I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7680 
To support the preparation and retention of outstanding educators in all 
fields to ensure a bright future for children and youth in under-resourced 
and underserved communities in the United States, and for other pur-
poses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 13, 2024 
Ms. STEVENS (for herself and Mrs. HAYES) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To support the preparation and retention of outstanding 
educators in all fields to ensure a bright future for 
children and youth in under-resourced and underserved 
communities in the United States, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Addressing Teacher 
Shortages Act of 2024’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Currently, there are not enough teachers to 
meet the demand for teachers in all locations and in 
all fields, creating a teacher shortage. The teacher 
shortage is a result of growing student enrollment, 
shrinking pupil-teacher ratios, declining enrollment 
in teacher preparation programs, and high levels of 
attrition from the field. Teacher shortages are par-
ticularly acute in rural schools and in certain subject 
areas, such as the fields of STEM, special education, 
and English as a second language. Additionally, 
there is a lack of racial diversity in the teaching 
workforce. 
(2) Rural schools serve 18 percent of all stu-
dents in the United States, including over 9,000,000 
students in rural public elementary and secondary 
schools. More than 40 percent of all small, rural 
local educational agencies in the United States 
struggle with adequately staffing their schools. 
These personnel shortages include difficulties both in 
recruiting and retaining educators. Shortages are es-
pecially pronounced in special education and STEM 
fields, when compared to urban teacher labor mar-
kets. 
(3) Rural communities face unique challenges 
in recruiting and retaining teachers for reasons such 
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as funding, limited teacher supply, and geographic 
isolation. Rural schools often experience difficulty 
hiring and high turnover due to inadequate re-
sources, lower salaries, and poor working conditions. 
(4) The demand for teachers is going unmet in 
some subject areas more so than others. In 2017– 
2018, 48 States reported shortages in mathematics, 
46 in special education, 43 in science, 41 in foreign 
language, and 31 in English as a second language. 
(5) Although the share of teachers of color has 
been increasing, there is a gap in racial diversity be-
tween teachers of color who comprise 20 percent of 
the teacher workforce and students of color who ac-
count for 50 percent of students. 
(6) Data from the 2015–2016 National Teacher 
and Principal Survey show that millennial teachers 
are less likely to be racially diverse than the previous 
generation of Generation X teachers, suggesting that 
racial diversity in the teaching workforce could be 
declining in the future. 
(7) Research shows that better prepared teach-
ers stay longer in the profession and are more effec-
tive in improving student achievement. For example, 
an analysis of the nationally representative Schools 
and Staffing Survey found that new recruits who 
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had a semester or more of practice teaching prior to 
employment were more than 3 times less likely to 
leave teaching after a year than those who had no 
practice teaching. 
(8) Data from the 2012–2013 Schools and 
Staffing Survey show that the attrition rate for 
teachers is approximately 8 percent. It was higher 
for rural teachers, at 8.4 percent, than for suburban 
and urban teachers, at 7.3 and 7.9 percent, respec-
tively. This high attrition rate is costly for local edu-
cational agencies, with the savings of replacing high-
er-earning, more experienced teachers mitigated by 
replacement costs. 
(9) High-quality mentoring and induction pro-
grams can offer support to teacher candidates and 
novice teachers throughout the teacher preparation 
and school placement experience, improving the like-
lihood that they will complete the training and cer-
tification process and remain in the profession. Evi-
dence-based mentoring and induction programs have 
been shown to increase retention, accelerate the pro-
fessional learning of novice teachers, and improve 
student achievement. 
(10) Teacher residencies create long-term bene-
fits for local educational agencies, schools, and stu-
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dents. Research suggests that residencies bring 
greater gender and racial diversity into the teaching 
workforce and have significantly higher retention 
rates for graduates than traditional preparation pro-
grams. 
(11) Grow Your Own teacher preparation mod-
els provide a promising solution for hard-to-staff 
schools, such as those in rural communities. These 
models help to recruit graduates of local schools and 
members of the school’s community into the teach-
ing profession. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) GENERAL ESEA DEFINITIONS.—The terms 
‘‘dual or concurrent enrollment program’’, ‘‘elemen-
tary school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, and ‘‘sec-
ondary school’’ have the meanings given the terms 
in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 
(2) 2+2 PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘2+2 program’’ 
means a partnership between a junior or community 
college, as defined in section 312 of the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058), and a 4-year 
degree-granting institution of higher education in 
which teacher candidates can begin teacher prepara-
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tion in the junior or community college and fully 
transfer their credits to the 4-year institution of 
higher education, where the students complete their 
teacher preparation. 
(3) CERTIFIED TEACHER.—The term ‘‘certified 
teacher’’ means an individual who possesses a docu-
ment certifying that the individual has met the full 
requirements of a State for employment as a teacher 
in the public schools of that State. 
(4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-
ty’’ means a local educational agency (including an 
entity described in subparagraph (B), (C), (D), or 
(E) of section 8101(30) of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary 
Education 
Act 
of 
1965 
(20 
U.S.C. 
7801(30))) or a consortium of such agencies. 
(5) GROW
YOUR
OWN
PROGRAM.—The term 
‘‘Grow Your Own program’’ means a program that 
works to recruit graduates of local schools and mem-
bers of the school’s community into the teaching 
profession of a school. 
(6) HISTORICALLY
BLACK
COLLEGE
OR
UNI-
VERSITY.—The term ‘‘historically Black college or 
university’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘part B 
institution’’ under section 322 of the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061). 
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(7) INDUCTION PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘induc-
tion program’’ has the meaning given the term in 
section 200(14) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021(14)), except that— 
(A) the high-quality and structured teacher 
mentoring component described in subpara-
graph (A) of such section shall be led by a 
qualified mentor who teaches in the same or 
similar field, grade, or subject as the mentee; 
(B) the opportunities for new teachers de-
scribed in subparagraph (D) of such section 
shall include opportunities for observation of, 
and feedback from, teacher mentors, faculty, 
and researchers; 
(C) the faculty included in the program, as 
described in subparagraph (F) of such section, 
shall also model personalized instruction; 
(D) the interdisciplinary collaboration de-
scribed in subparagraph (G) of such section 
shall include preparation regarding the develop-
ment, analysis, and use of formative, interim, 
and summative assessments; 
(E) the assistance provided under subpara-
graph (H) of such section with respect to stu-
dent achievement data shall also include assist-
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ance with understanding classroom engagement 
data (such as attendance and discipline rates 
and other measures of school climate), and with 
understanding the applicability of both types of 
data to classroom instruction and design; and 
(F) the observation and evaluation oppor-
tunities under subparagraph (I) of such section 
shall be conducted in order to inform efforts to 
support new teachers and improve their prac-
tice. 
(8) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 
(9) QUALIFIED MENTOR TEACHER.—The term 
‘‘qualified mentor teacher’’ means an educator 
who— 
(A) meets a minimum set of qualification 
standards based in part on State-determined 
measures of teacher effectiveness; and 
(B) is selected by the grantee to— 
(i) host a teacher candidate mentee 
during clinical practice or residency in the 
classroom of the educator during a teacher 
preparation program, or provide induction 
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support to a newly certified teacher mentee 
during the first 2 years of employment 
after completion of a teacher preparation 
program (including clinical practice); 
(ii) provide support for a teacher can-
didate mentee during clinical practice or a 
teacher residency program, or a beginning 
teacher mentee during an induction pro-
gram, including information on the re-
sources and support based at the school 
and the local educational agency serving 
the school; 
(iii) establish a role model relationship 
for a mentee; 
(iv) observe the mentee’s teaching 
methods in classroom settings and be ob-
served modeling best practices; 
(v) provide mentoring to a mentee 
teaching in the same field, grade, or sub-
ject; and 
(vi) promote empirically based prac-
tice of, and scientifically valid research on, 
where applicable— 
(I) teaching and learning; 
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(II) assessment of student learn-
ing; 
(III) the development of teaching 
skills through the use of instructional 
and behavioral interventions; and 
(IV) the improvement of the ca-
pacity of the mentees to create inclu-
sive learning environments and meas-
urably 
advance 
student 
learning 
among diverse learners. 
(10) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’ has 
the meaning given the term in section 343(a)(13)(A) 
of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development 
Act (7 U.S.C. 1991(a)(13)(A)). 
(11) RURAL
SCHOOL
DISTRICT.—The term 
‘‘rural school district’’ means a school district that 
serves one or more schools located in a rural area. 
(12) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘‘Secretary’’ 
means the Secretary of Education. 
(13) 
STEM.—The 
term 
‘‘STEM’’ 
means 
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. 
(14) TEACHING
RESIDENCY
PROGRAM.—The 
term ‘‘teaching residency program’’ has the meaning 
given the term in section 200 of the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021), except that 
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