I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2173 
To improve teacher quality, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 23, 2013 
Mr. HONDA (for himself and Mrs. NAPOLITANO) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To improve teacher quality, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Effective Teaching and 
Leading Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Teacher quality is the single most important 
in-school factor influencing student learning and 
achievement. 
(2) A 2003 study by Richard Ingersoll found 
that new teachers, not just those in hard-to-staff 
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schools, face such challenging working conditions 
that nearly one-half leave the profession within their 
first 5 years, one-third leave within their first 3 
years, and 14 percent leave by the end of their first 
year. 
(3) A report by the National Commission on 
Teaching and America’s Future estimated that the 
nationwide cost of replacing public school teachers 
who have dropped out of the profession is 
$7,300,000,000 annually. 
(4) A randomized controlled trial of comprehen-
sive teacher induction, sponsored by the Institute of 
Education Sciences found that beginning teachers 
who received 2 years of induction support produced 
greater student learning gains as a result, the equiv-
alent of a student moving from the 50th to 58th 
percentile in mathematics achievement and from the 
50th to 54th percentile in reading achievement. 
(5) Research by Thomas Smith, Richard Inger-
soll, Michael Strong, Anthony Villar, and Jonah 
Rockoff has shown that comprehensive mentoring 
and induction reduces teacher attrition by as much 
as one-half and strengthens new teacher effective-
ness. 
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(6) A recent School Redesign Network at Stan-
ford University and National Staff Development 
Council report by Linda Darling-Hammond, Ruth 
Chung Wei, Alethea Andree, Nikole Richardson, and 
Stelios Orphanos found that— 
(A) a set of programs that offered substan-
tial contact hours of professional development 
(ranging from 30 to 100 hours in total) spread 
over 6 to 12 months showed a positive and sig-
nificant effect on student achievement gains; 
and 
(B) intensive professional development, es-
pecially when it includes applications of knowl-
edge to teachers’ planning and instruction, has 
a greater chance of influencing teacher prac-
tices, and in turn, leading to gains in student 
learning, and such intensive professional devel-
opment has shown a positive and significant ef-
fect on student achievement gains, in some 
cases by approximately 21 percentile points. 
(7) Teachers can acquire and use new knowl-
edge and skills in their instruction when provided 
with adequate opportunities to learn, according to 
‘‘Student Achievement Through Staff Development’’ 
published by ASCD, which found that more than 90 
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percent of participants attained skill proficiency if it 
includes theory presentation, demonstration, prac-
tice, and peer coaching. 
(8) Recent reports from the Center for Amer-
ican Progress, Education Sector, Hope Street 
Group, and the New Teacher Project have collec-
tively demonstrated the significant flaws in current 
teacher evaluation and implementation, and the ne-
cessity for redesigning these systems and linking 
such evaluation to individualized feedback and sub-
stantive targeted support in order to ensure effective 
teaching. 
(9) Research by Kenneth Leithwood, Karen 
Seashore Louis, Stephen Anderson, and Kyla 
Wahlstrom found that— 
(A) leadership is second only to classroom 
instruction among school-related factors that 
influence student outcomes; and 
(B) direct and indirect leadership effects 
account for about one-quarter of total school ef-
fects on student learning. 
(10) Research by Charles Clotfelter, Helen 
Ladd, Kenneth Leithwood, Anthony Milanowski, and 
the New Teacher Center has shown that the quality 
of working conditions, particularly supportive school 
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leadership, impacts student academic achievement 
and teacher recruitment, retention, and effective-
ness. 
(11) Since 1965, more than 60 education and 
library studies have produced clear evidence that 
school libraries staffed by qualified librarians have a 
positive impact on student academic achievement, 
with a recent analysis of reading scores from 2004– 
2009 showing that fewer librarians translated to 
lower performance, or a slower rise in scores, on 
standardized tests. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to 
build capacity for developing effective teachers and prin-
cipals in our Nation’s schools through— 
(1) the redesign of teacher and principal eval-
uation and assessment systems; 
(2) comprehensive, high-quality, rigorous, multi- 
year induction and mentoring programs for begin-
ning teachers, principals, and other school leaders; 
(3) systematic, sustained, and coherent profes-
sional development for all teachers that is team- 
based and job-embedded; 
(4) systematic, sustained, and coherent profes-
sional development for school principals, other school 
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leaders, school librarians, paraprofessionals, and 
other staff; and 
(5) increased teacher leadership opportunities, 
including compensation for teacher leaders who take 
on new roles in providing school-based professional 
development, mentoring, rigorous evaluation, and in-
structional coaching. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
Section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) is amended— 
(1) by striking paragraph (34) and inserting 
the following: 
‘‘(34) 
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT.—The 
term ‘professional development’ means comprehen-
sive, sustained, and intensive support, provided for 
teachers, principals, school librarians, other school 
leaders, and other instructional staff, that— 
‘‘(A) fosters collective responsibility for im-
proved student learning; 
‘‘(B) is designed and implemented in a 
manner that increases teacher, principal, school 
librarian, other school leader, paraprofessional, 
and other instructional staff effectiveness in im-
proving student learning and strengthening 
classroom practice; 
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‘‘(C) analyzes and uses— 
‘‘(i) real-time data and information 
collected from— 
‘‘(I) evidence of student learning; 
‘‘(II) evidence of classroom prac-
tice; and 
‘‘(III) the State’s longitudinal 
data system; and 
‘‘(ii) other relevant data collected by 
the school or local educational agency; 
‘‘(D) is aligned with— 
‘‘(i) rigorous State student academic 
achievement standards developed under 
section 1111(b)(1); 
‘‘(ii) related academic and school im-
provement goals of the school, local edu-
cational agency, and statewide curriculum; 
‘‘(iii) statewide and local curricula; 
and 
‘‘(iv) rigorous standards of profes-
sional practice and development; 
‘‘(E) includes frequently scheduled, signifi-
cant blocks of time during the regular school 
day among established collaborative teams of 
teachers, principals, school librarians, other 
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school leaders, and other instructional staff, by 
grade level and content area (to the extent ap-
plicable and practicable), which teams engage in 
a continuous cycle of professional learning and 
improvement that— 
‘‘(i) identifies, reviews, and analyzes— 
‘‘(I) evidence of student learning; 
and 
‘‘(II) evidence of classroom prac-
tice; 
‘‘(ii) defines a clear set of educator 
learning goals to improve student learning 
and strengthen classroom practice based 
on the rigorous analysis of evidence of stu-
dent learning and evidence of classroom 
practice; 
‘‘(iii) develops and implements coher-
ent, sustained, and evidenced-based profes-
sional development strategies to meet such 
goals 
(including 
through 
instructional 
coaching, lesson study, and study groups 
organized at the school, team, or individual 
levels); 
‘‘(iv) provides learning opportunities 
for teachers to collectively develop and re-
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fine student learning goals and the teach-
ers’ instructional practices and the use of 
formative assessment; 
‘‘(v) provides an effective mechanism 
to support the transfer of new knowledge 
and skills to the classroom (including uti-
lizing teacher leaders, instructional coach-
es, school librarians, and content experts 
to support such transfer); and 
‘‘(vi) provides opportunities for follow- 
up, observation, and formative feedback 
and assessment of the teacher’s classroom 
practice, on a regular basis and in a man-
ner that allows each such teacher to iden-
tify areas of classroom practice that need 
to be strengthened, refined, and improved; 
‘‘(F) regularly assesses the effectiveness of 
the support, and uses such assessments to in-
form ongoing improvements, in— 
‘‘(i) improving student learning; and 
‘‘(ii) strengthening classroom practice; 
and 
‘‘(G) supports the recruiting, hiring, and 
training of highly qualified teachers, including 
teachers who become highly qualified through 
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State and local alternative routes to certifi-
cation or licensure.’’; 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(44) EVIDENCE OF CLASSROOM PRACTICE.— 
The term ‘evidence of classroom practice’ means evi-
dence of practice gathered from a classroom through 
multiple formats and sources, including some or all 
of the following: 
‘‘(A) Demonstration of effective teaching 
skills. 
‘‘(B) Classroom observations based on rig-
orous teacher performance standards or rubrics. 
‘‘(C) Student work. 
‘‘(D) Teacher portfolios. 
‘‘(E) Videos of teacher practice. 
‘‘(F) Lesson plans. 
‘‘(G) Information on the extent to which 
the teacher collaborates and shares best prac-
tices with other teachers and instructional staff. 
‘‘(H) Information on the teacher’s success-
ful use of research and data. 
‘‘(I) Parent, student, and peer feedback. 
‘‘(45) EVIDENCE OF STUDENT LEARNING.—The 
term ‘evidence of student learning’ means multiple 
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measures of student learning that shall include the 
following: 
‘‘(A) Valid and reliable student assessment 
data, which may include data— 
‘‘(i) based on— 
‘‘(I) student learning gains on 
State student academic assessments 
under section 1111(b)(3); or 
‘‘(II) student academic achieve-
ment assessments used at the na-
tional, state, or district levels, where 
available and appropriate for the cur-
riculum and students taught; 
‘‘(ii) from classroom-based formative 
assessments; 
‘‘(iii) from classroom-based summative 
assessments; and 
‘‘(iv) 
from 
objective 
performance- 
based assessments. 
‘‘(B) At least one of the following addi-
tional measures: 
‘‘(i) Student work, including measures 
of performance criteria and evidence of 
student growth. 
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‘‘(3) FORMULAS.— 
‘‘(A) ALLOTMENTS.—The allotment pro-
vided to a State under this section for a fiscal 
year shall bear the same relation to the total 
amount available under this part for such allot-
ments for the fiscal year, as the allotment pro-
vided to the State under section 2111(b) for 
such year bears to the total amount available 
under such section 2111(b) for such allotments 
for such year. 
‘‘(B) ALLOCATIONS.—The allocation pro-
vided to a local educational agency under this 
section for a fiscal year shall bear the same re-
lation to the total amount available under this 
part for such allocations for the fiscal year, as 
the allocation provided to the local educational 
agency under section 2121(a) for such year 
bears to the total amount available for such al-
locations for such year. 
‘‘(4) SCHOOLS
FIRST
SUPPORTED.—A local 
educational agency receiving a subgrant under this 
part shall first use such funds to carry out the ac-
tivities described in section 2502(a) in each lowest 
achieving school served by the local educational 
agency— 
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