Elevation of the Education Profession Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4424 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 so that every student has a path to a quality, debt-free degree or credential that leads to a rewarding career, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 Mr. SABLAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 so that every student has a path to a quality, debt-free degree or credential that leads to a rewarding career, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Elevation of the Edu- 4 cation Profession Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4424.IH H4424 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4424 IH SEC. 2. ELEVATION OF THE EDUCATION PROFESSION 1 STUDY. 2 Part A of title II of the Higher Education Act of 3 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1022 et seq.) is amended— 4 (1) by redesignating section 209 as section 210; 5 (2) in section 202(a), by striking ‘‘section 209’’ 6 and inserting ‘‘section 210’’; and 7 (3) by inserting after section 208 the following: 8 ‘‘SEC. 209. ELEVATION OF THE EDUCATION PROFESSION 9 STUDY. 10 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the elevation of the 11 profession feasibility study is to examine State policies re- 12 lated to teacher and school leader education and certifi- 13 cation, produce a comprehensive set of expectations that 14 sets a high bar for entry into the profession and ensures 15 that all entering teachers and school leaders are profes- 16 sion-ready, and develop recommendations to Congress on 17 best practices with respect to elevating the education pro- 18 fession that are evidence-based, reliable, and verified by 19 the field. 20 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education 22 shall establish an Advisory Committee to carry out 23 the elevation of the education profession study de- 24 scribed in subsection (c) and make recommendations 25 to Congress on the findings. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4424.IH H4424 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4424 IH ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP OF THE ADVISORY COM- 1 MITTEE.—The Advisory Committee shall include 2 representatives or advocates from the following cat- 3 egories: 4 ‘‘(A) Teacher unions. 5 ‘‘(B) School leader organizations. 6 ‘‘(C) State and local officials. 7 ‘‘(D) State educational agencies and local 8 educational agencies. 9 ‘‘(E) Teacher and school leader advocacy 10 organizations. 11 ‘‘(F) School administrator organizations. 12 ‘‘(G) Institutions of higher education, in- 13 cluding colleges of teacher education. 14 ‘‘(H) Civil rights organizations. 15 ‘‘(I) Organizations representing students 16 with disabilities. 17 ‘‘(J) Organizations representing English 18 learners. 19 ‘‘(K) Nonprofit organizations representing 20 subject-fields, such as STEM Educator organi- 21 zations, comprehensive literacy Educator orga- 22 nizations, and arts and humanities educator or- 23 ganizations. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4424.IH H4424 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4424 IH ‘‘(L) Professional development organiza- 1 tions. 2 ‘‘(M) Educational technology organiza- 3 tions. 4 ‘‘(N) Nonprofit research organizations. 5 ‘‘(O) Organizations representing nontradi- 6 tional pathways into teacher and school leader 7 education. 8 ‘‘(P) Organizations representing parents. 9 ‘‘(c) DUTIES OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 10 ‘‘(1) FEASIBILITY STUDY.—The Advisory Com- 11 mittee shall conduct a feasibility study to— 12 ‘‘(A) assess the state of policies and prac- 13 tices related to teacher and school leader edu- 14 cation and entry into the profession including 15 barriers to achieving certification and licensure, 16 best practices in producing profession-ready 17 teachers and school leaders, and recruitment 18 and retention of teachers and school leaders in 19 schools; 20 ‘‘(B) compile best practices for educating 21 and training profession-ready teachers and 22 school leaders including evidence-based prac- 23 tices for training teachers and school leaders to 24 support diverse learners, developing teacher and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4424.IH H4424 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4424 IH school leaders, and successful pre-service and 1 in-service educational activities; 2 ‘‘(C) review certification and credentialing 3 practices throughout the Nation including min- 4 imum standards in each State, differences in 5 types of credentials, and impact of different 6 certification processes in each State for teach- 7 ers and school leaders who relocate; and 8 ‘‘(D) recommend a comprehensive set of 9 rigorous expectations for States standards to 10 elevate the profession of teaching and to 11 produce profession-ready teachers and school 12 leaders prepared to educate diverse learners in 13 inclusive educational settings. 14 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.— 15 ‘‘(A) Not later than 1 year after the Advi- 16 sory Committee’s first meeting, the Committee 17 shall submit an interim report to the Secretary 18 and to the authorizing committees detailing the 19 methods of the study and progress in devel- 20 oping the set of comprehensive and rigorous ex- 21 pectations. 22 ‘‘(B) Not later than 3 years after the Advi- 23 sory Committee’s first meeting, the Committee 24 shall submit a final report to the Secretary and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4424.IH H4424 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4424 IH to the authorizing committees detailing the 1 findings, recommendations, and suggested set 2 of comprehensive and rigorous expectations. 3 ‘‘(3) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—In 4 carrying out the study under paragraph (1), the Sec- 5 retary shall disseminate information found in the 6 study in an accessible format to all stakeholders. 7 ‘‘(4) DATABASE.—Not later than 180 days 8 after the date of the enactment of this subsection, 9 the Secretary shall produce an electronically acces- 10 sible clearinghouse of State certification procedures 11 and best State practices for producing and retaining 12 profession-ready teachers and school leaders.’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4424.IH H4424 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS