Evidence of the experience of the lead institution in creating or participating in
networks with other institutions 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-
(i) Both the teacher preparation program and the school or department of
arts and sciences in the I institution;
(ii) The partner institutions involved with the grant;
(iii) Local educational agencies, including teachers and other school-level
officials, served by the lead institution and one or more of the partner



institutions; and
(iv) 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.
(b) A description of how the partnership will fully engage local educational
agencies in the activities carried out under the grant, 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.— _ 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 a grant under this part shalll use the grant funds for each
of the following purposes:

(A) 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 teacher preparation and that produce curricular and other materials for use by other
institutions preparing teachers.

(B) 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.

(C) 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 institution, to meet the needs of the high-poverty
schools in the urban and rural communities they serve. Each partnership shall use at
least forty percent (40%) of its grant for this purpose.

(D) Joint activities with the local educational 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
tration, and to support new teachers, in the high-poverty schools of
those local educational agencies.

(E) 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
re-licensure requirements.

(F) 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, using a peer review process, select applicants to
receive grants jer this part on the basis of--
(1) The quality of the teacher preparation program operated by the lead institution in
a 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 carry out the proposed
activities successfully.

(8) 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 (1), the Secretary shall give special

consideration to applicants for—

(a) Projects that are 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.

(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 —

(A) the extent 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;

(B) the extent to which Lighthouse Partnership grants enhance the effectiveness,
including the technological proficiency, and the diversity, of students completing teacher
preparation programs in the institutions of higher education participating in the grants;
and

(C) the involvement of elementary and secondary schools and school districts serving
concentrations of children from low-income families in 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 districts.

SECTION 10. National Activities. - The Secretary may reserve up to five percent (5%) of
the funds appropriated to carry out this part for any fiscal year for —

(A) Peer review of applications;
(B) Evaluation of the program and measure of its effectiveness;

© Conferences and networks of lighthouse partnerships, and other entities, in order to
fai ite the iige 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

(D) Technical assistance and other activities to enhance the success of the program
carried out under this part or of the teacher education more generally.

PART B—RECRUITING NEW TEACHERS,
FOR UNDESERVED AREAS.

SECTION 11. Program Authorized. — From funds appropriated to carry out this part, the
Secretary shall make competitive grants to eligible applicants for programs that —

(A) Provide scholarships and, as necessary, support services for students with high
potential to be effective teachers;

(B) Increase the quality and number of teachers nationally; and

(C) Increase the ability of schools in undeserved areas to recruit a qualified teaching
staff.

SECTION 12. Defi
meanings:

ions. — As used in this part, the following terms have the foi



(A) The term ‘eligible applicant’ means a partnership of —
(1) An institution of higher education that grants baccalaureate degrees and
prepares teachers for their initial entry into the teaching profession; and
(2) One or more local educational agencies that are in undeserved areas.

(B) The term ‘support services’ includes—
(1) Academic advice and counseling;
(2) Tutorial services;
(3) Monitoring; and
(4) Child care and transportation, if funding for those services cannot be arranged
from other sources.

SECTION 13. Grant Conditions. —

(A) Grants Authorized. -
(1) The Secretary shall carry out this part by making competitive grants to eligible
applicants.

(2) Subject to the availability of appropriations therefore, each grant under

paragraph (A) shall be for a period not to exceed five (5) years.

(3) The Secretary shall--
(a) Make continuation awards, for the second and succeeding years, only after
determining that the grante aking 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 an award for the fourth year of the grant.

(4) No partnership may receive more than two (2) grants under this subsection.

(B) Planning Grants. —
(1) The Secretary may make planning grants to eligible applicants that are not yet
ready to implement programs under paragraph (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 paragraph (A).

(3) Any recipient of a planning grant under this subsection that wishes to receive a
grant under paragraph (A)(1) 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—
41) Adesignation 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 and 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—
(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 or at certain grade levels,
including the pre-kindergarten level, minority teachers, and teachers who
are disabled who will contribute to the diversity of the local educational
agency's teachers, or teachers who are fluent in languages spoken by
students in the local educational agency; and
(ii) How the project carried out under the grant will address those needs;
and
(b) That reflects the input of all significant entities in the community (including
organizations representing teachers and parents) that have an interest in
teacher recruitment, preparation and induction;
(4) A description of the project the applicant will carry out with the grant, including
information on—
(a) The recruitment and outreach efforts the applicant will undertake to publicize
the availability of scholarships and other assistance under the program;
(b) The number and types of students that the applicant will serve under the
program, which may include education paraprofessionals seeking to achieve
full teacher certification; teachers whom the partner local educational agencies
have hired under ‘emergency certification’ procedures: or former military
personnel, mid career professionals, who desire to enter teaching;
(c) The criteria that the applicant will use in selecting those students, including
criteria to determine whether individuals have the capacity to benefit from the
program, complete teacher certification requirements, and become effective
teachers;
(d) The activities the applicant will carry out under a grant, including a
description of, and justification for, any support services the institution will offer
to participating students;
(e) The number and funding range of the scholarships the institution will provide
to students; and
() The procedures the institution will establish for entering into, and enforcing,
agreements with scholarship recipients regarding their fulfillment of the service
commitment;
(5) Adescription of how the institution will use funds provided under the grant only to
increase the number of students with high potential to be effective teachers,
participating in its teacher preparation programs, or in the particular type or types of
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 the
grantee institution, the local educational agencies, and the other partners will take to.
facilitate the successful transition of those recipients into teaching; and

(7) Adescription of the applicant's plan for institutionalizing the activi
out under this part, so that those activities will continue once funding ceases.

SECTION 15. Use of Funds. - Each grantee shall use the funds granted for the
following:

(A) Scholarships to help students pay the costs of tuition, room, board, and other
expenses of completing a teacher preparation program.

(B) Support services, if needed to enable scholarship recipients to complete
post-secondary education programs.

(C) Follow-up services provided to former scholarship recipients during their first three (3)
years of teaching.

(D) 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; and

(E) If appropriate, and if no other funds are available, paying the costs of additional
courses taken by former scholarship recipients during their initial three (3) years of
teaching.

SECTION 16. Selection of Applicants. —

(A) Peer Review. — The Secretary, using a peer review process, shall select applicants to
receive funding under this part on this part on the basis of—
(1) The quality of the teacher preparation program offered by the institutior
(2) The quality of the program that would be carried out under the applica
(3) The capacity of the partnership to carry out the grant successfully.

i; and

(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 teachers; and
(b)There is an equitable geographic distribution of awards.
(2) In addition to complying with paragraph (1), 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 disabili
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 p
high-poverty urban and rural areas; and
(3) Effective partnerships with elementary and secondary schools that are
supporting improvements in student achievement.

preparation needs of

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 (5) years of post-secondary 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. — A recipient of a scholarship under this part shall
continue to receive that assistance only as long as he or she

(A) 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 th nd

(B) 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 wards a scholarship under this part,
providing that a scholarship recipient who completes a teacher preparation program
under this part shall, within five (5) years of completing that program, teach full-time for at
least three (3) 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 regulations relating to the requirements
of paragraph (A), including any provisions for 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—
(A) Whether institutions taking part in the partnerships are successful in preparing
scholarship recipients to teach;

(B) Whether scholarship recipients are successful in completing teacher preparation
programs, becoming fully certified teachers, and obtaining teaching positions in
underserved areas, and whether they continue teaching in those areas over a period of
years;

(C) 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;

(D) The long-term impact of the grants on teacher preparation programs conducted by
grantees and on grantees’ relationships with their partner local educational agencies and
other partners; and

(E) The relative effectiveness of different approaches for preparing new teachers to
teach in underserved areas, including their effectiveness in preparing new teachers to
teach to high content and performance standards.

SECTION 21. Separability Clause. — 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.

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 provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, modified or amended
accordingly.

SECTION 23. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,