To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) to authorize competitive grants to train school principals in instructional leadership skills and to promote the incorporation of standards of instructional leadership into State-level principal certification or licensure.

Summary: Instructional Leadership Act of 2009 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to states, local educational agencies (LEAs), nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, or partnerships or consortia which include at least one of those entities to develop and implement innovative programs and sites (such as leadership development schools) to train school principals in instructional leadership skills.

Requires the Secretary to award additional competitive grants to states or partnerships or consortia which include states for pilot programs that evaluate and promote the incorporation of instructional leadership standards into state principal certification or licensure.

 Directs the Secretary to establish a definition of "highly-qualified principal" that is based on reports from this Act's grantees and emphasizes instructional leadership standards.

Requires the Secretary to award competitive grants to states and high-need LEAs or partnerships between such LEAs and certain educational entities to develop state-of-the-art principal induction programs that provide new principals a minimum of three years of extensive, high-quality, comprehensive induction into the field of school administration.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Instructional Leadership Act of 
2009''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) A school principal is expected to be an instructional 
        leader, meaning the principal must posses the knowledge and 
        instructional skills to guide teaching and learning in a 
        school.
            (2) There is a clear intention within the amendments made 
        by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 to the Elementary and 
        Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) that 
        principals become instructional leaders. Section 2113(c) of the 
        Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        6613(c)) calls for principals to have--
                    (A) ``the instructional leadership skills to help 
                teachers teach and students learn'';
                    (B) and ``to help students meet challenging State 
                student academic achievement standards''.
            (3) Despite this recognition of the importance of 
        instructional leadership, adequate attention and resources have 
        not been committed to training and supporting school 
        principals--
                    (A) in meeting the standards of instructional 
                leadership in States where such standards exist; and
                    (B) in developing such standards in States where 
                such standards do not exist.
            (4) Licensure of school principals typically does not give 
        adequate emphasis to instructional leadership skills in the 
        certification process.
            (5) The term ``highly qualified principal'' added by the No 
        Child Left Behind Act of 2001 to the Elementary and Secondary 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) should be 
        defined in such Act to include a strong emphasis on 
        instructional leadership.

SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP.

    (a) In General.--Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended by redesignating part I 
as part J and by inserting after part H the following new part:

                   ``PART I--INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP

``SEC. 1851. COMPETITIVE GRANTS.

    ``(a) Grants To Develop Innovative Programs and Sites.--From the 
amounts made available under subsection (h), the Secretary shall make 
grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to develop and 
implement innovative programs and sites (such as leadership development 
schools) to train school principals in instructional leadership skills, 
including skills relating to--
            ``(1) effective instructional practices;
            ``(2) facilitating the development of a school vision;
            ``(3) providing on-going learning and professional 
        development opportunities for school staff, including teachers;
            ``(4) monitoring the alignment of curriculum, instruction, 
        and assessment;
            ``(5) improving instructional practices through the 
        purposeful observation and evaluation of teachers;
            ``(6) ensuring the regular integration of assessments 
        appropriate to the needs of students into daily classroom 
        instruction;
            ``(7) using technology and multiple sources of data to 
        improve classroom instruction;
            ``(8) providing staff with focused, sustained, research-
        based professional development; and
            ``(9) engaging all community stakeholders in a shared 
        responsibility for student and school success.
    ``(b) Grants for Pilot Programs.--In addition to the grants made 
under subsection (a), the Secretary shall make grants, on a competitive 
basis, to State educational agencies, or to partnerships or consortia 
that include State educational agencies, to develop and implement pilot 
programs designed to evaluate and promote the incorporation of 
standards of instructional leadership into State principal 
certification or licensing requirements.
    ``(c) Duration.--A grant made under this section shall be awarded 
for a period of 2 years, and may be renewed for a period of 2 
additional years.
    ``(d) Application.--An eligible entity desiring a to receive grant 
under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 
time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary 
may require.
    ``(e) Eligible Entity.--For purposes of this section, the term 
`eligible entity' means--
            ``(1) a State educational agency;
            ``(2) a local educational agency;
            ``(3) a nonprofit organization (such as a State principal 
        association);
            ``(4) an institution of higher education; and
            ``(5) a partnership or consortium that includes at least 1 
        of the entities described in paragraphs (1) through (4).
    ``(f) Report.--A recipient of a grant under this section shall 
submit to the Secretary a report describing the results of its 
activities funded by such grant. Such report shall be submitted at such 
time, in such manner, and containing such additional information as the 
Secretary may require.
    ``(g) Revised Concept of Highly Qualified Principal.--
            ``(1) In general.--Based on the reports submitted pursuant 
        to subsection (f), the Secretary shall, by regulation, 
        establish a definition of `highly-qualified principal' that 
        emphasizes standards of instructional leadership.
            ``(2) Considerations.--In developing such a definition, the 
        Secretary shall give consideration to the need for principals 
        to--
                    ``(A) demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and 
                attitudes needed to effectively lead teaching and 
                learning in schools;
                    ``(B) engage in continuous professional 
                development, utilizing a combination of academic study, 
                developmental simulation exercises, self-reflection, 
                mentorship, and internship; and
                    ``(C) demonstrate the capacity to lead the 
                establishment and maintenance of a professional 
                learning community that effectively uses real time 
                data, including State academic assessments described in 
                section 1111(b)(3), that inform instruction, focus 
                review, and target remediation for the purposes of 
                ensuring standards and course content mastery, and 
                personalized instruction for every student.
    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there are authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for fiscal year 
2010 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding 
fiscal years.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended by redesignating the 
item relating to part I of title I as relating to part J and by 
inserting before such item the following:

                 ``Part I--Instructional Leadership''.

Sec. 1851. Competitive grants.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHING STATE-OF-THE-ART PRINCIPAL INDUCTION PROGRAMS.

    (a) In General.--Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:

  ``PART E--ESTABLISHING STATE-OF-THE-ART PRINCIPAL INDUCTION PROGRAMS

``SEC. 2501. COMPETITIVE GRANTS.

    ``(a) Grants.--From the amounts made available to carry out this 
section, the Secretary may make grants, on a competitive basis, to 
States and eligible local educational agencies for the purpose of 
developing state-of-the-art principal induction programs.
    ``(b) Eligible Local Educational Agency.--In this section, the term 
`eligible local educational agency' means--
            ``(1) a high-need local educational agency (as such term is 
        defined in section 2102(3)); or
            ``(2) a partnership of a high-need local educational 
        agency; and--
                    ``(A) an institution of higher education;
                    ``(B) a principal organization; or
                    ``(C) any other nonprofit education organization.
    ``(c) Use of Funds.--A State or an eligible local educational 
agency that receives a grant under subsection (a) shall use the funds 
made available through the grant to develop a state-of-the-art 
principal induction program that--
            ``(1) provides new principals a minimum of 3 years of 
        extensive, high-quality, comprehensive induction into the field 
        of school administration; and
            ``(2) includes--
                    ``(A) structured mentoring from highly qualified 
                master or mentor principal who are certified, have 
                school administration experience in a school similar to 
                the school of the new principal, and are trained to 
                mentor new principals;
                    ``(B) at least 90 minutes each week of common 
                meeting time for a new principal to administrative and 
                leadership tasks under the director of a master or 
                mentor principal;
                    ``(C) regular observation by a master or mentor 
                principal in the new principal's school;
                    ``(D) observation by the new principal of the 
                master or mentor principal's classroom;
                    ``(E) intensive professional development activities 
                for new principals that result in improved 
                instructional leadership and student achievement, 
                including--
                            ``(i) lesson demonstration by master and 
                        mentor principals in the classroom;
                            ``(ii) observation by such master and 
                        mentor principals; and
                            ``(iii) feedback by such master and mentor 
                        principals;
                    ``(F) observation by new principals of at least 3 
                principals and feedback (that uses research-validated 
                benchmarks of leadership skills and standards that are 
                developed with input from principals) at least 4 times 
                each school year by multiple evaluators, including 
                master and mentor principals;
                    ``(G) paid release time for the mentor principal 
                for mentoring, or salary supplements under section 2502 
                for mentoring new principals at a ratio of one full-
                time mentor to every 12 new principals;
                    ``(H) a transition year for new principals to the 
                school that includes a reduced workload for such 
                principals; and
                    ``(I) a standards-based assessment, which may 
                include examination of practice and a measure of gains 
                in student learning, of every new principal to 
                determine whether the principal should move forward in 
                the school administration profession.
    ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this 
section.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 2441 the following:

``Part E--Establishing State-of-the-Art Principal Induction Programs''.

Sec. 2501. Competitive grants.