I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1995 

To establish an Office of Specialized Instructional Support in the Department 

of Education and to provide grants to State educational agencies to 

reduce barriers to learning. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 25, 2011 

Mr. LOEBSACK (for himself, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. BRALEY of 

Iowa, and Mr. COURTNEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To establish an Office of Specialized Instructional Support 

in the Department of Education and to provide grants 

to State educational agencies to reduce barriers to learning. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reducing Barriers to 

5 Learning Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Interventions to increase students’ bonding 

2 to school promote academic success by reducing bar3 riers to learning. 

4 (2) Interventions that foster students’ engage5 ment in school have been shown to reduce high 

6 school dropout rates. 

7 (3) Interventions that strengthen students’ so8 cial, emotional, and decisionmaking skills also posi9 tively impact their academic achievement, both in 

10 terms of higher standardized test scores and better 

11 grades. 

12 (4) Prevention and early intervention programs 

13 that target elementary school-aged students who are 

14 academically and socially at risk have been shown to 

15 produce declines in special education referrals and 

16 placement, suspension, grade retention, and discipli17 nary referrals. 

18 (5) Students with barriers to learning, such as 

19 low levels of resilience assets (such as high expecta20 tions and caring relationships at school), have lower 

21 levels of academic achievement both in low- and 

22 high-performing schools. 

23 (6) Increasing students’ engagement and sense 

24 of community in the school produces reductions in 


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1 problem behaviors, increased associations with 

2 prosocial peers, and better academic performance. 

3 (7) School mental health programs improve 

4 educational outcomes by decreasing absences and 

5 discipline referrals and improving test scores. 

6 (8) Students who receive social-emotional sup7 port and prevention services achieve better academi8 cally in school. 

9 (9) While it is well recognized that mental 

10 health directly affects children’s learning and devel11 opment, in a recent study one-third of school dis12 tricts reported decreased funding for school mental 

13 health services at the same time that two-thirds re14 ported increased need for such services. 

15 (10) School counseling programs are essential 

16 for students to achieve optimal personal growth, ac17 quire positive social skills and values, set appropriate 

18 career goals, and realize full academic potential to 

19 become productive, contributing members of the 

20 world community. 

21 (11) Seventy percent of children receiving serv22 ices from speech-language pathologists make 

23 progress in emergent literacy skills, and 75 percent 

24 make progress in word recognition, an important 

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1 room teachers report that students receiving these 

2 services show improved reading skills in the class3 room. 

4 (12) Use of creative arts therapies (including 

5 art therapy, dance/movement therapy, and music 

6 therapy) promote learning and skill acquisition (in7 cluding enhanced literacy skills), increased attention, 

8 improved behavior, increased socialization, improved 

9 receptive/expressive language, self-expression, and a 

10 more positive attitude for learning. 

11 (13) Ninety-seven percent of children in the 

12 United States spend their days at school. Therefore, 

13 the school can be an important site where health and 

14 education risks (such as depression, absenteeism, 

15 and substance use) may be identified and timely 

16 interventions initiated. 

17 (14) Whole-school interventions using positive 

18 behavior support have been shown to decrease be19 havior problems while improving academic perform20 ance, as measured by standardized tests in reading 

21 and mathematics. 

22 (15) Branches of Federal agencies need to re23 evaluate policies aimed at enhancing school-based 

24 mental health and become more proactive in pro25 viding leadership to achieve integrated, collaborative, 


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1 and effective programs aimed at improving the men2 tal health of America’s children. 

3 (16) Twenty percent of the 53 million children 

4 attending school in the United States will, at some 

5 point, meet the criteria for a diagnosable mental ill6 ness at a level of impairment that requires some 

7 type of intervention. Thus, there is the potential that 

8 over 10 million children will need some type of help 

9 to meet the goals relating to emotional well-being in 

10 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

11 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.). 

12 (17) More than three-quarters of schools have 

13 a coordinator of mental health and social services in 

14 the school; nearly two-thirds of school districts have 

15 a coordinator who serves this role; and one-half of 

16 the States have a coordinator of school mental 

17 health and social services. However, there is cur18 rently no person responsible for overseeing or pro19 moting these services and supports in the Depart20 ment of Education. 

21 SEC. 3. OFFICE OF SPECIALIZED INSTRUCTIONAL SUP22 PORT. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Department of Education 

24 Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3401 et seq.) is amended by 

25 redesignating sections 219 and 220 as sections 220 and 


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1 221, respectively, and by inserting after section 218 the 

2 following new section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 219. OFFICE OF SPECIALIZED INSTRUCTIONAL SUP4 PORT. 

5 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be, in the De6 partment, an Office of Specialized Instructional Support 

7 (referred to in this section as the ‘Office’). 

8 ‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.— 

9 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT AND REPORTING.—The Of10 fice shall be under the direction of the Director of 

11 Specialized Instructional Support who shall be ap12 pointed by the Secretary and who shall report di13 rectly to the Deputy Secretary. 

14 ‘‘(2) FUNCTIONS.—The Director of Specialized 

15 Instructional Support, through the Office, shall 

16 carry out the following activities: 

17 ‘‘(A) Improve specialized instructional sup18 port services in schools in order to better ad19 dress barriers to student learning and improve 

20 academic achievement and educational results 

21 for students. 

22 ‘‘(B) Identify scientifically based practices 

23 in specialized instructional support services that 

24 effectively address barriers to education and imVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:15 May 31, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1995.IH H1995

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1 prove both academic achievement and edu2 cational results for students. 

3 ‘‘(C) Provide continuous training and pro4 fessional development opportunities for special5 ized instructional support services personnel 

6 and other personnel in the use of effective tech7 niques to address academic, behavioral, and 

8 functional needs. 

9 ‘‘(D) Provide technical assistance to State 

10 specialized instructional support coordinators, if 

11 any, as well as to local and State educational 

12 agencies in the provision of effective, scientif13 ically based specialized instructional support 

14 services. 

15 ‘‘(E) Coordinate specialized instructional 

16 support services programs and services in 

17 schools between the Department and other Fed18 eral agencies, as appropriate.’’. 

19 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

20 for such Act is amended by redesignating the items relat21 ing to sections 219 and 220 as relating to sections 220 

22 and 221, respectively, and by inserting after the item re23 lating to section 218 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 219. Office of Specialized Instructional Support.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. GRANTS TO STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES TO RE2 DUCE BARRIERS TO LEARNING. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Elementary and 

4 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et 

5 seq.) is amended by redesignating part I as part J and 

6 by inserting after part H the following new part: 

7 ‘‘PART I—REDUCED BARRIERS TO LEARNING 

8 ‘‘SEC. 1901. PURPOSES. 

9 ‘‘The purposes of this part are— 

10 ‘‘(1) to build the capacity of States to identify 

11 and respond to the need for specialized instructional 

12 support services at the district level in order to pro13 mote student success for all students; 

14 ‘‘(2) to promote comprehensive and coordinated 

15 delivery of services within and across Federal, State, 

16 and local educational agencies and in collaboration 

17 with available community agencies supports and 

18 services; 

19 ‘‘(3) to promote evidenced-based practices that 

20 have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing barriers 

21 to learning and improving student outcomes; 

22 ‘‘(4) to monitor the access, use, availability, and 

23 adequacy of resources, services, and personnel de24 signed to specifically address barriers to learning at 

25 the district and individual school level; 


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1 ‘‘(5) to assist in the recruitment, retention, and 

2 adequate staffing of specialized instructional support 

3 services to meet the needs of students experiencing 

4 barriers to learning at the district and individual 

5 school level; and 

6 ‘‘(6) to improve shared accountability for stu7 dent outcomes by all school personnel. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 1902. GRANTS TO STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES. 

9 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award 

11 competitive grants under this part to State edu12 cational agencies— 

13 ‘‘(A) to establish or expand specialized in14 structional support services and programs at 

15 the State level that are designed to provide 

16 technical assistance, and coordinate and sup17 port specialized instructional support services 

18 and programs, for the purpose of addressing 

19 barriers to learning within local educational 

20 agencies and individual schools; and 

21 ‘‘(B) to hire and support specialized in22 structional support services coordinators to pro23 vide such assistance, coordination, and support. 

24 ‘‘(2) BARRIERS TO LEARNING.—For purposes 

25 of this part, the term ‘barriers to learning’ include 


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1 any social, emotional, behavioral, physical, environ2 mental, or academic factor that substantially inter3 feres with a student’s ability to achieve academically 

4 at proficient levels and successfully complete high 

5 school. Such factors may include acute or transi6 tional factors such as family conflict, homelessness, 

7 geographic relocation, grief and loss, emotional 

8 stress, mental or physical illness, or mild learning 

9 problems, and more chronic or severe factors com10 monly associated with a disability. 

11 ‘‘(b) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec12 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to applications that 

13 demonstrate— 

14 ‘‘(1) the greatest financial need based upon the 

15 number of students identified as requiring special16 ized instructional support services and programs in 

17 order to overcome barriers to learning and academic 

18 achievement; 

19 ‘‘(2) the greatest need based upon the limited 

20 amount of resources, services, or personnel (within 

21 local educational agencies and individual schools) 

22 available to specifically address barriers to learning 

23 and academic achievement; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) the greatest potential for program sustain2 ability following the completion of the grant’s dura3 tion. 

4 ‘‘(c) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—To be eligible to 

5 receive a grant under this section, a State educational 

6 agency shall provide non-Federal matching funds equal to 

7 not less than 50 percent of the amount of the grant. 

8 ‘‘(d) DURATION.—Grants under this section shall be 

9 awarded for a period of not more than 5 years. 

10 ‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—A State educational 

11 agency that receives a grant under this part may reserve 

12 not more than 15 percent of the grant funds for adminis13 trative expenses. 

14 ‘‘(f) SUPPLEMENT; NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds made 

15 available under this part shall be used to supplement, and 

16 not supplant, any other Federal, State, or local funds that 

17 would otherwise be available to carry out the activities as18 sisted under this part. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 1903. STATE APPLICATIONS. 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State educational agency 

21 seeking a grant under this part shall submit an application 

22 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accom23 panied by such information as the Secretary may require. 

24 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—Each application for a grant under 

25 this section shall also describe— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the needs of the State in meeting the pur2 poses of this part; 

3 ‘‘(2) if a State intends to hire a specialized in4 structional support services coordinator, the quali5 fications of the specialized instructional support 

6 services coordinators demonstrating that personnel 

7 are knowledgeable and experienced in school sys8 tems, operations, and the specific role and function 

9 of specialized instructional support services; 

10 ‘‘(3) the specific leadership activities to be per11 formed by the coordinators in order to address such 

12 purposes; 

13 ‘‘(4) the school population to be targeted for 

14 services by the specialized instructional support serv15 ices; 

16 ‘‘(5) the specific student outcomes expected as 

17 a result of delivering these services; 

18 ‘‘(6) the adequacy of staffing as compared to 

19 student needs for specialized instructional support 

20 services personnel, especially personnel representing 

21 diverse cultural populations; 

22 ‘‘(7) the proposed strategies for recruiting and 

23 retaining specialized instructional support services 

24 personnel, including professional development, men25 toring, and hiring incentives; 


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1 ‘‘(8) the methods to be used to evaluate the 

2 outcomes and effectiveness of the program; and 

3 ‘‘(9) how the State and local educational agen4 cies will involve community groups, social service 

5 agencies, and other public and private entities in co6 ordinated, collaborative efforts to reduce barriers to 

7 learning. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 1904. EVALUATION AND REPORTING. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall evaluate the 

10 programs assisted under this part. 

11 ‘‘(b) REPORTING.—Not later than 3 years after 

12 grants are awarded under this part to the State edu13 cational agencies, the Secretary shall make publicly avail14 able a report— 

15 ‘‘(1) detailing the results of the Secretary’s 

16 evaluation of each program assisted pursuant to a 

17 grant under this part; 

18 ‘‘(2) demonstrating how each State educational 

19 agency receiving a grant under this part reduced 

20 barriers to learning for students; and 

21 ‘‘(3) demonstrating how each State educational 

22 agency receiving a grant under this part improved 

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1 cial services agencies, or other public or private serv2 ice agencies working to reduce barriers to learning. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 1905. AUTHORIZATIONS. 

4 ‘‘There are authorized to carry out this part such 

5 sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2012 and each 

6 of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 

7 (b) REFERENCES TO PUBLIC SERVICES AND PER8 SONNEL.— 

9 (1) The Elementary and Secondary Education 

10 Act of 1965 is amended— 

11 (A) by striking ‘‘pupil services’’ each place 

12 it appears in sections 1114(b)(1)(B)(iii)(I)(aa), 

13 1416(4), and 4152(2) and inserting ‘‘special14 ized instructional support services’’, and 

15 (B) by striking ‘‘pupil services personnel’’ 

16 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘specialized 

17 instructional support personnel’’. 

18 (2) Paragraph (36) of section 9101 of such Act 

19 (20 U.S.C. 7801) is amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(36) SPECIALIZED INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT

21 PERSONNEL; SPECIALIZED INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT

22 SERVICES.— 

23 ‘‘(A) SPECIALIZED INSTRUCTIONAL SUP24 PORT PERSONNEL.—The term ‘specialized in25 structional support personnel’ means school 


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1 counselors, school social workers, school psy2 chologists, and other qualified professional per3 sonnel involved in providing assessment, diag4 nosis, counseling, educational, therapeutic, and 

5 other necessary services (including related serv6 ices as that term is defined in section 602 of 

7 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) 

8 as part of a comprehensive program to meet 

9 student needs. 

10 ‘‘(B) SPECIALIZED INSTRUCTIONAL SUP11 PORT SERVICES.—The term ‘specialized instruc12 tional support services’ means the services pro13 vided by specialized instructional support per14 sonnel.’’. 

15 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

16 (1) Sections 1901 through 1908 of part J of 

17 title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

18 Act of 1965 (as redesignated by subsection (a)) are 

19 redesignated as sections 1921 through 1928, respec20 tively. 

21 (2) The table of contents for the Elementary 

22 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended 

23 by striking the items relating to part I of title I and 

24 inserting the following new items: 

‘‘PART I—REDUCED BARRIERS TO LEARNING

‘‘Sec. 1901. Purposes. 


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‘‘Sec. 1902. Grants to State educational agencies. 

‘‘Sec. 1903. State applications. 

‘‘Sec. 1904. Evaluation and reporting. 

‘‘Sec. 1905. Authorizations. 

‘‘PART J—GENERAL PROVISIONS

‘‘Sec. 1921. Federal regulations. 

‘‘Sec. 1922. Agreements and records. 

‘‘Sec. 1923. State administration. 

‘‘Sec. 1924. Local educational agency spending audits. 

‘‘Sec. 1925. Prohibition against Federal mandates, direction, or control. 

‘‘Sec. 1926. Rule of construction on equalized spending. 

‘‘Sec. 1927. State report on dropout data. 

‘‘Sec. 1928. Regulations for sections 1111 and 1116.’’. 

1 (3) Section 1922 of such Act, as redesignated 

2 by paragraph (1), is amended by striking ‘‘1901’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘1921’’. 

4 (4) Paragraph (11) of section 1111(c) of such 

5 Act is amended by striking ‘‘1903(b)’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘1923(b)’’. 

Æ 


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