I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2253 

To establish a competitive grant program to support the development, implementation, and evaluation of successful teacher and school leader training 

programs on family engagement that will increase the capacity of teachers and school leaders to work with families to develop and support 

the social and emotional skills, habits, and mindsets of children. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 26, 2021 

Mr. RYAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To establish a competitive grant program to support the 

development, implementation, and evaluation of successful teacher and school leader training programs on family 

engagement that will increase the capacity of teachers 

and school leaders to work with families to develop and 

support the social and emotional skills, habits, and 

mindsets of children. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Social Emotional 

3 Learning for Families Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘SELF Act 

4 of 2021’’. 

5 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appropriated to 

7 carry out this section, the Secretary of Education shall 

8 award grants, on a competitive basis, to local educational 

9 agencies to develop, implement, and evaluate teacher and 

10 school leader training programs on family engagement. 

11 Local educational agencies may work in partnership with 

12 the entities described in subsection (e)(3) to carry out 

13 such programs. The objective of such programs will be to 

14 increase the capacity of teacher and school leaders to work 

15 with families to develop and support the social and emo16 tional skills, habits, and mindsets of children. 

17 (b) GRANT AWARDS.— 

18 (1) MAXIMUM GRANT AMOUNT.—The total 

19 amount of each grant awarded under this section 

20 may not exceed $1,200,000. 

21 (2) GRANT PERIOD.—A grant awarded under 

22 this section shall be for a period of 5 years, and may 

23 be renewed. 

24 (3) NUMBER OF GRANTS.—The Secretary shall 

25 award not more than 100 grants under this section. 


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1 (c) APPLICATIONS.—An application submitted by a 

2 local educational agency for a grant under this section 

3 shall demonstrate— 

4 (1) the ability to provide laboratory and in5 structional space for proposed programming; 

6 (2) a commitment to the development, imple7 mentation, and evaluation of successful teacher and 

8 school leader training programs on family engage9 ment that will increase the capacity of teachers and 

10 school leaders to work with families to develop and 

11 support the social and emotional skills, habits, and 

12 mindsets of children; 

13 (3) a plan to ensure that the proposed pro14 grams will serve diverse groups, such as underrep15 resented or economically disadvantaged families; and 

16 (4) a long-term commitment to the proposed 

17 programs to be carried out with the grant, including 

18 a plan to continue the actions described in para19 graphs (1) through (3) for a period of not less than 

20 5 years. 

21 (d) SELECTION.—In awarding grants under this sec22 tion, the Secretary shall— 

23 (1) give priority to high-need local educational 

24 agencies, as defined in section 200 of the Higher 

25 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021); and 


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1 (2) ensure that, to the maximum extent prac2 ticable, the projects funded under this section are lo3 cated in diverse geographic regions of the United 

4 States. 

5 (e) USES OF FUNDS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency 

7 receiving a grant under this section shall use such 

8 funds to carry out programs at elementary schools 

9 and secondary schools served by the local edu10 cational agency that— 

11 (A) involve instruction of research-based 

12 social and emotional skills, habits, and mindsets 

13 through locally relevant materials for teachers 

14 and school leaders and families; 

15 (B) provide professional development for 

16 teachers and school leaders to engage families 

17 and support the development of the social and 

18 emotional skills, habits, and mindsets of fami19 lies; 

20 (C) provide direct instruction on social 

21 emotional learning to families during times 

22 when families are available and in places that 

23 are convenient and easily accessible; 

24 (D) encourage participation of families in 

25 the programs offered by the local education 


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1 agency under this section, including programs 

2 supported by partner agencies as described 

3 under paragraph (3); 

4 (E) are designed to result in improved 

5 measurable outcomes related to children, in6 cluding positive social behavior and academic 

7 outcomes; and 

8 (F) may be provided virtually or online. 

9 (2) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—In the 

10 case of a local educational agency that is a State 

11 educational agency, such entity shall award sub12 grants, on a competitive basis, to local educational 

13 agencies to carry out the program described in para14 graph (1). 

15 (3) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.—Each 

16 local educational agency awarded a grant under this 

17 section may carry out the program funded under the 

18 grant in partnership with one or more of the fol19 lowing: 

20 (A) Institutions of higher education. 

21 (B) Nonprofit organizations. 

22 (C) Community-based organizations. 

23 (f) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

24 4 years after the first grant is awarded under this section, 

25 and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to 


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1 Congress and make publicly available, a report on activi2 ties and results under this section. Such report shall de3 scribe— 

4 (1) the total number of grant applications re5 ceived during the year preceding the report; 

6 (2) the number and geographic distribution of 

7 the grants for such year and for all grants awarded 

8 under this section; 

9 (3) participation of minority-serving institu10 tions; 

11 (4) participation of underrepresented and eco12 nomically disadvantaged families; 

13 (5) overall program outcomes and issues of con14 cern; and 

15 (6) recommendations for program revisions to 

16 achieve the desired program outcome. 

17 (g) DEFINITIONS.— 

18 (1) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elementary 

19 school’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, ‘‘parent’’, ‘‘pro20 fessional development’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, and 

21 ‘‘State educational agency’’ have the meanings given 

22 the terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and 

23 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

24 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

25 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 


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1 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

2 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

3 (3) INSTRUCTION.—The term ‘‘instruction’’ 

4 means activities that— 

5 (A) emphasize communication of knowl6 edge concerning social emotional learning in 

7 adults and children; 

8 (B) provide opportunities to practice social 

9 emotional learning through interactive activities 

10 between families and their children; and 

11 (C) are aligned with and integrated into 

12 family involvement and engagement standards 

13 that may exist in the applicable State or that 

14 may be developed. 

15 (4) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 

16 term ‘‘minority-serving institution’’ means an insti17 tution of higher education described in section 

18 371(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

19 U.S.C. 1067q). 

20 (5) TEACHER AND SCHOOL LEADER TRAINING

21 PROGRAMS.—The term ‘‘teacher and school leader 

22 training programs’’ includes training programs for 

23 teachers, principals, school leaders, and other school24 based personnel. 


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1 (6) TEACHERS AND SCHOOL LEADERS.—The 

2 term ‘‘teachers and school leaders’’ means teachers, 

3 principals, school leaders, and other school-based 

4 personnel. 

5 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

6 the Secretary of Education. 

7 (8) SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING.—The term 

8 ‘‘social emotional learning’’ includes— 

9 (A) self-awareness, or having a realistic 

10 perception of one’s own values, interests, and 

11 strengths, and being able to recognize one’s 

12 own emotions; 

13 (B) self-management, or how well one 

14 manages emotions, impulses, and stress, and is 

15 able to establish and achieve goals and exercise 

16 self-discipline; 

17 (C) social awareness, or the ability to take 

18 the perspective of and empathize with someone 

19 else and to appreciate and respect diversity; 

20 (D) relationship skills, or the ability to 

21 participate in healthy, cooperative, and caring 

22 relationships, and effectively resolve conflicts; 

23 and 

24 (E) responsible decision making, or the 

25 ability to recognize and generate good choices, 


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1 evaluate the likely consequences of actions, and 

2 take responsibility for one’s decisions. 

3 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

5 $130,000,000, of which not more than $10,000,000 may 

6 be used by the Secretary for reports and technical assist7 ance. 

Æ 


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