(1) The teacher mentor grant program is created in the department of higher education to provide money to partnering local education providers and educator preparation programs to provide training and stipends for teachers who serve as mentors for teacher candidates participating in clinical practice or for novice teachers. Subject to available appropriations and qualifying applications, the department of higher education shall award grants beginning in the 2019-20 budget year. The department shall establish the duration of each grant as a period of up to three budget years, subject to annual review and renewal. (2) A partnership consisting of at least one local education provider and at least one educator preparation program may submit an application for a grant to the department of higher education in accordance with guidelines adopted by the department. The department shall establish the application requirements that must include a plan by which the applicant intends to sustain the teacher mentor program after the grant period ends. In selecting grant recipients, the department shall ensure, to the extent practicable, that the grant recipients include applicants of varying size from rural, urban, and suburban areas across the state. The department may award grants only to those applicants that commit to implementing a teacher mentor program that: (a) Recruits only teachers who have at least three years of experience teaching and, to the extent practicable: (I) Are rated effective or higher through a licensed personnel performance evaluation system pursuant to article 9 of title 22; and (II) Hold a master certificate or are national-board certified; (b) Provides training in mentoring best practices, as identified pursuant to subsection (3) of this section, for all teachers who are recruited to serve as mentor teachers; (c) Ensures that the employing local education provider allows time within the mentor teacher's schedule to provide oversight and support for the teacher candidate or novice teacher; (d) Pays each mentor teacher a stipend of at least two thousand dollars per school year or at least two thousand five hundred dollars per school year if the mentor teacher holds a master certificate or is national-board certified. The department of higher education may promulgate rules to create a graduated scale for the stipends based on inflation, years of experience as a mentor, national certification, and any other relevant considerations as long as the stipend amounts are at least the amounts identified in this subsection (2)(d). The department may use any available funds to pay for the stipends described in this subsection (2)(d). (e) Repealed. (f) Collects and provides to the department of higher education nonidentifying data concerning teacher effectiveness ratings, retention, and other job-satisfaction and success measures, as described by the department, for teachers who receive mentoring through the teacher mentor program. (3) The department of higher education and the department of education, in collaboration, shall work with the deans of the schools of education in Colorado institutions of higher education, or their designees, persons who implement alternative teacher programs, local education providers, teachers, and other interested parties to identify best practice standards and guidelines for teacher mentoring. The department of higher education shall adopt the standards and guidelines and make them available to local education providers and educator preparation programs by January 1, 2020, and shall review and update the standards as necessary. A teacher residency program, operating pursuant to article 60.3 of title 22, or a teaching fellowship program, operating pursuant to part 3 of this article 78, that provides mentoring for teacher candidates that meets the standards adopted pursuant to this subsection (3) may apply to receive a grant through the teacher mentor grant program, subject to the requirements specified in this section. (4) (a) Beginning in the 2020-21 budget year, the department of higher education shall annually prepare a report concerning the implementation of the teacher mentor grant program. The report must include: (I) The number, amount, and duration of the grants awarded and the names of educator preparation programs and local education providers participating in the grant recipient partnerships; (II) A summary of the information received from grant recipients pursuant to subsection (2)(f) of this section; and (III) Any regulatory or legislative recommendations for improving the implementation of teacher mentor programs across the state. (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 24-1-136 (11)(a)(I), on or before January 15, 2021, and on or before January 15 each year thereafter, the department of higher education shall submit the report to the commission, the department of education, the state board, and the education committees of the house of representatives and the senate, or any successor committees. (5) (a) The general assembly shall annually appropriate money to the department of higher education to implement the teacher mentor grant program, including an amount to pay the direct administrative costs incurred in implementing the teacher mentor grant program. (b) For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, and for each state fiscal year thereafter, the general assembly shall appropriate one hundred thousand dollars to the department of higher education for the teacher mentor grant program to fund direct administrative costs incurred by the department, grant awards, and direct administrative costs incurred by grant recipients to implement the program. This appropriation must supplement and not supplant current funding for the teacher mentor grant program. Any unexpended money remaining from the appropriation in this subsection (5)(b) at the end of the 2024-25 state fiscal year or a subsequent fiscal year: (I) Does not revert to the general fund or any other fund; and (II) May be used by the department of higher education solely for the teacher mentor grant program in subsequent state fiscal years without further appropriation.
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