I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5172 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 28, 2010 

Mr. SARBANES (for himself, Mr. POLIS of Colorado, and Ms. FUDGE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

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. 

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 ‘‘Instructional Leader5 ship Act of 2009’’. 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 5172 IH

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) A school principal is expected to be an in4 structional leader, meaning the principal must pos5 ses the knowledge and instructional skills to guide 

6 teaching and learning in a school. 

7 (2) There is a clear intention within the amend8 ments made by the No Child Left Behind Act of 

9 2001 to the Elementary and Secondary Education 

10 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) that principals 

11 become instructional leaders. Section 2113(c) of the 

12 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

13 (20 U.S.C. 6613(c)) calls for principals to have— 

14 (A) ‘‘the instructional leadership skills to 

15 help teachers teach and students learn’’; 

16 (B) and ‘‘to help students meet challenging 

17 State student academic achievement stand18 ards’’. 

19 (3) Despite this recognition of the importance 

20 of instructional leadership, adequate attention and 

21 resources have not been committed to training and 

22 supporting school principals— 

23 (A) in meeting the standards of instruc24 tional leadership in States where such stand25 ards exist; and 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 5172 IH

1 (B) in developing such standards in States 

2 where such standards do not exist. 

3 (4) Licensure of school principals typically does 

4 not give adequate emphasis to instructional leader5 ship skills in the certification process. 

6 (5) The term ‘‘highly qualified principal’’ added 

7 by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 to the Ele8 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

9 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) should be defined in such Act 

10 to include a strong emphasis on instructional leader11 ship. 

12 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP. 

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

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

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

16 by inserting after part H the following new part: 

17 ‘‘PART I—INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP 

18 ‘‘SEC. 1851. COMPETITIVE GRANTS. 

19 ‘‘(a) GRANTS TO DEVELOP INNOVATIVE PROGRAMS

20 AND SITES.—From the amounts made available under 

21 subsection (h), the Secretary shall make grants, on a com22 petitive basis, to eligible entities to develop and implement 

23 innovative programs and sites (such as leadership develop24 ment schools) to train school principals in instructional 

25 leadership skills, including skills relating to— 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 5172 IH

1 ‘‘(1) effective instructional practices; 

2 ‘‘(2) facilitating the development of a school vi3 sion; 

4 ‘‘(3) providing on-going learning and profes5 sional development opportunities for school staff, in6 cluding teachers; 

7 ‘‘(4) monitoring the alignment of curriculum, 

8 instruction, and assessment; 

9 ‘‘(5) improving instructional practices through 

10 the purposeful observation and evaluation of teach11 ers; 

12 ‘‘(6) ensuring the regular integration of assess13 ments appropriate to the needs of students into daily 

14 classroom instruction; 

15 ‘‘(7) using technology and multiple sources of 

16 data to improve classroom instruction; 

17 ‘‘(8) providing staff with focused, sustained, re18 search-based professional development; and 

19 ‘‘(9) engaging all community stakeholders in a 

20 shared responsibility for student and school success. 

21 ‘‘(b) GRANTS FOR PILOT PROGRAMS.—In addition to 

22 the grants made under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

23 make grants, on a competitive basis, to State educational 

24 agencies, or to partnerships or consortia that include State 

25 educational agencies, to develop and implement pilot proVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:17 Apr 29, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5172.IH H5172

tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 5172 IH

1 grams designed to evaluate and promote the incorporation 

2 of standards of instructional leadership into State prin3 cipal certification or licensing requirements. 

4 ‘‘(c) DURATION.—A grant made under this section 

5 shall be awarded for a period of 2 years, and may be re6 newed for a period of 2 additional years. 

7 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity desiring a to 

8 receive grant under this section shall submit an applica9 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

10 containing such information as the Secretary may require. 

11 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—For purposes of this sec12 tion, the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 

13 ‘‘(1) a State educational agency; 

14 ‘‘(2) a local educational agency; 

15 ‘‘(3) a nonprofit organization (such as a State 

16 principal association); 

17 ‘‘(4) an institution of higher education; and 

18 ‘‘(5) a partnership or consortium that includes 

19 at least 1 of the entities described in paragraphs (1) 

20 through (4). 

21 ‘‘(f) REPORT.—A recipient of a grant under this sec22 tion shall submit to the Secretary a report describing the 

23 results of its activities funded by such grant. Such report 

24 shall be submitted at such time, in such manner, and conVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:17 Apr 29, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5172.IH H5172

tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 5172 IH

1 taining such additional information as the Secretary may 

2 require. 

3 ‘‘(g) REVISED CONCEPT OF HIGHLY QUALIFIED

4 PRINCIPAL.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Based on the reports sub6 mitted pursuant to subsection (f), the Secretary 

7 shall, by regulation, establish a definition of ‘highly8 qualified principal’ that emphasizes standards of in9 structional leadership. 

10 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing such a 

11 definition, the Secretary shall give consideration to 

12 the need for principals to— 

13 ‘‘(A) demonstrate the knowledge, skills, 

14 and attitudes needed to effectively lead teaching 

15 and learning in schools; 

16 ‘‘(B) engage in continuous professional de17 velopment, utilizing a combination of academic 

18 study, developmental simulation exercises, self19 reflection, mentorship, and internship; and 

20 ‘‘(C) demonstrate the capacity to lead the 

21 establishment and maintenance of a profes22 sional learning community that effectively uses 

23 real time data, including State academic assess24 ments described in section 1111(b)(3), that in25 form instruction, focus review, and target remeVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:17 Apr 29, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5172.IH H5172

tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 5172 IH

1 diation for the purposes of ensuring standards 

2 and course content mastery, and personalized 

3 instruction for every student. 

4 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

5 carry out this section, there are authorized to be appro6 priated $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2010 and such sums 

7 as may be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal 

8 years.’’. 

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

10 for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

11 is amended by redesignating the item relating to part I 

12 of title I as relating to part J and by inserting before such 

13 item the following: 

‘‘PART I—INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP’’. 

Sec. 1851. Competitive grants. 

14 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHING STATE-OF-THE-ART PRINCIPAL IN15 DUCTION PROGRAMS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Elementary and 

17 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 et 

18 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘PART E—ESTABLISHING STATE-OF-THE-ART 

20 PRINCIPAL INDUCTION PROGRAMS 

21 ‘‘SEC. 2501. COMPETITIVE GRANTS. 

22 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.—From the amounts made available to 

23 carry out this section, the Secretary may make grants, on 

24 a competitive basis, to States and eligible local educational 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 5172 IH

1 agencies for the purpose of developing state-of-the-art 

2 principal induction programs. 

3 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—In 

4 this section, the term ‘eligible local educational agency’ 

5 means— 

6 ‘‘(1) a high-need local educational agency (as 

7 such term is defined in section 2102(3)); or 

8 ‘‘(2) a partnership of a high-need local edu9 cational agency; and— 

10 ‘‘(A) an institution of higher education; 

11 ‘‘(B) a principal organization; or 

12 ‘‘(C) any other nonprofit education organi13 zation. 

14 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—A State or an eligible local 

15 educational agency that receives a grant under subsection 

16 (a) shall use the funds made available through the grant 

17 to develop a state-of-the-art principal induction program 

18 that— 

19 ‘‘(1) provides new principals a minimum of 3 

20 years of extensive, high-quality, comprehensive in21 duction into the field of school administration; and 

22 ‘‘(2) includes— 

23 ‘‘(A) structured mentoring from highly 

24 qualified master or mentor principal who are 

25 certified, have school administration experience 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 5172 IH

1 in a school similar to the school of the new 

2 principal, and are trained to mentor new prin3 cipals; 

4 ‘‘(B) at least 90 minutes each week of 

5 common meeting time for a new principal to ad6 ministrative and leadership tasks under the di7 rector of a master or mentor principal; 

8 ‘‘(C) regular observation by a master or 

9 mentor principal in the new principal’s school; 

10 ‘‘(D) observation by the new principal of 

11 the master or mentor principal’s classroom; 

12 ‘‘(E) intensive professional development ac13 tivities for new principals that result in im14 proved instructional leadership and student 

15 achievement, including— 

16 ‘‘(i) lesson demonstration by master 

17 and mentor principals in the classroom; 

18 ‘‘(ii) observation by such master and 

19 mentor principals; and 

20 ‘‘(iii) feedback by such master and 

21 mentor principals; 

22 ‘‘(F) observation by new principals of at 

23 least 3 principals and feedback (that uses re24 search-validated benchmarks of leadership skills 

25 and standards that are developed with input 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 5172 IH

1 from principals) at least 4 times each school 

2 year by multiple evaluators, including master 

3 and mentor principals; 

4 ‘‘(G) paid release time for the mentor prin5 cipal for mentoring, or salary supplements 

6 under section 2502 for mentoring new prin7 cipals at a ratio of one full-time mentor to every 

8 12 new principals; 

9 ‘‘(H) a transition year for new principals 

10 to the school that includes a reduced workload 

11 for such principals; and 

12 ‘‘(I) a standards-based assessment, which 

13 may include examination of practice and a 

14 measure of gains in student learning, of every 

15 new principal to determine whether the prin16 cipal should move forward in the school admin17 istration profession. 

18 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

20 necessary to carry out this section.’’. 

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

22 for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

23 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

24 2441 the following: 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 5172 IH

‘‘PART E—ESTABLISHING STATE-OF-THE-ART PRINCIPAL INDUCTION

PROGRAMS’’. 

Sec. 2501. Competitive grants. 

Æ 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS