Federal officials plan to overhaul the reporting requirements for higher education-based teacher preparation in favor of leaner, outcome-based indicators of program quality, according to plans outlined in the president's fiscal 2012 budget request. To bolster the overhaul, the budget also proposes a $185 million new formula grant program, dubbed the Presidential Teaching Fellows, that would give money to states for scholarships to high-quality teacher-candidates--in exchange for the development of accountability systems that do a better job of distinguishing between exemplary and lackluster preparation programs and routes. The fiscal 2012 budget proposals focus on reducing burdens on education schools, as well as integrating K-12 student-achievement measures in teacher preparation policies, an area considered to be lacking in the current reporting system. In addition, federal officials want to establish three new measures: (1) how much graduates help students learn; (2) where they are placed and how long they stay in schools; and (3) whether employers--school districts--are satisfied with the quality of graduates they get from those institutions. Broadly speaking, such proposals reflect a current push in federal education policymaking to focus on student outcomes. Movement in the K-12 field to incorporate such information has met with considerable controversy, especially over the question of whether such information can be used validly and reliably to judge teachers. The proposed Presidential Teaching Fellows grant program, meanwhile, would come on the condition that states establish new accountability systems for programs that prepare teachers using the proposed outcome measures, among others. The program would dole out formula grants to states in exchange for improving licensing and certification systems and establishing ways of identifying top-tier preparation programs. Then, the states would funnel dollars to the colleges to give scholarships to teacher-candidates of up to $10,000 to teach in high-needs schools. The proposal also says that states could work together to create a portable license to recognize "master teachers" who are demonstrably effective in the classroom. And it would also require states to help improve struggling preparation programs and close those that didn't improve.