Teacher, Principal, and Leader Residency Access Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8293 To ensure that Federal work-study funding is available for students enrolled in residency programs for teachers, principals, or school leaders, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 Mr. CROW (for himself, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. TRAHAN, and Mr. TIPTON) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To ensure that Federal work-study funding is available for students enrolled in residency programs for teachers, principals, or school leaders, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Teacher, Principal, 4 and Leader Residency Access Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) Across the United States, local educational 8 agencies and elementary and secondary schools are 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8293.IH H8293 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8293 IH struggling to meet the growing demand for qualified 1 teachers. In 2017–18, more than 100,000 class- 2 rooms in the United States were staffed by instruc- 3 tors who were unqualified to teach. These class- 4 rooms are disproportionately located in low-income, 5 high-minority schools, although schools of every kind 6 have been affected by a lack of qualified applicants 7 in key subjects including mathematics, special edu- 8 cation, science, world languages, career and tech- 9 nical education, and teachers of English learners. 10 (2) Teacher shortages are in significant part 11 driven by teacher turnover. Research shows that 12 teacher turnover is higher for those who enter the 13 profession without adequate preparation. Teachers 14 who enter the profession through a comprehensive 15 high-quality program with student teaching, formal 16 feedback on their teaching, and multiple courses in 17 student learning, as required in high-quality teach- 18 ing residency programs, are more likely to remain in 19 the profession compared to teachers who enter 20 through a route that lacks these components. Not 21 only are under-prepared teachers less effective on 22 average, they are also 2 to 3 times more likely to 23 leave teaching than fully prepared teachers. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8293.IH H8293 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8293 IH (3) Teacher shortages and teacher turnover are 1 costly. Each time a teacher leaves a school, it not 2 only increases demand but also imposes replacement 3 costs on the local educational agency, which range 4 from $9,000 per teacher in small rural local edu- 5 cational agencies to over $20,000 in large urban 6 local educational agencies. The national price tag of 7 replacement costs for teachers is over 8 $8,000,000,000 a year. 9 (4) Teaching residency programs, which recruit 10 candidates to work as paid apprentices to skilled ex- 11 pert teachers while completing highly integrated 12 coursework, have been successful in recruiting tal- 13 ented, diverse candidates into high-need fields and 14 local educational agencies. 15 (5) Research on teaching residency programs 16 show that such programs are effective in bringing 17 more teachers of color into the profession and in 18 preparing such teachers to stay for the long term. In 19 the United States, about 49 percent of individuals in 20 teaching residency programs are students of color, 21 and the same percentage of public school students 22 are people of color, but only 20 percent of teachers 23 are people of color. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8293.IH H8293 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8293 IH (6) The teaching residency program model cre- 1 ates long-term benefits for local educational agen- 2 cies, schools, and for the students served by such 3 agencies and schools. Rigorous studies of teaching 4 residency programs have found significantly higher 5 retention rates for graduates of teaching residency 6 programs, addressing one of the primary contribu- 7 tors to teacher shortages, as well as positive evidence 8 about educator effectiveness. 9 (7) A review of teaching residency program 10 evaluations shows that teachers who completed high 11 quality teaching residency programs tend to have 12 higher teaching retention rates over time compared 13 to teachers who did not complete such programs, in- 14 cluding— 15 (A) in San Francisco, where 80 percent of 16 candidates completing a teaching residency pro- 17 gram were still in the classroom after 5 years, 18 compared to 38 percent of candidates who en- 19 tered the classroom through a different route; 20 (B) in Boston, where teaching residents 21 participating in the Boston Teacher Residency 22 program had higher retention rates compared 23 to teachers who were not teaching residents, 24 with 80 percent of residents still teaching in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8293.IH H8293 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8293 IH Boston Public schools for a third year, com- 1 pared to 63 percent of teachers who were not 2 teaching residents, and 75 percent of teaching 3 residents still teaching for a fifth year, com- 4 pared to 51 percent of teachers who were not 5 teaching residents; 6 (C) in Tennessee, where 95 percent of 7 Memphis Teacher Residency program partici- 8 pants were still teaching for a third year, com- 9 pared with 41 percent of teachers statewide; 10 and 11 (D) additional studies of teaching resi- 12 dency programs show similarly high retention 13 rates of graduates, ranging from 80 percent to 14 90 percent teaching in the same district after 3 15 years, and 70 percent to 80 percent teaching in 16 the same district after 5 years. 17 (8) According to data from the San Francisco 18 Unified School District, principals find graduates of 19 teaching residency programs to be well prepared, 20 and in many cases to be better prepared than new 21 teachers who were not in teaching residency pro- 22 grams. Research also shows that teaching residents 23 strengthen schools across the country by reducing 24 teacher shortages and providing local educational 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8293.IH H8293 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8293 IH agencies with a more sustainable educator work- 1 force. 2 (9) In 2019, there were at least 50 teaching 3 residency programs nationwide, which range in size 4 from five to 100 teaching residents per year. Several 5 States, including California, Colorado, Georgia, Illi- 6 nois, Indiana, Louisiana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, 7 Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia, are supporting 8 teaching residency programs through regional net- 9 work partnerships that regularly bring together lead- 10 ership from across local educational agencies and 11 preparation programs to share knowledge and de- 12 velop more enduring and reciprocal relationships be- 13 tween such agencies. 14 (10) Teaching residency programs align with 15 the purpose of the Federal Work-Study Program to 16 provide valuable work experience and work related to 17 a student’s course of study and intended profession. 18 Further, the Federal Work-Study Program priori- 19 tizes teaching reading based on scientifically-based 20 research on reading, a feature consistent with efforts 21 in teaching residency programs to equip all new 22 teachers, regardless of subject area, with the skills 23 to support reading and literacy skills for all stu- 24 dents. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8293.IH H8293 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8293 IH (11) According to a recent report by the George 1 W. Bush Institute on principal talent management, 2 preparing successful principals requires new, com- 3 prehensive approaches by school districts, univer- 4 sities, States, and others who pull together to train 5 and support principals. Thoughtfully designed and 6 implemented principal residency programs can be a 7 powerful piece of this comprehensive and collabo- 8 rative approach to training future educational lead- 9 ership. 10 (12) Residencies for aspiring school principals 11 are a promising approach to initiate principal can- 12 didates into school leadership practice and has be- 13 come a part of some comprehensive principal prepa- 14 ration programs over the past 20 years. Principal 15 residencies reinvent the traditional internship experi- 16 ence, which has often been the capstone experience 17 in principal preparation. Residency immerses prin- 18 cipal candidates in rigorous apprenticeship experi- 19 ences that are designed to advance leadership and 20 management practices, as well as emphasize data 21 analysis, action, reflection, and accountability. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8293.IH H8293 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8293 IH SEC. 3. FEDERAL WORK-STUDY FOR RESIDENCY PRO- 1 GRAMS FOR TEACHERS, PRINCIPALS, AND 2 OTHER SCHOOL LEADERS. 3 Section 443 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 4 U.S.C. 1087–53) is amended— 5 (1) in subsection (d)— 6 (A) in the header, by inserting ‘‘SCHOOL- 7 BASED’’ before ‘‘TUTORING’’; 8 (B) in paragraph (1)— 9 (i) by striking ‘‘tutoring in reading’’ 10 and inserting ‘‘school-based activities in- 11 cluding residency programs, tutoring in 12 reading,’’; and 13 (ii) by striking subparagraphs (A) and 14 (B) and inserting the following: 15 ‘‘(A) employed— 16 ‘‘(i) as reading tutors for children who 17 are preschool age or are in elementary 18 school; or 19 ‘‘(ii) in family literacy projects; or 20 ‘‘(B) serving in a residency program of the 21 institution.’’; and 22 (C) in paragraph (2)— 23 (i) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by strik- 24 ing ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8293.IH H8293 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8293 IH (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 1 the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 2 (iii) by inserting at the end the fol- 3 lowing new subparagraph: 4 ‘‘(C) ensure that any student compensated 5 with the funds described in paragraph (1) who 6 is serving in a residency program receives com- 7 pensation for time spent in training and travel 8 directly related to such residency.’’; and 9 (2) by adding the following new subsection at 10 the end: 11 ‘‘(f) RESIDENCY PROGRAMS FOR TEACHERS, PRIN- 12 CIPALS, AND OTHER SCHOOL LEADERS.— 13 ‘‘(1) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds granted to an in- 14 stitution under this section may be used to support 15 students serving in residency programs, including 16 compensation for time spent in training and travel 17 directly related to such residency. 18 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—An institution shall— 19 ‘‘(A) give priority to students who are serv- 20 ing in a residency program and who have been 21 determined to be eligible for a Federal Pell 22 Grant under section 401; and 23 ‘‘(B) ensure that any student compensated 24 with the funds described in paragraph (1) for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8293.IH H8293 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8293 IH a residency program receives appropriate train- 1 ing to acquire teaching skills (as such term is 2 defined in section 200) or school leader skills 3 (as defined in this section). 4 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 5 the compensation of work-study students com- 6 pensated under this subsection may exceed 75 per- 7 cent. 8 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 ‘‘(A) RESIDENCY PROGRAM.—The term 10 ‘residency program’ means a school-based edu- 11 cator preparation program in which a prospec- 12 tive teacher, principal, or other school leader— 13 ‘‘(i) for 1 academic year, works along- 14 side a mentor teacher, principal, or other 15 school leader who is— 16 ‘‘(I) the teacher of record; or 17 ‘‘(II) rated as effective or above 18 in the State’s school leader evaluation 19 and support system (as described in 20 section 2101(c)(4)(B)(ii) of the Ele- 21 mentary and Secondary Education 22 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 23 6611(c)(4)(B)(ii))) or, if no such rat- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8293.IH H8293 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8293 IH ings are available, on other com- 1 parable indicators of performance; 2 ‘‘(ii) receives concurrent instruction 3 during the year described in clause (i) 4 from the institution, which may be courses 5 taught by local educational agency per- 6 sonnel or residency program faculty, in, as 7 applicable— 8 ‘‘(I) the teaching of the content 9 area in which the teacher will become 10 certified or licensed; 11 ‘‘(II) teaching skills; and 12 ‘‘(III) leadership, management, 13 organizational, and school leader skills 14 necessary to serve as a principal or 15 other school leader; 16 ‘‘(iii) acquires effective teaching or 17 school leader skills; and 18 ‘‘(iv) prior to completion of the pro- 19 gram, attains full State teacher, principal, 20 or school leader certification or licensure, 21 and becomes profession-ready. 22 ‘‘(B) PROFESSION-READY.—The term ‘pro- 23 fession-ready’— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8293.IH H8293 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 8293 IH ‘‘(i) when used with respect to a 1 teacher, means a teacher who— 2 ‘‘(I) has completed a teacher 3 preparation program and is fully cer- 4 tified and licensed to teach by the 5 State in which the teacher is em- 6 ployed; 7 ‘‘(II) has a baccalaureate degree 8 or higher; 9 ‘‘(III) has demonstrated content 10 knowledge in the subject or subjects 11 the teacher teaches; 12 ‘‘(IV) has demonstrated the abil- 13 ity to work with students who are cul- 14 turally and linguistically diverse; 15 ‘‘(V) has demonstrated teaching 16 skills, such as through— 17 ‘‘(aa) a teacher performance 18 assessment; or 19 ‘‘(bb) other measures of 20 teaching skills, as determined by 21 the State; and 22 ‘‘(VI) has demonstrated pro- 23 ficiency with the use of educational 24 technology; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Oct 01, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8293.IH H8293 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 829 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]