Eligibility

An eligible applicant must be an “eligible partnership” as defined in section 200(6) of the HEA. The eligible partnership means an entity that–

Must include each of the following:

1. A high-need local educational agency;
2. A high-need school or consortium of high-need schools served by the high-need local educational agency, or, as applicable, a high-need early childhood education program
3. A partner institution;
4. A school, department, or program of education within such partner institution, which may include an existing teacher professional development program with proven outcomes within a four-year institution of higher education that provides intensive and sustained collaboration between faculty and local educational agencies consistent with the requirements of this title;
5. A school or department of arts and sciences within such partner institution; and
6. An eligible partnership may include any of the following–
   1. The Governor of the State;
   2. The State educational agency;
   3. The State board of education;
   4. The State agency for higher education;
   5. A business;
   6. A public or private nonprofit educational organization;
   7. An educational service agency;
   8. A teacher organization;
   9. A high-performing local education agency, or a consortium of such local educational agencies, that can serve as a resource to the partnership;
   10. A charter school (as defined in section 5210 of the ESEA);
   11. A school or department within the partner institution that focuses on psychology and human development;
   12. A school or department within the partner institution with comparable expertise in the disciplines of teaching, learning, and child and adolescent development; or
   13. An entity operating a program that provides alternative routes to State certification of teachers.

Please Note: Changes in the law that affects eligibility

On July 1, 2009, the President signed into law H.R. 1777 which makes corrections and other changes to the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended. Included in this Act are technical corrections to the Teacher Quality Partnership Grant Program. The technical corrections include the following:

• Allowing 5th year initial licensing programs to be eligible to apply along with pre-baccalaureate programs under the Pre-Baccalaureate Program Absolute Priority #1; and
• Extending the requirement to acquire a master’s degree from one-year to 18 months after beginning the Teaching Residency Program (Absolute Priority #2).