‘‘(6) contains such other information and assur-
ances as the Secretary may require. 
‘‘(d) USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible State that re-
ceives a grant under this section shall use the grant funds 
to reform teacher preparation requirements, to coordinate 
with State activities under section 2113(c) of the Elemen-
tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
6613(c)), and to ensure that current and future teachers 
are highly qualified, by carrying out one or more of the 
following activities: 
‘‘(1) REFORMS.—Ensuring that all teacher 
preparation programs in the State are preparing 
teachers who are highly qualified, are able to under-
stand scientifically based research and its applica-
bility, and are able to use advanced technology effec-
tively in the classroom, including use for instruc-
tional techniques to improve student academic 
achievement, by assisting such programs—
‘‘(A) to retrain faculty; and 
‘‘(B) to design (or redesign) teacher prepa-
ration programs so they—
‘‘(i) are based on rigorous academic 
content, scientifically based research (in-
cluding scientifically based reading re-
search), and challenging State student aca-
demic content standards; and 
‘‘(ii) promote strong teaching skills. 
‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION OR LICENSURE REQUIRE-
MENTS.—Reforming teacher certification (including 
recertification) or licensing requirements to ensure 
that—
‘‘(A) teachers have the subject matter 
knowledge and teaching skills in the academic 
subjects that the teachers teach that are nec-
essary to help students meet challenging State 
student academic achievement standards; and 
‘‘(B) such requirements are aligned with 
challenging State academic content standards. 
‘‘(3) ALTERNATIVES TO TRADITIONAL TEACHER 
PREPARATION
AND
STATE
CERTIFICATION.—Pro-
viding prospective teachers with alternative routes to 
State certification and traditional preparation to be-
come highly qualified teachers through—
‘‘(A) innovative approaches that reduce un-
necessary barriers to State certification while 
producing highly qualified teachers, which may 
include articulation agreements between institu-
tions of higher education;
‘‘(B) programs that provide support to 
teachers during their initial years in the profes-
sion; and 
‘‘(C) alternative routes to State certifi-
cation of teachers for qualified individuals, in-
cluding mid-career professionals from other oc-
cupations, former military personnel, and recent 
college graduates with records of academic dis-
tinction. 
‘‘(4) INNOVATIVE
PROGRAMS.—Planning and 
implementing innovative programs to enhance the 
ability of institutions of higher education to prepare 
highly qualified teachers, such as charter colleges of 
education or university and local educational agency 
partnership schools, that—
‘‘(A) permit flexibility in meeting State re-
quirements as long as graduates, during their 
initial years in the profession, increase student 
academic achievement; 
‘‘(B) provide long-term data gathered from 
teachers’ performance over multiple years in the 
classroom on the ability to increase student aca-
demic achievement; 
‘‘(C) ensure high-quality preparation of 
teachers from underrepresented groups; and
‘‘(D) create performance measures that 
can be used to document the effectiveness of in-
novative methods for preparing highly qualified 
teachers. 
‘‘(5) MERIT
PAY.—Developing, or assisting 
local educational agencies in developing—
‘‘(A) merit-based performance systems that 
reward teachers who increase student academic 
achievement; and 
‘‘(B) strategies that provide differential 
and bonus pay in high-need local educational 
agencies to retain—
‘‘(i) principals; 
‘‘(ii) highly qualified teachers who 
teach in high-need academic subjects, such 
as reading, mathematics, and science; 
‘‘(iii) highly qualified teachers who 
teach in schools identified for school im-
provement under section 1116(b) of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316(b)); 
‘‘(iv) special education teachers; 
‘‘(v) teachers specializing in teaching 
limited English proficient children; and
‘‘(vi) highly qualified teachers in 
urban and rural schools or districts. 
‘‘(6) TEACHER ADVANCEMENT.—Developing, or 
assisting local educational agencies in developing, 
teacher advancement and retention initiatives that 
promote professional growth and emphasize multiple 
career paths (such as paths to becoming a highly 
qualified mentor teacher or exemplary teacher) and 
pay differentiation. 
‘‘(7) TEACHER REMOVAL.—Developing and im-
plementing effective mechanisms to ensure that local 
educational agencies and schools are able to remove 
expeditiously incompetent or unqualified teachers 
consistent with procedures to ensure due process for 
the teachers. 
‘‘(8) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Providing tech-
nical assistance to low-performing teacher prepara-
tion programs within institutions of higher education 
identified under section 208(a). 
‘‘(9) TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS.—Developing—
‘‘(A) systems to measure the effectiveness 
of teacher preparation programs and profes-
sional development programs; and 
‘‘(B) strategies to document gains in stu-
dent academic achievement or increases in