Office of Innovation and Improvement; Overview Information; Teacher Quality Partnership Grants Program; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009, 25221-25234 [E9-12180]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 100 (Wednesday, May 27, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25221-25234]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-12180]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Office of Innovation and Improvement; Overview Information; 
Teacher Quality Partnership Grants Program; Notice Inviting 
Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009

    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.405A.
    Dates:
    Applications Available: May 27, 2009.
    Deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply: June 26, 2009.
    Dates of Pre-Application Meeting: There will be two pre-application 
meetings for prospective applicants on June 8, 2009 from 10:00 a.m. to 
12:00 p.m. and on June 8, 2009 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: July 23, 2009.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: September 21, 2009.

Full Text of Announcement

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    Purpose of Program: The purposes of the Teacher Quality Partnership 
(TQP) Grants Program are to: Improve student achievement; improve the 
quality of new and prospective teachers by improving the preparation of 
prospective teachers and enhancing professional development activities 
for new teachers; hold teacher preparation programs at institutions of 
higher education (IHEs) accountable for preparing highly qualified 
teachers; and recruit highly qualified individuals, including 
minorities and individuals from other occupations, into the teaching 
force.
    More specifically, the TQP Grants Program seeks to improve the 
quality of new teachers by creating partnerships among IHEs, high-need 
school districts (local educational agencies (LEAs)) their high-need 
schools, and/or high-need early childhood education (ECE) program. 
These partnerships would create model teacher preparation programs at 
the pre-baccalaureate level through the implementation of specific 
reforms of the IHE's existing teacher preparation programs, and/or 
model teaching residency programs for individuals with strong academic 
and/or professional backgrounds but without teaching experience. The 
TQP Grants Program may also support school leadership programs to train 
superintendents, principals, ECE program directors, and other school 
leaders in high-need or rural LEAs.
    General Application Requirements: All applicants must meet the 
following general application requirements in order to be considered 
for funding. Except as specifically noted in this section, the general 
application requirements are from section 202 of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965, as amended in 2008 by the Higher Education Opportunity Act 
(HEA) (20 U.S.C. 1022(a)).
    Each eligible partnership desiring a grant under this program must 
submit an application that contains--
    (a) A needs assessment of the partners in the partnership, for the 
preparation, ongoing training, professional development, and retention 
of general education and special education teachers, principals, and, 
as applicable, early childhood educators;
    (b) A description of how the partnership will--
    (1) Prepare prospective and new general education and special 
education teachers to understand and use research and data to modify 
and improve classroom instruction and prepare prospective and new 
teachers with strong teaching skills;
    (2) Support in-service professional development strategies and 
activities;
    (3) Engage faculty at the partner institution to work with highly 
qualified teachers in the classrooms of high-need schools served by the 
high-need LEA in the partnership in order to--
    (i) Provide high-quality professional development to strengthen the 
content knowledge and teaching skills of elementary school and 
secondary school teachers; and
    (ii) Train other classroom teachers to implement literacy programs 
that incorporate the essential components of reading instruction;
    (4) Design, implement, or enhance a year-long and rigorous teaching 
preservice clinical program component;
    (5) Prepare general education teachers to teach students with 
disabilities, including training related to participation as a member 
of individualized education program teams, as defined in section 
614(d)(1)(B) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA);
    (6) Prepare general education and special education teachers to 
teach limited English proficient students; and
    (7) Collect, analyze, and use data on the retention of all teachers 
and early childhood educators in high-need schools and high-need ECE 
programs located in the geographic area served by the partnership to 
evaluate the effectiveness of the partnership's teacher and educator 
support system;
    (c) A description of the induction program activities that 
demonstrates--
    (1) That the schools and departments within the IHE that are part 
of the induction program will effectively prepare teachers, including 
providing content expertise and expertise in teaching, as appropriate;
    (2) The eligible partnership's capability and commitment to, and 
the accessibility to and involvement of faculty in, the use of 
empirically-based practice and scientifically valid research on 
teaching and learning;
    (3) How faculty involved in the induction program will be able to 
substantially participate in a high-need ECE program or a high-need 
elementary school or high-need secondary school classroom setting, as 
applicable, including release time and receiving workload credit for 
such participation; and
    (4) How the teacher preparation program will support, through not 
less than the first two years of teaching, all new teachers who are 
prepared by the teacher preparation program in the partnership and who 
teach in the high-need LEA in the partnership, and, to the extent 
practicable, all new teachers who teach in such high-need LEA, in the 
further development of the new teachers' teaching skills, including the 
use of mentors who are trained and compensated by the program for the 
mentors' work with new teachers;
    (d) A description of how the partnership will--
    (1) Coordinate strategies and activities with other teacher 
preparation or professional development programs, including programs 
funded under the

[[Page 25222]]

Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA), and 
the IDEA, and through the National Science Foundation; and how those 
activities will be consistent with State, local, and other education 
reform activities that promote teacher quality and student academic 
achievement; and
    (2) Align the teacher preparation program with the--
    (i) State early learning standards for ECE programs, as 
appropriate, and with the relevant domains of early childhood 
development; and
    (ii) Student academic achievement standards and academic content 
standards under section 1111(b)(2) of the ESEA, established by the 
State in which the partnership is located;
    (e) An assessment that describes the resources available to the 
partnership, including--
    (1) The integration of funds from other related sources;
    (2) The intended use of the grant funds; and
    (3) The commitment of the resources of the partnership to the 
activities assisted under this program, including financial support, 
faculty participation, and time commitments, and to the continuation of 
the activities when the grant ends;
    (f) A description of the partnership's evaluation plan that 
includes strong and measurable performance objectives, including 
objectives and measures for increasing--
    (1) Achievement for all prospective and new teachers and their 
students, as measured by the eligible partnership. The HEA permits the 
Secretary to establish additional requirements for applications under 
this program. In that regard, in addition to the statutory requirement 
that each application describe in its evaluation plan the objectives 
and measures for increasing the achievement for prospective and new 
teachers, we also require the application to describe objectives and 
measures for increasing the achievement of students taught by teachers 
who have participated in the projects. As one of the key statutory 
purposes of the TQP Grants Program is to improve student achievement 
(section 201(1) of the HEA) we believe that any evaluation of the 
performance of the projects funded under this program should include an 
assessment of the impact of the project on student achievement and that 
applicants should describe the objectives and measures for doing so in 
their evaluation plan;
    (2) Teacher retention in the first three years of a teacher's 
career;
    (3) Improvement in the pass rates and scaled scores for initial 
State certification or licensure of teachers;
    (4) The percentage of highly qualified teachers hired by the high-
need LEA participating in the eligible partnership, including the 
percentage of those teachers--
    (i) Who are members of underrepresented groups;
    (ii) Who teach high-need academic subject areas (such as reading, 
mathematics, science, and foreign language, including less commonly 
taught languages and critical foreign languages);
    (iii) Who teach in high-need areas (including special education, 
language instruction educational programs for limited English 
proficient students, and ECE); and
    (iv) Who teach in high-need schools, disaggregated by the 
elementary school and secondary school levels;
    (5) As applicable, the percentage of ECE program classes in the 
geographic area served by the eligible partnership taught by early 
childhood educators who are highly competent; and
    (6) As applicable, the percentage of teachers trained--
    (i) To integrate technology effectively into curricula and 
instruction, including technology consistent with the principles of 
universal design for learning; and
    (ii) To use technology effectively to collect, manage, and analyze 
data to improve teaching and learning for the purpose of improving 
student academic achievement; and
    (g) A description of--
    (1) How the partnership will meet the purposes of the TQP Grants 
Program as specified in section 201 of the HEA;
    (2) How the partnership will carry out the activities required 
under section 202(d) of the HEA (Partnership Grants for Pre-
Baccalaureate Preparation of Teachers) and/or section 202(e) of the HEA 
(Partnership Grants for the Establishment of Teaching Residency 
Programs); and
    (3) If the partnership chooses to use funds under the TQP Grants 
Program for a project or activities under section 202(f) of the HEA 
(Partnership Grants for the Development of Leadership Programs) or 
section 202(g) of the HEA (Partnership with Digital Education Content 
Developer), how the partnership will carry out the project or required 
activities based on the needs identified in the needs assessment 
described in paragraph (a), with the goal of improving student academic 
achievement.
    Program Evaluation Requirements: All applicants must cooperate with 
the national evaluation contractor selected by ED to evaluate the TQP 
Grants Program. This will include responding to modest data requests by 
the evaluation contractor (for example, requested program information 
and program participant information such as GRE or SAT scores and 
contact information).
    Priorities: This notice contains two absolute priorities, four 
competitive preference priorities, and one invitational priority that 
are explained in the following paragraphs.
    Absolute Priorities: In accordance with 34 CFR 75.105(b)(2)(iv), 
Absolute Priority 1 is from section 202(d) of the HEA and Absolute 
Priority 2 is from section 202(e) of the HEA. For FY 2009 and any 
subsequent year in which we make awards from the list of unfunded 
applicants from this competition, these priorities are absolute 
priorities. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) we consider only applications 
that meet one or both of these absolute priorities. These priorities 
are:
    Absolute Priority 1: Partnership Grants for Pre-Baccalaureate 
Preparation of Teachers. Under this priority, an eligible partnership 
must carry out an effective program for the pre-baccalaureate 
preparation of teachers that includes all of the following:
    (a) Program Accountability. Implementation of reforms, described in 
paragraph (b) of this priority, within each of the partnership's 
teacher preparation programs and, as applicable, each of the 
partnership's preparation program for ECE programs, to hold each 
program accountable for--
    (1) Preparing--
    (i) New or prospective teachers to be highly qualified (including 
teachers in rural school LEAs who may teach multiple subjects, special 
educators, and teachers of students who are limited English proficient 
who may teach multiple subjects);
    (ii) Such teachers and, as applicable, early childhood educators, 
to understand empirically-based practice and scientifically valid 
research related to teaching and learning and the applicability of such 
practice and research, including through the effective use of 
technology, instructional techniques, and strategies consistent with 
the principles of universal design for learning, and through positive 
behavioral interventions and support strategies to improve student 
achievement; and
    (iii) As applicable, early childhood educators to be highly 
competent; and
    (2) Promoting strong teaching skills and, as applicable, techniques 
for early

[[Page 25223]]

childhood educators to improve children's cognitive, social, emotional, 
and physical development.
    (b) Specific reforms. The reform of the quality of each teacher 
preparation program, or each ECE program, by--
    (1) Implementing teacher preparation program curriculum changes 
that improve, evaluate, and assess how well all prospective and new 
teachers develop teaching skills;
    (2) Ensuring collaboration with departments, programs, or units of 
a partner institution outside of the teacher preparation program in all 
academic content areas to ensure that prospective teachers receive 
training in both teaching and relevant content areas in order to become 
highly qualified (which may include training in multiple subjects to 
teach multiple grade levels as may be needed for individuals preparing 
to teach in rural communities and for individuals preparing to teach 
students with disabilities as described in section 602(10)(D) of the 
IDEA);
    (3) Developing admission goals and priorities aligned with the 
hiring objectives of the high-need LEA in the eligible partnership;
    (4) Implementing program and curriculum changes, as applicable, to 
ensure that prospective teachers have requisite content knowledge, 
preparation, and degree to teach Advanced Placement or International 
Baccalaureate courses successfully;
    (5) Developing and implementing an induction program for new 
teachers, or in the case of an ECE program, providing mentoring or 
coaching for new early childhood educators as described in paragraph 
(f) of this priority; and
    (6) Using empirically based practice and scientifically valid 
research, where applicable, about teaching and learning so that all 
prospective students, and as applicable, early childhood educators--
    (i) Understand and can implement research based teaching practices 
in classroom instruction;
    (ii) Can successfully employ effective strategies for reading 
instruction using the essential components of reading instruction;
    (iii) Possess skills to analyze student academic achievement data 
and other measures of student learning, and use such data and measures 
to improve classroom instruction;
    (iv) Can effectively participate as a member of the individualized 
education program team, as defined in section 614(d)(1)(B) of the IDEA;
    (v) Have knowledge of student learning methods; and
    (vi) Possess teaching skills and an understanding of effective 
instructional strategies across all applicable content areas that 
enable general education and special education teachers and early 
childhood educators in order to--
    (A) Meet the specific learning needs of all students, including 
students with disabilities, students who are limited English 
proficient, students who are gifted and talented, students with low 
literacy levels, children in ECE programs; and
    (B) Differentiate instruction for these students.
    (c) Literacy training. Strengthening the literacy teaching skills 
of prospective and, as applicable, new elementary and secondary school 
teachers to--
    (1) Implement literacy programs that incorporate the essential 
components of reading instruction;
    (2) Use screening, diagnostic, formative and summative assessments 
to determine students' literacy levels, difficulties, and growth in 
order to improve classroom instruction and improve student reading and 
writing skills;
    (3) Provide individualized, intensive, and targeted literacy 
instruction for students with deficiencies in literacy skills; and
    (4) Integrate literacy skills in the classroom across subject 
areas.
    (d) Clinical experience. Development and implementation (or 
improvement) of a sustained and high-quality preservice clinical 
education program, offered over the course of a program of teacher 
preparation, to further develop the teaching skills of all prospective 
teachers, and as applicable, early childhood educators involved in the 
project. This preservice clinical education program must--
    (1) Incorporate year-long opportunities for enrichment, including--
    (i) Clinical learning in classrooms in high-need schools served by 
the high-need LEA in the eligible partnership, and identified by the 
eligible partnership; and
    (ii) Closely supervised interaction between prospective teachers 
and faculty, experienced teachers, principals, other administrators, 
and school leaders at ECE programs (as applicable), elementary schools, 
or secondary schools, and providing support for such interaction;
    (2) Integrate pedagogy and classroom practices and effective 
teaching skills in academic content areas;
    (3) Provide high-quality teacher mentoring;
    (4) Be tightly aligned with course work (and may be developed as a 
fifth year of a teacher preparation program);
    (5) Where feasible, allow prospective teachers to learn to teach in 
the same LEA in which the teachers will work, learning the 
instructional initiatives and curriculum of that LEA; and
    (6) As applicable, provide training and experience to enhance the 
teaching skills of prospective teachers to better prepare such teachers 
to meet the unique needs of teaching in rural or urban communities.
    (e) Support for program participation. The provision of support and 
training for individuals participating in an activity for prospective 
or new teachers, whether in the teacher preparation program (or program 
for early childhood educators), the clinical experience, or in the 
LEA's induction program for new teachers, and for individuals who serve 
as mentors for these teachers, based on each individual's experience. 
This support and training may include--
    (1) With respect to a prospective teacher or a mentor, release time 
for such individual's participation;
    (2) With respect to a mentor, a stipend, which may include bonus, 
differential, incentive, or performance pay, based on the mentor's 
extra skills and responsibilities; and
    (3) With respect to a faculty member, the receipt of course 
workload credit and compensation for time teaching in the eligible 
partnership's activities.
    (f) Participants in an ECE program. Where a project focuses on 
preparation of early childhood educators, implementation of initiatives 
that increase compensation for early childhood educators who attain 
associate or baccalaureate degrees in ECE.
    (g) Teacher recruitment. Development and implementation of 
effective mechanisms (which may include alternative routes to State 
certification of teachers) to ensure that the eligible partnership is 
able to recruit qualified individuals to become highly qualified 
teachers through the activities of the eligible partnership. These 
mechanisms may include an emphasis on recruiting into the teaching 
profession--
    (1) Individuals from under represented populations;
    (2) Individuals to teach in rural communities and teacher shortage 
areas, including mathematics, science, special education, and the 
instruction of limited English proficient students; and
    (3) Mid-career professionals from other occupations, former 
military personnel, and recent college graduates with a record of 
academic distinction.
    Absolute Priority 2: Partnership Grants for the Establishment of 
Effective Teaching Residency Programs. Under this priority, an eligible 
partnership

[[Page 25224]]

must carry out a teaching residency program for high-need subjects and 
areas, as determined by the needs of the high-need LEA in the 
partnership. The program must ensure that teaching residents who 
participate in the teaching residency program receive the preparation 
and support described in the following required program components:
    (a) Establishment and design. The teaching residency program must 
be based upon models of successful teaching residencies that serve as a 
mechanism to prepare teachers for success in the high-need schools in 
the eligible partnership, and be designed to include the following 
characteristics of successful programs:
    (1) Integration of pedagogy, classroom practice, and teacher 
mentoring.
    (2) Engagement of teaching residents in rigorous graduate-level 
course work to earn a master's degree while undertaking a guided 
teaching apprenticeship.
    (3) Grouping of teaching residents in cohorts to facilitate 
professional collaboration among such residents.
    (4) The development of admissions goals and priorities--
    (i) That are aligned with the hiring objectives of the high-need 
LEA partnering with the program, as well as the instructional 
initiatives and curriculum of the high-need LEA, in exchange for a 
commitment by the high-need LEA to hire qualified graduates from the 
teaching residency program; and
    (ii) Which may include consideration of applicants who reflect the 
communities in which they will teach as well as consideration of 
individuals from underrepresented populations in the teaching 
profession.
    (5) Experience and learning opportunities alongside a trained and 
experienced mentor teacher--
    (i) Whose teaching complements the residency program so that 
classroom clinical practice is tightly aligned with coursework;
    (ii) Who has been given extra responsibilities--
    (A) As a teacher leader of the teaching residency program;
    (B) As a mentor for residents;
    (C) As a teacher coach during the induction program for new 
teachers; and
    (D) For establishing, within the program, a learning community in 
which all individuals are expected to continually improve their 
capacity to advance student learning; and
    (iii) Who may be relieved, if appropriate, from teaching duties as 
a result of these additional responsibilities.
    (6) The establishment of clear criteria for the selection of mentor 
teachers based on measures of teacher effectiveness and the appropriate 
subject area knowledge. For purposes of this section, evaluation of 
teacher effectiveness must be based on, but not limited to, 
observations of the following:
    (i) Planning and preparation, including demonstrated knowledge of 
content, pedagogy, and assessment, including the use of formative and 
diagnostic assessments to improve student learning.
    (ii) Appropriate instruction that engages students with different 
learning styles.
    (iii) Collaboration with colleagues to improve instruction.
    (iv) Analysis of gains in student learning, based on multiple 
measures that are valid and reliable and that, when feasible, may 
include valid, reliable, and objective measures of the influence of 
teachers on the rate of student academic progress.
    (v) In the case of mentor candidates who will be mentoring new or 
prospective literacy and mathematics coaches or instructors, 
appropriate skills in the essential components of reading instruction, 
teacher training in literacy instructional strategies across core 
subject areas, and teacher training in mathematics instructional 
strategies, as appropriate.
    (7) Support for teaching residents, once they are hired as teachers 
of record, through an induction program, professional development, and 
networking opportunities to support the residents through not less then 
the residents' first two years of teaching.
    (b) Additional support for residents after completing the program. 
In addition to the services described in paragraph (a)(7) of this 
priority, a partnership must place graduates of the teaching residency 
program in cohorts that facilitate professional collaboration, both 
among graduates of the teaching residency program and between such 
graduates and mentor teachers in the receiving school.
    (c) Selection of individuals as teacher residents.
    (1) In order to be eligible to be a teacher resident in a teaching 
residency program, an individual must be a recent graduate of a four-
year IHE or a mid-career professional from outside the field of 
education possessing strong content knowledge or a record of 
professional accomplishment, and submit an application to the teaching 
residency program.
    (2) An eligible partnership must establish criteria for the 
selection of eligible individuals to participate in the teaching 
residency program based on the following characteristics--
    (i) Strong content knowledge or record of accomplishment in the 
field or subject area to be taught;
    (ii) Strong verbal and written communication skills, which may be 
demonstrated by performance on appropriate tests; and
    (iii) Other attributes linked to effective teaching, which may be 
determined by interviews or performance assessments, as specified by 
the eligible partnership.
    (d) Provision of stipends or salaries.
    (1) A teaching residency program must provide a one-year living 
stipend or salary during the one-year teaching residency program to any 
teacher resident candidate accepted into the program who requests the 
stipend or salary and submits the application described in paragraph 
(d)(2) of this priority.
    (2) Each teaching residency candidate desiring a living stipend or 
salary during the one-year period of the residency must submit an 
application to the eligible partnership at such time, and containing 
such information and assurances, as the eligible partnership may 
require.
    (3) Each application submitted under paragraph (d)(2) of this 
priority, must contain or be accompanied by an agreement that the 
applicant will--
    (i) Serve as a full-time teacher for a total of not less than three 
academic years immediately after successfully completing the one-year 
teaching residency program;
    (ii) Fulfill the requirement under paragraph (d)(3)(i) of this 
priority by teaching in a high-need school served by the high-need LEA 
in the eligible partnership and teach a subject or area that is 
designated as high need by the partnership;
    (iii) Provide to the eligible partnership a certificate, from the 
chief administrative officer of the high-need LEA in which the teacher 
resident is employed, documenting the employment required under 
paragraph (d)(3)(i) and (ii) of this priority at the beginning of, and 
upon completion of, each year or partial year of service;
    (iv) Meet the requirements to be a highly qualified teacher, as 
defined in section 9101 of the ESEA, or section 602 of the IDEA, when 
the applicant begins to fulfill the service obligation under the 
program; and
    (v) Comply with the requirements established by the eligible 
partnership under paragraph (e) of this priority if the

[[Page 25225]]

applicant is unable or unwilling to complete the service obligation 
required by the paragraph.
    (e) Repayments.
    (1) Each grantee carrying out a teaching residency program must 
require a recipient of a stipend or salary under paragraph (d)(1) of 
this priority who does not complete, or who notifies the partnership 
that he or she intends not to complete, the service obligation required 
by paragraph (d)(3) of this priority to repay the stipend or salary to 
the eligible partnership--
    (i) Together with interest at a rate specified by the partnership 
in the agreement; and
    (ii) In accordance with such other terms and conditions specified 
by the eligible partnership, as necessary.
    (2) Other terms and conditions specified by the eligible 
partnership may include, among other things, reasonable provisions for 
pro-rata repayment of the stipend or salary described in paragraph 
(e)(1) of this priority, or for deferral of a teaching resident's 
service obligation required by paragraph (d)(3) of this priority, on 
grounds of health, incapacitation, inability to secure employment in a 
school served by the eligible partnership, being called to active duty 
in the Armed Forces of the United States, or other extraordinary 
circumstances.
    (3) An eligible partnership must use any repayment received under 
paragraph (e) to carry out additional activities that are consistent 
with the purposes of the Teaching Residency program.
    Competitive Preference Priorities: Within these absolute 
priorities, we give competitive preference to applications that address 
one or more of the following priorities. For FY 2009 and any subsequent 
year in which we make awards from the list of unfunded applicants from 
this competition, these priorities are competitive preference 
priorities.
    Competitive Preference Priority 1: We are establishing Competitive 
Preference Priority 1 in accordance with section 437(d)(1) of the 
General Education Provisions Act (GEPA), 20 U.S.C. 1232(d)(1). Under 34 
CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i) we award up to an additional 10 points to an 
application that meets Competitive Preference Priority 1, depending on 
how well the application meets the priority. We will add any 
competitive preference priority points only to highly rated 
applications on one or both of the absolute priorities.
    This priority is:
    Competitive Preference Priority 1: Student Achievement and 
Continuous Program Improvement. The Secretary gives priority to 
applications from an eligible partnership that would use appropriate 
means to--
    (1) Collect and use data on student achievement to assess the 
effect of teachers prepared through the pre-baccalaureate teacher 
preparation and/or teaching residency program on student learning in 
the classrooms of the high-need schools in which they work; to be 
eligible to receive the maximum number of points, applicants must 
demonstrate their capacity to include longitudinal data capturing 
student achievement by teacher from year to year, and
    (2) Provide for continuous improvement of the participating 
teachers, and of the pre-baccalaureate teacher preparation program and/
or teaching residency program based on these data.
    Our purpose in establishing this priority is to support the 
collection and use of data showing the effect of teachers on student 
learning and achievement. The relevant data would include both teachers 
in the program and teachers not in the program. As noted earlier, a key 
statutory purpose of this program is to improve student achievement. 
Having these data will enable grantees both to assess the effectiveness 
of their projects and to use the data to improve the project's impact 
on student achievement.
    Competitive Preference Priority 2: Competitive Preference Priority 
2 is from section 202(f) of the HEA. As used in this priority, the 
definition of ``LEA located in a rural area'' is established in 
accordance with section 437(d)(1) of the General Education Provisions 
Act (GEPA), 20 U.S.C. 1232(d)(1). Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i) we award 
up to an additional 5 points to an application that meets Competitive 
Preference Priority 2, depending on how well the application meets the 
priority. We will add any competitive preference priority points only 
to highly rated applications on one or both of the absolute priorities.
    This priority is:
    Competitive Preference Priority 2: Partnership Grants for the 
Development of Leadership Programs. Under this competitive preference 
priority the Secretary gives priority to applications from eligible 
partnerships that propose to carry out an effective school leadership 
program that will prepare individuals enrolled or preparing to enroll 
in those programs for careers as superintendents, principals, ECE 
program directors, or other school leaders (including individuals 
preparing to work in LEAs located in rural areas who may perform 
multiple duties in addition to the role of a school leader). An 
eligible partnership may carry out the school leadership program either 
in the partner high-need LEA or in further partnership with an LEA 
located in a rural area.
    The school leadership program carried out under this priority must 
include the following activities:
    (a) Preparation of school leaders. In preparing school leaders, the 
school leadership program must include the following activities:
    (1) Promoting strong leadership skills and, as applicable, 
techniques for school leaders to effectively--
    (i) Create and maintain a data-driven, professional learning 
community within the leader's schools;
    (ii) Provide a climate conducive to the professional development of 
teachers, with a focus on improving student achievement and the 
development of effective instructional leadership skills;
    (iii) Understand the teaching and assessment skills needed to 
support successful classroom instruction and to use data to evaluate 
teacher instruction and drive teacher and student learning;
    (iv) Manage resources and school time to improve student academic 
achievement and ensure a safe school environment;
    (v) Engage and involve parents, community members, the LEA, 
businesses, and other community leaders, to leverage additional 
resources to improve student academic achievement; and
    (vi) Understand how students learn and develop in order to increase 
academic achievement for all students.
    (2) Developing and improving a sustained and high-quality 
preservice clinical education program to further develop the leadership 
skills of all prospective school leaders involved in the program. This 
clinical education program must do the following:
    (i) Incorporate year-long opportunities for enrichment, including--
    (A) Clinical learning in high-need schools served by the high-need 
LEA or an LEA located in a rural area in the eligible partnership and 
identified by the eligible partnership; and
    (B) Closely supervised interaction between prospective school 
leaders and faculty, new and experienced teachers, and new and 
experienced school leaders, in those high-need schools.
    (ii) Integrate pedagogy and practice and promote effective 
leadership skills, meeting the unique needs of urban, rural, or 
geographically isolated communities, as applicable.
    (iii) Provide for mentoring of new school leaders.
    (3) Creating an induction program for new school leaders.

[[Page 25226]]

    (4) Ensuring that individuals who participate in the school 
leadership program receive--
    (i) Effective preservice preparation as described in paragraph 
(a)(2) of this priority;
    (ii) Mentoring; and
    (iii) If applicable, full State certification or licensure to 
become a school leader.
    (5) Developing and implementing effective mechanisms to ensure that 
the eligible partnership is able to recruit qualified individuals to 
become school leaders through activities that may include an emphasis 
on recruiting into school leadership professions--
    (i) Individuals from underrepresented populations;
    (ii) Individuals to serve as superintendents, principals, or other 
school administrators in rural and geographically isolated communities 
and school leader shortage areas; and
    (iii) Mid-career professionals from other occupations, former 
military personnel, and recent college graduates with a record of 
academic distinction.
    (b) Selection of Participants. In order to be eligible for the 
school leadership program, an individual must--
    (i) Be enrolled in or preparing to enroll in an IHE;
    (ii) Be a--
    (A) Recent graduate of an IHE;
    (B) Mid-career professional from outside the field of education 
with strong content knowledge or a record of professional 
accomplishment;
    (C) Current teacher who is interested in becoming a school leader; 
or
    (D) School leader who is interested in becoming a superintendent; 
and
    (iii) Submit an application to the school leadership program 
containing such information as the eligible partnership may require.
    Section 202(g) of the HEA, like this priority, permits an eligible 
partnership to implement a school leadership program in an LEA that is 
not a high-need LEA provided the LEA is located in a rural area. 
However, the statute does not define the phrase ``LEA located in a 
rural area,'' for the purpose of this priority. The National Center for 
Educational Statistics (NCES), which has established locale codes based 
on geographic location, and assigned codes to all LEAs, considers an 
LEA with an assigned locale code of 31, 32, 33, 41, 42, or 43 as 
located in a rural area. (Codes 41-43 correspond with former locale 
codes 7 and 8 used to determine eligibility for the Small Rural School 
Achievement program; while codes 31-33 correspond to former locale code 
6 used to help determine eligibility for the Rural Low Income Schools 
program.) In order to extend the potential benefits of the TQP School 
Leadership program to as many rural LEAs as possible, we have 
determined that any LEA assigned any of these six locale codes may 
qualify under this TQP program as an ``LEA located in a rural area.''
    Prospective applicants may determine whether a particular LEA has 
one of these six locale codes by referring to the following Web site: 
http://www.nces@ed.gov and using the following procedures:
    a. From the options listed across the top of this Web page, select 
``School, & College Library Search.''
    b. From the menu that appears, select ``Search for School 
Districts.''
    c. On the ``Search for Public School Districts'' page, type in the 
LEA or school district name (do not include phrases like ``School 
District'' or ``Public Schools'' that follow the name, and the State in 
which it is located. Then select ``Search.''
    d. From the list of LEAs shown, select the appropriate LEA. On the 
``District Information'' page, the NCES locale code for the district is 
shown under the subheading ``District Details'', next to ``Locale.''
    Competitive Preference Priorities 3 and 4: Competitive Preference 
Priorities 3 and 4 are from section 203(b)(2) of the HEA. Under 34 CFR 
75.105(c)(2)(ii) we give preference to an application that meets one or 
both of these priorities over an application of comparable merit that 
does not meet the priorities.
    These priorities are:
    Competitive Preference Priority 3: Rigorous Selection Process. 
Eligible partnerships that include an IHE whose teacher preparation 
program has a rigorous process for selecting students entering the 
program to ensure the highest quality of students entering the program.
    Competitive Preference Priority 4: Broad-based Partners. 
Applications from broad-based eligible partnerships with significant 
involvement of businesses or community organizations.
    Invitational Priority: Within Absolute Priorities 1 and 2, we are 
particularly interested in applications that address the following 
invitational priority. For FY 2009 and any subsequent year in which we 
make awards from the list of unfunded applicants from this competition, 
this priority is an invitational priority. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1) we 
do not give an application that meets this invitational priority a 
competitive or absolute preference over other applications.
    This priority is:
    Partnership with Digital Education Content Developer. Consistent 
with section 202(g) of the HEA, we are interested in receiving 
applications that propose to use grant funds to carry out one or both 
of the absolute priorities, through partnerships with a television 
public broadcast station, as defined in section 397(6) of the 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended (47 U.S.C. 397(6)), or another 
entity that develops digital educational content, for the purpose of 
improving the quality of pre-baccalaureate teacher preparation programs 
or to enhance the quality of preservice training for prospective 
teachers.
    Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking: Under the Administrative Procedure 
Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 553) the Department generally offers interested 
parties the opportunity to comment on proposed priorities, selection 
criteria, definitions, and other requirements. Section 437(d)(1) of 
GEPA, however, allows the Secretary to exempt from rulemaking 
requirements, regulations governing the first grant competition under a 
new or substantially revised program authority. This is the first grant 
competition for the TQP Grants Program authorized by section 202 of the 
HEA, and it therefore qualifies for this exemption. In order to ensure 
timely grant awards, the Secretary has decided to forego public comment 
on (a) the requirement that grantees include in their evaluations 
objectives and measures for improving student achievement; (b) 
Competitive Preference Priority 1; (c) the definition of ``LEA located 
in a rural area'' in Competitive Preference Priority 2, (d) the 
requirement that a required member of the eligible partnership be the 
fiscal agent for the grant; (e) the Teacher Need component of the 
definition of ``high-need LEA''; and (f) the selection criteria, 
Quality of the Project Design and Significance, under section 437(d)(1) 
of GEPA. These priorities, definitions, and selection criteria will 
apply to the FY 2009 grant competition and any subsequent year in which 
we make awards from the list of unfunded applicants from this 
competition.

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1021-1022(c).

    Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 
81, 82, 84, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99.

    Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 79 apply to all applicants 
except Federally recognized Indian Tribes.


    Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86 apply to IHEs only.


[[Page 25227]]



II. Award Information

    Type of Award: Discretionary grants.
    Estimated Available Funds: $143,000,000: $43,000,000 from the 
Department of Education's FY 2009 appropriation and $100,000,000 from 
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, Public Law 
No. 111-5. The purposes of the ARRA include the following:
    (1) To preserve and create jobs and promote economic recovery;
    (2) To assist those most impacted by the recession;
    (3) To provide investments needed to increase economic efficiency 
by spurring technological advances in science and health;
    (4) To invest in transportation, environmental protection, and 
other infrastructure that will provide long-term economic benefit; and
    (5) To stabilize State and local government budgets in order to 
minimize and avoid reductions in essential services and 
counterproductive State and local tax increases.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $1,000,000-$2,000,000.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $1,500,000.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 25-35.

    Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this 
notice. The Department will first fund applications with FY 2009 
appropriations. If the Department does not receive enough quality 
applications, the Department may re-open the competition.

    Project Period: 60 months.

III. Eligibility Information

    1. Eligible Applicants: An eligible applicant must be an ``eligible 
partnership'' as defined in section 200(6) of the HEA. The fiscal agent 
of the grant must be one of the required partners in the eligible 
partnership, as described in section 200 of the HEA. We are 
establishing this requirement in accordance with section 437(d)(1) of 
GEPA to ensure that a required member of the partnership is responsible 
for the administration of the grant. The eligible partnership means an 
entity that--
    (1) Must include each of the following:
    (i) A high-need LEA.
    (ii) A high-need school or consortium of high-need schools served 
by the high-need LEA, or, as applicable, a high-need ECE program.
    (iii) A partner institution.
    (iv) A school, department, or program of education within such 
partner institution, which may include an existing teacher professional 
development program with proven outcomes within a four-year IHE that 
provides intensive and sustained collaboration between faculty and LEAs 
consistent with the requirements of Title II of the HEA.
    (v) A school or department of arts and sciences within such partner 
institution; and
    (2) May include any of the following:
    (i) The Governor of the State.
    (ii) The State educational agency.
    (iii) The State board of education.
    (iv) The State agency for higher education.
    (v) A business.
    (vi) A public or private nonprofit educational organization.
    (vii) An educational service agency.
    (viii) A teacher organization.
    (ix) A high-performing LEA, or a consortium of high-performing 
LEAs, that can serve as a resource to the partnership.
    (x) A charter school (as defined in section 5210 of the ESEA).
    (xi) A school or department within the partner institution that 
focuses on psychology and human development.
    (xii) A school or department within the partner institution with 
comparable expertise in the disciplines of teaching, learning, and 
child and adolescent development.
    (xiii) An entity operating a program that provides alternative 
routes to State certification of teachers.
    Definitions: For purposes of the definition of ``eligible 
partnership,'' the following definitions are from section 200 of the 
HEA, as amended.
    (1) High-Need Local Educational Agency: To be eligible as a ``high-
need LEA,'' an LEA must establish that it meets one of the criteria for 
requisite poverty or geographic location in component (i), below, and 
one of the requisite criteria for teacher need in component (ii). Thus, 
under section 200(10) of the HEA, the term ``high-need LEA'' means an 
LEA--
    (i)(A) For which not less than 20 percent of the children served by 
the agency are children from low-income families;
    (B) That serves not fewer than 10,000 children from low-income 
families;
    (C) That meets the eligibility requirements for funding under the 
Small, Rural School Achievement (SRSA) Program under section 6211(b) of 
the ESEA, or
    (D) That meets eligibility requirements for funding under the Rural 
and Low-Income School Program under section 6221(b) of the ESEA;
    (ii) And--
    (A) For which there is a high percentage of teachers not teaching 
in the academic subject areas or grade levels in which the teachers 
were trained to teach; or
    (B) There is a high teacher turnover rate or a high percentage of 
teachers with emergency, provisional, or temporary certification or 
licensure.
    So that the Department may be able to confirm the eligibility of 
the LEAs participating in the partnership as ``high-need LEAs,'' 
applicants will need to include information in their applications that 
demonstrates that each participating LEA in the partnership meets the 
above definition of ``high-need.'' This information must be based on 
the most recent data available.
    Poverty Data. Under component (i)(A) or (i)(B) of the definition of 
``high-need LEA,'' an LEA must show that not less than 20 percent of 
the children served by the LEA are children from low-income families or 
that the LEA serves fewer than 10,000 children from low-income 
families. Under section 200(2) of the HEA (20 U.S.C. 1021(2)), the term 
``children from low-income families'' means children described in 
section 1124(c)(1)(A) of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. 6333(c)(1)(A)). Consistent 
with that provision, the eligibility of an LEA as a ``high-need LEA'' 
under component (i)(A) or (i)(B) must be determined on the basis of the 
most recent U.S. Census Bureau data, which is currently for 2007. U.S. 
Census Bureau data are available for all LEAs with geographic 
boundaries that existed when the U.S. Census Bureau collected its 
information. The link to the most recent census data is: https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/saipe/district.html. The Department also makes 
these data available at its Web site at: https://www.ed.gov/programs/lsl/eligibility.html.
    Some LEAs, such as newly formed LEAs or charter schools in States 
that accord them LEA status, are not included in Census Bureau poverty 
data. Eligibility of these particular LEAs will be determined on a 
case-by-case basis after review of information in the application that 
addresses, as well as possible, the number or percentage of children 
from low-income families these LEAs serve.
    Eligibility under the Small Rural School Achievement (SRSA) Program 
or Rural and Low-Income School (RLIS) Program. Under component (i)(C) 
or (i)(D) of the definition of ``high-need LEA,'' an LEA may show that 
it is eligible for the SRSA or RLIS programs authorized in the ESEA. 
Prospective applicants may determine whether a particular LEA is 
eligible for these programs by referring to information available on 
the following Department Web sites. For the SRSA: https://

[[Page 25228]]

www.ed.gov/programs/reapsrsa/eligible08/.
    For the RLIS: https://www.ed.gov/programs/reaprlisp/eligibility.html.
    Teacher Need. Under component (ii)(A) or (ii)(B) of the definition 
of a ``high-need LEA,'' to be a ``high-need'' LEA, an LEA must have (A) 
a high percentage of teachers not teaching in the academic subject 
areas or grade levels in which the teachers were trained to teach, or 
(B) either a high teacher turnover rate, or a high percentage of 
teachers with emergency, provisional, or temporary certification or 
licensure.
    Under component (ii)(A) of Teacher Need, for purposes of the TQP 
Grants Program, and in accordance with section 437(d)(1) of GEPA, an 
LEA has ``a high percentage of teachers not teaching in the academic 
subject areas or grade levels in which the teachers were trained to 
teach'' if either:
    (1) The percentage of its classes taught by teachers of core 
academic subjects who are not highly qualified exceeds the average 
percentage for the State in which the LEA is located; or
    (2) The applicant submits other information, which the Department 
accepts, that the percentage of the LEA's teachers who lack training in 
the academic subject areas or grade levels in which the teachers were 
trained to teach perhaps because of the short amount of training that 
many highly qualified teachers may have received before becoming 
teachers of record, is ``high.'' Assuming that the Department accepts 
the applicant's information, the Department will determine eligibility 
under this test on a case-by-case basis if the percentage of teachers 
who lack training in the subject area or grade levels they were trained 
to teach is below five percent.
    Section 1119 of the ESEA requires that all of an LEA's teachers of 
core academic subjects be highly qualified by the end of the 2005-2006 
school year, and we know that most LEAs are relatively close to meeting 
this goal. Because highly qualified teachers are generally teachers 
with sufficient knowledge or training in the subject they teach, we 
believe the percentage of an LEA's classes taught by teachers who are 
not highly qualified (data that SEAs and LEAs must publicly report 
under section 1111(h)(1)(C)(vii) and (h)(2)(B) of the ESEA, 
respectively), is a reasonable proxy for the ``percentage of teachers 
not teaching in the academic subject areas or grade levels in which the 
teachers were trained to teach.'' In order to extend eligibility to as 
many LEAs as possible we provide that an LEA has a ``high percentage'' 
of these teachers if the percentage of its classes taught by teachers 
who are not highly qualified exceeds the State's average.
    At the same time, we recognize that LEAs that do not meet this test 
may also have a high percentage of teachers not teaching in the 
academic subject areas or grade levels in which the teachers were 
trained to teach. For example, an LEA might (1) be in a State with a 
very high average for LEAs statewide, or (2) have many teachers who, 
while highly qualified in one or more academic subject areas, are 
teaching an academic subject or grade level for which they are not 
highly qualified or have little training. In order to accommodate these 
other situations, we will determine on a case-by-case basis, and based 
on the data a partnership submits with its application, whether other 
LEAs also have a ``high percentage'' of such teachers.
    Regarding component (ii)(B) of Teacher Need, an LEA is considered 
to meet this component of ``high-need'' if it demonstrates that it has 
either a high teacher turnover rate or a high percentage of teachers 
with emergency, provisional, or temporary certification or licensure. 
In determining what is a ``high teacher turnover rate'' for purposes of 
this program, pursuant to section 437(d)(1) of GEPA we adopt, with one 
minor difference, the same interpretation of this phrase that the 
Department used under the HEA Teachers for a Competitive Tomorrow (TCT) 
Baccalaureate and Master's programs. For reasons explained in the 
notice inviting applications for new FY 2008 awards under the 
baccalaureate program (see 73 FR 31835, 31837, June 4, 2008), we thus 
determine that a ``high teacher turnover rate'' means an annual 
attrition rate of 16 percent among classroom teachers who did not 
return to the same school in the LEA, i.e., those teachers who moved 
the following year to a different school as well as those who left 
teaching altogether. We adopt this 16 percent rate rather than the 15 
percent rate used in the previously authorized HEA Teacher Quality 
Enhancement Grants program regulations referenced in the TCT notice 
because the higher rate better reflects the more current data on which 
ED relied. Consistent with the discussion in the TCT notice, an LEA may 
calculate this attrition rate by averaging data over the last three 
years.
    The alternative criterion in component (ii)(B) of the definition of 
``high-need LEA'' provides that the LEA must have a high percentage of 
teachers with emergency, provisional, or temporary certification or 
licensure. In accordance with section 437(d)(1) of GEPA, and for 
reasons the Department discussed in the April 30, 2004 notice 
announcing requirements for the Transition to Teaching Program (69 FR 
24001, 24003), the Department adopts the same standard used in that 
program authorized in Title II, Part C of the ESEA. This standard 
relies on data that States collect for each LEA on the percentage of 
teachers in the LEA who are teaching on waivers of State certification, 
for inclusion in the reports on the quality of teacher preparation that 
the States provide to the Department in October of each year as 
required by section 207 of the HEA, as previously authorized.
    Consistent with the approach the Department has taken in the 
Transition to Teaching program, which includes this same criterion in 
its eligibility requirements, the Department will consider an LEA as 
meeting the teacher need component of the definition of ``high-need 
LEA'' if LEA data the State used for purpose of the State's October 
2008 HEA, section 207 report on teachers teaching on waivers of State 
certification demonstrate that at least 1.37 percent of its teachers 
(the national average for all 2008 HEA, State reports submitted under 
section 207 of the HEA, as previously authorized) were on waivers of 
State certification requirements.
    (2) High-Need School: Under section 200(11) of the HEA, the term 
``high-need school'' means a school that, based on the most recent data 
available, meets at least one of the following:
    (i) The school is in the highest quartile of schools in a ranking 
of all schools served by an LEA, ranked in descending order by 
percentage of students from low-income families enrolled in such 
schools, as determined by the LEA based on one of the following 
measures of poverty:
    (A) The percentage of students aged 5 through 17 in poverty counted 
in the most recent census data approved by the Secretary;
    (B) The percentage of students eligible for a free or reduced price 
school lunch under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act;
    (C) The percentage of students in families receiving assistance 
under the State program funded under Part A of Title IV of the Social 
Security Act;
    (D) The percentage of students eligible to receive medical 
assistance under the Medicaid program; or
    (E) A composite of two or more of the measures described in 
paragraphs (A) through (D).
    (ii) If the school is--
    (A) An elementary school, not less than 60 percent of its students 
are

[[Page 25229]]

eligible for a free or reduced price school lunch under the Richard B. 
Russell National School Lunch Act; or
    (B) Not an elementary school, not less than 45 percent of its 
students are eligible for a free or reduced price school lunch under 
the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act.

    Note: For criterion (i)(A), the only school-level data for these 
criteria of which the Department is aware are those that concern 
eligibility for free and reduced price school lunches (paragraph 
(i)(B)). In addition criterion (ii)(A) does not itself permit an LEA 
to determine that a middle school or high school is a ``high-need 
school'' on the basis of the percentage of students attending its 
feeder schools that are eligible for free and reduced price school 
lunch subsidies. However, the Special Rule found in Section 
200(11)(B)(i) of the HEA allows the Secretary, upon approval of an 
application submitted by an eligible partnership, to designate a 
school as a high-need school for purposes of this program even 
though that school does not meet the definition of ``high need'' 
under the above definition. Specifically, section 200(11)(B)(i) 
permits the Secretary to approve an eligible partnership's 
application to designate any school as a high-need school based on 
consideration of the specific information identified in section 
200(11)(B)(ii) and, at the Secretary's option, any other information 
the eligible partnership submits.
    The need that middle and high schools located in high-poverty 
areas served by high-need LEAs have for more able, higher quality 
teachers is abundantly clear. However, while criterion (i)(A) 
requires a high-need school to have a minimum percentage of its 
students eligible for free and reduced price school lunch subsidies, 
it is common knowledge that, as students get older, the percentage 
of them choosing to apply for these lunch subsidies decreases.

    We do not believe that Congress intended to erect such a barrier to 
the ability of middle and high schools located in high-poverty areas to 
be able to benefit from teachers trained through the pre-baccalaureate 
teacher preparation program or teaching residency program. Therefore, 
the Secretary will identify a middle or high school as ``high-need'' 
if--
    (a) The aggregate level of poverty of the school's feeder schools, 
based on the aggregate percentage of their students eligible for free 
and reduced price school lunch subsidies, yields the percentage 
provided in section 200(11)(A)(ii); and
    (b) The eligible applicant provides in its application the 
information identified in section 200(11)(B)(ii).
    (3) High-Need Early Childhood Education Program: Under section 
200(9) of the HEA, the term ``high-need ECE program'' means an ECE 
program serving children from low-income families that is located 
within the geographic area served by a high-need LEA.
    (4) Partner Institution: Under section 200(17) of the HEA, the term 
``partner institution'' means an IHE, which may include a two-year IHE 
offering a dual program with a four-year IHE, participating in an 
eligible partnership that has a teacher preparation program--
    (i) Whose graduates exhibit strong performance on State-determined 
qualifying assessments for new teachers through--
    (A) Demonstrating that 80 percent or more of the graduates of the 
program who intend to enter the field of teaching have passed all of 
the applicable State qualification assessments for new teachers, which 
shall include an assessment of each prospective teacher's subject 
matter knowledge in the content area in which the teacher intends to 
teach; or
    (B) Being ranked among the highest-performing teacher preparation 
programs in the State as determined by the State using criteria 
consistent with the requirements for the State report card under 
section 205(b) of the HEA before the first publication of the report 
card.
    (ii) And that requires--
    (A) Each student in the program to meet high academic standards or 
demonstrate a record of success, as determined by the institution 
(including prior to entering and being accepted into a program), and 
participate in intensive clinical experience;
    (B) Each student in the program preparing to become a teacher to 
become ``highly qualified'' (as defined in section 9010(23) of the 
ESEA); and
    (C) Each student in the program preparing to become an ``early 
childhood educator'' to meet degree requirements, as established by the 
State, and become ``highly competent.''

    Note: For purposes of paragraph (ii)(C) of this definition, the 
term ``highly competent,'' under section 200(12) of the HEA, means 
the early child educator has--

    (a) Specialized education and training in development and education 
of young children from birth up to entry into kindergarten; and
    (b)(i) A baccalaureate degree in an academic major in the arts and 
sciences; or
    (ii) An associate's degree in a related educational area; and
    (c) Demonstrated a high level knowledge and use of content and 
pedagogy in the relevant areas associated with quality ECE.
    (5) Additional Definitions: Definitions for the following terms 
that apply to this program are in section 200 of the HEA: ``arts and 
sciences,'' ``early childhood educator,'' ``highly qualified,'' 
``induction program,'' ``limited English proficient,'' ``professional 
development,'' ``scientifically valid research,'' ``teacher mentoring'' 
and ``teaching residency program.''
    2. Cost Sharing or Matching:
    (1) Under section 203(c) of the HEA (20 U.S.C. 1022(b)), each grant 
recipient must provide, from non-Federal sources, an amount equal to 
100 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. 
Grantees must budget their matching contributions on an annual basis 
relative to each annual award of Teacher Quality Partnership Program 
funds.
    However, the HEA also authorizes the Secretary to waive this 
matching requirement for any partnership for any fiscal year if the 
Secretary determines that ``applying the matching requirement to the 
eligible partnership would result in serious hardship or an inability 
to carry out the authorized activities described in'' the law. In view 
of the impact of the Nation's current economic difficulties on the 
fiscal situation of so many LEAs and IHEs, for purposes of this 
competition the Secretary will waive up to 100 percent of the required 
match for each of the first two years of the grant based on a 
certification of serious hardship from the applicant that is included 
in the application. The Department will not at this time entertain a 
request for a waiver of the matching requirement for project years 
three through five, and applicants must provide a proposed non-Federal 
budget for these project years. Applicants who do not request a waiver 
or who request a waiver for only a portion of the matching amount in 
years one and two must provide a non-Federal budget for the required 
portion of t