1 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 matter area, the disciplines or content areas in which academic majors are offered by the arts and science organizational unit.

(2) HIGH NEED LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.-The term "high need local educational agency" means a local educational agency that serves an elementary school or secondary school located in an area in which there is—

(A) a high percentage of individuals from families with incomes below the poverty line;

(B) a high percentage of secondary school teachers not teaching in the content area in which the teachers were trained to teach; or

(C) a high teacher turnover rate.

(3) POVERTY LINE.-The term "poverty line" means the poverty line (as defined by the Office of Management and Budget, and revised annually in accordance with section 673(2) of the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))) applicable to a family of the size involved.

SEC. 202. [20 U.S.C. 1022] STATE GRANTS.

(a) IN GENERAL.-From amounts made available under section 210(1) for a fiscal year, the Secretary is authorized to award grants under this section, on a competitive basis, to eligible States to enable the eligible States to carry out the activities described in subsection (d).

(b) ELIGIBLE STATE.

(1) DEFINITION.-In this title, the term "eligible State"

means

(A) the Governor of a State; or

(B) in the case of a State for which the constitution or law of such State designates another individual, entity, or agency in the State to be responsible for teacher certification and preparation activity, such individual, entity, or agency.

(2) CONSULTATION.-The Governor and the individual, entity, or agency designated under paragraph (1) shall consult with the Governor, State board of education, State educational agency, or State agency for higher education, as appropriate, with respect to the activities assisted under this section.

(3) CONSTRUCTION.-Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to negate or supersede the legal authority under State law of any State agency, State entity, or State public official over programs that are under the jurisdiction of the agency, entity, or official.

(c) APPLICATION.-To be eligible to receive a grant under this section, an eligible State shall, at the time of the initial grant application, submit an application to the Secretary that—

(1) meets the requirement of this section;

(2) includes a description of how the eligible State intends to use funds provided under this section; and

(3) contains such other information and assurances as the Secretary may require.

(d) USES OF FUNDS.-An eligible State that receives a grant under this section shall use the grant funds to reform teacher preparation requirements, and to ensure that current and future teachers possess the necessary teaching skills and academic content knowledge in the subject areas in which the teachers are assigned to teach, by carrying out 1 or more of the following activities:

(1) REFORMS.-Implementing reforms that hold institutions of higher education with teacher preparation programs accountable for preparing teachers who are highly competent in the academic content areas in which the teachers plan to teach, and possess strong teaching skills, which may include the use of rigorous subject matter competency tests and the requirement that a teacher have an academic major in the subject area, or related discipline, in which the teacher plans to teach.

(2) CERTIFICATION OR LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS.-Reforming teacher certification or licensure requirements to ensure that teachers have the necessary teaching skills and academic content knowledge in the subject areas in which teachers are assigned to teach.

(3) ALTERNATIVES TO TRADITIONAL PREPARATION FOR TEACHING.-Providing prospective teachers with alternatives to traditional preparation for teaching through programs at colleges of arts and sciences or at nonprofit educational organizations.

(4)

ALTERNATIVE ROUTES ΤΟ STATE CERTIFICATION.— Carrying out programs that

(A) include support during the initial teaching experience; and

(B) establish, expand, or improve alternative routes to State certification of teachers for highly qualified individuals, including mid-career professionals from other occupations, paraprofessionals, former military personnel and recent college graduates with records of academic distinction. (5) RECRUITMENT; PAY; REMOVAL.-Developing and implementing effective mechanisms to ensure that local educational agencies and schools are able to effectively recruit highly qualified teachers, to financially reward those teachers and principals whose students have made significant progress toward high academic performance, such as through performancebased compensation systems and access to ongoing professional development opportunities for teachers and administrators, and to expeditiously remove incompetent or unqualified teachers consistent with procedures to ensure due process for the teachers.

(6) SOCIAL PROMOTION.-Development and implementation of efforts to address the problem of social promotion and to prepare teachers to effectively address the issues raised by ending the practice of social promotion.

(7) RECRUITMENT.-Activities described in section 204(d).

SEC. 203. [20 U.S.C. 1023] PARTNERSHIP GRANTS.

(a) GRANTS.-From amounts made available under section 210(2) for a fiscal year, the Secretary is authorized to award grants under this section, on a competitive basis, to eligible partnerships to enable the eligible partnerships to carry out the activities described in subsections (d) and (e).

(b) DEFINITIONS.

(1) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIPS.-In this title, the term "eligible partnerships" means an entity that—

(A) shall include

(i) a partner institution;

(ii) a school of arts and sciences; and

(iii) a high need local educational agency; and

(B) may include a Governor, State educational agency, the State board of education, the State agency for higher education, an institution of higher education not described in subparagraph (A), a public charter school, a public or private elementary school or secondary school, a public or private nonprofit educational organization, a business, a teacher organization, or a prekindergarten program.

(2) PARTNER INSTITUTION.—In this section, the term "partner institution" means a private independent or State-supported public institution of higher education, the teacher training program of which demonstrates that

(A) graduates from the teacher training program exhibit strong performance on State-determined qualifying assessments for new teachers through—

(i) demonstrating that 80 percent or more of the graduates of the program who intend to enter the field of teaching have passed all of the applicable State qualification assessments for new teachers, which shall include an assessment of each prospective teacher's subject matter knowledge in the content area or areas in which the teacher intends to teach; or

(ii) being ranked among the highest-performing teacher preparation programs in the State as determined by the State

(I) using criteria consistent with the requirements for the State report card under section 207(b); and

(II) using the State report card on teacher preparation required under section 207(b), after the first publication of such report card and for every year thereafter; or

(B) the teacher training program requires all the students of the program to participate in intensive clinical experience, to meet high academic standards, and

(i) in the case of secondary school candidates, to successfully complete an academic major in the subject area in which the candidate intends to teach or to demonstrate competence through a high level of performance in relevant content areas; and

(ii) in the case of elementary school candidates, to successfully complete an academic major in the arts

and sciences or to demonstrate competence through a high level of performance in core academic subject

areas.

(c) APPLICATION.-Each eligible partnership desiring a grant under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such information as the Secretary may require. Each such application shall

(1) contain a needs assessment of all the partners with respect to teaching and learning and a description of how the partnership will coordinate with other teacher training or professional development programs, and how the activities of the partnership will be consistent with State, local, and other education reform activities that promote student achievement;

(2) contain a resource assessment that describes the resources available to the partnership, the intended use of the grant funds, including a description of how the grant funds will be fairly distributed in accordance with subsection (f), and the commitment of the resources of the partnership to the activities assisted under this title, including financial support, faculty participation, time commitments, and continuation of the activities when the grant ends; and

(3) contain a description of—

(A) how the partnership will meet the purposes of this title;

(B) how the partnership will carry out the activities required under subsection (d) and any permissible activities under subsection (e); and

(C) the partnership's evaluation plan pursuant to section 206(b).

(d) REQUIRED USES OF FUNDS.-An eligible partnership that receives a grant under this section shall use the grant funds to carry out the following activities:

(1) REFORMS.-Implementing reforms within teacher preparation programs to hold the programs accountable for preparing teachers who are highly competent in the academic content areas in which the teachers plan to teach, and for promoting strong teaching skills, including working with a school of arts and sciences and integrating reliable research-based teaching methods into the curriculum, which curriculum shall include programs designed to successfully integrate technology into teaching and learning.

(2) CLINICAL EXPERIENCE AND INTERACTION.-Providing sustained and high quality preservice clinical experience including the mentoring of prospective teachers by veteran teachers, and substantially increasing interaction between faculty at institutions of higher education and new and experienced teachers, principals, and other administrators at elementary schools or secondary schools, and providing support, including preparation time, for such interaction.

(3) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. Creating opportunities for enhanced and ongoing professional development that improves the academic content knowledge of teachers in the subject areas in which the teachers are certified to teach or in

which the teachers are working toward certification to teach, and that promotes strong teaching skills.

(e) ALLOWABLE USES OF FUNDS.-An eligible partnership that receives a grant under this section may use such funds to carry out the following activities:

(1) TEACHER PREPARATION AND PARENT INVOLVEMENT.— Preparing teachers to work with diverse student populations, including individuals with disabilities and limited English proficient individuals, and involving parents in the teacher preparation program reform process.

(2) DISSEMINATION AND COORDINATION.-Broadly disseminating information on effective practices used by the partnership, and coordinating with the activities of the Governor, State board of education, State higher education agency, and State educational agency, as appropriate.

(3) MANAGERIAL AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS.-Developing and implementing proven mechanisms to provide principals and superintendents with effective managerial and leadership skills that result in increased student achievement.

(4) TEACHER RECRUITMENT.-Activities described in section 204(d).

(f) SPECIAL RULE.-No individual member of an eligible partnership shall retain more than 50 percent of the funds made available to the partnership under this section.

(g) CONSTRUCTION.-Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit an eligible partnership from using grant funds to coordinate with the activities of more than one Governor, State board of education, State educational agency, local educational agency, or State agency for higher education.

SEC. 204. [20 U.S.C. 1024] TEACHER RECRUITMENT GRANTS.

(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.-From amounts made available under section 210(3) for a fiscal year, the Secretary is authorized to award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible applicants to enable the eligible applicants to carry out activities described in subsection (d).

(b) ELIGIBLE APPLICANT DEFINED.-In this title, the term "eligible applicant" means—

(1) an eligible State described in section 202(b); or

(2) an eligible partnership described in section 203(b).

(c) APPLICATION.-Any eligible applicant desiring to receive a grant under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such form, and containing such information as the Secretary may require, including

(1) a description of the assessment that the eligible applicant, and the other entities with whom the eligible applicant will carry out the grant activities, have undertaken to determine the most critical needs of the participating high-need local educational agencies;

(2) a description of the activities the eligible applicant will carry out with the grant; and

(3) a description of the eligible applicant's plan for continuing the activities carried out with the grant, once Federal funding ceases.