I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5218 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide 

for school improvement and professional development for teachers, principals, instructional staff, and other school leaders, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 5, 2010 

Mr. POLIS of Colorado (for himself, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. CARNAHAN, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK

of Arizona, Ms. NORTON, and Ms. RICHARDSON) 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 to provide for school improvement and professional development for teachers, principals, instructional 

staff, and other 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 ‘‘Great Teachers for 

5 Great Schools Act of 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REFERENCES. 

2 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 

3 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 

4 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi5 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 

6 section or other provision of the Elementary and Sec7 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.). 

8 SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

9 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 

10 (1) Teacher quality is the single most important 

11 factor influencing student learning and achievement. 

12 (2) Studies have found that 40 to 90 percent of 

13 the difference in student test scores can be attrib14 uted to teacher quality. 

15 (3) Principal leadership is second only to class16 room instruction in terms of school-related factors 

17 which affect student learning, especially in high18 needs schools. 

19 (4) Available experimental studies indicate that 

20 there is a direct correlation between professional de21 velopment and student performance. A set of pro22 grams that offered substantial professional develop23 ment, ranging from 30 to 100 hours in total, spread 

24 over six to 12 months, showed a positive and signifi25 cant effect on student achievement gains. According 

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1 ment efforts that offered an average of 49 hours in 

2 a year boosted student performance by approxi3 mately 21 percentile points. 

4 (5) Studies that benchmark United States aca5 demic performance against that of other developed 

6 nations have stressed the importance of and need for 

7 improved professional development, for example as 

8 follows: 

9 (A) For professional development, Finland 

10 relies on a system wherein students are trained 

11 from a young age in the skills required for 

12 classroom success. These skills are bolstered in 

13 the workplace through an organizational struc14 ture that promotes entrepreneurship, daily 

15 learning, and continual professional develop16 ment. 

17 (B) Japan’s focus on continually building 

18 content knowledge, intrinsic capabilities, and 

19 pedagogical knowledge—especially amongst 

20 young teachers—has yielded massive edu21 cational success for the country. They imple22 ment a nationally practiced system of ‘‘guidance 

23 teachers’’ and ‘‘trainee teachers’’ which encour24 age one-on-one coaching and an intense com25 mitment to professional development. 


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1 (C) After experiencing unsatisfactory 

2 progress in literacy and mathematics for nearly 

3 50 years, England pursued a national teacher 

4 training program that employed best practice 

5 techniques. After three years, England in6 creased the number of students meeting the 

7 target standards in literacy from 63 percent to 

8 75 percent. 

9 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to build 

10 the capacity of teachers and principals in our Nation’s 

11 schools through systematic, sustained, coherent school and 

12 team-based, job-embedded professional development. 

13 SEC. 4. SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT. 

14 Section 1003(g)(5) (20 U.S.C. 6303(g)(5)) is amend15 ed— 

16 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

17 after the semicolon; 

18 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period 

19 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

20 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(D) permitted to be used to supplement 

22 the activities required under section 2501.’’. 

23 SEC. 5. LOCAL SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT. 

24 Title II (20 U.S.C. 6601 et seq.) is amended by add25 ing at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘PART E—BUILDING SCHOOL CAPACITY FOR 

2 EFFECTIVE TEACHING 

3 ‘‘SEC. 2501. LOCAL SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES. 

4 ‘‘(a) SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN5 CIES.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall allot 

7 the amount made available to carry out this part for 

8 a fiscal year among the State educational agencies 

9 in proportion to the amounts received by the States 

10 under title I for such year. 

11 ‘‘(2) USE OF ALLOTMENT.—A State edu12 cational agency that receives an allotment under this 

13 part shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) reserve 95 percent of the fund to 

15 make subgrants to local educational agencies; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(B) use the remainder of the funds for 

18 administrative activities in carrying out this 

19 part. 

20 ‘‘(3) PROPORTIONALITY.—To the extent prac21 ticable, the Secretary shall ensure that subgrants 

22 awarded under this part are equitably distributed 

23 among local educational agencies and serving urban 

24 and rural areas. 


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1 ‘‘(b) FIRST AWARD.—In awarding subgrants under 

2 this part, a State educational agency shall first award 

3 grants to local educational agencies— 

4 ‘‘(1) that demonstrate the greatest need for dis5 trict and school improvement subgrant funds; 

6 ‘‘(2) in which the average graduation rates are 

7 less than 65 percent, if applicable; and 

8 ‘‘(3) in which children eligible for free and re9 duced priced lunches under the Richard B. Russell 

10 National School Lunch Act constitute not less than 

11 40 percent of the total population of children aged 

12 5 to 17 served by the agency. 

13 ‘‘(c) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY APPLICATION.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

15 subgrant under this part, a local educational agency 

16 shall submit an application to the State educational 

17 agency at such time, in such manner, and containing 

18 such information as the State educational agency 

19 may reasonably require. 

20 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

21 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include— 

22 ‘‘(A) a description of how the local edu23 cational agency will assist schools identified 

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1 ondary schools with graduation rates less than 

2 65 percent, in— 

3 ‘‘(i) implementing high-impact profes4 sional development; 

5 ‘‘(ii) providing protected release time 

6 for high-impact professional development 

7 that occurs not less than multiple times 

8 per week; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) using teaching standards, form10 ative assessments, teacher portfolio proc11 esses, evidence-based instructional prac12 tices, and teacher development protocols; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(B) a description of how the local edu15 cational agency will— 

16 ‘‘(i) evaluate the effectiveness of the 

17 programs and assistance provided under 

18 subsection (d) and pursuant to subsection 

19 (e); 

20 ‘‘(ii) prepare, support, and utilize in21 ternal teacher leaders, coaches, or content 

22 experts to facilitate school-based profes23 sional development; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) ensure that the professional de25 velopment required under subsection (d) is 


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1 integrated and aligned with the State’s 

2 school improvement efforts under sections 

3 1116 and 1117. 

4 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency 

6 that receives a subgrant under this part shall use 

7 the subgrant funds to improve teacher, principal, 

8 and other instructional staff quality through a com9 prehensive system of professional development (as 

10 defined in section 9101(34))— 

11 ‘‘(A) to increase principals’, coaches’, and 

12 teacher leaders’ knowledge and skills in— 

13 ‘‘(i) assisting the school to— 

14 ‘‘(I) clarify school improvement 

15 goals; 

16 ‘‘(II) train educators in analyzing 

17 school and student data to inform de18 cisionmaking and improvement ef19 forts; 

20 ‘‘(III) develop and implement 

21 professional development aligned with 

22 student achievement needs and educa23 tor learning goals; 

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1 sources and help develop the revised 

2 plan as related to the professional de3 velopment required under section 

4 1116(b); 

5 ‘‘(V) select and implement strate6 gies and interventions to improve stu7 dent achievement, increase teacher 

8 and school leader effectiveness, in9 crease graduation rates, and ensure 

10 students graduate prepared for suc11 cess in college and careers; 

12 ‘‘(VI) make available opportuni13 ties for individual and team learning 

14 activities that focus on increasing ped15 agogical and content knowledge in 

16 academic subjects that are aligned to 

17 student learning goals; and 

18 ‘‘(VII) design, create, and evalu19 ate the results of curriculum-based di20 agnostic and performance assess21 ments; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) utilizing internal teacher leaders, 

23 coaches, or content experts to— 

24 ‘‘(I) support classroom learning; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(II) facilitate effective collabora2 tion skills across learning communities 

3 and transfer knowledge from peers 

4 teaching and leading at high-per5 forming schools; 

6 ‘‘(B) to increase principals’ knowledge and 

7 skills necessary for leading effective professional 

8 learning, including— 

9 ‘‘(i) establishing a shared vision of 

10 school success among all school stake11 holders, including teachers, parents, com12 munity organizations and related stake13 holders by— 

14 ‘‘(I) seeking leadership contribu15 tions from parents, community orga16 nizations, and other school stake17 holders; 

18 ‘‘(II) actively engaging the com19 munity to create shared responsibility 

20 for student and school success; and 

21 ‘‘(III) engaging in partnerships 

22 between elementary schools, secondary 

23 schools, and institutes of higher edu24 cation to ensure the vertical alignment 

25 of student learning outcomes; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) establishing the school as a pro2 fessional learning community in which— 

3 ‘‘(I) there is a culture of contin4 uous learning for adults that is tied to 

5 student learning and school goals; 

6 ‘‘(II) there is time for team col7 laboration focused on evaluating and 

8 improving instructional practice; 

9 ‘‘(III) educators are able to ana10 lyze and use data to drive instruction; 

11 ‘‘(IV) professional development is 

12 evaluated and connected to all of the 

13 school learning goals; and 

14 ‘‘(V) members of the faculty en15 gage in leadership roles that con16 tribute to school improvement efforts; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(iii) promoting the effective use of 

19 data by educators, including— 

20 ‘‘(I) the use of multiple data 

21 sources as diagnostic tools to identify 

22 barriers to student success and drive 

23 instructional improvement; 

24 ‘‘(II) the review and analysis of 

25 student work to determine whether 


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1 students are being taught to State 

2 academic content and achievement 

3 standards; and 

4 ‘‘(III) the use of classroom obser5 vations to ensure that all students are 

6 provided meaningful learning opportu7 nities that promote active engage8 ment; and 

9 ‘‘(IV) supporting a standards10 aligned academic instructional pro11 gram that sets rigorous goals for each 

12 student, and a school culture that al13 lows for and encourages students to 

14 reach those goals through ensuring 

15 that learning is aligned to established 

16 State academic standards by— 

17 ‘‘(aa) ensuring that State 

18 academic content standards serve 

19 as the basis for the creation of 

20 curriculum and instruction; and 

21 ‘‘(bb) monitoring and ad22 justing the alignment of stand23 ards, curriculum, assessments, 

24 and instruction; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) for coaches, principals, and adminis2 trators that— 

3 ‘‘(i) supports coaches in responding to 

4 developmental and contextual needs and 

5 promotes the ongoing examination of class6 room practice; 

7 ‘‘(ii) assists coaches in the collection 

8 and sharing of observation data to help 

9 teachers improve their practice; 

10 ‘‘(iii) provides coaches with strategies 

11 for helping teachers identify student needs, 

12 plan for differentiated instruction, and en13 sure equitable learning outcomes; 

14 ‘‘(iv) supports the coaches in coaching 

15 strategically and finding solutions to chal16 lenging situations; and 

17 ‘‘(v) helps coaches bring teachers to18 gether for meaningful and responsive 

19 team-based learning. 

20 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE.—A local educational agen21 cy that receives a subgrant under this part shall use 

22 not less than 10 percent of the subgrant funds for 

23 professional development for principals. 

24 ‘‘(e) EVALUATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The professional develop2 ment program required under subsection (d) shall 

3 include a formal evaluation system to determine the 

4 effectiveness of the program on not less than— 

5 ‘‘(A) teacher instructional practice; 

6 ‘‘(B) student learning gains; 

7 ‘‘(C) teacher retention; 

8 ‘‘(D) student graduation and college readi9 ness rates, as applicable; 

10 ‘‘(E) student attendance rates; and 

11 ‘‘(F) teacher efficacy. 

12 ‘‘(2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY AND

13 SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS.—The formal evaluation 

14 system described in paragraph (1) shall also meas15 ure the local educational agency’s and school’s effec16 tiveness in— 

17 ‘‘(A) ensuring that school protected release 

18 time for professional development occurs not 

19 less than multiple times per week; 

20 ‘‘(B) implementing on-going, research21 based professional development for coaches, 

22 principals, and administrators; 

23 ‘‘(C) ensuring that coaches, teachers, and 

24 schools are using data to inform instructional 

25 practices; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) ensuring that the professional devel2 opment required under subsection (d) is inte3 grated and aligned with the State’s school im4 provement efforts under sections 1116 and 

5 1117. 

6 ‘‘(3) CONDUCT OF EVALUATION.—The evalua7 tion described in subsection (e)(1) shall be con8 ducted by the State, local educational agencies, insti9 tutions of higher education, or an external agency 

10 that is experienced in conducting qualitative re11 search, and shall be developed in collaboration with 

12 groups such as— 

13 ‘‘(A) experienced educators with track 

14 records of success in the classroom; 

15 ‘‘(B) institutions of higher education in16 volved with teacher induction and professional 

17 development located within the State; and 

18 ‘‘(C) local teacher organizations. 

19 ‘‘(f) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The assistance required 

20 to be provided under subsection (d) may be provided— 

21 ‘‘(1) by the local educational agency; or 

22 ‘‘(2) by the local educational agency, in collabo23 ration with the State educational agency, an institu24 tion of higher education, a nonprofit organization, a 

25 teacher organization, an educational service agency, 


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1 a teaching residency program, or another for profit 

2 or nonprofit with experience in helping schools im3 prove student achievement. 

4 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

5 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

6 $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2010 and such sums as may 

7 be necessary for each succeeding fiscal year. 

8 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) GRADUATION RATE.—The term ‘gradua10 tion rate’ has the meaning given the term in section 

11 1111(b)(2)(C)(vi), as clarified in section 

12 200.19(b)(1) of title 34, Code of Federal Regula13 tions. 

14 ‘‘(2) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

15 ‘local educational agency’— 

16 ‘‘(A) shall have the meaning given such 

17 term in section 9101; 

18 ‘‘(B) shall include any public charter 

19 school that constitutes a local educational agen20 cy under State law; and 

21 ‘‘(C) shall include a consortium of local 

22 educational agencies acting together.’’. 

23 SEC. 6. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DEFINED. 

24 Section 9101(34) (20 U.S.C. 7801(34)) is amended 

25 to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(34) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.—The 

2 term ‘professional development’ means a comprehen3 sive, sustained, and intensive approach to improving 

4 teachers’ and principals’ effectiveness in raising stu5 dent achievement that— 

6 ‘‘(A) fosters collective responsibility for im7 proved student performance; 

8 ‘‘(B) is comprised of professional learning 

9 that— 

10 ‘‘(i) is aligned with rigorous State stu11 dent academic achievement standards as 

12 well as related local educational agency 

13 and school improvement goals; 

14 ‘‘(ii) is conducted among educators at 

15 the school and facilitated by well-prepared 

16 school principals and school-based profes17 sional development coaches, mentors, mas18 ter teachers, or other teacher leaders; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) primarily occurs several times 

20 per week among established teams of 

21 teachers, principals, and other instruc22 tional staff members where the teams of 

23 educators engage in a continuous cycle of 

24 improvement that— 


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1 ‘‘(I) evaluates student, teacher, 

2 and school learning needs through a 

3 thorough review of data on teacher 

4 and student performance; 

5 ‘‘(II) defines a clear set of educa6 tor learning goals based on the rig7 orous analysis of the data; 

8 ‘‘(III) achieves the educator 

9 learning goals based identified in sub10 clause (II) by implementing coherent, 

11 sustained, and evidence-based learning 

12 strategies, such as lesson study and 

13 the development of formative assess14 ments, that improve instructional ef15 fectiveness and student achievement; 

16 ‘‘(IV) provides job-embedded 

17 coaching or other forms of assistance 

18 to support the transfer of new knowl19 edge and skills to the classroom; 

20 ‘‘(V) regularly assesses the effec21 tiveness of the professional develop22 ment in achieving identified learning 

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1 lenging State academic achievement 

2 standards; 

3 ‘‘(VI) informs ongoing improve4 ments in teaching and student learn5 ing; and 

6 ‘‘(VII) may be supported by ex7 ternal assistance; and 

8 ‘‘(C) may be supported by activities such 

9 as courses, workshops, institutes, networks, and 

10 conferences that— 

11 ‘‘(i) address the learning goals and 

12 objectives established for professional de13 velopment by educators at the school level; 

14 ‘‘(ii) advance the ongoing school-based 

15 professional development; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) are provided for by for-profit 

17 and non-profit entities outside the school 

18 such as universities, education service 

19 agencies, technical assistance providers, 

20 networks of content-area specialists, and 

21 other education organizations and associa22 tions.’’. 

Æ 


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