Teachers and School LEADERS Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 468 To amend title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for teacher, principal, and other school leader quality enhancement. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 13, 2019 Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. WARNER, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, and Mr. BENNET) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for teacher, principal, and other school leader quality enhancement. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Teachers and School 4 Leaders need Education And Development to be Empow- 5 ered Resources in Schools Act’’ or the ‘‘Teachers and 6 School LEADERS Act’’. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S468.IS S468 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 468 IS SEC. 2. TEACHER, PRINCIPAL, AND OTHER SCHOOL LEAD- 1 ER QUALITY ENHANCEMENT. 2 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 200 of the Higher Edu- 3 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021) is amended to read 4 as follows: 5 ‘‘SEC. 200. DEFINITIONS. 6 ‘‘In this title: 7 ‘‘(1) ARTS AND SCIENCES.—The term ‘arts and 8 sciences’ means— 9 ‘‘(A) when referring to an organizational 10 unit of an institution of higher education, any 11 academic unit that offers one or more academic 12 majors in disciplines or content areas cor- 13 responding to the academic subject matter 14 areas in which teachers provide instruction; and 15 ‘‘(B) when referring to a specific academic 16 subject area, the disciplines or content areas in 17 which academic majors are offered by the arts 18 and sciences organizational unit. 19 ‘‘(2) CHILDREN FROM LOW-INCOME FAMI- 20 LIES.—The term ‘children from low-income families’ 21 means children described in section 1124(c)(1)(A) of 22 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 23 1965. 24 ‘‘(3) COMPREHENSIVE LITERACY INSTRUC- 25 TION.—The term ‘comprehensive literacy instruc- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S468.IS S468 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 468 IS tion’ has the meaning given the term in section 1 2221(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 2 cation Act of 1965. 3 ‘‘(4) EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATOR.—The 4 term ‘early childhood educator’ means an individual 5 with primary responsibility for the education of chil- 6 dren in an early childhood education program. 7 ‘‘(5) EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY.—The 8 term ‘educational service agency’ has the meaning 9 given the term in section 8101 of the Elementary 10 and Secondary Education Act of 1965. 11 ‘‘(6) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.— 12 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this para- 13 graph, the term ‘eligible entity’ means an entity 14 that shall include— 15 ‘‘(i) a high-need local educational 16 agency; and 17 ‘‘(ii)(I) a high-need school or a con- 18 sortium of high-need schools served by the 19 high-need local educational agency; or 20 ‘‘(II) as applicable, a high-need early 21 childhood education program. 22 ‘‘(B) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise 23 provided in section 251, the term ‘eligible part- 24 nership’ means an eligible entity that is in part- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S468.IS S468 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 468 IS nership with at least one of the following enti- 1 ties whose practices have a demonstrated record 2 of success with high-need local educational 3 agencies (including in addressing the eligible 4 entity’s human capital needs): 5 ‘‘(i) A partner institution. 6 ‘‘(ii) A school, department, or pro- 7 gram of education within such partner in- 8 stitution, which may include an existing 9 teacher or school leader professional devel- 10 opment program with proven outcomes 11 that provides intensive and sustained col- 12 laboration between faculty, or program 13 staff, and local educational agencies con- 14 sistent with the requirements of this title. 15 ‘‘(iii) A school or department of arts 16 and sciences within such partner institu- 17 tion. 18 ‘‘(iv) An entity operating a program 19 that provides alternative routes to State 20 certification of teachers or school leaders. 21 ‘‘(v) A public or private nonprofit edu- 22 cational organization. 23 ‘‘(vi) An educational service agency. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S468.IS S468 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 468 IS ‘‘(C) PERMISSIVE PARTNERS.—An ‘eligible 1 partnership’ may include any of the following: 2 ‘‘(i) The Governor of the State. 3 ‘‘(ii) The State educational agency. 4 ‘‘(iii) The State board of education. 5 ‘‘(iv) The State agency for higher edu- 6 cation. 7 ‘‘(v) A business. 8 ‘‘(vi) A teacher organization. 9 ‘‘(vii) A high-performing local edu- 10 cational agency, or a consortium of such 11 local educational agencies, that can serve 12 as a resource to the partnership. 13 ‘‘(viii) A charter school (as defined in 14 section 4310 of the Elementary and Sec- 15 ondary Education Act of 1965). 16 ‘‘(ix) A school or department within 17 the partner institution that focuses on psy- 18 chology and human development. 19 ‘‘(x) A school or department within 20 the partner institution with comparable ex- 21 pertise in the disciplines of teaching, learn- 22 ing, and child and adolescent development. 23 ‘‘(7) ENGLISH LEARNER.—The term ‘English 24 learner’ has the meaning given the term in section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S468.IS S468 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 468 IS 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 1 Act of 1965. 2 ‘‘(8) EVIDENCE-BASED.—The term ‘evidence- 3 based’ has the meaning given the term in section 4 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 5 Act of 1965. 6 ‘‘(9) EXEMPLARY TEACHER.—The term ‘exem- 7 plary teacher’ has the meaning given the term in 8 section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu- 9 cation Act of 1965 as such section was in effect on 10 the day before the enactment of the Every Student 11 Succeeds Act. 12 ‘‘(10) HIGH-NEED EARLY CHILDHOOD EDU- 13 CATION PROGRAM.—The term ‘high-need early child- 14 hood education program’ means an early childhood 15 education program serving children from low-income 16 families that is located within the geographic area 17 served by a high-need local educational agency. 18 ‘‘(11) HIGH-NEED LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN- 19 CY.—The term ‘high-need local educational agency’ 20 means a local educational agency— 21 ‘‘(A) for which not less than 20 percent of 22 the children served by the agency are children 23 from low-income families; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S468.IS S468 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 468 IS ‘‘(B) that serves not fewer than 10,000 1 children from low-income families; 2 ‘‘(C) that meets the eligibility requirements 3 for funding under the Small, Rural School 4 Achievement Program under section 5211(b) of 5 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 6 of 1965; or 7 ‘‘(D) that meets the eligibility require- 8 ments for funding under the Rural and Low-In- 9 come School Program under section 5221(b) of 10 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 11 of 1965. 12 ‘‘(12) HIGH-NEED SCHOOL.— 13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘high-need 14 school’ has the meaning given the term in sec- 15 tion 2221(b) of the Elementary and Secondary 16 Education Act of 1965. 17 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE.— 18 ‘‘(i) DESIGNATION BY THE SEC- 19 RETARY.—The Secretary may, upon ap- 20 proval of an application submitted by an 21 eligible partnership seeking a grant under 22 this title, designate a school that does not 23 qualify as a high-need school under sub- 24 paragraph (A) as a high-need school for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S468.IS S468 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 468 IS the purpose of this title. The Secretary 1 shall base the approval of an application 2 for designation of a school under this 3 clause on a consideration of the informa- 4 tion required under clause (ii), and may 5 also take into account other information 6 submitted by the eligible partnership. 7 ‘‘(ii) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 8 An application for designation of a school 9 under clause (i) shall include— 10 ‘‘(I) the number and percentage 11 of students attending such school who 12 are— 13 ‘‘(aa) age 5 through 17 in 14 poverty counted in the most re- 15 cent census data approved by the 16 Secretary; 17 ‘‘(bb) eligible for a free or 18 reduced price school lunch under 19 the Richard B. Russell National 20 School Lunch Act; 21 ‘‘(cc) in families receiving 22 assistance under the State pro- 23 gram funded under part A of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S468.IS S468 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 468 IS title IV of the Social Security 1 Act; or 2 ‘‘(dd) eligible to receive med- 3 ical assistance under the Med- 4 icaid program; 5 ‘‘(II) information about the stu- 6 dent academic achievement of stu- 7 dents at such school; and 8 ‘‘(III) for a secondary school, the 9 graduation rate for such school. 10 ‘‘(13) HIGHLY COMPETENT.—The term ‘highly 11 competent’, when used with respect to an early 12 childhood educator, means an educator— 13 ‘‘(A) with specialized education and train- 14 ing in development and education of young chil- 15 dren from birth until entry into kindergarten; 16 ‘‘(B) with— 17 ‘‘(i) a baccalaureate degree in an aca- 18 demic major in the arts and sciences; or 19 ‘‘(ii) an associate’s degree in a related 20 educational area; and 21 ‘‘(C) who has demonstrated a high level of 22 knowledge and use of content and pedagogy in 23 the relevant areas associated with quality early 24 childhood education. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S468.IS S468 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 468 IS ‘‘(14) INDUCTION PROGRAM.—The term ‘induc- 1 tion program’ means a formalized program for new 2 teachers or school leaders, during not less than the 3 teachers’ or school leaders’ first 2 years of, respec- 4 tively, teaching or leading, that is designed to pro- 5 vide support for, and improve the professional per- 6 formance and advance the retention in the education 7 field of, new teachers or school leaders. Such pro- 8 gram shall promote effective teaching or leadership 9 skills and shall include the following components: 10 ‘‘(A) High-quality mentoring. 11 ‘‘(B) Periodic, structured time for collabo- 12 ration, including with mentors, as well as time 13 for information-sharing among teachers, prin- 14 cipals, other school leaders and administrators, 15 other appropriate instructional staff, and par- 16 ticipating faculty or program staff in the part- 17 ner institution. 18 ‘‘(C) The application of evidence-based in- 19 structional practices. 20 ‘‘(D) Opportunities for new teachers or 21 school leaders to draw directly on the expertise 22 of mentors, faculty or program staff, and re- 23 searchers to support the integration of evidence- 24 based research with practice. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S468.IS S468 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 468 IS ‘‘(E) The development of skills in evidence- 1 based instructional and behavioral interven- 2 tions. 3 ‘‘(F) Faculty or program staff who— 4 ‘‘(i) model the integration of research 5 and practice in the classroom and school; 6 and 7 ‘‘(ii) as appropriate, assist new teach- 8 ers or school leaders with the effective use 9 and integration of technology into the 10 classroom or school. 11 ‘‘(G) Interdisciplinary collaboration among 12 exemplary teachers or school leaders, faculty or 13 program staff, researchers, and other staff who 14 prepare new teachers or school leaders with re- 15 spect to, as applicable, the learning process, the 16 assessment of learning, or the leadership of a 17 school. 18 ‘‘(H) As applicable to the role of the teach- 19 er or school leader, assistance with the under- 20 standing of data, particularly student achieve- 21 ment data, and the applicability of such data in 22 classroom instruction and school leadership. 23 ‘‘(I) Regular and structured observation 24 and evaluation of new teachers by multiple eval- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S468.IS S468 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 468 IS uators, including principals or other school 1 leaders, using valid and reliable measures of 2 teaching skills. 3 ‘‘(15) MENTORING.—The term ‘mentoring’ 4 means the mentoring of new or prospective teachers 5 or school leaders through a program that— 6 ‘‘(A) includes clear criteria for the selec- 7 tion of teacher or school leader mentors who 8 may be program staff and who will provide role 9 model relationships for mentees, which criteria 10 shall be developed by the eligible partnership 11 and based on evidence-based measures of teach- 12 er or school leader effectiveness; 13 ‘‘(B) as applicable, provides high-quality 14 training for such mentors, including instruc- 15 tional strategies for literacy instruction and 16 classroom management (including approaches 17 that improve the schoolwide climate for learn- 18 ing, which may include positive behavioral inter- 19 ventions and supports); 20 ‘‘(C) as applicable, provides regular and 21 ongoing opportunities for mentors and mentees 22 to observe each other’s teaching or leading 23 methods in classroom or school settings during 24 the day in a high-need school in the high-need 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 Feb 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S468.IS S468 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 468 IS local educational agency in the eligible partner- 1 ship; 2 ‘‘(D) provides paid release time for men- 3 tors, as applicable; 4 ‘‘(E) for teachers, provides mentoring to 5 each mentee by a colleague who teaches in the 6 same field, grade, or subject as the mentee; 7 ‘‘(F) for teachers, promotes empirically 8 based practice of, and evidence-based research 9 on, where applicable— 10 ‘‘(i) teaching and learning; 11 ‘‘(ii) assessment of student learning; 12 ‘‘(iii) the development of teaching 13 skills through the use of instructional and 14 behavioral interventions; [Text truncated for display. 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