[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1240 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1240

  To support the establishment and operation of Teachers Professional 
                        Development Institutes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                June 21 (legislative day, June 16), 2011

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To support the establishment and operation of Teachers Professional 
                        Development Institutes.

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

SECTION 1. TEACHERS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTES.

    (a) In General.--Part A of title II of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:

       ``Subpart 6--Teachers Professional Development Institutes

``SEC. 2161. SHORT TITLE.

    ``This subpart may be cited as the `Teachers Professional 
Development Institutes Act'.

``SEC. 2162. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    ``(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            ``(1) Teaching is central to the educational process and 
        the ongoing professional development of teachers in the 
        subjects they teach is essential for improved student learning.
            ``(2) Attaining the goal of the No Child Left Behind Act of 
        2001 (Public Law 107-110)--having a classroom teacher who is 
        highly effective in every academic subject the teacher 
        teaches--will require innovative approaches to improve the 
        effectiveness of teachers in the classroom.
            ``(3) The Teachers Institute Model focuses on the 
        continuing academic preparation of schoolteachers and the 
        application of what the teachers study to their classrooms and 
        potentially to the classrooms of other teachers.
            ``(4) The Teachers Institute Model was developed initially 
        by the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute and has successfully 
        operated in New Haven, Connecticut, for more than 30 years.
            ``(5) The Teachers Institute Model has also been 
        successfully implemented in cities larger than New Haven.
            ``(6) In the spring of 2009, a report entitled `An 
        Evaluation of Teachers Institute Experiences' concluded that--
                    ``(A) Teachers Institutes enhance precisely those 
                teacher qualities known to improve student achievement;
                    ``(B) Teachers Institutes exemplify the crucial 
                characteristics of high-quality teacher professional 
                development; and
                    ``(C) Teachers Institute participation is strongly 
                related to teacher retention in high-poverty schools.
    ``(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this subpart is to provide Federal 
assistance to support the establishment and operation of Teachers 
Institutes for local educational agencies that serve significant low-
income student populations in States throughout the Nation, in order 
to--
            ``(1) improve student learning; and
            ``(2) enhance the quality and effectiveness of teaching and 
        strengthen the subject matter mastery and the pedagogical 
        skills of current teachers through continuing teacher 
        preparation.

``SEC. 2163. DEFINITIONS.

    ``In this subpart:
            ``(1) Significant low-income student population.--The term 
        `significant low-income student population' means a student 
        population of which not less than 40 percent of the students 
        included are eligible for free or reduced price lunches under 
        the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act.
            ``(2) Teachers institute.--The term `Teachers Institute' 
        means a partnership or joint venture--
                    ``(A) between or among--
                            ``(i) 1 or more institutions of higher 
                        education; and
                            ``(ii) 1 or more local educational agencies 
                        that serve 1 or more schools with significant 
                        low-income student populations; and
                    ``(B) that improves the effectiveness of teachers 
                in the classroom, and the quality of teaching and 
                learning, through collaborative seminars designed to 
                enhance both the subject matter and the pedagogical 
                resources of the seminar participants.

``SEC. 2164. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary is authorized to award grants 
under this subpart in order to encourage the establishment and 
operation of Teachers Institutes.
    ``(b) Technical Assistance.--The Secretary may reserve not more 
than 50 percent of the funds appropriated to carry out this subpart to 
provide technical assistance to facilitate the establishment and 
operation of Teachers Institutes. The Secretary may contract with the 
Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute to provide all or part of the 
technical assistance under this subsection.
    ``(c) Selection Criteria.--In selecting Teachers Institutes to 
support through grants under this subpart, the Secretary shall 
consider--
            ``(1) the extent to which a proposed Teachers Institute 
        will serve schools that have significant low-income student 
        populations;
            ``(2) the extent to which a proposed Teachers Institute 
        will follow the understandings and necessary procedures 
        described in section 2166;
            ``(3) the extent to which each local educational agency 
        participating in the Teachers Institute has a high percentage 
        of teachers who are unprepared or underprepared to teach the 
        core academic subjects the teachers are assigned to teach; and
            ``(4) the extent to which a proposed Teachers Institute 
        will receive a level of support from the community and other 
        sources that will ensure the requisite long-term commitment for 
        the success of a Teachers Institute.
    ``(d) Consultation.--
            ``(1) In general.--In evaluating applications using the 
        criteria under subsection (c), the Secretary may request the 
        advice and assistance of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute 
        or other Teachers Institutes.
            ``(2) State agencies.--If the Secretary receives 2 or more 
        applications for grants under this subpart from local 
        educational agencies within the same State, the Secretary shall 
        consult with the State educational agency regarding the 
        applications.
    ``(e) Fiscal Agent.--The fiscal agent for the receipt of grant 
funds under this subpart shall be an institution of higher education 
participating in the partnership or joint venture, as described in 
section 2163(2)(A), that is establishing or operating the Teachers 
Institute.
    ``(f) Limitations.--A grant under this subpart--
            ``(1) shall provide grant funds for a period of not more 
        than 5 years; and
            ``(2) shall be in an amount that is not more than 50 
        percent of the total costs of the eligible activities supported 
        under the grant, as determined by the Secretary.

``SEC. 2165. ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.

    ``Grant funds under this subpart may be used--
            ``(1) for the planning, development, establishment, and 
        operation of a Teachers Institute;
            ``(2) for additional assistance to an established Teachers 
        Institute for its further development and for its support of 
        the planning, development, establishment, and operation of a 
        Teachers Institute under paragraph (1);
            ``(3) for the salary and necessary expenses of a full-time 
        director for a Teachers Institute to plan and manage the 
        Teachers Institute and to act as a liaison between all local 
        educational agencies and institutions of higher education 
        participating in the Teachers Institute;
            ``(4) to provide suitable office space, staff, equipment, 
        and supplies, and to pay other operating expenses, for the 
        Teachers Institute;
            ``(5) to provide a stipend for teachers participating in 
        the collaborative seminars conducted by the Institute in the 
        sciences and humanities and to provide remuneration for members 
        of the faculty of the participating institution of higher 
        education leading the seminars; and
            ``(6) to provide for the dissemination, through print and 
        electronic means, of curriculum units prepared in the seminars 
        conducted by the Teachers Institute.

``SEC. 2166. UNDERSTANDINGS AND PROCEDURES.

    ``A grantee receiving a grant under this subpart shall abide by the 
following understandings and procedures:
            ``(1) Partnership.--The essential relationship of a 
        Teachers Institute is a partnership between a local educational 
        agency and an institution of higher education. A grantee shall 
        demonstrate a long-term commitment on behalf of the 
        participating local educational agency and institution of 
        higher education to the support, including the financial 
        support, of the work of the Teachers Institute.
            ``(2) Seminars.--A Teachers Institute sponsors seminars led 
        by faculty of the institution of higher education partner and 
        attended by teachers from the local educational agency partner. 
        A grantee shall provide participating teachers the ability to 
        play an essential role in planning, organizing, conducting, and 
        evaluating the seminars and in encouraging the future 
        participation of other teachers.
            ``(3) Curriculum unit.--A seminar described in paragraph 
        (2) uses a collaborative process, in a collegial environment, 
        to develop a curriculum unit for use by participating teachers 
        that sets forth the subject matter to be presented and the 
        pedagogical strategies to be employed. A grantee shall enable 
        participating teachers to develop a curriculum unit, based on 
        the subject matter presented, for use in the teachers' 
        classrooms.
            ``(4) Eligibility and remuneration.--Seminars are open to 
        all partnership teachers with teaching assignments relevant to 
        the seminar topics. Seminar leaders receive remuneration for 
        their work and participating teachers receive an honorarium or 
        stipend upon the successful completion of the seminar. A 
        grantee shall provide seminar leaders and participating 
        teachers with remuneration to allow them to participate in the 
        Teachers Institute.
            ``(5) Direction.--The operations of a Teachers Institute 
        are managed by a full-time director who reports to both 
        partners but is accountable to the institution of higher 
        education partner. A grantee shall appoint a director to manage 
        and coordinate the work of the Teachers Institute.
            ``(6) Evaluation.--A grantee shall annually review the 
        activities of the Teachers Institute and disseminate the 
        results to members of the Teachers Institute's partnership 
        community.

``SEC. 2167. APPLICATION, APPROVAL, AND AGREEMENT.

    ``(a) In General.--To receive a grant under this subpart, a 
Teachers Institute, or a partnership or joint venture described in 
section 2163(2)(A) that is proposing to establish a Teachers Institute, 
shall submit an application to the Secretary that--
            ``(1) meets the requirement of this subpart and any 
        regulations under this subpart;
            ``(2) includes a description of how the applicant intends 
        to use funds provided under the grant;
            ``(3) includes such information as the Secretary may 
        require to apply the criteria described in section 2164(c);
            ``(4) includes measurable objectives for the use of the 
        funds provided under the grant; and
            ``(5) contains such other information and assurances as the 
        Secretary may require.
    ``(b) Approval.--The Secretary shall--
            ``(1) promptly evaluate an application received for a grant 
        under this subpart; and
            ``(2) notify the applicant, within 90 days of the receipt 
        of a completed application, of the Secretary's determination.
    ``(c) Agreement.--Upon approval of an application, the Secretary 
and the applicant shall enter into a comprehensive agreement covering 
the entire period of the grant.

``SEC. 2168. REPORTS AND EVALUATIONS.

    ``(a) Report.--Each grantee under this subpart shall report 
annually to the Secretary on the progress of the Teachers Institute in 
achieving the purpose of this subpart.
    ``(b) Evaluation and Dissemination.--The Secretary shall evaluate 
the activities funded under this subpart and submit an annual report 
regarding the activities assisted under this subpart to the Committee 
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of 
Representatives. The Secretary shall broadly disseminate successful 
practices developed by Teachers Institutes.
    ``(c) Revocation.--If the Secretary determines that a grantee is 
not making substantial progress in meeting the purposes of the grant by 
the end of the second year of the grant under this subpart, the 
Secretary may take appropriate action, including revocation of further 
payments under the grant, to ensure that the funds available under this 
subpart are used in the most effective manner.

``SEC. 2169. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``There are authorized to be appropriated, for grants (including 
planning grants) and technical assistance under this subpart, such sums 
as may be necessary for fiscal year 2012 and each of the 4 succeeding 
fiscal years.''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 2151 the following:

       ``subpart 6--teachers professional development institutes

``Sec. 2161. Short title.
``Sec. 2162. Findings and purpose.
``Sec. 2163. Definitions.
``Sec. 2164. Program authorized.
``Sec. 2165. Eligible activities.
``Sec. 2166. Understandings and procedures.
``Sec. 2167. Application, approval, and agreement.
``Sec. 2168. Reports and evaluations.''.
                                 <all>