20 U.S.C. § 6632

Current through P.L. 118-106 (published on www.congress.gov on 10/04/2024)

Section 6632 - Teacher and school leader incentive fund grants

(a) Grants authorized

From the amounts reserved by the Secretary under section 6621(1) of this title, the Secretary shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to enable the eligible entities to develop, implement, improve, or expand performance-based compensation systems or human capital management systems, in schools served by the eligible entity.

(b) Duration of grants

(1) In general

A grant awarded under this subpart shall be for a period of not more than 3 years.

(2) Renewal

The Secretary may renew a grant awarded under this subpart for a period of not more than 2 years if the grantee demonstrates to the Secretary that the grantee is effectively using funds. Such renewal may include allowing the grantee to scale up or replicate the successful program.

(3) Limitation

A local educational agency may receive (whether individually or as part of a consortium or partnership) a grant under this subpart, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act,¹ only twice.

(c) Applications

An eligible entity desiring a grant under this subpart shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may reasonably require. The application shall include-

(1) a description of the performance-based compensation system or human capital management system that the eligible entity proposes to develop, implement, improve, or expand through the grant;

(2) a description of the most significant gaps or insufficiencies in student access to effective teachers, principals, or other school leaders in high-need schools, including gaps or inequities in how effective teachers, principals, or other school leaders are distributed across the local educational agency, as identified using factors such as data on school resources, staffing patterns, school environment, educator support systems, and other school-level factors;

(3) a description and evidence of the support and commitment from teachers, principals, or other school leaders, which may include charter school leaders, in the school (including organizations representing teachers, principals, or other school leaders), the community, and the local educational agency to the activities proposed under the grant;

(4) a description of how the eligible entity will develop and implement a fair, rigorous, valid, reliable, and objective process to evaluate teacher, principal, or other school leader performance under the system that is based in part on measures of student academic achievement, including the baseline performance against which evaluations of improved performance will be made;

(5) a description of the local educational agencies or schools to be served under the grant, including such student academic achievement, demographic, and socioeconomic information as the Secretary may request;

(6) a description of the effectiveness of teachers, principals, or other school leaders in the local educational agency and the schools to be served under the grant and the extent to which the system will increase the effectiveness of teachers, principals, or other school leaders in such schools;

(7) a description of how the eligible entity will use grant funds under this subpart in each year of the grant, including a timeline for implementation of such activities;

(8) a description of how the eligible entity will continue the activities assisted under the grant after the grant period ends;

(9) a description of the State, local, or other public or private funds that will be used to supplement the grant, including funds under part A, and sustain the activities assisted under the grant after the end of the grant period;

(10) a description of-

(A) the rationale for the project;

(B) how the proposed activities are evidence-based; and

(C) if applicable, the prior experience of the eligible entity in developing and implementing such activities; and

(11) a description of how activities funded under this subpart will be evaluated, monitored, and publically reported.

(d) Award basis

(1) Priority

In awarding a grant under this subpart, the Secretary shall give priority to an eligible entity that concentrates the activities proposed to be assisted under the grant on teachers, principals, or other school leaders serving in high-need schools.

(2) Equitable distribution

To the extent practicable, the Secretary shall ensure an equitable geographic distribution of grants under this subpart, including the distribution of such grants between rural and urban areas.

(e) Use of funds

(1) In general

An eligible entity that receives a grant under this subpart shall use the grant funds to develop, implement, improve, or expand, in collaboration with teachers, principals, other school leaders, and members of the public, a performance-based compensation system or human capital management system consistent with this subpart.

(2) Authorized activities

Grant funds under this subpart may be used for one or more of the following:

(A) Developing or improving an evaluation and support system, including as part of a human capital management system as applicable, that-

(i) reflects clear and fair measures of teacher, principal, or other school leader performance, based in part on demonstrated improvement in student academic achievement; and

(ii) provides teachers, principals, or other school leaders with ongoing, differentiated, targeted, and personalized support and feedback for improvement, including professional development opportunities designed to increase effectiveness.

(B) Conducting outreach within a local educational agency or a State to gain input on how to construct an evaluation and support system described in subparagraph (A) and to develop support for the evaluation and support system, including by training appropriate personnel in how to observe and evaluate teachers, principals, or other school leaders.

(C) Providing principals or other school leaders with-

(i) balanced autonomy to make budgeting, scheduling, and other school-level decisions in a manner that meets the needs of the school without compromising the intent or essential components of the policies of the local educational agency or State; and

(ii) authority to make staffing decisions that meet the needs of the school, such as building an instructional leadership team that includes teacher leaders or offering opportunities for teams or pairs of effective teachers or candidates to teach or start teaching in high-need schools together.

(D) Implementing, as part of a comprehensive performance-based compensation system, a differentiated salary structure, which may include bonuses and stipends, to-

(i) teachers who-

(I) teach in-

(aa) high-need schools; or

(bb) high-need subjects;

(II) raise student academic achievement; or

(III) take on additional leadership responsibilities; or

(ii) principals or other school leaders who serve in high-need schools and raise student academic achievement in the schools.

(E) Improving the local educational agency's system and process for the recruitment, selection, placement, and retention of effective teachers, principals, or other school leaders in high-need schools, such as by improving local educational agency policies and procedures to ensure that high-need schools are competitive and timely in-

(i) attracting, hiring, and retaining effective educators;

(ii) offering bonuses or higher salaries to effective educators; or

(iii) establishing or strengthening school leader residency programs and teacher residency programs.

(F) Instituting career advancement opportunities characterized by increased responsibility and pay that reward and recognize effective teachers, principals, or other school leaders in high-need schools and enable them to expand their leadership and results, such as through teacher-led professional development, mentoring, coaching, hybrid roles, administrative duties, and career ladders.

(f) Matching requirement

Each eligible entity that receives a grant under this subpart shall provide, from non-Federal sources, an amount equal to 50 percent of the amount of the grant (which may be provided in cash or in kind) to carry out the activities supported by the grant.

(g) Supplement, not supplant

Grant funds provided under this subpart shall be used to supplement, not supplant, other Federal or State funds available to carry out activities described in this subpart.

¹ See References in Text note below.

20 U.S.C. § 6632

Pub. L. 89-10, title II, §2212, as added Pub. L. 114-95, §2002, 129 Stat. 1932.

EDITORIAL NOTES

REFERENCES IN TEXTThis subpart, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act, referred to in subsec. (b)(3), probably means this subpart as enacted by Pub. L. 114-95, §2002, 129 Stat. 1931.

PRIOR PROVISIONSA prior section 6632, Pub. L. 89-10, title II, §2132, as added Pub. L. 107-110, §201, Jan. 8, 2002, 115 Stat. 1633, related to subgrants to eligible partnerships, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 114-95, §5, title II, §2002, Dec. 10, 2015, 129 Stat. 1806, 1913, effective Dec. 10, 2015, except with respect to certain noncompetitive programs and competitive programs.

STATUTORY NOTES AND RELATED SUBSIDIARIES

EFFECTIVE DATESection effective Dec. 10, 2015, except with respect to certain noncompetitive programs and competitive programs, see section 5 of Pub. L. 114-95, set out as an Effective Date of 2015 Amendment note under section 6301 of this title.

Secretary

The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of Education.

State

The term "State" means each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and each of the outlying areas.

professional development

The term "professional development" means activities that-(A) are an integral part of school and local educational agency strategies for providing educators (including teachers, principals, other school leaders, specialized instructional support personnel, paraprofessionals, and, as applicable, early childhood educators) with the knowledge and skills necessary to enable students to succeed in a well-rounded education and to meet the challenging State academic standards; and(B) are sustained (not stand-alone, 1-day, or short term workshops), intensive, collaborative, job-embedded, data-driven, and classroom-focused, and may include activities that-(i) improve and increase teachers'-(I) knowledge of the academic subjects the teachers teach;(II) understanding of how students learn; and(III) ability to analyze student work and achievement from multiple sources, including how to adjust instructional strategies, assessments, and materials based on such analysis;(ii) are an integral part of broad schoolwide and districtwide educational improvement plans;(iii) allow personalized plans for each educator to address the educator's specific needs identified in observation or other feedback;(iv) improve classroom management skills;(v) support the recruitment, hiring, and training of effective teachers, including teachers who became certified through State and local alternative routes to certification;(vi) advance teacher understanding of-(I) effective instructional strategies that are evidence-based; and(II) strategies for improving student academic achievement or substantially increasing the knowledge and teaching skills of teachers;(vii) are aligned with, and directly related to, academic goals of the school or local educational agency;(viii) are developed with extensive participation of teachers, principals, other school leaders, parents, representatives of Indian tribes (as applicable), and administrators of schools to be served under this chapter;(ix) are designed to give teachers of English learners, and other teachers and instructional staff, the knowledge and skills to provide instruction and appropriate language and academic support services to those children, including the appropriate use of curricula and assessments;(x) to the extent appropriate, provide training for teachers, principals, and other school leaders in the use of technology (including education about the harms of copyright piracy), so that technology and technology applications are effectively used in the classroom to improve teaching and learning in the curricula and academic subjects in which the teachers teach;(xi) as a whole, are regularly evaluated for their impact on increased teacher effectiveness and improved student academic achievement, with the findings of the evaluations used to improve the quality of professional development;(xii) are designed to give teachers of children with disabilities or children with developmental delays, and other teachers and instructional staff, the knowledge and skills to provide instruction and academic support services, to those children, including positive behavioral interventions and supports, multi-tier system of supports, and use of accommodations;(xiii) include instruction in the use of data and assessments to inform and instruct classroom practice;(xiv) include instruction in ways that teachers, principals, other school leaders, specialized instructional support personnel, and school administrators may work more effectively with parents and families;(xv) involve the forming of partnerships with institutions of higher education, including, as applicable, Tribal Colleges and Universities as defined in section 316(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)), to establish school-based teacher, principal, and other school leader training programs that provide prospective teachers, novice teachers, principals, and other school leaders with an opportunity to work under the guidance of experienced teachers, principals, other school leaders, and faculty of such institutions;(xvi) create programs to enable paraprofessionals (assisting teachers employed by a local educational agency receiving assistance under part A of subchapter I) to obtain the education necessary for those paraprofessionals to become certified and licensed teachers;(xvii) provide follow-up training to teachers who have participated in activities described in this paragraph that are designed to ensure that the knowledge and skills learned by the teachers are implemented in the classroom; and(xviii) where practicable, provide jointly for school staff and other early childhood education program providers, to address the transition to elementary school, including issues related to school readiness.

school leader

The term "school leader" means a principal, assistant principal, or other individual who is-(A) an employee or officer of an elementary school or secondary school, local educational agency, or other entity operating an elementary school or secondary school; and(B) responsible for the daily instructional leadership and managerial operations in the elementary school or secondary school building.