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National Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center for the Education of Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At-RiskBackground | Who's Affected | Funding Opportunities | Flexibility
Funding Opportunities for Professional Development
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) provides funds to States and districts to conduct a number of activities aimed at improving teacher quality. Districts can transfer up to 50 percent of federal formula grant funds they receive under different parts of the law to any one of these programs or to their Title I program (Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged):
- Title II—Improving Teacher Quality and Educational Technology
- Title IV—Safe and Drug Free School Grants
- Title V—Innovative Programs
This allows districts to target resources as they see fit without separate requests and approval.
Title I: Grants to Districts
Each district that receives Title I funds must spend at least 5 percent of its Title I allocation on professional development activities to help teachers become highly qualified. With President Bush’s record $12.4 billion requested for the program, the amount targeted to professional development would be at least $600 million.
Title II: Improving Teacher Quality State Grants
Specific funds are available to all States through Title II. States have already submitted an application describing their general annual measurable objectives for increasing the percentage of highly qualified teachers, how they will use funds to meet the teacher and paraprofessional requirements of the law, and how they will hold districts accountable for their progress in helping all teachers reach the highly qualified standard. Each district must also conduct a needs assessment, outlining activities that need to be implemented to give teachers the subject matter knowledge and teaching skills they need and to give principals the instructional leadership skills to help teachers. NCLB requires that teachers be able to participate in the needs assessment process. States also must determine whether districts are making progress on teacher quality goals, called annual measurable objectives. If the district does not make progress for 2 consecutive years, it must develop an improvement plan to address the reasons it did not make progress. After 3 years, if the district still does not make progress, the State must enter into an agreement about the use of its Title II funds. This agreement will include development strategies for the district to meet annual measurable objectives.
Title III: English Language Acquisition Program
About $68 million will be available under a set-aside from the Title III English Language Acquisition State Grants to continue competitive grants for up to 5 years to institutions of higher education for professional development to improve instruction for limited English proficient students.
Educational Technology State Grants Program
Each district receiving Educational Technology State Grants funds must spend at least 25 percent (a total of $159 million at President Bush’s requested level) on high-quality professional development in the integration of technology into curricula and instruction, unless a district can demonstrate that it already provides such training.
Note: The Federal Government supports several other grant programs for teachers, such as Teaching American History, Math and Science Partnerships, Troops for Teachers, and Transition to Teaching, among others. To find out more, go to www.ed.gov.