Improving Teacher Quality State Grants:Teacher and Principal Training and Recruiting Fund Partnership Grant Program
The Improving Teacher Quality (ITQ) grant program supports teacher professional development to help high-need schools and districts develop highly qualified teachers and instructional leaders. The program is authorized by Title II, Part A of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, the most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965.
Grants support programs that provide content-rich professional development for teachers, principals, and highly qualified paraprofessionals in core academic areas (arts, civics and government, economics, English, foreign language, geography, history, mathematics, reading or language arts, and science) or in the use of data and technology to help teachers improve their instruction. Grants are awarded to partnerships that must include a school of arts and sciences within an institution of higher education, a division of a higher education institution that prepares teachers and principals, and at least one high-need local education agency (LEA), as high-need LEA is defined by the federal law. Other school districts may be included, as may additional schools, two- and four-year colleges, nonprofit organizations that have a demonstrated record of success in providing teacher professional development, and businesses.
The purpose of the partnership grants is to improve the academic achievement of all students by providing sustained and intensive high-quality professional development to help teachers and principals be highly qualified and highly effective in their respective instructional areas. High-quality professional development is that professional development that meets the standards as articulated by Title IX of NCLB where it defines professional development (see Appendix D).
MHEC ITQ (Title II-A, subpart 3) grants to eligible partnerships are to be used for professional development activities in core academic subjects to ensure that:
teachers, highly qualified paraprofessionals, andwhere appropriateprincipals have subject knowledge in the academic subjects they teach;
teachers, highly qualified paraprofessionals, and principals have knowledge of how to use computer-based technology to improve student achievement in core academic subjects;
principals have the instructional leadership skills to help them work effectively with teachers to improve student achievement in core academic subjects; and
teachers, highly qualified paraprofessionals, and principals have the ability to use challenging academic content standards, student achievement standards, and state
assessment data to improve instruction and student academic achievement.
