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.