I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1995 
To establish an Office of Specialized Instructional Support in the Department 
of Education and to provide grants to State educational agencies to 
reduce barriers to learning. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 25, 2011 
Mr. LOEBSACK (for himself, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. BRALEY of 
Iowa, and Mr. COURTNEY) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To establish an Office of Specialized Instructional Support 
in the Department of Education and to provide grants 
to State educational agencies to reduce barriers to learn-
ing. 
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 ‘‘Reducing Barriers to 
Learning Act of 2011’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Interventions to increase students’ bonding 
to school promote academic success by reducing bar-
riers to learning. 
(2) Interventions that foster students’ engage-
ment in school have been shown to reduce high 
school dropout rates. 
(3) Interventions that strengthen students’ so-
cial, emotional, and decisionmaking skills also posi-
tively impact their academic achievement, both in 
terms of higher standardized test scores and better 
grades. 
(4) Prevention and early intervention programs 
that target elementary school-aged students who are 
academically and socially at risk have been shown to 
produce declines in special education referrals and 
placement, suspension, grade retention, and discipli-
nary referrals. 
(5) Students with barriers to learning, such as 
low levels of resilience assets (such as high expecta-
tions and caring relationships at school), have lower 
levels of academic achievement both in low- and 
high-performing schools. 
(6) Increasing students’ engagement and sense 
of community in the school produces reductions in 
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problem behaviors, increased associations with 
prosocial peers, and better academic performance. 
(7) School mental health programs improve 
educational outcomes by decreasing absences and 
discipline referrals and improving test scores. 
(8) Students who receive social-emotional sup-
port and prevention services achieve better academi-
cally in school. 
(9) While it is well recognized that mental 
health directly affects children’s learning and devel-
opment, in a recent study one-third of school dis-
tricts reported decreased funding for school mental 
health services at the same time that two-thirds re-
ported increased need for such services. 
(10) School counseling programs are essential 
for students to achieve optimal personal growth, ac-
quire positive social skills and values, set appropriate 
career goals, and realize full academic potential to 
become productive, contributing members of the 
world community. 
(11) Seventy percent of children receiving serv-
ices 
from 
speech-language 
pathologists 
make 
progress in emergent literacy skills, and 75 percent 
make progress in word recognition, an important 
component of literacy skills; over two-thirds of class-
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room teachers report that students receiving these 
services show improved reading skills in the class-
room. 
(12) Use of creative arts therapies (including 
art therapy, dance/movement therapy, and music 
therapy) promote learning and skill acquisition (in-
cluding enhanced literacy skills), increased attention, 
improved behavior, increased socialization, improved 
receptive/expressive language, self-expression, and a 
more positive attitude for learning. 
(13) Ninety-seven percent of children in the 
United States spend their days at school. Therefore, 
the school can be an important site where health and 
education risks (such as depression, absenteeism, 
and substance use) may be identified and timely 
interventions initiated. 
(14) Whole-school interventions using positive 
behavior support have been shown to decrease be-
havior problems while improving academic perform-
ance, as measured by standardized tests in reading 
and mathematics. 
(15) Branches of Federal agencies need to re- 
evaluate policies aimed at enhancing school-based 
mental health and become more proactive in pro-
viding leadership to achieve integrated, collaborative, 
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