§1021 Definitions

Summary

Defines important education words used in this part of the law. It gives short meanings for terms so people know what other rules mean when they use them. "Arts and sciences" means either the college unit that offers teacher-related majors or the subject areas those majors cover. "Children from low-income families" refers to the children described in 20 U.S.C. 6333(c)(1)(A). "Core academic subjects" are English/reading/language arts, math, science, foreign languages, civics/government, economics, arts, history, and geography. "Early childhood educator" is the person mainly responsible for teaching in an early childhood program. "Educational service agency," "limited English proficient," "parent," and "professional development" have the meanings given in 20 U.S.C. 7801. An "eligible partnership" must include a high-need local educational agency, a high-need school (or consortium) or high-need early childhood program, a partner institution and its education and arts-and-sciences units, and may also include state officials, state education agencies, businesses, nonprofits, teacher organizations, charter schools, certain school departments (like psychology), or groups running alternative teacher-certification programs. "Essential components of reading instruction" and "exemplary teacher" refer to the meanings in other laws as they existed the day before December 10, 2015. A "high-need early childhood education program" serves low-income children inside the area of a high-need local educational agency. A "high-need local educational agency" is one that meets at least one of these: at least 20 percent of its students are low-income, it serves at least 10,000 low-income children, or it qualifies for funds under the Small, Rural School Achievement Program (20 U.S.C. 7345(b)) or the Rural and Low-Income School Program (20 U.S.C. 7351(b)); and it also has either many teachers teaching outside their trained subjects or grade levels, or high teacher turnover or many teachers with emergency or provisional certification. A "high-need school" is either in the top quartile for percent of low-income students in its district based on census poverty, free/reduced lunch eligibility, state welfare (part A of title IV, Social Security Act), Medicaid eligibility, or a composite of these, or it meets numerical cutoffs (elementary schools with at least 60% free/reduced lunch or other schools with at least 45%). The Secretary can also approve a waiver to call another school "high-need" if an eligible partnership applies and provides data on student poverty, achievement, and (for secondary schools) graduation rates. "Highly competent" early childhood educators have specialized training for birth through kindergarten, a bachelor’s degree in an arts-and-sciences major or an associate’s in a related area, and show strong knowledge and use of content and teaching methods. An "induction program" gives new teachers at least two years of formal support and must include high-quality mentoring, time for teamwork and info-sharing, use of research-based methods, mentoring that connects practice and research, training in instructional and behavioral techniques, faculty who model research-based teaching and tech use, interdisciplinary collaboration, help using student data, and regular observation and evaluation by multiple evaluators. "Partner institution" means a college or university in a partnership whose teacher-prep graduates perform well on State qualifying tests (80% pass or top-ranked by the State) and whose program requires strong academic standards, intensive clinical experience, required state certification/licensure (including special education rules), and, for early childhood educator candidates, state degree requirements and attainment of "highly competent" status. "Principles of scientific research" describe rigorous, systematic, objective methods, clear claims supported by methods, and features like empirical methods, adequate data analysis, reliable measures, causal claims only with strong designs (e.g., random assignment), clear methods for replication, peer review, and consistent findings across studies. "Scientifically valid research" includes applied, basic, and field-initiated research that follows those principles. "Teacher mentoring" is a mentor program for new teachers with selection criteria based on effectiveness, strong mentor training, opportunities to observe each other in-class in high-need schools, paid release time as needed, same-field mentoring, focus on research-based practice and improving student learning, and shared planning and professional development. A "teaching residency program" places a prospective teacher in a year of co-teaching with a mentor while getting coursework, builds effective teaching skills, requires full State certification (and special education qualifications where needed), and requires the resident to earn a master’s degree no later than 18 months after starting. "Teaching skills" are the abilities that raise student learning and higher-order thinking, explain subject matter, use research-based subject-specific strategies that meet diverse student needs, assess learning regularly, manage classrooms with positive behavior supports, work with parents, and, for early childhood educators, use age-appropriate methods.