Preparing and Training Education Professional (PREP) Act Section-by-Section Summary Section-by-Section Summary of Key Changes to Current Law Sec. 200 – Definitions
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Updates definitions to reflect high-quality research on effective educator preparation and the skills that educators need to support k-12 students in today and tomorrow’s economy.
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Expands the definition of a high-need district to include those with educator shortages and with a majority of schools identified for additional support and improvement under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
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Aligns relevant definitions with those included in ESSA.
Part A – Teacher Quality Partnership Grants Sec. 201 – Purposes
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Expands the purpose of Teacher Quality Partnership grants (TQP) to include the recruitment of well-prepared individuals from underrepresented populations with an emphasis on areas of teacher shortages.
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Emphasizes the importance of partnerships between school districts and institutions of higher education to support alignment between teacher and leader preparation and the needs of k-12.
Sec. 202 – Partnership Grants
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Requires applicants to describe efforts to implement a competitive and comprehensive screening process, prepare teaching candidates to effectively teach subject matter and support the academic and non-academic needs of students, including strategies for closing achievement gaps, and developing strong district-institution partnerships.
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Directs grantees to provide high-quality clinical experiences, with a priority for residency programs, and implement evidence-based elements of high-quality teacher and leader preparation designed to improve effectiveness.
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Supports “Grow Your Own Programs” designed to recruit teacher candidates from nontraditional populations including paraprofessionals, after-school program staff, or other community members and support them financially as they complete preparation programs, in exchange for the candidates returning to teach in their communities.
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Creates a set aside to support states in their work to increase teacher and school leader diversity, improve teacher preparation programs, and address state teacher and school leader shortages
Sec. 203 – Administrative Provisions
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Prioritizes programs that offer candidates the opportunity to learn to teach in partner schools through a residency, address rural teacher and leader shortages, or increase the diversity of the teacher and leader workforce.
Sec. 204 – Accountability and Evaluation and Sec. 205 – Accountability for Programs that Prepare Teachers and Leaders
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Streamlines measures by focusing on metrics of program completion, attainment of full certification, and retention rates.