(a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply for the Teacher Residency Grant Program: (1) âExperienced mentor teacherâ means an educator who meets all of the following requirements: (A) Has at least three years of teaching experience and holds a clear credential in the subject in which the mentor teacher will be mentoring. For programs leading to the issuance of new PK-3 early childhood education specialist credentials, the mentor teacher must have at least three years of teaching experience in prekindergarten, transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, or any of grades 1 to 3, inclusive, and hold a clear multiple subject credential. (B) Has a record of successful teaching as demonstrated, at a minimum, by satisfactory annual performance evaluations for the preceding three years. (C) Receives specific training for the mentor teacher role, and engages in ongoing professional learning and networking with other mentors. (D) Receives compensation, appropriate release time, or both, to serve as a mentor in the initial preparation or beginning teacher induction component of the teacher residency program. (2) âTeacher residency programâ is a grant applicant-based program that partners with one or more commission-approved teacher preparation programs offered by a regionally accredited institution of higher education in which a prospective teacher teaches at least one-half time alongside a teacher of record, who is designated as the experienced mentor teacher, for at least one full school year while engaging in initial preparation coursework. (b) (1) For the 2021â22 fiscal year, the sum of three hundred fifty million dollars ($350,000,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the commission for the Teacher Residency Grant Program to support teacher residency programs that recruit and support the preparation of teachers pursuant to this section. This funding shall be available for encumbrance until June 30, 2026. (2) Grant funding awarded pursuant to this section shall be expended by a grant recipient within five fiscal years of the fiscal year in which the grant was awarded. (c) (1) The commission shall make grants to applicants to establish new teacher residency programs, or expand, strengthen, or improve access to existing teacher residency programs that support either of the following: (A) Designated shortage fields, including, but not limited to, special education, bilingual education, science, computer science, technology, engineering, mathematics, transitional kindergarten, or kindergarten, school counselors, and any other fields identified by the commission based on an annual analysis of state and regional hiring and vacancy data. (B) Local efforts to recruit, develop support systems for, provide outreach and communication strategies to, and retain a diverse teacher workforce that reflects a local educational agency communityâs diversity. (2) Grant recipients shall work with one or more commission-accredited teacher preparation programs and may work with other community partners or nonprofit organizations to develop and implement programs of preparation and mentoring for resident teachers who will be supported through program funds and subsequently employed by the sponsoring grant recipient. (3) A grant applicant may consist of one or more, or any combination, of the following: (A) A school district. (B) A county office of education. (C) A charter school. (D) A regional occupational center or program operated by a joint powers authority or a county office of education. (d) Grants allocated pursuant to subdivision (c) shall be up to forty thousand dollars ($40,000) per teacher candidate in the residency program of the jurisdiction of the grant recipient, matched by that grant recipient at a rate of 80 percent of the first twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) of the grant amount received per participant, as described in subdivision (f). Residents are also eligible for other forms of fede
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