I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2286
To provide grants to eligible consortia to provide professional development
to superintendents, principals, and prospective superintendents and principals.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 21, 2001
Mrs. LOWEY (for herself and Mr. HINCHEY) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To provide grants to eligible consortia to provide professional
development to superintendents, principals, and prospec-
tive superintendents and principals.
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 ‘‘Investment in Quality
School Leadership Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Nation is experiencing a shortage of
qualified school administrators and principals with
such shortage expected to intensify. This shortage
comes at a time when States are enacting new and
more rigorous learning standards, school officials are
expected to handle an increasing number of non-edu-
cational problems and issues, and the current gen-
eration of school administrators and officials are re-
tiring. The combination of these factors results in a
shrinking pool of qualified applicants.
(2) The shortage is particularly severe in high
poverty school districts because of lower salaries and
the challenging work environment. In many such
districts, a disproportionate number of school admin-
istrators and principals have less than 3 years of ex-
perience.
(3) The ability of a school or district to improve
teaching and raise student achievement is greatly
dependent on the quality of leadership. Quality lead-
ership can only be achieved if potential leaders are
provided with the necessary support, professional de-
velopment, and resources. A recent report by the
Educational Research Service (ERS) cites studies
that find that the one attribute of all high-per-
forming schools is a dedicated and dynamic prin-
cipal.
(4) All current and prospective principals and
superintendents need support in their first 3 years,
such as mentoring and sustained professional devel-
opment, to become effective school leaders and to
raise school and classroom performance effectively.
SEC. 3. PURPOSE.
The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to provide ongoing, intensive professional
development to superintendents, principals, and pro-
spective superintendents and principals, particularly
those serving, or intending to serve, in high-poverty,
low-performing school districts and schools;
(2) to improve the capacity of current and pro-
spective superintendents and principals to serve as
effective leaders and successfully implement stand-
ards-based reforms;
(3) to encourage the recruitment and retention
of quality school leaders at the district and school-
level by enabling them to further develop their skills
and knowledge; and
(4) to recognize and support the importance of
principals and superintendents in facilitating student
learning and improving academic achievement.
SEC. 4. GRANTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—
(1) GRANT AWARDS.—From the amounts ap-
propriated to carry out this section and not reserved
under subsection (g) for any fiscal year, the Sec-
retary shall award grants to eligible consortia to es-
tablish professional development programs described
in paragraph (2).
(2) PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT.—A pro-
gram referred to in paragraph (1) shall serve a
State or region and provide superintendents, prin-
cipals, and prospective superintendents and prin-
cipals, particularly those serving, or intending to
serve, in high-poverty, low-performing school dis-
tricts and schools, with ongoing, intensive profes-
sional development opportunities to improve their ca-
pacity to serve as effective leaders and successfully
implement standards-based reforms.
(b) AWARD BASIS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award
grants on a competitive basis to eligible applicants
to carry out this section.
(2) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this
section, the Secretary shall give priority to consortia
in which the local educational agency participating
in the consortium serves the highest concentration of
children living in poverty.
(c) ELIGIBILITY.—
(1) REQUIRED PARTICIPANTS.—In order to re-
ceive a grant under this section, a consortium shall
include not less than—
(A) one local educational agency serving a
high concentration of children living in poverty;
(B) one institution of higher education;
and
(C) one organization that does not usually
provide educational services, but has the nec-
essary expertise to provide professional develop-
ment to school administrators.
(2) OTHER PARTICIPANTS.—An eligible consor-
tium may also include—
(A) one or more additional local edu-
cational agencies;
(B) State educational agencies;
(C) for-profit organizations with the exper-
tise to provide professional development to
school administrators; and
(D) public or private nonprofit organiza-
tions with the expertise to provide professional
development to school administrators.
(d) APPLICATION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to receive an award
under this section, an eligible applicant shall submit
an application to the Secretary at such time, in such
manner, and containing such information as the Sec-
retary may require.
(2) CONTENTS.—Each such application shall
include—
(A) information demonstrating that the ap-
plicant shall meet the matching requirement of
subsection (f); and
(B) a description of the involvement of su-
perintendents and principals in developing the
application.
(e) USE OF FUNDS.—
(1) REQUIRED USES.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—A consortium that re-
ceives a grant under this section shall use the
grant funds to establish or expand a leadership
development program described in subpara-
graph (B).
(B) ACTIVITIES.—The program referred to
in subparagraph (A) shall provide superintend-
ents, principals, and prospective superintend-
ents and principals, particularly individuals
serving, or intending to serve, in high-poverty,
low-performing schools and school districts,
with ongoing, intensive professional develop-
ment opportunities through activities that in-
crease the knowledge and skills of participants
in such areas as—
(i) effective instructional practices;
(ii) the content of the State’s stand-
ards and supporting implementation of the
standards in the classroom;
(iii) comprehensive whole-school re-
form approaches and programs;
(iv) the effective use of educational
technology to improve teaching and learn-
ing;
(v) the recruitment, assignment, re-
tention, and evaluation of school staff;
(vi) the enhancement and development
of management and organizational skills;
(vii) leadership skills;
(viii) the effective use of data for deci-
sionmaking; and
(ix) the implementation of school-
based leadership teams.
(2) ADDITIONAL USES.—A consortium that re-
ceives a grant under this section may also use the
grant funds to support—
(A) the recruitment and preparation of
prospective principals and superintendents, in-
cluding candidates with leadership and manage-
rial experience in fields other than education;
and
(B) alternative pathways to administrative
positions.
(f) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Each recipient of a
grant under this Act shall provide not less than
50 percent of the annual cost of the project as-
sisted by the grant from sources other than this
Act.
(B) CONTRIBUTIONS.—A grantee’s share
of such costs may be provided in cash or in
kind, fairly evaluated.
(2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the
matching requirement of paragraph (1) with respect
to applicants that the Secretary determines serve
low-income areas.
(g) RESERVATION.—The Secretary may reserve not
more than 4 percent of the amount appropriated under
subsection (i) for each fiscal year for technical assistance,
evaluation, dissemination of information on effective pro-
grams for preparing and training district and school-level
administrators, carrying out activities to encourage the
spread and adoption of successful leadership development
centers, and other national activities that support the pro-
grams under this section.
(h) REPORT.—
(1) EXISTING PROGRAMS.—
(A) STUDY.—The Secretary shall, in con-
sultation with representatives of local edu-
cational agencies, State educational agencies,
institutions of higher education, superintend-
ents, principals, education organizations, com-
munity groups, business, and labor, conduct a
study to evaluate and report to Congress re-
garding existing professional development pro-
grams that recruit, prepare, and train district
and school-level administrators to serve as ef-
fective leaders and successfully implement
standards-based reforms in diverse educational
environments across the Nation.
(B) REPORT
TO
CONGRESS.—The Sec-
retary shall submit a report to Congress not
later than one year after the date of enactment
of this Act regarding the findings of the study
conducted under subparagraph (A).