Increased Student Achievement Through Increased Student Support Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to award competitive, renewable, five-year grants to partnerships between low-income local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools offering graduate programs in school counseling, social work, or psychology to increase the number of program graduates employed by low-income LEAs.
Defines "low-income LEAs" as those that: (1) serve students at least 20% of which are from low-income families; (2) have ratios of school counselors, social workers, and psychologists to students that fall at least 10% below specified target ratios; and (3) have been identified as needing improvement or corrective action or include at least one school identified as needing improvement, corrective action, or restructuring under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
Allows the use of grant funds to: (1) provide program graduate students with field training at partnership LEA schools; (2) contribute to program graduates' salaries at such schools for up to three years after they graduate; (3) increase the number of school counselors, social workers, and psychologists per student, and from underrepresented backgrounds, in such schools; (4) enhance the capacity of partnership graduate schools to train such professionals; (5) develop course work designed to facilitate such graduates' service to low-income LEAs and at-risk students; and (6) provide tuition credits to such graduate students and student loan forgiveness to program graduates employed as school counselors, social workers, or psychologists by low-income LEAs for at least five consecutive years.
Directs the Secretary to establish a program providing student loan forgiveness to non-participants in this Act's grant program who have been employed for at least five consecutive years as school counselors, social workers, or psychologists by low-income LEAs.
Requires the Secretary to identify a formula for future use in designating regions as eligible for benefit programs due to their having a shortage of such school personnel.
[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3405 Introduced in House (IH)]
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3405
To increase the recruitment and retention of school counselors, school
social workers, and school psychologists by low-income local
educational agencies.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 14, 2011
Mr. Towns (for himself, Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of California, Mr. Polis,
Ms. Moore, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Conyers, and Mr. Hinchey)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To increase the recruitment and retention of school counselors, school
social workers, and school psychologists by low-income local
educational agencies.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Increased Student Achievement
Through Increased Student Support Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Research shows that low socioeconomic status and
certain family risk factors, such as low maternal education
level and being from a single parent household, are highly
correlated with poor educational outcomes, with a concentration
of low-performing schools in low-income and under-served
communities.
(2) Teachers cite poor working conditions, student
behavior, lack of student motivation, and lack of
administrative support as key reasons why they choose to leave
the teaching profession.
(3) Teachers and principals working for low-income local
educational agencies are increasingly tasked with addressing
not only the academic needs of a child, but also the social,
emotional, and behavioral needs of a child that require the
services of a school counselor, school social worker, and
school psychologist, and these needs often interfere with
delivering quality instruction and raising student achievement.
(4) Rates of maltreatment and neglect of young children in
military families have shown dramatic increases during the
parental deployments that have accompanied the increased
military involvement of the United States abroad since October
2002. Likewise, adolescents with deployed parents report
increased perceptions of uncertainty and loss, role ambiguity,
negative changes in mental and behavioral health, and increased
relationship conflict; children exhibit increases in behavior
disorders, stress disorders, and emotional difficulties, and
decreases in achievement in most academic subjects. These
trends raise concerns about the impact of deployment on
military personnel and their families and whether schools that
serve a large number of children with deployed parents have
sufficient staff and expertise to meet these challenges.
(5) Children of military families in rural communities are
often geographically isolated, and schools that were already
experiencing understaffing of school counselors, school social
workers, and school psychologists face even greater challenges
meeting the increased needs of students enduring the stress
that comes along with having a deployed parent or parents.
(6) Schools served by low-income local educational agencies
suffer disproportionately from a lack of services, with many
schools sharing a single school counselor, school social
worker, or school psychologist with neighboring schools.
(7) Too few school counselors, school social workers, and
school psychologists per student means that such personnel are
often unable to effectively address the needs of students.
(8) The American School Counselor Association and American
Counseling Association recommend having at least 1 school
counselor for every 250 students.
(9) The School Social Work Association of America
recommends having at least 1 school social worker for every 400
students.
(10) The National Association of School Psychologists
recommends having at least 1 school psychologist for every
1,000 students.
(11) Recent research of victimization of children ages 2 to
17 suggests that more than one-half of the children experienced
a physical assault in the study year. More than 1 in 4
experienced a property offense, more than 1 in 8 experienced a
form of child maltreatment, 1 in 12 experienced a sexual
victimization, and more than 1 in 3 had been a witness to
violence or experienced another form of indirect victimization.
Only 29 percent of the children had no direct or indirect
victimization.
(12) Principals and teachers see signs of trauma-related
stress in many students including hostile outbursts, sliding
grades, poor test performance, and the inability to pay
attention.
(13) There were more than 423,000 children in foster care
in 2009, and studies have revealed these children to have
higher rates of placement in special education, dropping out of
school, and discipline problems, and poorer academic skills
than their nonfoster care peers.
SEC. 3. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to increase the recruitment and
retention of school counselors, school social workers, and school
psychologists by low-income local educational agencies in order to--
(1) support all students who are at risk of negative
educational outcomes;
(2) improve student achievement, which may be measured by
growth in academic achievement on tests required by the
applicable State educational agency, persistence rates,
graduation rates, and other appropriate measures;
(3) improve retention of teachers who are highly qualified;
(4) increase and improve outreach and collaboration between
school counselors, school social workers, and school
psychologists and parents and families served by low-income
local educational agencies;
(5) increase and improve collaboration among teachers,
principals, school counselors, school social workers, and
school psychologists and improve professional development
opportunities for teachers and principals in the area of
strategies related to improving classroom climate and classroom
management; and
(6) improve working conditions for all school personnel.
SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF SCHOOL COUNSELORS,
SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKERS, AND SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS EMPLOYED
BY LOW-INCOME LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.
(a) Grant Program Authorized.--The Secretary shall award grants, on
a competitive basis, to eligible partnerships that receive
recommendations from the peer review panel established under subsection
(d), to enable such partnerships to carry out pipeline programs to
increase the number of school counselors, school social workers, and
school psychologists employed by low-income local educational agencies
by carrying out any of the activities described in subsection (g).
(b) Grant Period.--A grant awarded under this section shall be for
a 5-year period and may be renewed for additional 5-year periods upon a
showing of adequate progress, as the Secretary determines appropriate.
(c) Application.--To be eligible to receive a grant under this
section, an eligible graduate institution, on behalf of an eligible
partnership, shall submit to the Secretary a grant application,
including--
(1) an assessment of the existing ratios of school
counselors, school social workers, and school psychologists to
students enrolled in schools in each low-income local
educational agency that is part of the eligible partnership;
and
(2) a detailed description of--
(A) a plan to carry out a pipeline program to
train, place, and retain school counselors, school
social workers, or school psychologists, or any
combination thereof, as applicable, in low-income local
educational agencies; and
(B) the proposed allocation and use of grant funds
to carry out activities described by subsection (g).
(d) Peer Review Panel.--
(1) Establishment of panel.--The Secretary shall establish
a peer review panel to evaluate applications for grants under
subsection (c) and make recommendations to the Secretary
regarding such applications.
(2) Evaluation of applications.--In making its
recommendations, the peer review panel shall take into account
the purpose of this Act and the application requirements under
subsection (c), including the quality of the proposed pipeline
program.
(3) Recommendation of panel.--The Secretary may award
grants under this section only to eligible partnerships whose
applications receive a recommendation from the peer review
panel.
(4) Membership of panel.--
(A) The peer review panel shall include at a
minimum the following members:
(i) One clinical, tenured, or tenure track
faculty member at an institution of higher
education with a current appointment to teach
courses in the subject area of school counselor
education.
(ii) One clinical, tenured, or tenure track
faculty member at an institution of higher
education with a current appointment to teach
courses in the subject area of school social
worker education.
(iii) One clinical, tenured, or tenure
track faculty member at an institution of
higher education with a current appointment to
teach courses in the subject area of school
psychology education.
(iv) One clinical, tenured, or tenure track
faculty member at an institution of higher
education with a current appointment to teach
courses in the subject area of teacher
education.
(v) One individual with expertise in school
counseling who works or has worked in public
schools.
(vi) One individual with expertise in
school social work who works or has worked in
public schools.
(vii) One individual with expertise in
school psychology who works or has worked in
public schools.
(viii) One administrator who works or has
worked for a low-income local educational
agency.
(ix) One highly qualified teacher who has
substantial experience working for a low-income
local educational agency.
(B) At least one of the members described in
subparagraph (A) shall be a clinical faculty member.
(e) Distribution of Grants.--From among the applications receiving
a recommendation by the peer review panel, the Secretary shall--
(1) award the first 5 grants to eligible partnerships from
5 different States;
(2) to the extent practicable, distribute grants equitably
among eligible partnerships that propose to train graduate
students in each of the three professions of school counseling,
school social work, and school psychology; and
(3) to the extent practicable, equitably distribute the
grants among eligible partnerships that include an urban low-
income local educational agency and partnerships that include a
rural low-income local educational agency, with, at a minimum,
a percentage of the funds, equal to the percentage of low-
income children in the United States who are served by rural
local educational agencies (based on the Small Area Income and
Poverty Estimates of the Bureau of Census, for the most recent
year such information is available), awarded to eligible
partnerships that include a rural low-income local educational
agency.
(f) Priority.--The Secretary shall give priority to eligible
partnerships that--
(1) propose to use the grant funds to carry out the
activities described under paragraphs (1) through (3) of
subsection (g) in schools that have higher numbers or
percentages of low-income students and students not meeting the
proficient level of achievement (as described by section 1111
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 6311)) in comparison to other schools that are served by
the low-income local educational agency that is part of the
eligible partnership;
(2) include a low-income local educational agency that has
fewer school counselors, school social workers, and school
psychologists per student than other eligible partnerships;
(3) include one or more eligible graduate institutions that
offer graduate programs in the greatest number of the following
areas:
(A) school counseling;
(B) school social work; and
(C) school psychology; and
(4) propose to collaborate with other institutions of
higher education with similar programs, including sharing
facilities, faculty members, and administrative costs.
(g) Use of Grant Funds.--Grant funds awarded under this section may
be used--
(1) to pay the administrative costs (including supplies,
office and classroom space, supervision, mentoring, and
transportation stipends as necessary and appropriate) related
to--
(A) having graduate students of school counseling,
school social work, and school psychology placed in
schools served by participating low-income local
educational agencies to complete required field work,
credit hours, internships, or related training as
applicable for the degree, license, or credential
program of each such student; and
(B) offering required graduate course work for
graduate students of school counseling, school social
work, and school psychology on the site of a
participating low-income local educational agency or
its schools;
(2) for not more than the first 3 years after participating
graduates receive a masters or other graduate degree or obtain
a State license or credential in school counseling, school
social work, or school psychology, to hire and pay all or part
of the salaries of such participating graduates to work as
school counselors, school social workers, and school
psychologists in schools served by participating low-income
local educational agencies;
(3) to increase the number of school counselors, school
social workers, and school psychologists per student in schools
served by participating low-income local educational agencies
to work towards the student support personnel target ratios;
(4) to recruit, hire, and retain culturally or
linguistically under-represented graduate students in school
counseling, school social work, and school psychology for
placement in schools served by participating low-income
educational agencies;
(5) to recruit, hire, and pay faculty as necessary to
increase the capacity of a participating eligible graduate
institution to train graduate students in the fields of school
counseling, school social work, and school psychology;
(6) to develop coursework that will--
(A) encourage a commitment by graduate students in
school counseling, school social work, or school
psychology to work for low-income local educational
agencies;
(B) give participating graduates the knowledge and
skill sets necessary to meet the needs of--
(i) students and families served by low-
income local educational agencies; and
(ii) teachers, administrators, and other
staff who work for low-income local educational
agencies;
(C) enable participating graduates to meet the
unique needs of students at risk of negative
educational outcomes, including students who--
(i) are English language learners;
(ii) have a parent or caregiver who is a
migrant worker;
(iii) have a parent or caregiver who is a
member of the Armed Forces or National Guard
who has been deployed or returned from
deployment;
(iv) are homeless, including unaccompanied
youth;
(v) have come into contact with the
juvenile justice system or adult criminal
justice system, including students currently or
previously held in juvenile detention
facilities or adult jails and students
currently or previously held in juvenile
correctional facilities or adult prisons;
(vi) have been identified as eligible for
services under the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et
seq.) or the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29
U.S.C. 701 et seq.);
(vii) have been a victim to or witnessed
domestic violence or violence in their
community; and
(viii) are foster care youth, youth aging
out of foster care, or former foster youth; and
(D) utilize the peer-reviewed best practices
developed by the American School Counselor Association,
National Association of Social Workers, School Social
Work Association of America, or National Association of
School Psychologists, subject to approval by the
Secretary, or other best practices that are approved by
the Secretary and have been published through a peer
review process;
(7) to provide tuition credits to graduate students
participating in the program;
(8) for student loan forgiveness for participating
graduates who are employed as school counselors, school social
workers, or school psychologists by participating low-income
local educational agencies for a minimum of 5 consecutive
years; and
(9) for similar activities to fulfill the purpose of this
Act, as the Secretary determines appropriate.
(h) Supplement Not Supplant.--Funds made available under this
section shall be used to supplement, not supplant, other Federal,
State, or local funds for the activities described in subsection (g).
(i) Reporting Requirements.--Each eligible partnership that
receives a grant under this section shall submit an annual report to
the Secretary on the progress of such partnership in carrying out the
purpose of this Act. Such report shall include a description of--
(1) actual service delivery provided through grant funds,
including--
(A) characteristics of each participating eligible
graduate institution, including descriptive information
on the model used and actual program performance;
(B) characteristics of graduate students
participating in the program, including performance on
any tests required by the State educational agency for
credentialing or licensing, demographic
characteristics, and graduate student retention rates;
(C) characteristics of students of the
participating low-income local educational agency,
including performance on any tests required by the
State educational agency, demographic characteristics,
and promotion, persistence, and graduation rates, as
appropriate;
(D) an estimate of the annual implementation costs
of the program; and
(E) the numbers of students, schools, and graduate
students participating in the program;
(2) outcomes that are consistent with the purpose of the
grant program, including--
(A) internship and post-graduation placement;
(B) graduation and professional career readiness
indicators; and
(C) characteristics of the participating low-income
local educational agency, including changes in hiring
and retention of highly qualified teachers and school
counselors, school psychologists, and school social
workers;
(3) the instruction, materials, and activities being funded
under the grant program; and
(4) the effectiveness of any training and ongoing
professional development provided--
(A) to students and faculty in the appropriate
departments or schools of the participating eligible
graduate institution;
(B) to the faculty, administration, and staff of
the participating low-income local educational agency;
and
(C) to the broader community of providers of
social, emotional, behavioral, and related support to
students and to those who train such providers.
(j) Evaluations.--
(1) Interim evaluations.--The Secretary may conduct interim
evaluations to determine whether each eligible partnership
receiving a grant is making adequate progress as the Secretary
considers appropriate. The contents of the annual report
submitted to the Secretary under subsection (i) may be used by
the Secretary to determine whether an eligible partnership
receiving a grant is demonstrating adequate progress.
(2) Final evaluation.--The Secretary shall conduct a final
evaluation to--
(A) determine the effectiveness of the grant
program in carrying out the purpose of this Act; and
(B) compare the relative effectiveness of each of
the various activities described by subsection (g) for
which grant funds may be used.
(k) Report.--Not sooner than 5 years nor later than 6 years after
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to
Congress a report containing the findings of the evaluation conducted
under subsection (j)(2), and such recommendations as the Secretary
considers appropriate.
(l) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated to
carry out this section such sums as may be necessary for each
of the fiscal years 2012 through 2022.
(2) Reservation for evaluations.--From the total amount
appropriated to carry out this section each fiscal year, the
Secretary shall reserve not more than 3 percent of that
appropriation for evaluations under subsection (j).
SEC. 5. STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE EMPLOYED FOR 5
OR MORE CONSECUTIVE SCHOOL YEARS AS SCHOOL COUNSELORS,
SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKERS, SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS, OR OTHER
QUALIFIED PSYCHOLOGISTS OR PSYCHIATRISTS BY LOW-INCOME
LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.
(a) Establishment of Program.--The Secretary shall establish a
program to provide student loan forgiveness to individuals who are not
and have never been participants in the grant program established under
section 4 and who have been employed for 5 or more consecutive school
years as school counselors, school social workers, school
psychologists, other qualified psychologists, or child and adolescent
psychiatrists by low-income local educational agencies.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary such sums as may be necessary to carry
out the program under this section.
SEC. 6. FUTURE DESIGNATION STUDY.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall conduct a study to identify a
formula for future designation of regions with a shortage of school
counselors, school social workers, and school psychologists to use in
implementing grant programs and other programs such as the programs
established under this Act or for other purposes related to any such
designation, based on the latest available data on--
(1) the number of residents under the age of 18 in an area
served by a low-income local educational agency;
(2) the percentage of the population of an area served by a
low-income local educational agency with incomes below the
poverty line;
(3) the percentage of residents age 18 or older of an area
served by a low-income local educational agency who have earned
secondary school diplomas;
(4) the percentage of students identified as eligible for
special education services in an area served by a low-income
local educational agency;
(5) the youth crime rate in an area served by a low-income
local educational agency;
(6) the current number of full-time-equivalent and active
school counselors, school social workers, and school
psychologists employed by a low-income local educational
agency;
(7) the number of students in an area served by a low-
income local educational agency in military families (active
duty and reserve duty) with parents who have been alerted for
deployment, are currently deployed, or have returned from a
deployment in the previous school year; and
(8) such other criteria as the Secretary considers
appropriate.
(b) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report containing
the findings of the study conducted under subsection (a).
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) School counseling program definitions.--The terms
``child and adolescent psychiatrist'', ``other qualified
psychologist'', ``school counselor'', ``school psychologist'',
and ``school social worker'' have the meanings given the terms
in section 5421 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7245).
(2) ESEA general definitions.--The terms ``highly
qualified'', ``local educational agency'', and ``State
educational agency'' have the meanings given the terms in
section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(3) Best practices.--The term ``best practices'' means a
technique or methodology that, through experience and research
related to the practice of school counseling, school
psychology, or school social work, has proven to reliably lead
to a desired result.
(4) Eligible graduate institution.--The term ``eligible
graduate institution'' means an institution of higher education
that offers a program of study that leads to a masters or other
graduate degree--
(A) in school psychology that is accredited or
nationally recognized by the National Association of
School Psychologists Program Approval Board and that
prepares students in such program for the State
licensing or certification examination in school
psychology;
(B) in school counseling that prepares students in
such program for the State licensing or certification
examination in school counseling;
(C) in school social work that is accredited by the
Council on Social Work Education and that prepares
students in such program for the State licensing or
certification exam in school social work; or
(D) any combination of subparagraphs (A), (B), and
(C).
(5) Eligible partnership.--The term ``eligible
partnership'' means--
(A) a partnership between 1 or more low-income
local educational agencies and 1 or more eligible
graduate institutions; or
(B) in regions in which local educational agencies
may not have a sufficient elementary and secondary
school student population to support the placement of
all participating graduate students, a partnership
between a State educational agency, on behalf of 1 or
more low-income local educational agencies, and 1 or
more eligible graduate institutions.
(6) Institution of higher education.--The term
``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given such
term in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1002), but excludes any institution of higher education
described in section 102(a)(1)(C) of such Act.
(7) Low-income local educational agency.--The term ``low-
income local educational agency'' means a local educational
agency--
(A) in which not less than 20 percent of the
students served by such agency are from families with
incomes below the poverty line, as determined by the
Bureau of the Census on the basis of the most recent
satisfactory data available;
(B) that has existing ratios of school counselors,
school social workers, and school psychologists to
students served by the participating low-income local
educational agency that fall at least 10 percent below
the student support personnel target ratios, meaning
such low-income local educational agency has no more
than one counselor per 277 students, no more than one
school psychologist per 1,111 students, and no more
than one school social worker per 444 students; and
(C) that has been identified for improvement or
corrective action (as described in section 1116(c) of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 6316(c))) or that includes at least one school
that has been identified for school improvement,
corrective action, or restructuring (as described in
section 1116(b) of such Act).
(8) Participating eligible graduate institution.--The term
``participating eligible graduate institution'' means an
eligible graduate institution that is part of an eligible
partnership awarded a grant under section 4.
(9) Participating graduate.--The term ``participating
graduate'' means an individual who--
(A) has received a masters or other graduate degree
in elementary or secondary school counseling, school
social work, or school psychology, from a participating
eligible graduate institution and has obtained a State
license or credential in school counseling, school
social work, or school psychology; and
(B) as a graduate student of school counseling,
school social work, or school psychology was placed in
a school served by a participating low-income local
educational agency to complete required field work,
credit hours, internships, or related training as
applicable.
(10) Participating low-income local educational agency.--
The term ``participating low-income local educational agency''
means a low-income local educational agency that is part of an
eligible partnership awarded a grant under section 4.
(11) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Education.
(12) Student support personnel target ratios.--The term
``student support personnel target ratios'' means the ratios of
school counselors, school social workers, and school
psychologists to students recommended to enable such personnel
to effectively address the needs of students, including--
(A) at least 1 school counselor for every 250
students (as recommended by the American School
Counselors Association and American Counseling
Association);
(B) at least 1 school psychologist for every 1,000
students (as recommended by the National Association of
School Psychologists); and
(C) at least 1 school social worker for every 400
students (as recommended by the School Social Work
Association of America).
(13) Unaccompanied youth.--The term ``unaccompanied youth''
has the meaning given such term in section 725 of the McKinney-
Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a).
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training.
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