and Sciences, our need for a broadly literate popu-
lation is more urgent than ever. 
(2) As citizens, we need to absorb an ever-grow-
ing body of information and to assess the sources of 
that information. 
(3) As workers, we need to adapt to an ever- 
accelerating rate of technological change and to re-
flect on the implications of these changes. 
(4) As members of a global community, we need 
to look beyond our borders to communicate and 
interact with individuals from societies and cultures 
different from our own. 
(5) As a Nation, we need to provide an edu-
cational foundation for our future stability and pros-
perity—drawing on all areas of knowledge. 
(6) Good teachers matter. Students with highly 
skilled teachers can gain an additional year’s worth 
of learning compared to their peers in other class-
rooms. Moreover, having an effective teacher for 
three to four years in a row can erase the income- 
based achievement gap. 
(7) Attrition among new teachers is exception-
ally high. As many as 50 percent of new teachers 
leave within their first five years teaching. Moreover, 
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many of those leaving are the highly performing new 
teachers. 
(8) Short-term, in-service professional develop-
ment has not been found to be effective. Rather, 
successful professional development is extensive, sus-
tained, focused on content, and embedded in the 
day-to-day work of teachers. 
(9) Teacher induction and mentoring programs 
increase job satisfaction and retention among new 
teachers. Furthermore, research shows that addi-
tional young people would consider teaching if the 
profession offered more opportunities for advance-
ment and collaboration. 
(10) Programs that provide teachers with op-
portunities to lead and grow, and to be recognized 
and compensated for their leadership, are key to 
keeping talented teachers in the classroom. 
(11) A Master Teacher Corps will provide 
schools a way to use their human capital to improve 
student achievement by providing their best teachers 
with an opportunity to share best practices and sup-
port other teachers. 
SEC. 3. MASTER TEACHER CORPS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part A of title II of the Elemen-
tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
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6601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SUBPART 6—MASTER TEACHER CORPS 
‘‘SEC. 2161. DEFINITION. 
‘‘In this subpart, the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 
‘‘(1) a consortium of— 
‘‘(A) 2 or more local educational agencies; 
‘‘(B) 2 or more State educational agencies; 
or 
‘‘(C) 2 or more local educational agencies 
and 1 or more State educational agencies; act-
ing in partnership with 
‘‘(2) 1 or more— 
‘‘(A) institutions of higher education; or 
‘‘(B) nonprofit organizations with a dem-
onstrated record of success in preparing or im-
proving the effectiveness of teachers. 
‘‘SEC. 2162. GRANTS AUTHORIZED. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 
Master Teacher Corps program by awarding, on a com-
petitive basis, 1 or more grants of not less than 
$10,000,000 each to eligible entities to establish the pro-
gram in accordance with section 2164. 
‘‘(b) DURATION OF GRANT.—A grant awarded under 
this subpart shall be for a period of not more than 5 years. 
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‘‘(c) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), an eligible entity that receives a grant 
under this subpart shall provide, from non-Federal 
sources, an amount equal to not less than 30 per-
cent of the amount of the grant, which may be pro-
vided in cash or in-kind, to carry out the activities 
supported by the grant. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary may 
waive the 30 percent matching requirement 
under paragraph (1) for an eligible entity that 
the Secretary determines is unable to meet such 
requirement. The Secretary shall set a match-
ing requirement for such eligible entities ac-
cording to the sliding scale described in sub-
paragraph (B). 
‘‘(B) SLIDING SCALE.—The amount of a 
match under subparagraph (A) shall be estab-
lished based on a sliding fee scale that takes 
into account— 
‘‘(i) the relative poverty of the popu-
lation to be targeted by the eligible entity; 
and 
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‘‘(ii) the ability of the eligible entity to 
obtain such matching funds. 
‘‘(3) CONSIDERATION.—The Secretary shall not 
consider an eligible entity’s ability to match funds 
when determining which eligible entities will receive 
grant awards under this subpart. 
‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Each eligible en-
tity receiving funds under this subpart for a fiscal year 
may use not more than 5 percent of such funds for the 
cost of administering this subpart. 
‘‘SEC. 2163. APPLICATION. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desiring a 
grant under this subpart shall submit an application to 
the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con-
taining such information as the Secretary may require. 
‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—An application submitted under 
this section shall include— 
‘‘(1) a description of the Master Teacher Corps 
program that the eligible entity intends to carry out, 
including the number of Corps members the entity 
intends to select, the intended distribution of sub-
jects and grade levels taught, the geographic and 
economic characteristics of the local educational 
agencies that are part of the eligible entity; 
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‘‘(2) a description of the types of activities and 
responsibilities with which the corps members will be 
involved, which— 
‘‘(A) shall include— 
‘‘(i) roles around school, local edu-
cational agency, or State policymaking; 
‘‘(ii) mentoring and supporting begin-
ning teachers within subject area; 
‘‘(iii) sharing best practices and re-
sources; 
‘‘(iv) networking of master teachers; 
and 
‘‘(v) support for master teachers; and 
‘‘(B) may not include typical building ad-
ministrator roles that are not related to teacher 
development or student achievement; 
‘‘(3) a description of strategies the applicant 
will use to measure impact, such as observations, 
learning objectives, and student achievement data. 
‘‘(4) a description of the roles and responsibil-
ities that each higher education or nonprofit institu-
tion will have with the eligible entity. 
‘‘(5) a clear plan for research-based professional 
development that includes instruction regarding— 
‘‘(A) mentoring and supporting adults; 
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‘‘(B) opportunities to improve knowledge 
of content area; 
‘‘(C) opportunities to learn how to analyze 
data in ways that can impact instruction; and 
‘‘(D) instructional leadership training; 
‘‘(6) an explanation of how master teachers will 
be afforded dedicated time, authority, and resources 
to fulfill requirements, and how other teachers will 
be afforded time to interact with master teachers, 
since master teachers may have hybrid roles teach-
ing part-time and engaging in master teacher re-
sponsibilities part-time; 
‘‘(7) a demonstration that the entity has suffi-
cient capacity to carry out the activities described in 
the application and measure the impact of the pro-
gram; and 
‘‘(8) a description of how the grant funds will 
be financially managed. 
‘‘(c) CRITERIA FOR AWARDING GRANTS.—The Sec-
retary shall award grants under this subpart on the basis 
of merit considering, at a minimum, the following: 
‘‘(1) The extent to which the local educational 
agencies that are part of the eligible entity are com-
mitted to integrating the program into existing 
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school, local educational agency, State, and regional 
structures. 
‘‘(2) The quality of the proposed professional 
development, corps member activities, and leadership 
roles for master teachers. 
‘‘(3) The capacity of the eligible entity to effec-
tively carry out the program. 
‘‘(4) Proposed logistical and scheduling meas-
ures that will allow for master teachers to partici-
pate. 
‘‘(5) The diversity of proposed grade levels, 
subjects, content areas, and skill sets covered by the 
types of teachers proposed to be selected for the 
corps. 
‘‘(6) The geographic and economic diversity of 
schools proposed to participate in the applicant’s 
program. 
‘‘(7) The extent that various stakeholders, in-
cluding teachers, school leaders, administrators, 
were involved in the process of creating the structure 
for a master teacher corps in the application. 
‘‘SEC. 2164. REQUIRED USES OF FUNDS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity receiving a 
grant under this subpart shall use grant funds for the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(1) Selecting teachers into the Master Teach-
ers Corps. 
‘‘(2) Financially compensating corps members. 
‘‘(3) Providing research-based professional de-
velopment. 
‘‘(4) Assisting with coordination of instructional 
leadership, mentorship, training, and coaching roles 
of corps members, includes hiring substitute teach-
ers to fill the role of the master teacher if the teach-
er is working with other teachers. 
‘‘(5) Facilitating efforts for master teachers to 
be involved in policy decisions at the local edu-
cational agency, State, and regional levels. 
‘‘(6) Defraying school and local educational 
costs associated with corps members fulfilling their 
responsibilities. 
‘‘(7) Tracking the effectiveness and impact of 
the program. 
‘‘(8) Supporting other activities that advance 
the purpose of this subpart. 
‘‘(b) SELECTING MEMBERS OF THE MASTER TEACH-
ER CORPS.— 
‘‘(1) SELECTION
CRITERIA
FOR
CORPS
MEM-
BERS.— 
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‘‘(A) EXPERIENCE.—Corps members must 
have at least 5 years of full-time experience as 
a public or private elementary or secondary 
school teacher. 
‘‘(B) RATINGS.—Corps members must 
have earned the highest rating on their State- 
or locally-developed evaluations for a majority 
of their teaching years prior to their application 
to be part of the corps. 
‘‘(C) OTHER
CRITERIA.—Corps members 
will be selected based on the teacher’s— 
‘‘(i) ability to improve and enhance 
student achievement; 
‘‘(ii) ability to focus on individual stu-
dent learning needs and tailor instruction 
to those needs; 
‘‘(iii) ability to address adult learners 
in professional development; 
‘‘(iv) ability to successfully collaborate 
with teachers, school leaders, and staff; 
‘‘(v) skill in promoting teacher reflec-
tion through formative assessment proc-
esses, including using evidence of student 
learning and student practice; 
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‘‘(vi) strong interpersonal and oral 
and written communication skills; 
‘‘(vii) record of leadership in the 
teacher’s school; 
‘‘(viii) participation in student extra-
curricular activities and professional and 
school outreach activities; 
‘‘(ix) record of teaching students not 
on grade level or not on track to graduate 
college- and career-ready; and 
‘‘(x) measurable ability using various 
indicators, including National Board Cer-
tification, assessments of content knowl-
edge and pedagogical skills, and practical 
professional experience outside of the class-
room (such as previous work in a content- 
related industry). 
‘‘(2) OVERALL CORPS MEMBERSHIP REQUIRE-
MENTS.—An eligible entity receiving a grant under 
this subpart shall ensure that not more than 20 per-
cent of the teachers who teach in the participating 
area are members of the Corps. 
‘‘(3) PROHIBITION.—A local educational agency 
shall not change the status of a teacher from full- 
time to part-time if that teacher becomes a corps 
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