[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9986 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9986
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to enhance teacher and school
leader quality partnership grants.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 11, 2024
Ms. Spanberger (for herself and Mr. Fitzpatrick) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to enhance teacher and school
leader quality partnership grants.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Teacher and School Leader Quality
Partnership Grants Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
Section 200 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021) is
amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 200. DEFINITIONS.
``Except as otherwise provided, in this title:
``(1) Arts and sciences.--The term `arts and sciences'
means--
``(A) when referring to an organizational unit of
an institution of higher education, any academic unit
that offers one or more academic majors in disciplines
or content areas corresponding to the academic subject
matter areas in which teachers provide instruction; and
``(B) when referring to a specific academic subject
area, the disciplines or content areas in which
academic majors are offered by the arts and sciences
organizational unit.
``(2) Blended learning.--The term `blended learning' has
the meaning given the term in section 4102 of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7112).
``(3) Children from low-income families.--The term
`children from low-income families' means children described in
section 1124(c)(1)(A) of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6333(c)(1)(A)).
``(4) Comprehensive literacy instruction.--The term
`comprehensive literacy instruction' has the meaning given the
term in section 2221(b)(1) of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6641(b)(1)).
``(5) Digital learning.--The term `digital learning' has
the meaning given the term in section 4102 of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7112).
``(6) Diverse teacher candidates.--The term `diverse
teacher candidates' means--
``(A) teacher candidates from underrepresented
populations (as defined in section 3(17) of the
Assistive Technology Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 3002(18));
and
``(B) teacher candidates who are linguistically and
culturally prepared to educate high-need students.
``(7) Early childhood educator.--The term `early childhood
educator' means an individual with primary responsibility for
the education of children in an early childhood education
program.
``(8) Educational service agency.--The term `educational
service agency' has the meaning given the term in section 8101
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 7801).
``(9) Educator.--The term `educator' means a teacher,
principal or other school leader, specialized instructional
support personnel, or other staff member who provides or
directly supports instruction at an elementary school,
secondary school, or an early childhood education program (such
as a school librarian, counselor, or paraprofessional).
``(10) Eligible partnership.--The term `eligible
partnership' means an entity that--
``(A) shall include--
``(i) a high-need local educational agency;
``(ii)(I) a high-need school or a
consortium of high-need schools served by the
high-need local educational agency; or
``(II) as applicable, a high-need early
childhood education program;
``(iii) a partner institution; and
``(iv) a school, department, or program of
education within such partner institution,
which may include an existing teacher
professional development program with proven
outcomes within a four-year institution of
higher education that provides intensive and
sustained collaboration between faculty and
local educational agencies consistent with the
requirements of this title; and
``(B) may include any of the following:
``(i) The Governor of the State.
``(ii) The State educational agency.
``(iii) The State board of education.
``(iv) The State agency for higher
education.
``(v) A business.
``(vi) A public or private nonprofit
educational organization.
``(vii) An educational service agency.
``(viii) A teacher, principal, or school
leader organization.
``(ix) A high-performing local educational
agency, or a consortium of such local
educational agencies, that can serve as a
resource to the partnership.
``(x) A charter school (as defined in
section 4310 of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7221i)).
``(xi) A school or department within the
partner institution that focuses on psychology
and human development.
``(xii) A school or department within the
partner institution with comparable expertise
in the disciplines of teaching, learning, and
child and adolescent development.
``(xiii) A school or department of arts and
sciences within the partner institution.
``(xiv) An entity operating a program that
provides alternative routes to State
certification of teachers or principals.
``(11) English learner.--The term `English learner' has the
meaning given the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
``(12) Evidence-based.--The term `evidence-based' has the
meaning given the term in subclauses (I) and (II) of section
8101(21)(A)(i) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(21)(A)).
``(13) Evidence of student learning.--The term `evidence of
student learning' means multiple measures of student learning
that include the following:
``(A) Valid and reliable student assessment data,
which may include data--
``(i) based on--
``(I) student learning gains on
statewide academic assessments under
section 1111(b)(2) of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965; or
``(II) student academic achievement
assessments used at the national,
State, or local levels, where available
and appropriate for the curriculum and
students taught;
``(ii) from classroom-based summative
assessments; and
``(iii) from high-quality validated
performance-based assessments that are aligned
with challenging State academic standards
adopted under section 1111(b)(1) of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 6311(b)(1)).
``(B) Not less than one of the following additional
measures:
``(i) Student work, including measures of
performance criteria and evidence of student
growth.
``(ii) Teacher-generated information about
student goals and growth.
``(iii) Parental feedback about student
goals and growth.
``(iv) Student feedback about learning and
teaching supports.
``(v) Assessments of affective engagement
and self-efficacy.
``(vi) Other appropriate measures, as
determined by the State.
``(14) High-need early childhood education program.--The
term `high-need early childhood education program' means an
early childhood education program serving children from low-
income families that is located within the geographic area
served by a high-need local educational agency.
``(15) High-need local educational agency.--The term `high-
need local educational agency' means a local educational
agency--
``(A)(i) that serves not fewer than 10,000 low-
income children;
``(ii) for which not less than 20 percent of the
children served by the agency are low-income children;
``(iii) that meets the eligibility requirements for
funding under the Small, Rural School Achievement
Program under section 5211(b) of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 or the Rural and Low-
Income School Program under section 6221(b) of such
Act; or
``(iv) that has a percentage of low-income children
that is in the highest quartile among such agencies in
the State; and
``(B)(i) for which one or more schools served by
the agency is identified by the State for comprehensive
supports and interventions under section
1111(c)(4)(D)(i) of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965; or
``(ii) for which one or more schools served by the
agency has a high teacher turnover rate or is
experiencing a teacher shortage in a high-needs field,
as determined by the State.
``(16) High-need school.--
``(A) In general.--The term `high-need school'
means a school that, based on the most recent data
available, meets one or both of the following:
``(i) The school is in the highest quartile
of schools in a ranking of all schools served
by a local educational agency, ranked in
descending order by percentage of students from
low-income families enrolled in such schools,
as determined by the local educational agency
based on one of the following measures of
poverty:
``(I) The percentage of students
aged 5 through 17 in poverty counted in
the most recent census data approved by
the Secretary.
``(II) The percentage of students
eligible for a free or reduced price
school lunch under the Richard B.
Russell National School Lunch Act.
``(III) The percentage of students
in families receiving assistance under
the State program funded under part A
of title IV of the Social Security Act.
``(IV) The percentage of students
eligible to receive medical assistance
under the Medicaid program.
``(V) A composite of two or more of
the measures described in subclauses
(I) through (IV).
``(ii) In the case of--
``(I) an elementary school, the
school serves students not less than 60
percent of whom are eligible for a free
or reduced price school lunch under the
Richard B. Russell National School
Lunch Act; or
``(II) any other school that is not
an elementary school, the other school
serves students not less than 45
percent of whom are eligible for a free
or reduced price school lunch under the
Richard B. Russell National School
Lunch Act.
``(B) Special rule.--
``(i) Designation by the secretary.--The
Secretary may, upon approval of an application
submitted by an eligible partnership seeking a
grant under this title, designate a school that
does not qualify as a high-need school under
subparagraph (A) as a high-need school for the
purpose of this title. The Secretary shall base
the approval of an application for designation
of a school under this clause on a
consideration of the information required under
clause (ii), and may also take into account
other information submitted by the eligible
partnership.
``(ii) Application requirements.--An
application for designation of a school under
clause (i) shall include--
``(I) the number and percentage of
students attending such school who
are--
``(aa) aged 5 through 17 in
poverty counted in the most
recent census data approved by
the Secretary;
``(bb) eligible for a free
or reduced price school lunch
under the Richard B. Russell
National School Lunch Act;
``(cc) in families
receiving assistance under the
State program funded under part
A of title IV of the Social
Security Act; or
``(dd) eligible to receive
medical assistance under the
Medicaid program;
``(II) information about the
student academic achievement of
students at such school; and
``(III) for a secondary school, the
four-year adjusted cohort graduation
rate for such school.
``(17) Highly competent.--The term `highly competent', when
used with respect to an early childhood educator, means an
educator--
``(A) with specialized education and training in
development and education of young children from birth
until entry into kindergarten or a specialization in
infants and toddlers or pre-school children;
``(B) with--
``(i) a baccalaureate degree in an academic
major in an early childhood or related field;
or
``(ii) an associate's degree in an early
childhood or related educational area; and
``(C) who has demonstrated a high level of
knowledge and use of content and pedagogy in the
relevant areas associated with quality early childhood
education.
``(18) Induction program.--The term `induction program'
means a formalized program for new teachers or school leaders,
during not less than the teachers' or school leaders' first 2
years of, respectively, teaching or leading, that is designed
to provide support for, and improve the professional
performance and increase the retention in the education field
of, beginning teachers or school leaders. Such program shall
promote effective teaching or leadership skills and shall
include the following components:
``(A) High-quality mentoring.
``(B) Periodic, structured time for collaboration,
including with mentors, as well as time for
information-sharing among teachers, principals, other
school leaders and administrators, other appropriate
instructional staff, and participating faculty or
program staff in the partner institution.
``(C) The application of evidence-based
instructional practices.
``(D) Opportunities for new teachers or school
leaders to draw dire