I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3405 
To increase the recruitment and retention of school counselors, school social 
workers, and school psychologists by low-income local educational agencies. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 14, 2011 
Mr. TOWNS (for himself, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of California, Mr. POLIS, 
Ms. MOORE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. CONYERS, and Mr. 
HINCHEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To increase the recruitment and retention of school coun-
selors, school social workers, and school psychologists 
by low-income local educational agencies. 
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 ‘‘Increased Student 
Achievement Through Increased Student Support Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Research shows that low socioeconomic sta-
tus and certain family risk factors, such as low ma-
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ternal education level and being from a single parent 
household, are highly correlated with poor edu-
cational outcomes, with a concentration of low-per-
forming schools in low-income and under-served 
communities. 
(2) Teachers cite poor working conditions, stu-
dent behavior, lack of student motivation, and lack 
of administrative support as key reasons why they 
choose to leave the teaching profession. 
(3) Teachers and principals working for low-in-
come local educational agencies are increasingly 
tasked with addressing not only the academic needs 
of a child, but also the social, emotional, and behav-
ioral needs of a child that require the services of a 
school counselor, school social worker, and school 
psychologist, and these needs often interfere with de-
livering quality instruction and raising student 
achievement. 
(4) Rates of maltreatment and neglect of young 
children in military families have shown dramatic in-
creases during the parental deployments that have 
accompanied the increased military involvement of 
the United States abroad since October 2002. Like-
wise, adolescents with deployed parents report in-
creased perceptions of uncertainty and loss, role am-
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biguity, negative changes in mental and behavioral 
health, and increased relationship conflict; children 
exhibit increases in behavior disorders, stress dis-
orders, and emotional difficulties, and decreases in 
achievement in most academic subjects. These 
trends raise concerns about the impact of deploy-
ment on military personnel and their families and 
whether schools that serve a large number of chil-
dren with deployed parents have sufficient staff and 
expertise to meet these challenges. 
(5) Children of military families in rural com-
munities are often geographically isolated, and 
schools that were already experiencing understaffing 
of school counselors, school social workers, and 
school psychologists face even greater challenges 
meeting the increased needs of students enduring 
the stress that comes along with having a deployed 
parent or parents. 
(6) Schools served by low-income local edu-
cational agencies suffer disproportionately from a 
lack of services, with many schools sharing a single 
school counselor, school social worker, or school psy-
chologist with neighboring schools. 
(7) Too few school counselors, school social 
workers, and school psychologists per student means 
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that such personnel are often unable to effectively 
address the needs of students. 
(8) The American School Counselor Association 
and American Counseling Association recommend 
having at least 1 school counselor for every 250 stu-
dents. 
(9) The School Social Work Association of 
America recommends having at least 1 school social 
worker for every 400 students. 
(10) The National Association of School Psy-
chologists recommends having at least 1 school psy-
chologist for every 1,000 students. 
(11) Recent research of victimization of chil-
dren ages 2 to 17 suggests that more than one-half 
of the children experienced a physical assault in the 
study year. More than 1 in 4 experienced a property 
offense, more than 1 in 8 experienced a form of 
child maltreatment, 1 in 12 experienced a sexual vic-
timization, and more than 1 in 3 had been a witness 
to violence or experienced another form of indirect 
victimization. Only 29 percent of the children had no 
direct or indirect victimization. 
(12) Principals and teachers see signs of trau-
ma-related stress in many students including hostile 
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outbursts, sliding grades, poor test performance, and 
the inability to pay attention. 
(13) There were more than 423,000 children in 
foster care in 2009, and studies have revealed these 
children to have higher rates of placement in special 
education, dropping out of school, and discipline 
problems, and poorer academic skills than their non-
foster care peers. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this Act is to increase the recruitment 
and retention of school counselors, school social workers, 
and school psychologists by low-income local educational 
agencies in order to— 
(1) support all students who are at risk of neg-
ative educational outcomes; 
(2) improve student achievement, which may be 
measured by growth in academic achievement on 
tests required by the applicable State educational 
agency, persistence rates, graduation rates, and 
other appropriate measures; 
(3) improve retention of teachers who are high-
ly qualified; 
(4) increase and improve outreach and collabo-
ration between school counselors, school social work-
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ers, and school psychologists and parents and fami-
lies served by low-income local educational agencies; 
(5) increase and improve collaboration among 
teachers, principals, school counselors, school social 
workers, and school psychologists and improve pro-
fessional development opportunities for teachers and 
principals in the area of strategies related to improv-
ing classroom climate and classroom management; 
and 
(6) improve working conditions for all school 
personnel. 
SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF 
SCHOOL 
COUNSELORS, 
SCHOOL 
SOCIAL 
WORKERS, AND SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS EM-
PLOYED 
BY 
LOW-INCOME 
LOCAL 
EDU-
CATIONAL AGENCIES. 
(a) GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary 
shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible part-
nerships that receive recommendations from the peer re-
view panel established under subsection (d), to enable such 
partnerships to carry out pipeline programs to increase 
the number of school counselors, school social workers, 
and school psychologists employed by low-income local 
educational agencies by carrying out any of the activities 
described in subsection (g). 
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(b) GRANT PERIOD.—A grant awarded under this 
section shall be for a 5-year period and may be renewed 
for additional 5-year periods upon a showing of adequate 
progress, as the Secretary determines appropriate. 
(c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 
under this section, an eligible graduate institution, on be-
half of an eligible partnership, shall submit to the Sec-
retary a grant application, including— 
(1) an assessment of the existing ratios of 
school counselors, school social workers, and school 
psychologists to students enrolled in schools in each 
low-income local educational agency that is part of 
the eligible partnership; and 
(2) a detailed description of— 
(A) a plan to carry out a pipeline program 
to train, place, and retain school counselors, 
school social workers, or school psychologists, or 
any combination thereof, as applicable, in low- 
income local educational agencies; and 
(B) the proposed allocation and use of 
grant funds to carry out activities described by 
subsection (g). 
(d) PEER REVIEW PANEL.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT
OF
PANEL.—The Sec-
retary shall establish a peer review panel to evaluate 
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applications for grants under subsection (c) and 
make recommendations to the Secretary regarding 
such applications. 
(2) EVALUATION OF APPLICATIONS.—In mak-
ing its recommendations, the peer review panel shall 
take into account the purpose of this Act and the 
application requirements under subsection (c), in-
cluding the quality of the proposed pipeline program. 
(3) RECOMMENDATION OF PANEL.—The Sec-
retary may award grants under this section only to 
eligible partnerships whose applications receive a 
recommendation from the peer review panel. 
(4) MEMBERSHIP OF PANEL.— 
(A) The peer review panel shall include at 
a minimum the following members: 
(i) One clinical, tenured, or tenure 
track faculty member at an institution of 
higher education with a current appoint-
ment to teach courses in the subject area 
of school counselor education. 
(ii) One clinical, tenured, or tenure 
track faculty member at an institution of 
higher education with a current appoint-
ment to teach courses in the subject area 
of school social worker education. 
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(B) At least one of the members described 
in subparagraph (A) shall be a clinical faculty 
member. 
(e) DISTRIBUTION OF GRANTS.—From among the 
applications receiving a recommendation by the peer re-
view panel, the Secretary shall— 
(1) award the first 5 grants to eligible partner-
ships from 5 different States; 
(2) to the extent practicable, distribute grants 
equitably among eligible partnerships that propose 
to train graduate students in each of the three pro-
fessions of school counseling, school social work, and 
school psychology; and 
(3) to the extent practicable, equitably dis-
tribute the grants among eligible partnerships that 
include an urban low-income local educational agen-
cy and partnerships that include a rural low-income 
local educational agency, with, at a minimum, a per-
centage of the funds, equal to the percentage of low- 
income children in the United States who are served 
by rural local educational agencies (based on the 
Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates of the 
Bureau of Census, for the most recent year such in-
formation is available), awarded to eligible partner-
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ships that include a rural low-income local edu-
cational agency. 
(f) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give priority to 
eligible partnerships that— 
(1) propose to use the grant funds to carry out 
the activities described under paragraphs (1) 
through (3) of subsection (g) in schools that have 
higher numbers or percentages of low-income stu-
dents and students not meeting the proficient level 
of achievement (as described by section 1111 of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 6311)) in comparison to other schools 
that are served by the low-income local educational 
agency that is part of the eligible partnership; 
(2) include a low-income local educational agen-
cy that has fewer school counselors, school social 
workers, and school psychologists per student than 
other eligible partnerships; 
(3) include one or more eligible graduate insti-
tutions that offer graduate programs in the greatest 
number of the following areas: 
(A) school counseling; 
(B) school social work; and 
(C) school psychology; and 
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(4) propose to collaborate with other institu-
tions of higher education with similar programs, in-
cluding sharing facilities, faculty members, and ad-
ministrative costs. 
(g) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—Grant funds awarded 
under this section may be used— 
(1) to pay the administrative costs (including 
supplies, office and classroom space, supervision, 
mentoring, and transportation stipends as necessary 
and appropriate) related to— 
(A) having graduate students of school 
counseling, school social work, and school psy-
chology placed in schools served by partici-
pating low-income local educational agencies to 
complete required field work, credit hours, in-
ternships, or related training as applicable for 
the degree, license, or credential program of 
each such student; and 
(B) offering required graduate course work 
for graduate students of school counseling, 
school social work, and school psychology on the 
site of a participating low-income local edu-
cational agency or its schools; 
(2) for not more than the first 3 years after 
participating graduates receive a masters or other 
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graduate degree or obtain a State license or creden-
tial in school counseling, school social work, or 
school psychology, to hire and pay all or part of the 
salaries of such participating graduates to work as 
school counselors, school social workers, and school 
psychologists in schools served by participating low- 
income local educational agencies; 
(3) to increase the number of school counselors, 
school social workers, and school psychologists per 
student in schools served by participating low-income 
local educational agencies to work towards the stu-
dent support personnel target ratios; 
(4) to recruit, hire, and retain culturally or lin-
guistically under-represented graduate students in 
school counseling, school social work, and school psy-
chology for placement in schools served by partici-
pating low-income educational agencies; 
(5) to recruit, hire, and pay faculty as nec-
essary to increase the capacity of a participating eli-
gible graduate institution to train graduate students 
in the fields of school counseling, school social work, 
and school psychology; 
(6) to develop coursework that will— 
(A) encourage a commitment by graduate 
students in school counseling, school social 
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work, or school psychology to work for low-in-
come local educational agencies; 
(B) give participating graduates the knowl-
edge and skill sets necessary to meet the needs 
of— 
(i) students and families served by 
low-income local educational agencies; and 
(ii) 
teachers, 
administrators, 
and 
other staff who work for low-income local 
educational agencies; 
(C) enable participating graduates to meet 
the unique needs of students at risk of negative 
educational outcomes, including students who— 
(i) are English language learners; 
(ii) have a parent or caregiver who is 
a migrant worker; 
(iii) have a parent or caregiver who is 
a member of the Armed Forces or Na-
tional Guard who has been deployed or re-
turned from deployment; 
(iv) are homeless, including unaccom-
panied youth; 
(v) have come into contact with the 
juvenile justice system or adult criminal 
justice system, including students currently 
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or previously held in juvenile detention fa-
cilities or adult jails and students currently 
or previously held in juvenile correctional 
facilities or adult prisons; 
(vi) have been identified as eligible for 
services under the Individuals with Disabil-
ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et 
seq.) or the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 
U.S.C. 701 et seq.); 
(vii) have been a victim to or wit-
nessed domestic violence or violence in 
their community; and 
(viii) are foster care youth, youth 
aging out of foster care, or former foster 
youth; and 
(D) utilize the peer-reviewed best practices 
developed by the American School Counselor 
Association, National Association of Social 
Workers, School Social Work Association of 
America, or National Association of School Psy-
chologists, subject to approval by the Secretary, 
or other best practices that are approved by the 
Secretary and have been published through a 
peer review process; 
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(7) to provide tuition credits to graduate stu-
dents participating in the program; 
(8) for student loan forgiveness for partici-
pating graduates who are employed as school coun-
selors, school social workers, or school psychologists 
by participating low-income local educational agen-
cies for a minimum of 5 consecutive years; and 
(9) for similar activities to fulfill the purpose of 
this Act, as the Secretary determines appropriate. 
(h) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds made 
available under this section shall be used to supplement, 
not supplant, other Federal, State, or local funds for the 
activities described in subsection (g). 
(i) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Each eligible part-
nership that receives a grant under this section shall sub-
mit an annual report to the Secretary on the progress of 
such partnership in carrying out the purpose of this Act. 
Such report shall include a description of— 
(1) actual service delivery provided through 
grant funds, including— 
(A) characteristics of each participating el-
igible graduate institution, including descriptive 
information on the model used and actual pro-
gram performance; 
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(B) characteristics of graduate students 
participating in the program, including per-
formance on any tests required by the State 
educational agency for credentialing or licens-
ing, demographic characteristics, and graduate 
student retention rates; 
(C) characteristics of students of the par-
ticipating low-income local educational agency, 
including performance on any tests required by 
the State educational agency, demographic 
characteristics, and promotion, persistence, and 
graduation rates, as appropriate; 
(D) an estimate of the annual implementa-
tion costs of the program; and 
(E) the numbers of students, schools, and 
graduate students participating in the program; 
(2) outcomes that are consistent with the pur-
pose of the grant program, including— 
(A) internship and post-graduation place-
ment; 
(B) graduation and professional career 
readiness indicators; and 
(C) characteristics of the participating low- 
income local educational agency, including 
changes in hiring and retention of highly quali-
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fied teachers and school counselors, school psy-
chologists, and school social workers; 
(3) the instruction, materials, and activities 
being funded under the grant program; and 
(4) the effectiveness of any training and ongo-
ing professional development provided— 
(A) to students and faculty in the appro-
priate departments or schools of the partici-
pating eligible graduate institution; 
(B) to the faculty, administration, and 
staff of the participating low-income local edu-
cational agency; and 
(C) to the broader community of providers 
of social, emotional, behavioral, and related 
support to students and to those who train such 
providers. 
(j) EVALUATIONS.— 
(1) INTERIM
EVALUATIONS.—The Secretary 
may conduct interim evaluations to determine 
whether each eligible partnership receiving a grant is 
making adequate progress as the Secretary considers 
appropriate. The contents of the annual report sub-
mitted to the Secretary under subsection (i) may be 
used by the Secretary to determine whether an eligi-
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ble partnership receiving a grant is demonstrating 
adequate progress. 
(2) FINAL EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall 
conduct a final evaluation to— 
(A) determine the effectiveness of the 
grant program in carrying out the purpose of 
this Act; and 
(B) compare the relative effectiveness of 
each of the various activities described by sub-
section (g) for which grant funds may be used. 
(k) REPORT.—Not sooner than 5 years nor later than 
6 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary shall submit to Congress a report containing the 
findings of the evaluation conducted under subsection 
(j)(2), and such recommendations as the Secretary con-
siders appropriate. 
(l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section such sums as 
may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2012 
through 2022. 
(2) RESERVATION
FOR
EVALUATIONS.—From 
the total amount appropriated to carry out this sec-
tion each fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve not 
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more than 3 percent of that appropriation for eval-
uations under subsection (j). 
SEC. 5. STUDENT LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR INDIVIDUALS 
WHO ARE EMPLOYED FOR 5 OR MORE CON-
SECUTIVE SCHOOL YEARS AS SCHOOL COUN-
SELORS, SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKERS, SCHOOL 
PSYCHOLOGISTS, OR OTHER QUALIFIED PSY-
CHOLOGISTS OR PSYCHIATRISTS BY LOW-IN-
COME LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 
shall establish a program to provide student loan forgive-
ness to individuals who are not and have never been par-
ticipants in the grant program established under section 
4 and who have been employed for 5 or more consecutive 
school years as school counselors, school social workers, 
school psychologists, other qualified psychologists, or child 
and adolescent psychiatrists by low-income local edu-
cational agencies. 
(b) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such 
sums as may be necessary to carry out the program under 
this section. 
SEC. 6. FUTURE DESIGNATION STUDY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct a 
study to identify a formula for future designation of re-
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gions with a shortage of school counselors, school social 
workers, and school psychologists to use in implementing 
grant programs and other programs such as the programs 
established under this Act or for other purposes related 
to any such designation, based on the latest available data 
on— 
(1) the number of residents under the age of 18 
in an area served by a low-income local educational 
agency; 
(2) the percentage of the population of an area 
served by a low-income local educational agency with 
incomes below the poverty line; 
(3) the percentage of residents age 18 or older 
of an area served by a low-income local educational 
agency who have earned secondary school diplomas; 
(4) the percentage of students identified as eli-
gible for special education services in an area served 
by a low-income local educational agency; 
(5) the youth crime rate in an area served by 
a low-income local educational agency; 
(6) the current number of full-time-equivalent 
and active school counselors, school social workers, 
and school psychologists employed by a low-income 
local educational agency; 
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(7) the number of students in an area served by 
a low-income local educational agency in military 
families (active duty and reserve duty) with parents 
who have been alerted for deployment, are currently 
deployed, or have returned from a deployment in the 
previous school year; and 
(8) such other criteria as the Secretary con-
siders appropriate. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 
Congress a report containing the findings of the study 
conducted under subsection (a). 
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) SCHOOL
COUNSELING
PROGRAM
DEFINI-
TIONS.—The terms ‘‘child and adolescent psychia-
trist’’, ‘‘other qualified psychologist’’, ‘‘school coun-
selor’’, ‘‘school psychologist’’, and ‘‘school social 
worker’’ have the meanings given the terms in sec-
tion 5421 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7245). 
(2) ESEA GENERAL DEFINITIONS.—The terms 
‘‘highly qualified’’, ‘‘local educational agency’’, and 
‘‘State educational agency’’ have the meanings given 
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the terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 
(3) BEST PRACTICES.—The term ‘‘best prac-
tices’’ means a technique or methodology that, 
through experience and research related to the prac-
tice of school counseling, school psychology, or 
school social work, has proven to reliably lead to a 
desired result. 
(4) ELIGIBLE
GRADUATE
INSTITUTION.—The 
term ‘‘eligible graduate institution’’ means an insti-
tution of higher education that offers a program of 
study that leads to a masters or other graduate de-
gree— 
(A) in school psychology that is accredited 
or nationally recognized by the National Asso-
ciation of School Psychologists Program Ap-
proval Board and that prepares students in 
such program for the State licensing or certifi-
cation examination in school psychology; 
(B) in school counseling that prepares stu-
dents in such program for the State licensing or 
certification examination in school counseling; 
(C) in school social work that is accredited 
by the Council on Social Work Education and 
that prepares students in such program for the 
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State licensing or certification exam in school 
social work; or 
(D) any combination of subparagraphs 
(A), (B), and (C). 
(5) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘‘eligi-
ble partnership’’ means— 
(A) a partnership between 1 or more low- 
income local educational agencies and 1 or more 
eligible graduate institutions; or 
(B) in regions in which local educational 
agencies may not have a sufficient elementary 
and secondary school student population to sup-
port the placement of all participating graduate 
students, a partnership between a State edu-
cational agency, on behalf of 1 or more low-in-
come local educational agencies, and 1 or more 
eligible graduate institutions. 
(6) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 102 of the High-
er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002), but ex-
cludes any institution of higher education described 
in section 102(a)(1)(C) of such Act. 
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(7) LOW-INCOME LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN-
CY.—The term ‘‘low-income local educational agen-
cy’’ means a local educational agency— 
(A) in which not less than 20 percent of 
the students served by such agency are from 
families with incomes below the poverty line, as 
determined by the Bureau of the Census on the 
basis of the most recent satisfactory data avail-
able; 
(B) that has existing ratios of school coun-
selors, school social workers, and school psy-
chologists to students served by the partici-
pating low-income local educational agency that 
fall at least 10 percent below the student sup-
port personnel target ratios, meaning such low- 
income local educational agency has no more 
than one counselor per 277 students, no more 
than one school psychologist per 1,111 stu-
dents, and no more than one school social work-
er per 444 students; and 
(C) that has been identified for improve-
ment or corrective action (as described in sec-
tion 1116(c) of the Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316(c))) or 
that includes at least one school that has been 
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identified for school improvement, corrective ac-
tion, or restructuring (as described in section 
1116(b) of such Act). 
(8) PARTICIPATING ELIGIBLE GRADUATE INSTI-
TUTION.—The term ‘‘participating eligible graduate 
institution’’ means an eligible graduate institution 
that is part of an eligible partnership awarded a 
grant under section 4. 
(9) PARTICIPATING
GRADUATE.—The term 
‘‘participating graduate’’ means an individual who— 
(A) has received a masters or other grad-
uate degree in elementary or secondary school 
counseling, school social work, or school psy-
chology, from a participating eligible graduate 
institution and has obtained a State license or 
credential in school counseling, school social 
work, or school psychology; and 
(B) as a graduate student of school coun-
seling, school social work, or school psychology 
was placed in a school served by a participating 
low-income local educational agency to complete 
required field work, credit hours, internships, or 
related training as applicable. 
(10) PARTICIPATING LOW-INCOME LOCAL EDU-
CATIONAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘participating low-in-
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come local educational agency’’ means a low-income 
local educational agency that is part of an eligible 
partnership awarded a grant under section 4. 
(11) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘‘Secretary’’ 
means the Secretary of Education. 
(12) STUDENT SUPPORT PERSONNEL TARGET 
RATIOS.—The term ‘‘student support personnel tar-
get ratios’’ means the ratios of school counselors, 
school social workers, and school psychologists to 
students recommended to enable such personnel to 
effectively address the needs of students, including— 
(A) at least 1 school counselor for every 
250 students (as recommended by the American 
School Counselors Association and American 
Counseling Association); 
(B) at least 1 school psychologist for every 
1,000 students (as recommended by the Na-
tional Association of School Psychologists); and 
(C) at least 1 school social worker for 
every 400 students (as recommended by the 
School Social Work Association of America). 
(13) UNACCOMPANIED YOUTH.—The term ‘‘un-
accompanied youth’’ has the meaning given such 
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term in section 725 of the McKinney-Vento Home-
less Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a). 
Æ 
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