§6672 Supporting effective educator development

Summary

Using funds set aside under section 6671(1), the Secretary must award competitive grants to eligible groups for five kinds of work: placing teachers and school leaders who came through nontraditional training into underserved school districts; funding evidence-based professional development for needs like reading, math, or remediation; training staff to offer dual or concurrent enrollment and early college programs; creating free services and learning tools for districts (including online); and giving advanced professional development that can lead to higher credentials. Grants last no more than 3 years and can be renewed once for an extra 2 years. The Secretary should spread grants across urban, suburban, and rural areas when possible and may give only one grant to the same eligible group in a single competition. Applicants must provide at least 25 percent of each year’s project cost from non-Federal sources (cash or fairly valued in-kind items), though the Secretary may waive this for financial hardship. Applications must include a promise that students or parents will not be charged direct fees. The Secretary will give priority to projects that use evidence-based activities as defined in section 7801(21)(A)(i). Eligible groups include: institutions of higher education with evidence-based course materials; national nonprofit organizations with a record of improving student outcomes or running teacher/leader preparation and development; the Bureau of Indian Education; and partnerships that combine one or more of those institutions or nonprofits with a for-profit partner.