I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2597 

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

State educational agencies, local educational agencies, and schools to 

increase implementation of school-wide positive behavior supports. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2009 

Mr. HARE (for himself, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. COURTNEY, 

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Mr. CUMMINGS) 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 allow State educational agencies, local educational agencies, and schools to increase implementation 

of school-wide positive behavior supports. 

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 ‘‘Positive Behavior for 

5 Safe and Effective Schools Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find3 ings: 

4 (1) Educators, parents, and the general public 

5 cite a lack of discipline as a leading challenge facing 

6 many public schools. 

7 (2) Negative and reactive school management 

8 practices, such as metal detectors or surveillance 

9 cameras, zero tolerance policies and other ‘‘get10 tough’’ approaches to school discipline, are ineffec11 tive and often counterproductive. 

12 (3) Research shows that ‘‘get tough’’ ap13 proaches to discipline reinforce bad behavior and 

14 predict higher future rates of misbehavior among 

15 suspended students. 

16 (4) However, suspensions and expulsions are on 

17 the rise nationally, and according to the United 

18 States Department of Education Office of Civil 

19 Rights during the 2005–2006 school year over 

20 3,300,000 students were suspended at least once 

21 and over 100,000 students were expelled. 

22 (5) Students of color and students with disabil23 ities are disproportionately subject to zero tolerance24 based punishments such as suspension and expul25 sion. 


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1 (6) There is a high correlation between school 

2 discipline and the student dropout rate. Suspended 

3 students are more likely to be retained, to dropout, 

4 to engage in delinquent activity, and to become in5 volved in the juvenile or criminal justice system. 

6 (7) Teachers are also more likely to ‘‘dropout’’ 

7 of our schools because of school discipline issues. A 

8 2005 national survey found that 44 percent of 

9 teachers, and 39 percent of highly qualified teachers, 

10 listed school discipline as a reason for leaving the 

11 profession. 

12 (8) Learning is linked to student behavior. Suc13 cessful schools implement high academic and behav14 ior standards, where improvements in student behav15 ior and school climate are correlated with improved 

16 academic outcomes. 

17 (9) Evidence-based and scientifically valid prac18 tices for improving behavior and creating a school 

19 climate more conducive to learning such as school20 wide positive behavior supports, have not been wide21 ly adopted, accurately implemented, or sustained. 

22 (10) Effective implementation of school-wide 

23 positive behavior supports is linked to greater aca24 demic achievement, significantly fewer disciplinary 


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1 problems, lower suspension and expulsion rates, and 

2 increased time for instruction. 

3 (11) Early intervening services are an effective 

4 strategy for instructional support. Following imple5 mentation of school-wide positive behavior supports, 

6 out-of-school suspensions at an elementary school in 

7 Illinois decreased 85 percent, from 243 to 37 or 

8 fewer in 2 subsequent years, with a resultant gain 

9 of 386 days of instructional time. The percentage of 

10 students meeting or exceeding proficiency on State 

11 standards increased measurably. 

12 (12) Many problems can be prevented or mini13 mized with early intervening services that have been 

14 shown to be effective and reduce the need for more 

15 intensive and more costly interventions. Upon imple16 menting such supports, an elementary school in 

17 Maryland witnessed a decrease in office discipline re18 ferrals for major rule violations by 42 percent, re19 couping 119 days of instructional time for students, 

20 and 40 days of administrator time within 1 school 

21 year. 

22 (13) Schools that implement school-wide posi23 tive behavior supports are perceived by teachers to 

24 be safer teaching environments. In South Carolina, 

25 a school using a system of positive behavior supports 


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1 found that teacher transfer requests declined by 100 

2 percent and teacher absence days decreased by 36 

3 percent. 

4 (14) When approaches such as school-wide posi5 tive behavior supports are employed, all students, in6 cluding those with significant and challenging behav7 iors, can succeed. 

8 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to ex9 pand the use of school-wide positive behavior supports in 

10 schools in order to systematically create a school climate 

11 that is highly conducive to learning, to reduce discipline 

12 referrals, and to improve student academic outcomes. 

13 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORTS. 

14 In this Act, the term ‘‘positive behavior supports’’ 

15 means a systematic approach to embed proven practices 

16 for early intervening services, including a range of sys17 temic and individualized strategies to reinforce desired be18 haviors and eliminate reinforcement for problem behav19 iors, in order to achieve important social outcomes and 

20 increase learning, while preventing problem behaviors for 

21 all students including those with the most complex and 

22 intensive behavioral needs. 

23 SEC. 4. SCHOOL-WIDE POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORTS. 

24 (a) FLEXIBILITY TO USE TITLE I FUNDS TO IMPLE25 MENT SCHOOL-WIDE POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1003(b) of the Ele2 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

3 U.S.C. 6303(b)) is amended— 

4 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 

5 (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively; 

6 (B) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Of the 

7 amount’’; and 

8 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(2) Of the amount reserved under subsection 

10 (a) for any fiscal year, the State educational agency 

11 may allocate funds to develop and implement coordi12 nated, early intervening services (including school13 wide positive behavior supports) for all students, in14 cluding those who have not been identified as need15 ing special education but who need additional aca16 demic and behavioral support to succeed in a general 

17 education environment. Funds so allocated shall 

18 be— 

19 ‘‘(A) aligned with funds authorized under 

20 section 613(f) of the Individuals with Disabil21 ities Education Act; and 

22 ‘‘(B) used to supplement, and not sup23 plant, funds made available under such Act for 

24 such activities and services.’’. 


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1 (2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Elementary 

2 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

3 6301 et seq.) is amended— 

4 (A) in section 1116(b)(4)(B)— 

5 (i) by redesignating clauses (iii) and 

6 (iv) as clauses (iv) and (v), respectively; 

7 and 

8 (ii) by inserting after clause (ii) the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(iii) shall include assistance in imple11 mentation of school-wide positive behavior 

12 supports and other approaches with evi13 dence of effectiveness for improving the 

14 learning environment in the school and re15 ducing the need for suspensions, expul16 sions, referrals to law enforcement, and 

17 other actions that remove students from 

18 instruction;’’. 

19 (B) in section 1117(a)(3), by inserting 

20 ‘‘any technical assistance center on school-wide 

21 positive behavior supports funded under section 

22 665(b) of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu23 cation Act,’’ after ‘‘2002),’’; and 

24 (C) in section 1117(a)(5)(B)— 


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1 (i) by redesignating clauses (iii) and 

2 (iv) as clauses (iv) and (v), respectively; 

3 and 

4 (ii) by inserting after clause (ii) the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(iii) review the number of discipline 

7 referrals in the school and the overall 

8 school climate and engagement of families, 

9 and use that information to assist the 

10 school to implement school-wide positive 

11 behavior supports or other early inter12 vening services, or both;’’. 

13 (b) LEA FLEXIBILITY TO IMPROVE SCHOOL CLI14 MATE.—Section 1114(b)(1)(B)(iii)(I) of the Elementary 

15 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

16 6314(b)(1)(B)(iii)(I)) is amended— 

17 (1) by redesignating items (bb) and (cc) as 

18 items (cc) and (dd), respectively; and 

19 (2) by inserting after item (aa) the following: 

20 ‘‘(bb) improving the learning 

21 environment in the school, includ22 ing the implementation of school23 wide positive behavior supports, 

24 in order to improve academic 

25 outcomes for students and reduce 


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1 the need for suspensions, expul2 sions, referrals to law enforce3 ment, and other actions that re4 move students from instruction;’’. 

5 SEC. 5. TEACHER AND PRINCIPAL PREPARATION TO IM6 PROVE SCHOOL CLIMATE. 

7 Section 2122(c)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary 

8 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6622(c)(2)) is amend9 ed— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘subject matter knowledge and 

11 teaching skills’’ and inserting ‘‘subject matter knowl12 edge, teaching skills, and an understanding of social 

13 or emotional, or both, learning in children and ap14 proaches that improve the school climate for learn15 ing (such as school-wide positive behavior sup16 ports)’’; and 

17 (2) by inserting ‘‘to improve the teachers’ 

18 schools’ climate for learning’’ after ‘‘instructional 

19 leadership skills to help teachers’’. 

20 SEC. 6. SAFE AND DRUG FREE SCHOOLS AND COMMU21 NITIES. 

22 Section 4002 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu23 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7102) is amended— 

24 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 

25 (4) as paragraphs (2) through (5), respectively; and 


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1 (2) by striking all that precedes paragraph (2) 

2 and inserting the following: ‘‘The purpose of this 

3 part is to support programs that improve the whole 

4 school climate in order to foster learning, including 

5 programs that prevent discipline problems, that re6 duce the need for suspensions, expulsions, referrals 

7 to law enforcement, and other actions that remove 

8 students from instruction, that prevent violence in 

9 and around schools, that prevent the illegal use of 

10 alcohol, tobacco, and drugs, that involve parents and 

11 communities in the school programs and activities, 

12 and that are coordinated with related Federal, State, 

13 school, and community efforts and resources to fos14 ter a safe and drug-free learning environment that 

15 supports student academic achievement, through the 

16 provision of Federal assistance to— 

17 ‘‘(1) States for grants to local educational agen18 cies and consortia of such agencies to establish, op19 erate, and improve local programs relating to im20 proving the school-wide climate (including implemen21 tation of school-wide positive behavior supports);’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. EARLY INTERVENING SERVICES UNDER SCHOOL 

2 COUNSELORS PROGRAM. 

3 Section 5421(b)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary 

4 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7245(b)(2)) is amend5 ed— 

6 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) through 

7 (H) as subparagraphs (D) through (I), respectively; 

8 and 

9 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(C) describe how the local educational 

12 agency will address the need for early inter13 vening services that improve the school climate 

14 for learning and reduce the need for suspen15 sions, expulsions, referrals to law enforcement, 

16 and other actions that remove students from in17 struction, such as through school-wide positive 

18 behavior supports;’’. 

19 SEC. 8. OFFICE OF SPECIALIZED INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT 

20 SERVICES. 

21 The Department of Education Organization Act (20 

22 U.S.C. 3401 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

23 of title II the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 221. OFFICE OF SPECIALIZED INSTRUCTIONAL SUP2 PORT SERVICES. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There shall be, within the Office 

4 of the Deputy Secretary in the Department of Education, 

5 an Office of Specialized Instructional Support Services 

6 (referred to in this section as the ‘Office’). 

7 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Office shall be 

8 to administer, coordinate, implement, and ensure adequate 

9 evaluation of the effectiveness of programs and activities 

10 concerned with providing specialized instructional support 

11 services in schools, delivered by trained, qualified special12 ized instructional support personnel. 

13 ‘‘(c) DIRECTOR.—The Office established under sub14 section (a) shall be headed by a Director who shall be se15 lected by the Secretary and report directly to the Deputy 

16 Secretary of Education. 

17 ‘‘(d) ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out subsection (b), the 

18 Director shall support activities to— 

19 ‘‘(1) improve specialized instructional support 

20 services in schools in order to improve academic 

21 achievement and educational results for students; 

22 ‘‘(2) identify scientifically valid practices in spe23 cialized instructional support services that support 

24 learning and improve academic achievement and 

25 educational results for students; 


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1 ‘‘(3) provide continuous training and profes2 sional development opportunities for specialized in3 structional support personnel and other school per4 sonnel in the use of effective techniques to address 

5 academic, behavioral, and functional needs; 

6 ‘‘(4) provide technical assistance to local edu7 cational agencies and State educational agencies in 

8 the provision of effective, scientifically valid, special9 ized instructional support services; 

10 ‘‘(5) coordinate specialized instructional support 

11 services programs and services in schools between 

12 the Department of Education and other Federal 

13 agencies, as appropriate; and 

14 ‘‘(6) ensure evaluation of the effectiveness of 

15 the activities described in this subsection, as directed 

16 by the Secretary and Deputy Secretary. 

17 ‘‘(e) SPECIALIZED INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT PER18 SONNEL; SPECIALIZED INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT SERV19 ICES.—In this section: 

20 ‘‘(1) SPECIALIZED INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT

21 PERSONNEL.—The term ‘specialized instructional 

22 support personnel’ means school counselors, school 

23 social workers, school psychologists, and other quali24 fied professional personnel involved in providing as25 sessment, diagnosis, counseling, educational, theraVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:09 May 27, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2597.IH H2597

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1 peutic, and other necessary corrective or supportive 

2 services (including related services, as such term is 

3 defined in section 602 of the Individuals with Dis4 abilities Education Act) as part of a comprehensive 

5 program to meet student needs. 

6 ‘‘(2) SPECIALIZED INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT

7 SERVICES.—The term ‘specialized instructional sup8 port services’ means the services provided by special9 ized instructional support personnel, including any 

10 other corrective or supportive services to meet stu11 dent needs.’’. 

12 SEC. 9. DEFINITION IN ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY 

13 EDUCATION ACT OF 1965. 

14 Section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu15 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) is amended— 

16 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (33) through 

17 (43) as paragraphs (34) through (44); and 

18 (2) by inserting after paragraph (32) the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(33) POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORTS.—The 

21 term ‘positive behavior supports’ means a systematic 

22 approach to embed proven practices for early inter23 vening services, including a range of systemic and 

24 individualized strategies to reinforce desired behav25 iors and eliminate reinforcement for problem behavVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:09 May 27, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2597.IH H2597

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1 iors, in order to achieve important social outcomes 

2 and increase student learning, while preventing 

3 problem behaviors.’’. 

Æ 


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