2020 Minnesota Statutes

122A.635 COLLABORATIVE URBAN AND GREATER MINNESOTA EDUCATORS OF COLOR GRANT PROGRAM.

Subdivision 1.Establishment.

The Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board must award competitive grants to increase the number of teacher candidates of color or who are American Indian, and meet the requirements for a Tier 3 license under section 122A.183. Eligibility for a grant under this section is limited to public or private higher education institutions that offer a teacher preparation program approved by the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board.

Subd. 2.Competitive grants.

(a) The Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board must award competitive grants under this section based on the following criteria:

(1) the number of teacher candidates being supported in the program who are of color or who are American Indian;

(2) program outcomes, including graduation or program completion rates, licensure rates, and placement rates and, for each outcome measure, the number of those teacher candidates of color or who are American Indian; and

(3) the percent of racially and ethnically diverse teacher candidates enrolled in the institution compared to:

(i) the total percent of students of color and American Indian students enrolled at the institution, regardless of major; and

(ii) the percent of underrepresented racially and ethnically diverse teachers in the economic development region of the state where the institution is located and where a shortage of diverse teachers exists, as reported under section 122A.091, subdivision 5.

(b) The board must give priority in awarding grants under this section to institutions that received grants under Laws 2017, First Special Session chapter 5, article 2, section 57, subdivision 27, and have demonstrated continuing success at recruiting, retaining, graduating, and inducting teacher candidates of color or who are American Indian. If the board awards a competitive grant based on the criteria in paragraph (a) to a program that has not previously received funding, the board must thereafter give priority to the program equivalent to other programs given priority under this paragraph.

(c) The board must determine award amounts for maintenance and expansion of programs based on the number of candidates supported by an applicant program, sustaining support for those candidates, and funds available.

Subd. 3.Grant program administration.

The Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board may enter into an interagency agreement with the Office of Higher Education. The agreement may include a transfer of funds to the Office of Higher Education to help establish and administer the competitive grant process. The board must award grants to institutions located in various economic development regions throughout the state, but must not predetermine the number of institutions to be awarded grants under this section or set a limit for the amount that any one institution may receive as part of the competitive grant application process. All grants must be awarded by August 15 of the fiscal year in which the grants are to be used except that, for initial competitive grants awarded for fiscal year 2020, grants must be awarded by September 15. An institution that receives a grant under this section may use the grant funds over a two- to four-year period to support teacher candidates.

Subd. 4.Report.

(a) By January 15 of each year, an institution awarded a grant under this section must prepare for the legislature and the board a detailed report regarding the expenditure of grant funds, including the amounts used to recruit, retain, and induct teacher candidates of color or who are American Indian. The report must include the total number of teacher candidates of color, disaggregated by race or ethnic group, who are recruited to the institution, are newly admitted to the licensure program, are enrolled in the licensure program, have completed student teaching, have graduated, are licensed, and are newly employed as Minnesota teachers in their licensure field. A grant recipient must report the total number of teacher candidates of color or who are American Indian at each stage from recruitment to licensed teaching as a percentage of total candidates seeking the same licensure at the institution.

(b) The board must post a report on its website summarizing the activities and outcomes of grant recipients and results that promote sharing of effective practices among grant recipients.

History:

1Sp2019 c 11 art 3 s 15; 2020 c 83 art 1 s 25