I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5671 

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

a demonstration project to fund additional secondary school counselors 

in troubled title I schools to reduce the dropout rate. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 1, 2010 

Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California (for herself, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of 

Florida, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Mr. 

GRIJALVA, Mr. HARE, Mr. HONDA, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. 

RICHARDSON, Mr. HOLT, and Ms. SHEA-PORTER) 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 create a demonstration project to fund additional secondary school counselors in troubled title I 

schools to reduce the dropout rate. 

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 ‘‘Put School Counselors 

5 Where They’re Needed Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEMONSTRATION PROJECT FOR ADDITIONAL SEC2 ONDARY SCHOOL COUNSELORS. 

3 Part H (20 U.S.C. 6551 et seq.) of title I of the Ele4 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amend5 ed by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘Subpart 3—Demonstration Project for Additional 

7 Secondary School Counselors 

8 ‘‘SEC. 1841. FINDINGS. 

9 ‘‘The Congress finds the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) Nationally, only 70 percent of students 

11 graduate from high school with a regular high school 

12 diploma. 

13 ‘‘(2) Every school day, 7,000 American high 

14 school students become dropouts. 

15 ‘‘(3) High school students living in low-income 

16 families drop out of school at three times the rate 

17 of their peers from high-income families. 

18 ‘‘(4) Only about 55 percent of African Amer19 ican students and 52 percent of Hispanic students 

20 graduate on time from high school with a regular di21 ploma, compared to 78 percent of white students. 

22 ‘‘(5) The dropout rate for students with disabil23 ities is approximately twice that of general education 

24 students. 

25 ‘‘(6) High school is the final transition into 

26 adulthood and the world of work as students begin 


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1 separating from parents and exploring and defining 

2 their independence. Students who are deciding who 

3 they are and what they will do when they graduate 

4 face many pressures, including high-stakes testing, 

5 the challenges of college admissions, the scholarship 

6 and financial aid application process, and entrance 

7 into a competitive job market. They need guidance 

8 in these complex decisions, which have serious and 

9 life changing consequences. 

10 ‘‘(7) School counseling programs are essential 

11 for students to achieve optimal personal growth, ac12 quire positive social skills and values, set appropriate 

13 career goals, and realize full academic potential to 

14 become productive, contributing members of the 

15 world community. 

16 ‘‘(8) Professional secondary school counselors 

17 are highly qualified educators with a mental health 

18 perspective who understand and respond to the chal19 lenges presented by today’s diverse student popu20 lation. 

21 ‘‘(9) The professional secondary school coun22 selor holds a master’s degree or higher in school 

23 counseling (or the substantial equivalent), and is 

24 certified or licensed by the State in which the coun25 selor works. 


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1 ‘‘(10) Professional secondary school counselors 

2 are integral to the total educational program. They 

3 provide proactive leadership that engages all stake4 holders in the delivery of programs and services to 

5 help the student achieve success in school. Profes6 sional secondary school counselors align and work 

7 with the school’s mission to support the academic 

8 achievement of all students as they prepare for the 

9 ever-changing world of the 21st Century. 

10 ‘‘(11) Professional secondary school counselors’ 

11 opportunities to assist students are often hindered 

12 by extraordinarily high student-to-counselor ratios. 

13 Currently, the average student-to-counselor ratio in 

14 America’s public schools is 460 to 1. The American 

15 School Counselor Association, the American Coun16 seling Association, and the National Association for 

17 College Admissions Counseling all recommend a 

18 ratio of one school counselor to 250 students and a 

19 lower ratio for counselors working primarily with 

20 students at risk. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 1842. DEMONSTRATION PROJECT. 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available to 

23 carry out this subpart, the Secretary shall carry out a 

24 demonstration project under which the Secretary makes 

25 grants on a competitive basis to secondary schools that 


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1 receive funds under this title and have a four-year ad2 justed cohort graduation rate of 60 percent or lower. 

3 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.—A grant under this subpart shall be 

4 for a period of 4 years and may be used— 

5 ‘‘(1) to provide additional school counselors 

6 during that period; and 

7 ‘‘(2) to provide additional resources (such as 

8 professional development expenses or travel expenses 

9 for home visits, and any services and materials re10 ferred to in subsection (d)) and to pay overhead ex11 penses. 

12 ‘‘(c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con13 gress that a participating school should aim to provide, 

14 under subsection (b)(1), one additional counselor per 250 

15 students at risk. 

16 ‘‘(d) SCOPE OF COUNSELING.—The additional school 

17 counselors shall identify students who are at risk of not 

18 graduating in 4 years and shall provide counseling pri19 marily to those students. The counselors may identify such 

20 students at any time, but shall strive to identify them be21 fore they enter grade 9. Services shall be provided as long 

22 as necessary, including to the extent allowable and appro23 priate, after the student’s cohort graduation date. The 

24 counseling provided— 


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1 ‘‘(1) may include a full panoply of services, in2 cluding an individual graduation plan and other re3 sources, such as appropriate course placement and 

4 supplemental services (to include not only supple5 mental educational services tutoring if available at 

6 the school site, but also other tutoring as necessary, 

7 along with supplemental books and materials); and 

8 ‘‘(2) shall include meetings with each student so 

9 identified and with the teachers, tutors, supple10 mental educational services providers, and parents of 

11 the student, and may also include meetings with 

12 other relevant individuals, such as a probation offi13 cer, mentor, coach, or employer of the student. 

14 ‘‘(e) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds under 

15 this subpart shall be used to supplement, not supplant, 

16 funds from non-Federal sources. The additional school 

17 counselors provided through funds under this subpart 

18 must be in addition to any employees who work in the 

19 secondary school guidance or counseling office, such as 

20 counselors, college admissions specialists, career develop21 ment specialists, guidance information specialists, or any 

22 other professional or paraprofessional. 

23 ‘‘(f) ADDITIONAL GRANT PERIODS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A school that receives a 

25 grant under this subpart and demonstrates adequate 


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1 improvement over the period of the grant is eligible 

2 to receive a second grant for a second period. If the 

3 school again demonstrates adequate improvement 

4 over that second period, the school is eligible to re5 ceive a third grant for a third period. The third 

6 grant shall provide amounts that decrease for each 

7 year of the third period and require the school to 

8 provide corresponding increases in non-Federal 

9 funds. 

10 ‘‘(2) ADEQUATE IMPROVEMENT.—For purposes 

11 of paragraph (1), a school demonstrates adequate 

12 improvement over a grant period if the four-year ad13 justed cohort graduation rate increases (or is pro14 jected to increase) by 10 percent or more over that 

15 period. 

16 ‘‘(g) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall carry out the 

17 demonstration project in at least 10 schools. The first five 

18 schools selected to participate shall each be from a dif19 ferent State. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 1843. DEFINITIONS. 

21 ‘‘For purposes of this subpart: 

22 ‘‘(1) FOUR-YEAR ADJUSTED COHORT GRADUA23 TION RATE.—The term ‘four-year adjusted cohort 

24 graduation rate’ means the number of students who 

25 earned a regular high school diploma at the concluVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:44 Jul 03, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5671.IH H5671

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1 sion of their fourth year, before their fourth year, or 

2 during a summer session immediately following their 

3 fourth year, divided by the number of students who 

4 formed the adjusted cohort for that graduating 

5 class. 

6 ‘‘(2) ADJUSTED COHORT.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the other 

8 subparagraphs of this paragraph, the term ‘ad9 justed cohort’ means the students who entered 

10 grade 9 together, and any students that trans11 ferred into the cohort in grade 9 through 12 

12 minus any students removed from the cohort. 

13 ‘‘(B) TRANSFERS IN.—The term ‘transfers 

14 in’ means the students who enroll or re-enroll 

15 after the beginning of the entering cohort’s first 

16 year in high school, up to and including in 

17 grade 12. 

18 ‘‘(C) COHORT REMOVAL.—To remove stu19 dents from the cohort, the school or local edu20 cational agency must confirm that the stu21 dent— 

22 ‘‘(i) has transferred out; 

23 ‘‘(ii) is in the custody of the juvenile 

24 justice system; or 

25 ‘‘(iii) is deceased. 


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1 ‘‘(D) TRANSFERS OUT.—The term ‘trans2 fers out’ means the students the school or local 

3 educational agency has confirmed have trans4 ferred to another school, local educational agen5 cy, or other educational program for which they 

6 are expected to receive a regular high school di7 ploma. Confirmation of a student’s transfer to 

8 another school, local educational agency, or pro9 gram requires formal documentation that the 

10 student enrolled in the receiving school. Stu11 dents enrolled in a GED or other alternative 

12 educational program that does not issue or pro13 vide credits toward the issuance of a regular 

14 high school diploma are not considered trans15 fers out. Students who were enrolled, but for 

16 whom there is no confirmation of transfer or 

17 completion, may not be labeled transfers or er18 rors, but must remain in the cohort as non19 graduates for reporting and accountability pur20 poses. 

21 ‘‘(E) TREATMENT OF OTHER LEAVERS

22 AND WITHDRAWALS.—Students who were re23 tained in grade, enrolled in a GED program, or 

24 left school for any other reason may not be 

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1 culating graduation rates and must remain in 

2 the adjusted cohort. 

3 ‘‘(F) SPECIAL RULE.—For those high 

4 schools that start after ninth grade, the cohort 

5 shall be calculated based on the earliest high 

6 school grade. 

7 ‘‘(3) REGULAR HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘regular 

9 high school diploma’ means the standard high 

10 school diploma awarded to the preponderance of 

11 students in the State that is fully aligned with 

12 State standards, or a higher diploma, and does 

13 not include GEDs, certificates of attendance, or 

14 any lesser diploma award. 

15 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE.—For those students 

16 who have significant cognitive disabilities and 

17 are assessed using an alternate assessment 

18 aligned to alternate achievement standards, re19 ceipt of a regular high school diploma or State20 defined alternate diploma aligned with comple21 tion of their entitlement under the Individuals 

22 with Disabilities Education Act shall be counted 

23 as graduates with a regular high school diploma 

24 for the purposes of this Act. No more than one 

25 percent of students can be counted as graduates 


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1 with a regular high school diploma under this 

2 subparagraph. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 1844. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

5 this subpart $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 

6 through 2014.’’. 

Æ 


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