[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3345 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3345
To authorize the Secretary of Education to establish a competitive
demonstration grant program to provide funds for local educational
agencies in order to increase the effectiveness of substitute teaching,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 2, 2007
Mr. Payne introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Education to establish a competitive
demonstration grant program to provide funds for local educational
agencies in order to increase the effectiveness of substitute teaching,
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. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Substitute Teaching Improvement
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) As much as one full year of a child's elementary and
secondary education is taught by substitute teachers.
(2) Less than one in four school districts provide training
for substitute teachers.
(3) No training is given to substitute teachers in 77
percent of school districts in the United States.
(4) Over half (56 percent) of school districts never have a
face-to-face interview with substitute teaching candidates.
(5) Poorly trained substitute teachers have a negative
impact on student academic performance and achievement.
(6) Schools with high concentrations of disadvantaged
populations are more likely to be taught by less qualified
permanent teachers and under-prepared substitute teachers.
(7) Nine out of the ten lowest-ranked States in National
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) testing allowed
substitute teachers with only a high school diploma to teach in
their schools.
(8) In fact, in 28 States, principals may hire anyone with
a high school diploma or a general equivalency diploma (GED)
who is age 18 years of age or older.
(9) Schools with lower academic achievement are twice as
likely to allow less qualified substitutes in the classroom.
(10) On any given day in the United States, more than
270,000 classes are taught by substitute teachers.
(11) Formal training of substitute teachers has been shown
to improve the quality of education, lower school district
liability, reduce the number of student and faculty complaints,
and increase retention rates of substitute teachers.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHING A PROGRAM TO INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF
SUBSTITUTE TEACHING.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Education is authorized to make
competitive demonstration grants to eligible local educational agencies
for the purposes of--
(1) increasing the effectiveness of substitute teaching
through a comprehensive training program for substitute
teachers, principals, permanent classroom teachers, and
district managers of substitute teachers; and
(2) evaluating the effectiveness of the program.
(b) Eligible Local Educational Agency.--In this Act, the term
``eligible local educational agency'' means--
(1) a high-need local educational agency; or
(2) a partnership of a high-need local educational agency
and an institution of higher education, or non-profit education
organization.
SEC. 4. USE OF FUNDS.
A local educational agency that receives a grant under section 3
shall use the funds made available through the grant--
(1) to train substitute teachers in--
(A) classroom management;
(B) effective teaching strategies that address a
variety of student learning needs and styles;
(C) teacher professionalism; and
(D) educational laws and issues;
(2) to train principals and permanent teachers in
effectively integrating substitute teachers in school
operations, such as--
(A) best practices in recruiting and retaining
substitutes;
(B) best practices in preparing students for
substitutes;
(C) proper planning and follow-up for substitutes;
and
(D) use of permanent substitutes;
(3) to develop a resource kit for substitute teachers that
contains--
(A) short whole-class critical thinking activities;
(B) independent student activities; and
(C) teacher-directed activities and lessons
organized by subject matter; and
(4) to collect data on substitute teachers and the
practices for managing substitute teachers in participating
districts, including information on the--
(A) demand for substitute teachers;
(B) qualifications of substitute teachers;
(C) number and percentage of substitute teachers
that receive some form of training prior to entering
the classroom; and
(D) number of complaints registered against
substitute teachers.
SEC. 5. RESEARCH AND REPORTS.
(a) Study on Substitute Teaching.--Not later than 120 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall
commission a national independent evaluation of the prevalence of
substitute teaching and current State and local efforts to improve the
effectiveness of substitute teaching and their impact on student
achievement. The Secretary shall report the findings of the evaluation
to the Congress not later than two years after the date on which the
study is commissioned.
(b) Impact of Funded Programs.--Not later than 1 year after the
date on which the last demonstration grant made under section 3
expires, the Secretary of Education shall submit a report to the
Congress describing the impact on student achievement of programs
funded under this Act.
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act
$5,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such sums as may be necessary for
fiscal years 2009 through 2012.
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