[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 538 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 538

To increase the recruitment and retention of school counselors, school 
     social workers, and school psychologists by low-income local 
                         educational agencies.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 5, 2009

 Mrs. Lincoln (for herself, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Menendez, and 
  Mr. Pryor) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 socioeconomic status and family 
        background characteristics are highly correlated with 
        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 abuse and neglect of young children in 
        military families have doubled with 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, raising 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) It is estimated, based on recent data on the number of 
        children in foster care, that more than 500,000 children are in 
        the foster care system each year, with 289,000 exiting the 
        system each year due to aging out or adoption.

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 of Education 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 by 
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 a minimum of 
        16.3 percent of the funds (representing the percent of low-
        income children served by rural local educational agencies 
        according to the United States Bureau of Census Small Area 
        Income Poverty Estimates, 2006) 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;
            (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 best practices determined by the 
                American School Counselor Association, National 
                Association of Social Workers, School Social Work 
                Association of America, and National Association of 
                School Psychologists;
            (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 the 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) There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
        this section $30,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 to 
        2020.
            (2) 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 in an area 
        served by a low-income local educational agency with 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 education 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'', ``school counselor'', 
        ``school psychologist'', ``school social worker'', and ``other 
        qualified psychologist'' have the meaning 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 ``State 
        educational agency'', ``local educational agency'', and 
        ``highly qualified'' have the meaning 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 exam in school psychology;
                    (B) in school counseling that prepares students in 
                such program for the State licensing or certification 
                exam 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 (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 which 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 1111 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 by section 1116 of the 
                Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
                U.S.C. 6316)) or that includes at least one school that 
                has been identified for school improvement, corrective 
                action, or restructuring (as described by section 1116 
                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).
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