1.This Act may be cited as the
Improving the Leadership and
Effectiveness of Administrators for Districts Act of 2007
or the I LEAD Act of
2007
.
2.
(a)Congress finds the following:
(1)In the next 5 years, the number of openings
for school principals is expected to grow by 20 percent and the number of
principals retiring is likely to see a marked increase. The resulting principal
shortage is expected to pose the greatest challenge for urban and rural local
educational agencies with large concentrations of high-poverty and
under-performing schools, as those local educational agencies often attract the
fewest new principals.
(2)Literature from the American Educational
Research Association concludes that school leadership has significant effects
on student learning. School leaders can have positive effects on student
achievement, primarily by galvanizing effort around ambitious goals and by
establishing conditions that support teachers and help students succeed.
(3)School leaders, especially in
under-performing schools, are typically unprepared to foster student success,
as the leaders themselves do not receive the proper support, resources, and
professional development needed to become effective leaders.
(4)A 2003 Public Agenda report found that 72
percent of superintendents and 67 percent of principals agree that the typical
leadership training that administrators receive does not give administrators
what it takes to run today's school district
.
(5)State educational leaders currently lack
concrete benchmarks against which school leaders can be measured to determine
adequacy. State educational agencies and local educational agencies also lack
the funds necessary to recruit, train, and maintain successful school
leaders.
(b)Section 2151(b) of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6651(b)) is amended to read as
follows:
(b)
(1)The purposes of this subsection are—
(A)to develop a generation of school leaders
who are committed to, and effective in, increasing student achievement;
and
(B)to ensure that all under-performing schools
are led by well-trained, well-supported, effective school leaders.
(2)National principal recruitment
program
(A)The Secretary is authorized to establish
and carry out a national principal recruitment program to assist high-need
local educational agencies in recruiting and training principals (including
assistant principals) through such activities as—
(i)providing financial incentives to aspiring
new principals;
(ii)providing stipends to principals
who—
(I)have a demonstrated record of
effectiveness; and
(II)mentor new principals;
(iii)carrying out professional development
programs in instructional leadership and management; and
(iv)providing incentives that are appropriate
for teachers or individuals from other fields who want to become principals and
that are effective in retaining new principals.
(B)The Secretary shall carry out this
paragraph by making grants, on a competitive basis, to—
(i)high-need local educational
agencies;
(ii)consortia of high-need local educational
agencies; and
(iii)partnerships of high-need local educational
agencies, nonprofit organizations, and institutions of higher education.
(3)Evaluation and model school leadership zone
implementation grants
(A)The Secretary shall establish a national
competitive grant program to award grants to eligible entities to enable the
eligible entities—
(i)to carry out research-based evaluations
described in subparagraph (D) examining the effectiveness of current State
requirements for school leader certification or licensure in recruiting,
training, and retaining effective school leaders who improve student
achievement at schools that receive funding under part A of title I;
(ii)to develop plans described in subparagraph
(E) to build upon the State school leader certification or licensure process;
and
(iii)to create model school leadership zones in
accordance with subparagraph (F) by implementing such plans.
(B)The amount of a grant under this paragraph
shall be based on a formula developed by the Secretary that takes into
consideration—
(i)the size of the school-age population
served by the eligible entity; and
(ii)the availability of additional resources to
support the implementation of the evaluation and the changes to the State
certification or licensure process.
(C)An eligible entity desiring a grant under
this paragraph shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in
such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require. The
application shall demonstrate that—
(i)the results of the evaluation under
subparagraph (D) will be used to drive changes in the State certification or
licensure process if necessary; and
(ii)the eligible entity is well-positioned to
implement a successful evaluation, as determined by—
(I)a strong commitment to school leadership
among the local school superintendents, teachers, parents, and the local
community, including private sector and higher education leaders; and
(II)an ability to leverage additional funding
to carry out the evaluation as well as the recommendations made as a result of
the evaluation.
(D)
(i)An eligible entity receiving a grant under
this paragraph shall use grant funds to contract with an external agency that
is experienced in conducting qualitative research to carry out a research-based
evaluation of the school leader certification or licensure process in effect in
the State as of the time of the evaluation, and the effect of such process on
student achievement.
(ii)The evaluation described in clause (i)
shall be developed in collaboration with groups such as—
(I)veteran school leaders with track records
of demonstrated gains in student achievement;
(II)institutions of higher education involved
with school leadership development located within the State; and
(III)organizations that represent school
leaders.
(iii)The evaluation described in clause (i)
shall include a measurement of the following student achievement indicators for
the State:
(I)Student achievement on the State academic
assessments described in section 1111(b)(3).
(II)Secondary school graduation rates, if
applicable.
(III)The degree of family and community
involvement in the schools.
(IV)Retention rates for school leaders,
particularly in schools that have not made adequate yearly progress (as defined
in section 1111(b)(2)(C)) for 1 or more of the school years following the date
of enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law
107–110).
(V)School safety, including decreases in the
number of suspensions and expulsions, and other crime reporting done by the
schools.
(VI)Student and teacher attendance
rates.
(VII)Any other factor that the Secretary
determines necessary.
(iv)After the completion of the evaluation
under this subparagraph, an eligible entity receiving a grant under this
paragraph shall submit a copy of the evaluation to the Secretary for approval
under clause (v).
(v)The Secretary shall review an evaluation
submitted under clause (iv), and shall approve or reject the evaluation based
on the extent the evaluation meets the criteria described in this
subparagraph.
(E)Building upon State requirements for school
leader certification or licensure
(i)In the case of an eligible entity receiving
a grant under this paragraph whose evaluation under subparagraph (D)
demonstrates that the school leader licensing or certification process of the
State does not yield school leaders who are effective in improving student
achievement, as measured by the student achievement indicators described in
subparagraph (D)(iii), the eligible entity, in collaboration with the groups
described in subparagraph (D)(ii), shall develop a plan to build upon the
existing State certification or licensure processes for school leaders and
improve the effectiveness of school leaders based on data from the evaluation
developed under this paragraph.
(ii)The plan described under clause (i) may
include the following for potential school leaders:
(I)Experimental training programs for
individuals within the teaching profession and from other fields to enable
individuals to become effective school leaders.
(II)Incentives to encourage veteran and new
school leaders to lead low-income, under-performing schools.
(III)Ongoing professional development programs
with track records of demonstrated goals in student achievement for all school
leaders.
(IV)Ongoing support, including being partnered
for the first 2 years after the individual obtains a school leader license or
certificate with a mentor who is a school leader with a demonstrated record of
effectiveness to help design and implement a plan to improve student
achievement at the new school leader's school.
(V)Additional, specialized training for new
principals leading schools with high populations of students with disabilities
or students with limited English proficiency.
(VI)Any other requirements the eligible entity
developing the plan determines necessary.
(F)School leadership zone
implementation
(i)An eligible entity that receives a grant
under this paragraph and that is required to develop a plan under subparagraph
(E) shall use grant funds to create a model school leadership zone by
implementing the plan developed by the eligible entity in an urban high-need
local educational agency participating in the consortium described in paragraph
(6)(A) and in a rural high-need local educational agency participating in such
consortium.
(ii)Not later than 60 days after the last day
of the grant period, an eligible entity that is required to carry out the
activity described in clause (i) shall prepare and submit to the Secretary an
analysis of the effectiveness of the model school leadership zone, based on
evidence of the program’s impact on the student achievement indicators
described in subparagraph (D)(iii).
(4)Study on effectiveness of school leadership
zones
(A)Not later than 4 years after the date of
enactment of the Improving the Leadership and
Effectiveness of Administrators for Districts Act of 2007, the
Secretary shall enter into a contract with an external agency experienced in
conducting qualitative research to conduct a study, in consultation with
representatives of the high-need local educational agencies participating in
the school leadership zones described in this subsection, evaluating the
effectiveness of the school leadership zones developed under paragraph (3)(F)
in the recruitment, training, and retraining of school leaders, as well as the
effects of such zones on student achievement, as compared to the effectiveness
of school leaders at similar schools served by local educational agencies not
participating in the school leadership zones described in this
subsection.
(B)The criteria for the evaluation under
subparagraph (A) shall be based on the student achievement indicators described
in paragraph (3)(D)(iii).
(5)Grants for replicating school leadership
zones and amending school leader certification or licensure
requirements
(A)The Secretary shall award a grant to each
eligible entity that received a grant under paragraph (3) and successfully
created a model school leadership zone, as determined by the study under
paragraph (4), to enable the eligible entity to use the data and research
gathered and analyzed by the Secretary under paragraph (4) to revise the school
leader certification or licensure process of the State in order to replicate
the practices of the model school leadership zone in other local educational
agencies within the State.
(B)An eligible entity that received a grant
under paragraph (3) and that desires to receive a grant under this paragraph
shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and
containing such information as the Secretary may require.
(C)In determining the amount of a grant under
this paragraph, the Secretary shall increase the grant amount for each eligible
entity that created a successful model school leadership zone under paragraph
(3)(G) that also demonstrated significant positive impact on student
achievement.
(D)Not later than 60 days after the last day
of the grant period, an eligible entity receiving a grant under this paragraph
shall prepare and submit to the Secretary a report regarding the effectiveness
of the program under this paragraph.
(6)In this subsection:
(A)The term eligible entity means
a State educational agency working in partnership with a consortium of
high-need local educational agencies, which consortium shall include not less
than 1 rural high-need local educational agency and not less than 1 urban
high-need local educational agency.
(B)The term school leader means a
principal or assistant principal.
(C)The term under-performing
school means an elementary school or secondary school that has failed to
make adequate yearly progress, as defined in section 1111(b)(2)(C), for 1 or
more consecutive school years.
(7)Authorization of
appropriationsThere is
authorized to be appropriated, to enable the Secretary to carry out this
subsection and to award not less than a total of 10 grants under paragraphs (3)
and (5) for each of 5 consecutive years, such sums as may be necessary for each
of fiscal years 2008 through
2012.
.
(c)Section 2103(b) of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6603(b)) is amended by inserting
(except for section 2151(b))
after subpart
5
.