[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 493 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 493

   To amend title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase 
 teacher familiarity with the educational needs of gifted and talented 
                   students, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 2, 2005

  Mr. Grassley (for himself, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Lott, and Mr. Bunning) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
          Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase 
 teacher familiarity with the educational needs of gifted and talented 
                   students, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. AMENDMENT TO TITLE II OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.

    (a) State Grants.--Section 202(d) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1022(d)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) Gifted and talented students.--Incorporating the 
        learning needs of gifted and talented students into the 
        activity described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) in order to 
        ensure that new teachers possess basic knowledge and skills 
        necessary to meet the educational needs of gifted and talented 
        students.
            ``(9) New-teacher mentoring on the needs of gifted and 
        talented students.--Establishing or expanding new-teacher 
        mentoring and assessment programs (including induction and 
        evaluation programs) that are a part of the licensure process 
        that includes the development of a portfolio produced by the 
        new teacher, under the supervision and guidance of a veteran 
        teacher mentor, which is designed to demonstrate that the new 
        teacher possesses basic knowledge of the classroom indicators 
        of giftedness, is able to identify student learning differences 
        among gifted students, and is able to provide instruction to 
        accommodate such differences.''.
    (b) Partnership Grants.--Section 203(e) of the Higher Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1023(e)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and limited English 
        proficient individuals'' and inserting ``, limited English 
        proficient individuals, and gifted and talented students''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Gifted and talented students.--Increasing the 
        knowledge and skills of preservice teachers participating in 
        activities under subsection (d) in the educational and related 
        needs of gifted and talented students by, among other 
        strategies, infusing teacher coursework with units on the 
        characteristics of high-ability learners, using assessments to 
        identify preexisting knowledge and skills among students, and 
        developing teaching strategies that are driven by the learner's 
        progress.''.
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