110 HR 3345 IH: Substitute Teaching Improvement U.S. House of Representatives 2007-08-02 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 3345 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.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Substitute Teaching Improvement Act.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.