A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Initiative 1:
Teacher Quality Enhancement Grant Program

The Teacher Quality Enhancement Program awards three types of grants: Partnership Grants for Improving Teacher Education, State Grants and Teacher Recruitment Grants. Each supports excellence in teaching throughout the country.

Partnership Grants for Improving Teacher Education provides funds to partnerships among teacher preparation institutions (including schools of arts and sciences) and to local school districts in high-need areas. The partners work to strengthen teacher education through activities such as implementing reforms that hold teacher education programs accountable, improving prospective teachers' knowledge of academic content, ensuring that teachers are well prepared for the realities of the classroom and preparing prospective teachers to use technology and to work effectively with diverse students. State Grants will encourage states to improve the quality of their teaching force through activities such as strengthening their teacher certification standards, implementing reforms that hold institutions of higher education accountable, establishing or strengthening alternative pathways into teaching and recruiting new high-quality teachers for high-need areas. Teacher Recruitment Grants support state and local efforts to recruit and prepare qualified individuals to teach in high-need communities. In addition, many states are using the Teacher Quality State Grants to address teacher recruitment for high-need areas and to provide rigorous alternative pathways into teaching.

All three types of grants will be distributed on a competitive basis after a rigorous peer review process. Partnership grants are granted for five years, and both State and Teacher Recruitment Grants are awarded for up to three years. Over the course of the grants, Partnership Grants require an increasing non-federal match, and Teacher Recruitment grants require either an increasing match (from 25 to 50 percent) or a 50 percent match, depending on whether the applicant is a state or a partnership.

Partnerships among institutions of higher education, schools of arts and sciences, and high-need local educational agencies are eligible to apply for Partnership Grants. All states are eligible to apply for State grants, and the governor or applicable state agencies must apply on behalf of the state. For Teacher Recruitment grants, either states or the partnerships (as described above) may apply.

Program Director: Ed Crowe, director, Teacher Quality Improvement Program,
202-502-7878, e-mail: ed.crowe@ed.gov.
Web site: http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/heatqp/
E-mail: teacherquality@ed.gov
Fax: 202-502-7699

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[ Teaching--A National Priority ]

[ Initiative 2: Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology ]