II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3171 

To ensure that Federal work-study funding is available for students enrolled 

in residency programs for teachers, principals, or school leaders, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 4, 2021 

Mr. KENNEDY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To ensure that Federal work-study funding is available for 

students enrolled in residency programs for teachers, 

principals, or school leaders, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Teacher, Principal, 

5 and Leader Residency Access Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Across the United States, local educational 

9 agencies and elementary schools and secondary 


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1 schools are struggling to meet the growing demand 

2 for qualified teachers. In 2017–18, more than 

3 100,000 classrooms in the United States were 

4 staffed by instructors who were unqualified to teach. 

5 These classrooms are disproportionately located in 

6 low-income, high-minority schools, although schools 

7 of every kind have been affected by a lack of quali8 fied applicants in key subjects, including mathe9 matics, special education, science, world languages, 

10 career and technical education, and teachers of 

11 English learners. 

12 (2) Teacher shortages are in significant part 

13 driven by teacher turnover. Research shows that 

14 teacher turnover is higher for those who enter the 

15 profession without adequate preparation. Teachers 

16 who enter the profession through a comprehensive, 

17 high-quality program with student teaching, formal 

18 feedback on their teaching, and multiple courses in 

19 student learning, as required in high-quality teach20 ing residency programs, are more likely to remain in 

21 the profession compared to teachers who enter 

22 through a route that lacks these components. Not 

23 only are under-prepared teachers less effective on 

24 average, they are also 2 to 3 times more likely to 

25 leave teaching than fully prepared teachers. 


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1 (3) Teacher shortages and teacher turnover are 

2 costly. Each time a teacher leaves a school, it not 

3 only increases demand but also imposes replacement 

4 costs on the local educational agency, which range 

5 from $9,000 per teacher in small, rural local edu6 cational agencies to more than $20,000 in large, 

7 urban local educational agencies. The national price 

8 tag of replacement costs for teachers is more than 

9 $8,000,000,000 a year. 

10 (4) Teaching residency programs, which recruit 

11 candidates to work as paid apprentices to skilled ex12 pert teachers while completing highly integrated 

13 coursework, have been successful in recruiting tal14 ented, diverse candidates into high-need fields and 

15 local educational agencies. 

16 (5) Research on teaching residency programs 

17 shows that such programs are effective in bringing 

18 more teachers of color into the profession and in 

19 preparing such teachers to stay for the long term. In 

20 the United States, about 49 percent of individuals in 

21 teaching residency programs are students of color, 

22 and the same percentage of public school students 

23 are people of color, but only 20 percent of teachers 

24 are people of color. 


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1 (6) The teaching residency program model cre2 ates long-term benefits for local educational agen3 cies, schools, and for the students served by such 

4 agencies and schools. Rigorous studies of teaching 

5 residency programs have found significantly higher 

6 retention rates for graduates of teaching residency 

7 programs, addressing one of the primary contribu8 tors to teacher shortages, as well as positive evidence 

9 about educator effectiveness. 

10 (7) A review of teaching residency program 

11 evaluations shows that teachers who completed high12 quality teaching residency programs tend to have 

13 higher teaching retention rates over time compared 

14 to teachers who did not complete such programs, in15 cluding— 

16 (A) in San Francisco, where 80 percent of 

17 candidates completing a teaching residency pro18 gram were still in the classroom after 5 years, 

19 compared to 38 percent of candidates who en20 tered the classroom through a different route; 

21 (B) in Boston, where teaching residents 

22 participating in the Boston Teacher Residency 

23 program had higher retention rates compared 

24 to teachers who were not teaching residents, 

25 with 80 percent of residents still teaching in 


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1 Boston Public schools for a third year, com2 pared to 63 percent of teachers who were not 

3 teaching residents, and 75 percent of teaching 

4 residents still teaching for a fifth year, com5 pared to 51 percent of teachers who were not 

6 teaching residents; and 

7 (C) in Tennessee, where 95 percent of 

8 Memphis Teacher Residency program partici9 pants were still teaching for a third year, com10 pared with 41 percent of teachers statewide. 

11 (8) Additional studies of teaching residency pro12 grams show similarly high retention rates of grad13 uates, ranging from 80 percent to 90 percent teach14 ing in the same district after 3 years, and 70 per15 cent to 80 percent teaching in the same district after 

16 5 years. 

17 (9) According to data from the San Francisco 

18 Unified School District, principals find graduates of 

19 teaching residency programs to be well prepared, 

20 and in many cases to be better prepared than new 

21 teachers who were not in teaching residency pro22 grams. Research also shows that teaching residents 

23 strengthen schools across the country by reducing 

24 teacher shortages and providing local educational 


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1 agencies with a more sustainable educator work2 force. 

3 (10) In 2019, there were at least 50 teaching 

4 residency programs nationwide, each of which range 

5 in size from 5 to 100 teaching residents per year. 

6 Several States, including California, Colorado, Geor7 gia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, New Mexico, Penn8 sylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia, are 

9 supporting teaching residency programs through re10 gional network partnerships that regularly bring to11 gether leadership from across local educational agen12 cies and preparation programs to share knowledge 

13 and develop more enduring and reciprocal relation14 ships between such agencies. 

15 (11) Teaching residency programs align with 

16 the purpose of the Federal Work-Study Program to 

17 provide valuable work experience and work related to 

18 a student’s course of study and intended profession. 

19 Further, the Federal Work-Study Program priori20 tizes teaching reading based on scientifically based 

21 research on reading, a feature consistent with efforts 

22 in teaching residency programs to equip all new 

23 teachers, regardless of subject area, with the skills 

24 to support reading and literacy skills for all stu25 dents. 


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1 (12) According to a recent report by the George 

2 W. Bush Institute on principal talent management, 

3 preparing successful principals requires new, com4 prehensive approaches by school districts, univer5 sities, States, and others who pull together to train 

6 and support principals. Thoughtfully designed and 

7 implemented principal residency programs can be a 

8 powerful piece of this comprehensive and collabo9 rative approach to training future educational lead10 ership. 

11 (13) Residencies for aspiring school principals 

12 are a promising approach to initiate principal can13 didates into school leadership practice and have be14 come a part of some comprehensive principal prepa15 ration programs over the past 20 years. Principal 

16 residencies reinvent the traditional internship experi17 ence, which has often been the capstone experience 

18 in principal preparation. Residency immerses prin19 cipal candidates in rigorous apprenticeship experi20 ences that are designed to advance leadership and 

21 management practices, as well as emphasize data 

22 analysis, action, reflection, and accountability. 


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1 SEC. 3. FEDERAL WORK-STUDY FOR RESIDENCY PRO2 GRAMS FOR TEACHERS, PRINCIPALS, AND 

3 OTHER SCHOOL LEADERS. 

4 Section 443 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

5 U.S.C. 1087–53) is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (d)— 

7 (A) in the header, by inserting ‘‘SCHOOL8 BASED’’ before ‘‘TUTORING’’; 

9 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

10 (i) by striking ‘‘tutoring in reading’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘school-based activities, in12 cluding residency programs, tutoring in 

13 reading,’’; and 

14 (ii) by striking subparagraphs (A) and 

15 (B) and inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘(A) employed— 

17 ‘‘(i) as reading tutors for children who 

18 are preschool age or are in elementary 

19 school; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) in family literacy projects; or 

21 ‘‘(B) serving in a residency program of the 

22 institution.’’; and 

23 (C) in paragraph (2)— 

24 (i) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by strik25 ing ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 


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1 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

2 the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (iii) by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(C) ensure that any student compensated 

6 with the funds described in paragraph (1) who 

7 is serving in a residency program receives com8 pensation for time spent in training and travel 

9 directly related to such residency.’’; and 

10 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(f) RESIDENCY PROGRAMS FOR TEACHERS, PRIN12 CIPALS, AND OTHER SCHOOL LEADERS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds granted to an in14 stitution under this section may be used to support 

15 students serving in residency programs, including 

16 compensation for time spent in training and travel 

17 directly related to such residency. 

18 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—An institution shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) give priority to students who are serv20 ing in a residency program and who have been 

21 determined to be eligible for a Federal Pell 

22 Grant under section 401; and 

23 ‘‘(B) ensure that any student compensated 

24 with the funds described in paragraph (1) for 

25 a residency program receives appropriate trainVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:28 Nov 05, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3171.IS S3171

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1 ing to acquire teaching skills or school leader 

2 skills. 

3 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 

4 the compensation of work-study students com5 pensated under this subsection may exceed 75 per6 cent. 

7 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

8 ‘‘(A) RESIDENCY PROGRAM.—The term 

9 ‘residency program’ means a school-based edu10 cator preparation program in which a prospec11 tive teacher, principal, or other school leader— 

12 ‘‘(i) for 1 academic year, works along13 side a mentor teacher, principal, or other 

14 school leader who is— 

15 ‘‘(I) the teacher of record; or 

16 ‘‘(II) rated as effective or above 

17 in the State’s school leader evaluation 

18 and support system (as described in 

19 section 2101(c)(4)(B)(ii) of the Ele20 mentary and Secondary Education 

21 Act of 1965) or, if no such ratings are 

22 available, on other comparable indica23 tors of performance; 

24 ‘‘(ii) receives concurrent instruction 

25 during the year described in clause (i) 


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1 from the institution, which may be courses 

2 taught by local educational agency per3 sonnel or residency program faculty, in, as 

4 applicable— 

5 ‘‘(I) the teaching of the content 

6 area in which the teacher will become 

7 certified or licensed; 

8 ‘‘(II) teaching skills; and 

9 ‘‘(III) leadership, management, 

10 organizational, and school leader skills 

11 necessary to serve as a principal or 

12 other school leader; 

13 ‘‘(iii) acquires effective teaching skills 

14 or school leader skills; and 

15 ‘‘(iv) prior to completion of the pro16 gram, attains full State teacher, principal, 

17 or school leader certification or licensure, 

18 and becomes profession-ready. 

19 ‘‘(B) PROFESSION-READY.—The term ‘pro20 fession-ready’— 

21 ‘‘(i) when used with respect to a 

22 teacher, means a teacher who— 

23 ‘‘(I) has completed a teacher 

24 preparation program and is fully cer25 tified and licensed to teach by the 


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1 State in which the teacher is em2 ployed; 

3 ‘‘(II) has a baccalaureate degree 

4 or higher; 

5 ‘‘(III) has demonstrated content 

6 knowledge in the subject or subjects 

7 the teacher teaches; 

8 ‘‘(IV) has demonstrated the abil9 ity to work with students who are cul10 turally and linguistically diverse; 

11 ‘‘(V) has demonstrated teaching 

12 skills, such as through— 

13 ‘‘(aa) a teacher performance 

14 assessment; or 

15 ‘‘(bb) other measures of 

16 teaching skills, as determined by 

17 the State; and 

18 ‘‘(VI) has demonstrated pro19 ficiency with the use of educational 

20 technology; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) when used with respect to a prin22 cipal or other school leader, means a prin23 cipal or other school leader who— 

24 ‘‘(I) has an advanced degree, or 

25 other appropriate credential; 


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1 ‘‘(II) has completed a principal 

2 or other school leader preparation 

3 process and is fully certified and li4 censed by the State in which the prin5 cipal or other school leader is em6 ployed; 

7 ‘‘(III) has demonstrated instruc8 tional leadership, including the ability 

9 to collect, analyze, and utilize data on 

10 evidence of student learning and evi11 dence of classroom practice; 

12 ‘‘(IV) has demonstrated pro13 ficiency in professionally recognized 

14 leadership standards; and 

15 ‘‘(V) has demonstrated the ability 

16 to work with students who are cul17 turally and linguistically diverse. 

18 ‘‘(C) SCHOOL LEADER.—The term ‘school 

19 leader’ has the meaning given the term in sec20 tion 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 

21 Education Act of 1965. 

22 ‘‘(D) SCHOOL LEADER SKILLS.—The term 

23 ‘school leader skills’ refers to evidenced-based 

24 competencies for principals and other school 

25 leaders, such as— 


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1 ‘‘(i) shaping a vision of academic suc2 cess for all students; 

3 ‘‘(ii) creating a safe and inclusive 

4 learning environment; 

5 ‘‘(iii) cultivating leadership in others; 

6 ‘‘(iv) improving instruction; and 

7 ‘‘(v) managing people, data, and proc8 esses to foster school improvement. 

9 ‘‘(E) TEACHING SKILLS.—The term 

10 ‘teaching skills’ has the meaning given the term 

11 in section 200.’’. 

Æ 


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