II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2753 

To increase the recruitment and retention of school counselors, school social 

workers, and school psychologists by low-income local educational agencies. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 31, 2014 

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

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

A BILL 

To increase the recruitment and retention of school counselors, school social workers, and school psychologists 

by low-income local educational agencies. 

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 ‘‘Increasing Student 

5 Achievement by Increasing Student Support Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Research shows that socioeconomic status 

9 and family background characteristics are highly 

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1 centration of low-performing schools in low-income 

2 and under-served communities. 

3 (2) Teachers cite poor working conditions, stu4 dent behavior, lack of student motivation, and lack 

5 of administrative support as key reasons why they 

6 choose to leave the teaching profession. 

7 (3) Teachers and principals working for low-in8 come local educational agencies are increasingly 

9 tasked with addressing not only the academic needs 

10 of a child, but also the social, emotional, and behav11 ioral needs of a child that require the services of a 

12 school counselor, school social worker, and school 

13 psychologist, and these needs often interfere with de14 livering quality instruction and raising student 

15 achievement. 

16 (4) Only 16 percent of children who need men17 tal health services receive such services. 70 to 80 

18 percent of these children access mental health serv19 ices at school. 

20 (5) Students are more likely to seek help when 

21 they need it if school-based mental health services 

22 are available. 

23 (6) Rates of abuse and neglect of young chil24 dren in military families have doubled with the in25 creased military involvement of the United States 


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1 abroad since October 2002; likewise, adolescents 

2 with deployed parents report increased perceptions 

3 of uncertainty and loss, role ambiguity, negative 

4 changes in mental and behavioral health, and in5 creased relationship conflict, raising concerns about 

6 the impact of deployment on military personnel and 

7 their families and whether schools that serve a large 

8 number of children with deployed parents have suffi9 cient staff and expertise to meet these challenges. 

10 (7) Children of military families in rural com11 munities are often geographically isolated, and 

12 schools that were already experiencing understaffing 

13 of school counselors, school social workers, and 

14 school psychologists face even greater challenges 

15 meeting the increased needs of students enduring 

16 the stress that comes along with having a deployed 

17 parent or parents. 

18 (8) Schools served by low-income local edu19 cational agencies suffer disproportionately from a 

20 lack of services, with many schools sharing a single 

21 school counselor, school social worker, or school psy22 chologist with neighboring schools. 

23 (9) Too few school counselors, school social 

24 workers, and school psychologists per student means 


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1 that such personnel are often unable to effectively 

2 address the needs of students. 

3 (10) The American School Counselor Associa4 tion and American Counseling Association rec5 ommend having at least 1 school counselor for every 

6 250 students. 

7 (11) The School Social Work Association of 

8 America recommends having at least 1 school social 

9 worker for every 400 students. 

10 (12) The National Association of School Psy11 chologists recommends having at least 1 school psy12 chologist for every 500–700 students. 

13 (13) Recent research of victimization of chil14 dren ages 2 to 17 suggests that more than one-half 

15 of the children experienced a physical assault in the 

16 study year. More than 1 in 4 experienced a property 

17 offense, more than 1 in 8 experienced a form of 

18 child maltreatment, 1 in 12 experienced a sexual vic19 timization, and more than 1 in 3 had been a witness 

20 to violence or experienced another form of indirect 

21 victimization. Only 29 percent of the children had no 

22 direct or indirect victimization. 

23 (14) Principals and teachers see signs of trau24 ma-related stress in many students including hostile 


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1 outbursts, sliding grades, poor test performance, and 

2 the inability to pay attention. 

3 (15) There were more than 423,000 children in 

4 foster care in 2009, and studies have revealed these 

5 children to have higher rates of placement in special 

6 education, dropping out of school, discipline prob7 lems, and poorer academic skills than their non-fos8 ter care peers. 

9 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

10 The purpose of this Act is to increase the recruitment 

11 and retention of school counselors, school social workers, 

12 and school psychologists by low-income local educational 

13 agencies in order to— 

14 (1) support all students who are at risk of neg15 ative educational outcomes; 

16 (2) improve student achievement, which may be 

17 measured by growth in academic achievement on 

18 tests required by the applicable State educational 

19 agency, persistence rates, graduation rates, and 

20 other appropriate measures; 

21 (3) improve retention of teachers who are high22 ly qualified; 

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1 ers, and school psychologists and parents and fami2 lies served by low-income local educational agencies; 

3 (5) increase and improve collaboration among 

4 teachers, principals, school counselors, school social 

5 workers, and school psychologists and improve pro6 fessional development opportunities for teachers and 

7 principals in the area of strategies related to improv8 ing classroom climate and classroom management; 

9 and 

10 (6) improve working conditions for all school 

11 personnel. 

12 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF 

13 SCHOOL COUNSELORS, SCHOOL SOCIAL 

14 WORKERS, AND SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS EM15 PLOYED BY LOW-INCOME LOCAL EDU16 CATIONAL AGENCIES. 

17 (a) GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary 

18 of Education shall award grants on a competitive basis 

19 to eligible partnerships that receive recommendations from 

20 the peer review panel established under subsection (d), to 

21 enable such partnerships to carry out pipeline programs 

22 to increase the number of school counselors, school social 

23 workers, and school psychologists employed by low-income 

24 local educational agencies by carrying out any of the ac25 tivities described by subsection (g). 


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1 (b) GRANT PERIOD.—A grant awarded under this 

2 section shall be for a 5-year period and may be renewed 

3 for additional 5-year periods upon a showing of adequate 

4 progress, as the Secretary determines appropriate. 

5 (c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

6 under this section, an eligible graduate institution, on be7 half of an eligible partnership, shall submit to the Sec8 retary a grant application, including— 

9 (1) an assessment of the existing ratios of 

10 school counselors, school social workers, and school 

11 psychologists to students enrolled in schools in each 

12 low-income local educational agency that is part of 

13 the eligible partnership; and 

14 (2) a detailed description of— 

15 (A) a plan to carry out a pipeline program 

16 to train, place, and retain school counselors, 

17 school social workers, or school psychologists, or 

18 any combination thereof, as applicable, in low19 income local educational agencies; and 

20 (B) the proposed allocation and use of 

21 grant funds to carry out activities described by 

22 subsection (g). 

23 (d) PEER REVIEW PANEL.— 

24 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF PANEL.—The Sec25 retary shall establish a peer review panel to evaluate 


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1 applications for grants under subsection (c) and 

2 make recommendations to the Secretary regarding 

3 such applications. 

4 (2) EVALUATION OF APPLICATIONS.—In mak5 ing its recommendations, the peer review panel shall 

6 take into account the purpose of this Act and the 

7 application requirements under subsection (c), in8 cluding the quality of the proposed pipeline program. 

9 (3) RECOMMENDATION OF PANEL.—The Sec10 retary may award grants under this section only to 

11 eligible partnerships whose applications receive a 

12 recommendation from the peer review panel. 

13 (4) MEMBERSHIP OF PANEL.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The peer review panel 

15 shall include at a minimum the following mem16 bers: 

17 (i) One clinical, tenured, or tenure 

18 track faculty member at an institution of 

19 higher education with a current appoint20 ment to teach courses in the subject area 

21 of school counselor education. 

22 (ii) One clinical, tenured, or tenure 

23 track faculty member at an institution of 

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1 ment to teach courses in the subject area 

2 of school social worker education. 

3 (iii) One clinical, tenured, or tenure 

4 track faculty member at an institution of 

5 higher education with a current appoint6 ment to teach courses in the subject area 

7 of school psychology education. 

8 (iv) One clinical, tenured, or tenure 

9 track faculty member at an institution of 

10 higher education with a current appoint11 ment to teach courses in the subject area 

12 of teacher education. 

13 (v) One individual with expertise in 

14 school counseling who works or has worked 

15 in public schools. 

16 (vi) One individual with expertise in 

17 school social work who works or has 

18 worked in public schools. 

19 (vii) One individual with expertise in 

20 school psychology who works or has 

21 worked in public schools. 

22 (viii) One administrator who works or 

23 has worked for a low-income local edu24 cational agency. 


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1 (ix) One highly qualified teacher who 

2 has substantial experience working for a 

3 low-income local educational agency. 

4 (B) CLINICAL FACULTY MEMBER.—At 

5 least 1 of the members described in subpara6 graph (A) shall be a clinical faculty member. 

7 (e) DISTRIBUTION OF GRANTS.—From among the 

8 applications receiving a recommendation by the peer re9 view panel, the Secretary shall— 

10 (1) award the first 5 grants to eligible partner11 ships from 5 different States; 

12 (2) award not less than 1 grant to a partner13 ship that serves a high percentage of Native Amer14 ican, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian students; 

15 (3) award not less than 1 grant to a partner16 ship focused on serving students in highly rural 

17 areas; 

18 (4) to the extent practicable, distribute grants 

19 equitably among eligible partnerships that propose 

20 to train graduate students in each of the 3 profes21 sions of school counseling, school social work, and 

22 school psychology; and 

23 (5) to the extent practicable, equitably dis24 tribute the grants among eligible partnerships that 

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1 cy and eligible partnerships that include a rural low2 income local educational agency, with, at a min3 imum, a percentage of the funds, equal to the per4 centage of low-income children in the United States 

5 who are served by rural local educational agencies 

6 (based on the Small Area Income and Poverty Esti7 mates of the Bureau of Census, for the most recent 

8 year such information is available), awarded to eligi9 ble partnerships that include a rural low-income 

10 local educational agency. 

11 (f) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give priority to 

12 eligible partnerships that— 

13 (1) propose to use the grant funds to carry out 

14 the activities described under paragraphs (1) 

15 through (3) of subsection (g) in schools that have 

16 higher numbers or percentages of low-income stu17 dents and students not meeting the proficient level 

18 of achievement (as described by section 1111 of the 

19 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

20 (20 U.S.C. 6311)) in comparison to other schools 

21 that are served by the low-income local educational 

22 agency that is part of the eligible partnership; 

23 (2) include 1 or more low-income local edu24 cational agencies that have fewer school counselors, 


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1 school social workers, and school psychologists per 

2 student than other eligible partnerships; 

3 (3) include 1 or more eligible graduate institu4 tions that offer graduate programs in the greatest 

5 number of the following areas: 

6 (A) school counseling; 

7 (B) school social work; and 

8 (C) school psychology; and 

9 (4) propose to collaborate with other institu10 tions of higher education with similar programs, in11 cluding sharing facilities, faculty members, and ad12 ministrative costs. 

13 (g) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—Grant funds awarded 

14 under this section may be used— 

15 (1) to pay the administrative costs (including 

16 supplies, office and classroom space, supervision, 

17 mentoring, and transportation stipends as necessary 

18 and appropriate) related to— 

19 (A) having graduate students of school 

20 counseling, school social work, and school psy21 chology placed in schools served by partici22 pating low-income local educational agencies to 

23 complete required field work, credit hours, in24 ternships, or related training as applicable for 


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1 the degree, license, or credential program of 

2 each such student; and 

3 (B) offering required graduate course work 

4 for graduate students of school counseling, 

5 school social work, and school psychology on the 

6 site of a participating low-income local edu7 cational agency; 

8 (2) for not more than the first 3 years after 

9 participating graduates receive a masters or other 

10 graduate degree or obtain a State license or creden11 tial in school counseling, school social work, or 

12 school psychology, to hire and pay all or part of the 

13 salaries of such participating graduates to work as 

14 school counselors, school social workers, and school 

15 psychologists in schools served by participating low16 income local educational agencies; 

17 (3) to increase the number of school counselors, 

18 school social workers, and school psychologists per 

19 student in schools served by participating low-income 

20 local educational agencies to work towards the stu21 dent support personnel target ratios; 

22 (4) to recruit, hire, and retain culturally or lin23 guistically under-represented graduate students in 

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1 chology for placement in schools served by partici2 pating low-income educational agencies; 

3 (5) to recruit, hire, and pay faculty as nec4 essary to increase the capacity of a participating eli5 gible graduate institution to train graduate students 

6 in the fields of school counseling, school social work, 

7 and school psychology; 

8 (6) to develop coursework that will— 

9 (A) encourage a commitment by graduate 

10 students in school counseling, school social 

11 work, or school psychology to work for low-in12 come local educational agencies; 

13 (B) give participating graduates the knowl14 edge and skill sets necessary to meet the needs 

15 of— 

16 (i) students and families served by 

17 low-income local educational agencies; and 

18 (ii) teachers, administrators, and 

19 other staff who work for low-income local 

20 educational agencies; 

21 (C) enable participating graduates to meet 

22 the unique needs of students at-risk of negative 

23 educational outcomes, including students who— 

24 (i) are English language learners; 


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1 (ii) have a parent or caregiver who is 

2 a migrant worker; 

3 (iii) have a parent or caregiver who is 

4 a member of the Armed Forces or Na5 tional Guard who has been deployed or re6 turned from deployment; 

7 (iv) are homeless, including unaccom8 panied youth; 

9 (v) have come into contact with the 

10 juvenile justice system or adult criminal 

11 justice system, including students currently 

12 or previously held in juvenile detention fa13 cilities or adult jails and students currently 

14 or previously held in juvenile correctional 

15 facilities or adult prisons; 

16 (vi) have been identified as eligible for 

17 services under the Individuals with Disabil18 ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et 

19 seq.) or the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 

20 U.S.C. 701 et seq.); 

21 (vii) have been a victim to or wit22 nessed domestic violence or violence in 

23 their community; and 


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1 (viii) are foster care youth, youth 

2 aging out of foster care, or former foster 

3 youth; and 

4 (D) utilize best practices determined by the 

5 American School Counselor Association, Na6 tional Association of Social Workers, School So7 cial Work Association of America, and National 

8 Association of School Psychologists; 

9 (7) to provide tuition credits to graduate stu10 dents participating in the program; 

11 (8) for student loan forgiveness for partici12 pating graduates who are employed as school coun13 selors, school social workers, or school psychologists 

14 by participating low-income local educational agen15 cies for a minimum of 5 consecutive years; and 

16 (9) for similar activities to fulfill the purpose of 

17 this Act, as the Secretary determines appropriate. 

18 (h) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds made 

19 available under this section shall be used to supplement, 

20 not supplant, other Federal, State, or local funds for the 

21 activities described in subsection (g). 

22 (i) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Each eligible part23 nership that receives a grant under this section shall sub24 mit an annual report to the Secretary on the progress of 


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1 such partnership in carrying out the purpose of this Act. 

2 Such report shall include a description of— 

3 (1) actual service delivery provided through 

4 grant funds, including— 

5 (A) characteristics of the participating eli6 gible graduate institution, including descriptive 

7 information on the model used and actual pro8 gram performance; 

9 (B) characteristics of graduate students 

10 participating in the program, including per11 formance on any tests required by the State 

12 educational agency for credentialing or licens13 ing, demographic characteristics, and graduate 

14 student retention rates; 

15 (C) characteristics of students of the par16 ticipating low-income local educational agency, 

17 including performance on any tests required by 

18 the State educational agency, demographic 

19 characteristics, and promotion, persistence, and 

20 graduation rates, as appropriate; 

21 (D) an estimate of the annual implementa22 tion costs of the program; and 

23 (E) the numbers of students, schools, and 

24 graduate students participating in the program; 


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1 (2) outcomes that are consistent with the pur2 pose of the grant program, including— 

3 (A) internship and post-graduation place4 ment; 

5 (B) graduation and professional career 

6 readiness indicators; and 

7 (C) characteristics of the participating low8 income local educational agency, including 

9 changes in hiring and retention of highly quali10 fied teachers and school counselors, school psy11 chologists, and school social workers; 

12 (3) the instruction, materials, and activities 

13 being funded under the grant program; and 

14 (4) the effectiveness of any training and ongo15 ing professional development provided— 

16 (A) to students and faculty in the appro17 priate departments or schools of the partici18 pating eligible graduate institution; 

19 (B) to the faculty, administration, and 

20 staff of the participating low-income local edu21 cational agency; and 

22 (C) to the broader community of providers 

23 of social, emotional, behavioral, and related 

24 support to students and to those who train such 

25 providers. 


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1 (j) EVALUATIONS.— 

2 (1) INTERIM EVALUATIONS.—The Secretary 

3 may conduct interim evaluations to determine 

4 whether each eligible partnership receiving a grant is 

5 making adequate progress as the Secretary considers 

6 appropriate. The contents of the annual report sub7 mitted to the Secretary under subsection (i) may be 

8 used by the Secretary to determine whether an eligi9 ble partnership receiving a grant is demonstrating 

10 adequate progress. 

11 (2) FINAL EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall 

12 conduct a final evaluation to— 

13 (A) determine the effectiveness of the 

14 grant program in carrying out the purpose of 

15 this Act; and 

16 (B) compare the relative effectiveness of 

17 each of the various activities described by sub18 section (g) for which grant funds may be used. 

19 (k) REPORT.—Not earlier than 5 years nor later than 

20 6 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec21 retary shall submit to Congress a report containing the 

22 findings of the evaluation conducted under subsection 

23 (j)(2), and such recommendations as the Secretary con24 siders appropriate. 

25 (l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

2 appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the pro3 gram under this section, $30,000,000 for fiscal year 

4 2015 and for each succeeding fiscal year. 

5 (2) RESERVATION FOR EVALUATION.—From 

6 the total amount appropriated to carry out this sec7 tion each fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve not 

8 more than 3 percent for evaluations under sub9 section (j). 

10 SEC. 5. STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR INDIVIDUALS 

11 WHO ARE EMPLOYED FOR 5 OR MORE CON12 SECUTIVE SCHOOL YEARS AS SCHOOL COUN13 SELORS, SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKERS, SCHOOL 

14 PSYCHOLOGISTS, OR OTHER QUALIFIED PSY15 CHOLOGISTS OR PSYCHIATRISTS BY LOW-IN16 COME LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES. 

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 

18 shall establish a program to provide student loan forgive19 ness to individuals who are not and have never been par20 ticipants in the grant program established under section 

21 4 and who have been employed for 5 or more consecutive 

22 school years as school counselors, school social workers, 

23 school psychologists, other qualified psychologists, or child 

24 and adolescent psychiatrists by low-income local edu25 cational agencies. 


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1 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such 

3 sums as may be necessary to carry out the program under 

4 this section. 

5 SEC. 6. FUTURE DESIGNATION STUDY. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct a 

7 study to identify a formula for future designation of re8 gions with a shortage of school counselors, school social 

9 workers, and school psychologists to use in implementing 

10 grant programs and other programs such as the programs 

11 established under this Act or for other purposes related 

12 to any such designation, based on the latest available data 

13 on— 

14 (1) the number of residents under the age of 18 

15 in an area served by a low-income local educational 

16 agency; 

17 (2) the percentage of the population of an area 

18 served by a low-income local educational agency with 

19 incomes below the poverty line; 

20 (3) the percentage of residents age 18 or older 

21 in an area served by a low-income local educational 

22 agency with secondary school diplomas; 

23 (4) the percentage of students identified as eli24 gible for special education services in an area served 

25 by a low-income local educational agency; 


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1 (5) the youth crime rate in an area served by 

2 a low-income local educational agency; 

3 (6) the current number of full-time-equivalent 

4 and active school counselors, school social workers, 

5 and school psychologists employed by a low-income 

6 local educational agency; 

7 (7) the number of students in an area served by 

8 a low-income local education agency in military fam9 ilies (active duty and reserve duty) with parents who 

10 have been alerted for deployment, are currently de11 ployed, or have returned from a deployment in the 

12 previous school year; and 

13 (8) such other criteria as the Secretary con14 siders appropriate. 

15 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

16 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 

17 Congress a report containing the findings of the study 

18 conducted under subsection (a). 

19 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this Act: 

21 (1) SCHOOL COUNSELING PROGRAM DEFINI22 TIONS.—The terms ‘‘child and adolescent psychia23 trist’’, ‘‘school counselor’’, ‘‘school psychologist’’, 

24 ‘‘school social worker’’, and ‘‘other qualified psychol25 ogist’’ have the meaning given the terms in section 


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1 5421 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

2 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7245). 

3 (2) ESEA GENERAL DEFINITIONS.—The terms 

4 ‘‘State educational agency’’, ‘‘local educational agen5 cy’’, and ‘‘highly qualified’’ have the meaning given 

6 the terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and 

7 Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

8 (3) BEST PRACTICES.—The term ‘‘best prac9 tices’’ means a technique or methodology that, 

10 through experience and research related to the prac11 tice of school counseling, school psychology, or 

12 school social work, has proven to reliably lead to a 

13 desired result. 

14 (4) ELIGIBLE GRADUATE INSTITUTION.—The 

15 term ‘‘eligible graduate institution’’ means an insti16 tution of higher education that offers a program of 

17 study that leads to a masters or other graduate de18 gree— 

19 (A) in school psychology that is accredited 

20 or nationally recognized by the National Asso21 ciation of School Psychologists Program Ap22 proval Board and that prepares students in 

23 such program for the State licensing or certifi24 cation exam in school psychology; 


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1 (B) in school counseling that prepares stu2 dents in such program for the State licensing or 

3 certification exam in school counseling; 

4 (C) in school social work that is accredited 

5 by the Council on Social Work Education and 

6 that prepares students in such program for the 

7 State licensing or certification exam in school 

8 social work; or 

9 (D) in any combination of study described 

10 in subparagraphs (A), (B), or (C). 

11 (5) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘eligi12 ble partnership’’ means— 

13 (A) a partnership between 1 or more low14 income local educational agencies and 1 or more 

15 eligible graduate institutions; or 

16 (B) in regions in which local educational 

17 agencies may not have a sufficient elementary 

18 school and secondary school student population 

19 to support the placement of all participating 

20 graduate students, a partnership between a 

21 State educational agency, on behalf of 1 or 

22 more low-income local educational agencies, and 

23 1 or more eligible graduate institutions. 

24 (6) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

25 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 


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1 meaning given such term in section 102 of the High2 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002), but ex3 cludes any institution of higher education described 

4 in section 102(a)(1)(C) of such Act. 

5 (7) LOW-INCOME LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN6 CY.—The term ‘‘low-income local educational agen7 cy’’ means a local educational agency— 

8 (A) in which not less than 20 percent of 

9 the students served by such agency are from 

10 families with incomes below the poverty line as 

11 determined by the Bureau of the Census on the 

12 basis of the most recent satisfactory data avail13 able; 

14 (B) that has existing ratios of school coun15 selors, school social workers, and school psy16 chologists to students served by the agency that 

17 are not more than 1 school counselor per 275 

18 students, not more than 1 school psychologist 

19 per 770 students, and not more than 1 school 

20 social worker per 440 students. 

21 (8) PARTICIPATING ELIGIBLE GRADUATE INSTI22 TUTION.—The term ‘‘participating eligible graduate 

23 institution’’ means an eligible graduate institution 

24 that is part of an eligible partnership awarded a 

25 grant under section 4. 


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1 (9) PARTICIPATING GRADUATE.—The term 

2 ‘‘participating graduate’’ means an individual who— 

3 (A) has received a masters or other grad4 uate degree in elementary or secondary school 

5 counseling, school social work, or school psy6 chology from a participating eligible graduate 

7 institution and has obtained a State license or 

8 credential in school counseling, school social 

9 work, or school psychology; and 

10 (B) as a graduate student of school coun11 seling, school social work, or school psychology 

12 was placed in a school served by a participating 

13 low-income local educational agency to complete 

14 required field work, credit hours, internships, or 

15 related training as applicable. 

16 (10) PARTICIPATING LOW-INCOME LOCAL EDU17 CATIONAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘participating low-in18 come local educational agency’’ means a low-income 

19 local educational agency that is part of an eligible 

20 partnership awarded a grant under section 4. 

21 (11) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

22 means the Secretary of Education. 

23 (12) STUDENT SUPPORT PERSONNEL TARGET

24 RATIOS.—The term ‘‘student support personnel tar25 get ratios’’ means the ratios of school counselors, 


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27 

•S 2753 IS

1 school social workers, and school psychologists to 

2 students recommended to enable such personnel to 

3 effectively address the needs of students including— 

4 (A) at least 1 school counselor for every 

5 250 students (as recommended by the American 

6 School Counselors Association and American 

7 Counseling Association); 

8 (B) at least 1 school psychologist for every 

9 500–700 students (as recommended by the Na10 tional Association of School Psychologists); and 

11 (C) at least 1 school social worker for 

12 every 400 students (as recommended by the 

13 School Social Work Association of America). 

14 (13) UNACCOMPANIED YOUTH.—The term ‘‘un15 accompanied youth’’ has the meaning given such 

16 term in section 725 of the McKinney-Vento Home17 less Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a). 

Æ 


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