[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 863 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 863

To amend title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
to authorize State educational agencies and local educational agencies 
                    to carry out teacher exchanges.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 1, 2011

    Mr. Pierluisi (for himself and Mr. Diaz-Balart) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
                             the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
to authorize State educational agencies and local educational agencies 
                    to carry out teacher exchanges.

    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 Exchange Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. TEACHER EXCHANGES.

    (a) State Use of Funds.--Section 2113(c) of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6613(c)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
            ``(19) Carrying out a teacher exchange under which the 
        State educational agency--
                    ``(A) sends highly qualified teachers with at least 
                3 years of teaching experience to another State 
                educational agency located in a different geographic 
                region for a school year (in this paragraph referred to 
                as the `receiving State educational agency'), provided 
                that--
                            ``(i) 1 of the State educational agencies 
                        involved serves a high-need local educational 
                        agency; or
                            ``(ii) the State educational agencies 
                        involved will be exchanging teachers in 
                        science, math, English as a second language, 
                        special education, or other subject areas that 
                        have a high need for qualified teachers, as 
                        determined by the Secretary;
                    ``(B) ensures that the teachers remain subject to 
                the terms and conditions of employment that would have 
                applied if the teachers had remained at the State 
                educational agency;
                    ``(C) provides such teachers with payment of 
                certain housing, travel, and other expenses incurred by 
                such teachers during participation in the exchange;
                    ``(D) requires such teachers to return to the State 
                educational agency for a period of time following such 
                teachers' participation in the exchange; and
                    ``(E) develops and implements a plan to provide 
                participating teachers with activities designed to 
                promote professional development, which may include--
                            ``(i) an orientation session or courses to 
                        prepare such teachers for--
                                    ``(I) the exchange experience;
                                    ``(II) the community in which the 
                                receiving State educational agency is 
                                located and the schools in such agency; 
                                and
                                    ``(III) the particular grade level 
                                and curriculum assigned to the 
                                participating teacher by the receiving 
                                State educational agency;
                            ``(ii) a mentoring program through which 
                        each such teacher is paired with a mentor (who 
                        is not also a participating teacher) employed 
                        by the receiving State educational agency who 
                        teaches in the same grade level or subject area 
                        that the participating teacher has been 
                        assigned to teach under the exchange;
                            ``(iii) a forum for participating teachers, 
                        led by an administrator or teacher at the 
                        receiving State educational agency, to engage 
                        in ongoing professional development focused on 
                        improving classroom instruction to result in 
                        improved student outcomes, including reading 
                        educational research, reviewing student work, 
                        creating and reviewing formative and summative 
                        assessments, analyzing data from student 
                        assessments, and tracking student progress; and
                            ``(iv) content-specific programs designed 
                        to support participating teachers in teaching 
                        the specific curriculum in place at the 
                        receiving State educational agency and at the 
                        grade level to which each such teacher is 
                        assigned.''.
    (b) Local Use of Funds.--Section 2123(a) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 
6623(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(11) Carrying out a teacher exchange (regardless of 
        whether the State educational agency serving the local 
        educational agency participates in such exchange) under which 
        the local educational agency--
                    ``(A) sends highly qualified teachers with at least 
                3 years of teaching experience to another local 
                educational agency located in a different geographic 
                region (in this paragraph referred to as the `receiving 
                local educational agency') for a school year 
                (regardless of whether the State educational agency 
                serving such local educational agency participates in 
                such exchange), provided that--
                            ``(i) 1 of the local educational agencies 
                        involved is a high-need local educational 
                        agency; or
                            ``(ii) the local educational agencies 
                        involved will be exchanging teachers in 
                        science, math, English as a second language, 
                        special education, or other subject areas that 
                        have a high need for qualified teachers, as 
                        determined by the Secretary;
                    ``(B) ensures that the teachers remain subject to 
                the terms and conditions of employment that would have 
                applied if the teachers had remained at the local 
                educational agency;
                    ``(C) provides such teachers with payment of 
                certain housing, travel, and other expenses incurred by 
                such teachers during participation in the exchange;
                    ``(D) requires such teachers to return to the local 
                educational agency for a period of time following such 
                teachers' participation in the exchange; and
                    ``(E) develops and implements a plan to provide 
                participating teachers with activities designed to 
                promote professional development, which may include--
                            ``(i) an orientation session or courses to 
                        prepare such teachers for--
                                    ``(I) the exchange experience;
                                    ``(II) the community in which the 
                                receiving local educational agency is 
                                located and the schools in such agency; 
                                and
                                    ``(III) the particular grade level 
                                and curriculum assigned to the 
                                participating teacher by the receiving 
                                local educational agency;
                            ``(ii) a mentoring program through which 
                        each such teacher is paired with a mentor (who 
                        is not also a participating teacher) employed 
                        by the receiving local educational agency who 
                        teaches in the same grade level or subject area 
                        that the participating teacher has been 
                        assigned to teach under the exchange;
                            ``(iii) a forum for participating teachers, 
                        led by an administrator or teacher at the 
                        receiving local educational agency, to engage 
                        in ongoing professional development focused on 
                        improving classroom instruction to result in 
                        improved student outcomes, including reading 
                        educational research, reviewing student work, 
                        creating and reviewing formative and summative 
                        assessments, analyzing data from student 
                        assessments, and tracking student progress; and
                            ``(iv) content-specific programs designed 
                        to support participating teachers in teaching 
                        the specific curriculum in place at the 
                        receiving local educational agency and at the 
                        grade level to which each such teacher is 
                        assigned.''.
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