I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2617 
To direct the Secretary of Education to make grants to high-need local 
educational agencies to establish teaching residency programs. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 7, 2007 
Mr. EMANUEL (for himself, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. EHLERS, 
Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. JACKSON-LEE 
of Texas, and Mr. JEFFERSON) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Education to make grants to 
high-need local educational agencies to establish teaching 
residency programs. 
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 ‘‘Preparing Excellent 
Teachers Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The shortage of qualified teachers in the 
United States has reached critical levels. 
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(2) Education experts agree that looming teach-
er retirement and shortages of effective teachers in 
low-performing schools create a great demand for 
quality teachers. 
(3) Nearly 50 percent of new teachers leave in 
the first 5 years. 
(4) These numbers have a direct impact on the 
quality of the education of the children of the United 
States. 
(5) Inexperienced teachers are less effective 
than teachers with several years of experience. Suc-
cessful teacher preparation programs, providing on-
going support, can make novice teachers effective 
more rapidly. The majority of new teachers lack 
such support, and so leave the profession before be-
coming effective. 
(6) Teacher candidates must see expert prac-
tices modeled and must then practice them with on-
going mentoring support. Teacher preparation often 
fails to provide the opportunity to learn under the 
direct supervision of expert teachers working in 
schools that effectively serve high-need students. 
Student teaching is too often conducted in class-
rooms that do not model effective practice, or in 
classrooms that do not serve high-need students, and 
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the lessons learned do not generalize to effective 
teaching in high-need schools. 
(7) It is critical to develop programs that in-
crease the probability recruits will succeed and stay 
in the high-need classrooms where they are needed. 
Because many teacher candidates choose to teach 
where they grew up or went to college, it is impor-
tant to have strong programs in hard-to-staff urban 
and rural locations. Teacher residency programs ef-
fectively build teacher supply, since they recruit and 
prepare candidates in the districts that sponsor 
them. Teacher residency programs have dem-
onstrated the capacity to recruit, prepare, retain, 
and provide effective support for teachers in high- 
need schools. 
SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR TEACHER RESIDENCY PROGRAMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part C of title II of the Elemen-
tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘Subpart 6—Teacher Residency Programs 
‘‘SEC. 2371. GRANTS FOR TEACHER RESIDENCY PROGRAMS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available to 
carry out this section, the Secretary shall make grants to 
high-need local educational agencies to assist such agen-
cies to establish and support teacher residency programs. 
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Such agencies are encouraged to work with non-profit 
community-based organizations that have experience in 
teacher residency programs. 
‘‘(b) TEACHER RESIDENCY PROGRAMS.— 
‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, the term ‘teacher residency program’ means a 
school-based teacher preparation program in which a 
prospective teacher— 
‘‘(A) teaches alongside a teacher of record 
(who is designated as the mentor teacher) for 
at least 1 academic year; 
‘‘(B) receives coursework in the teaching of 
the content area in which the teacher will be-
come certified to teach; 
‘‘(C) receives instruction in planning, con-
tent, pedagogy, student learning, and assess-
ment, management of the classroom environ-
ment, and professional responsibilities, includ-
ing interaction with families and colleagues and 
use of assessment data to modify and improve 
instruction; 
‘‘(D) attains full State certification to 
teach prior to completion of the program; and 
‘‘(E) receives a midpoint review. 
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‘‘(2) DESIGN.—To receive assistance under this 
section, a teacher residency program shall be de-
signed to meet the following characteristics of suc-
cessful programs: 
‘‘(A) Teacher residency programs integrate 
pedagogy and classroom practice by partnering 
with institutions of higher education to ensure 
residents engage in rigorous master’s level 
coursework while undertaking a guided teaching 
apprenticeship. Lessons learned from the resi-
dency program will be used to inform teacher 
training at the institution of higher education. 
‘‘(B) Residents teach alongside an experi-
enced mentor teacher. Experienced mentor 
teachers complement the residency program so 
that classroom clinical practice is tightly 
aligned with coursework. Experienced mentor 
teachers may receive additional compensation 
for participating in the program. 
‘‘(C) Experienced mentor teachers shall 
have extra responsibilities as teacher leaders of 
the teacher residency program, as mentors for 
residents, and as teacher coaches during the in-
duction of novice teachers. These responsibil-
ities include establishing, within the program, a 
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learning community in which all individuals are 
expected to continually improve their capacity 
to advance student learning. 
‘‘(D) The director of the teacher residency 
program shall establish and publish clear cri-
teria for selection of experienced mentor teach-
ers based on measures of teacher effectiveness 
and the appropriate subject area knowledge. 
Evaluation of teacher effectiveness shall be 
based on observation of domains including each 
of the following: 
‘‘(i) Planning and preparation, includ-
ing demonstrated knowledge of content, 
pedagogy, and assessment, including the 
use of formative assessment to improve 
student learning. 
‘‘(ii) Appropriate instruction that en-
gages students with different learning 
styles. 
‘‘(iii) Collaboration with colleagues to 
improve instruction. 
‘‘(iv) Appropriate and fair analysis of 
gains in student learning. When feasible, 
this shall include valid and reliable objec-
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tive measure of the influence of teachers 
on the rate of student academic progress. 
‘‘(E) Teacher residency programs group 
teacher candidates in cohorts to facilitate pro-
fessional collaboration among residents. 
‘‘(F) Teacher residency programs admis-
sions goals and priorities are developed in con-
cert with the hiring objectives of the local edu-
cational agency, which commits to hire grad-
uates from the residency program. Residents 
learn to teach in the same district in which they 
will work, learning the instructional initiatives 
and curriculum of the district. 
‘‘(G) Teacher residency programs support 
residents once they are hired as teachers of 
record. Residencies continue to provide profes-
sional development and networking opportuni-
ties to support residents through their first 
years of teaching. 
‘‘(3) EXPERIENCED
MENTOR
TEACHER
DE-
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘experienced men-
tor teacher’ means a teacher who— 
‘‘(A) has at least five years teaching expe-
rience teaching in a school in the high-need 
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local educational agency that is the recipient of 
a grant under this section; and 
‘‘(B) has a masters degree in education or 
teaching. 
‘‘(c) PERSONS ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE.—To be 
eligible to participate in a teacher residency program 
under this section, a mid-career professional or recent col-
lege graduate shall become enrolled simultaneously in a 
masters degree program in education or teaching in a uni-
versity or college that— 
‘‘(1) has entered into a written agreement relat-
ing to such program with the high-need local edu-
cational agency that is the recipient of a grant under 
this section; and 
‘‘(2) is accredited by the Council of Higher 
Education Accreditation and the accrediting agency 
in the State in which the high-need local educational 
agency is located, if any. 
‘‘(d) PARTICIPANTS TO RECEIVE PRACTICAL EXPE-
RIENCE.—A participant in a teacher residency program 
under this section shall, under the supervision of an expe-
rienced mentor teacher, complete not fewer than ten 
months teaching a class containing not more than 30 stu-
dents in a school chosen by the high-need local educational 
agency that is the recipient of a grant under this section. 
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‘‘(e) PARTICIPANT TO AGREE TO BE PLACED IN A 
SCHOOL.—A participant in a teacher residency program 
under this section shall agree in writing to be placed, after 
successfully completing the program, as a teacher in a 
school chosen by the high-need local educational agency. 
Such placement shall be for a period of at least 5 academic 
years beginning with the academic year that begins after 
the participant successfully completes the program. The 
school chosen for the placement shall be in a high-need, 
underserved area. A participant who fails to complete the 
period of the placement (or the first 5 academic years of 
the placement, if the period is more than 5 academic 
years) is required to pay back the cost of the training. 
‘‘(f) AMOUNT, NUMBER, AND DISTRIBUTION
OF 
GRANTS.— 
‘‘(1) AMOUNT.—A grant under this section 
shall be for a period of three years, and shall include 
$2,500,000 for the first year, $1,500,000 for the 
second year, and $1,000,000 for the third year. 
‘‘(2) NUMBER.—The Secretary may not make 
more than ten such grants each fiscal year, begin-
ning with fiscal year 2008. 
‘‘(3) DISTRIBUTION.—A high-need local edu-
cational agency may receive not more than one grant 
in each fiscal year. 
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‘‘(g) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under this 
section, a high-need local educational agency shall submit 
to the Secretary an application at such time, in such man-
ner, and containing such information as the Secretary may 
prescribe. 
‘‘(h) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall award grants 
under this section on a competitive basis. 
‘‘(i) EVALUATION.—Of the amounts appropriated to 
carry out this section, the Secretary shall reserve up to 
5 percent for an evaluation of the effectiveness of the pro-
gram established under this section, in relation to the ef-
fectiveness of other programs that prepare teachers for 
employment with high-need schools and high-need local 
educational agencies, including, where feasible, value- 
added measures of learning gains of students taught by 
graduates of each teacher residency Program, to be con-
ducted by the Institute of Education Sciences, the Na-
tional Science Foundation, or the National Academy of 
Sciences, at the direction of the Secretary. Not later than 
5 years after the date of the enactment of this section, 
the Secretary shall make the results of the evaluation pub-
lic. 
‘‘(j) MATCHING FUNDS.—A high-need local edu-
cational agency that receives a grant under this section 
shall provide matching funds in an amount equal to 50 
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percent of grant funds provided to the agency under this 
section to carry out the activities supported by the grant, 
which may be provided by community partners, institu-
tions of higher education, or others. 
‘‘(k) HIGH-NEED LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY DE-
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘high-need local edu-
cational agency’ means a local educational agency— 
‘‘(1) that is among the highest 20 percent of 
local educational agencies in the State in terms of 
percentage of students from families with incomes 
below the poverty line (as defined in section 
9101(33) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(33))); 
‘‘(2) that is among the lowest 20 percent of 
local educational agencies in the State on assess-
ments required under part A of title I, or, where fea-
sible, the lowest 20 percent of local educational 
agencies in the State in terms of measures of teach-
ing effectiveness; and 
‘‘(3) for which there is a high percentage of 
classes taught by teachers not teaching in the aca-
demic subjects or grade levels that the teachers were 
prepared to teach. 
‘‘(l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 
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