[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 74 (Thursday, May 23, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S3857]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REED:
  S. 1062. A bill to improve quality and accountability for educator 
preparation programs; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, we rely on our public schools to prepare the 
next generation for success as citizens, workers, and innovators. We 
have asked educators to raise the bar and educate all students to 
internationally competitive college and career-ready standards. To 
achieve these goals, we need to focus on the professionals who have the 
greatest impact on student learning at school--teachers and principals.
  Today, I am pleased to be reintroducing the Educator Preparation 
Reform Act with Representative Honda to improve how we prepare 
teachers, principals, and other educators so that they can be effective 
right from the start. We have also reintroduced the Effective Teaching 
and Leading Act to support teachers, librarians, and principals 
currently on the job through a comprehensive system of induction, 
professional development, and evaluation.
  The Educator Preparation Reform Act builds on the success of the 
Teacher Quality Partnership Program, which I helped author in the 1998 
reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. The legislation we are 
reintroducing today places specific attention and emphasis on 
principals with the addition of a residency program for new principals.
  Improving instruction is a team effort, with principals at the helm. 
This bill better connects teacher preparation with principal 
preparation. The Educator Preparation Reform Act will also allow 
partnerships to develop preparation programs for other areas of 
instructional need, such as for school librarians, counselors, or other 
academic support professionals.
  The bill also revamps the accountability and reporting requirements 
for teacher preparation programs to provide greater transparency on key 
quality measures such as admissions standards, requirements for 
clinical practice, placement of graduates, retention in the field of 
teaching, and teacher performance, including student learning outcomes. 
All programs--whether traditional or alternative routes to 
certification--will be asked to report on the same measures.
  Under our legislation, states will be required to identify at-risk 
and low-performing programs and provide them with technical assistance 
and a timeline for improvement. States would be encouraged to close 
programs that do not improve.
  The Educator Preparation Reform Act refocuses the state set-aside for 
higher education in Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act on technical assistance for struggling teacher preparation programs 
and the development of systems for assessing the quality and 
effectiveness of professional development programs. At the same time, 
it allows for activities to support the development and implementation 
of performance assessments to measure new teachers' readiness for the 
classroom and enhance professional development in the core academic 
areas.
  We have been fortunate to work with many stakeholders on this 
legislation. Organizations that have endorsed the Educator Preparation 
Reform Act include: The Alliance for Excellent Education, American 
Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, American Association of 
State Colleges and Universities, American Council on Education, 
American Psychological Association, Association of American 
Universities, Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, 
Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, Council for 
Christian Colleges and Universities, First Focus Campaign for Children, 
Higher Education Consortium for Special Education, Hispanic Association 
of Colleges and Universities, National Association of Elementary School 
Principals, National Association of Independent Colleges and 
Universities, National Association of Secondary School Principals, 
National Association of State Directors of Special Education, National 
Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Science Teachers 
Association, National School Boards Association Opportunity to Learn 
Action Fund, Public Education Network, Rural School and Community 
Trust, Silicon Valley Education Foundation, Teacher Education Division 
of the Council for Exceptional Children, American Association of 
Colleges of Teacher Education, The Higher Education Task Force, 
National Association of Elementary School Principals, and National 
Association of Secondary School Principals.
  I look forward to working to incorporate this legislation into the 
upcoming reauthorizations of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
and the Higher Education Act. I urge my colleagues to join in this 
effort and support this legislation.
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