Congress Overhauls Major Higher Education Law

This from the Principal's Policy Blog at NASSP:

Ten years since its last reauthorization, Congress has finally passed legislation (H.R. 4137) reauthorizing the Higher Education Act. The law was originally set to expire in 2003, but Congress has passed 16 short-term extensions in the past four years. President Bush is expected to sign the bill into law in August.

Notably, the bill reauthorizes the Teacher Quality Partnership Grants program.

Many provisions of this program are aligned with NASSP’s policy recommendations for middle level and high school reform, including:

 Mentoring prospective principals;

 Helping principals create a data-driven professional learning community within their school;

 Helping principals become instructional leaders by increasing their understanding of how students learn and develop, and how to use data to evaluate teacher instruction;

 Helping principals understand how to engage and involve parents,
community members, businesses, and others to leverage additional resources to
improve student academic achievement

H.R. 4137 also renews several teacher and principal preparation programs, including Preparing General Education Teachers to More Effectively Educate Students with Disabilities, which improves the ability of general education teachers to teach students with disabilities in the classroom; and the Adjunct Teacher Corps, which allows school districts to recruit content specialists from among mid-career professionals with expertise in math, science, and critical foreign languages.

H.R. 4137 also encourages low-income and rural students to graduate from high school and attend college through grants programs, including: Mathematics and Science Scholars Program, which will encourage students in secondary and postsecondary schools to pursue degrees in STEM or health-related fields; and the Rural Development Grants for Rural-Serving Colleges and Universities program, which will increase high school graduation rates in rural areas, improve career training, and create partnerships between rural colleges and employers to increase enrollment and graduation rates from rural colleges...