I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5218 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide 
for school improvement and professional development for teachers, prin-
cipals, instructional staff, and other school leaders, and for other pur-
poses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 5, 2010 
Mr. POLIS of Colorado (for himself, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. CARNAHAN, Mr. CON-
YERS, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK 
of Arizona, Ms. NORTON, and Ms. RICHARDSON) 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 provide for school improvement and profes-
sional development for teachers, principals, instructional 
staff, and other school leaders, 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 ‘‘Great Teachers for 
Great Schools Act of 2010’’. 
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SEC. 2. REFERENCES. 
Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 
this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 
of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi-
sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 
section or other provision of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.). 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Teacher quality is the single most important 
factor influencing student learning and achievement. 
(2) Studies have found that 40 to 90 percent of 
the difference in student test scores can be attrib-
uted to teacher quality. 
(3) Principal leadership is second only to class-
room instruction in terms of school-related factors 
which affect student learning, especially in high- 
needs schools. 
(4) Available experimental studies indicate that 
there is a direct correlation between professional de-
velopment and student performance. A set of pro-
grams that offered substantial professional develop-
ment, ranging from 30 to 100 hours in total, spread 
over six to 12 months, showed a positive and signifi-
cant effect on student achievement gains. According 
to the research, the intensive professional develop-
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ment efforts that offered an average of 49 hours in 
a year boosted student performance by approxi-
mately 21 percentile points. 
(5) Studies that benchmark United States aca-
demic performance against that of other developed 
nations have stressed the importance of and need for 
improved professional development, for example as 
follows: 
(A) For professional development, Finland 
relies on a system wherein students are trained 
from a young age in the skills required for 
classroom success. These skills are bolstered in 
the workplace through an organizational struc-
ture that promotes entrepreneurship, daily 
learning, and continual professional develop-
ment. 
(B) Japan’s focus on continually building 
content knowledge, intrinsic capabilities, and 
pedagogical 
knowledge—especially 
amongst 
young teachers—has yielded massive edu-
cational success for the country. They imple-
ment a nationally practiced system of ‘‘guidance 
teachers’’ and ‘‘trainee teachers’’ which encour-
age one-on-one coaching and an intense com-
mitment to professional development. 
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(C) 
After 
experiencing 
unsatisfactory 
progress in literacy and mathematics for nearly 
50 years, England pursued a national teacher 
training program that employed best practice 
techniques. After three years, England in-
creased the number of students meeting the 
target standards in literacy from 63 percent to 
75 percent. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to build 
the capacity of teachers and principals in our Nation’s 
schools through systematic, sustained, coherent school and 
team-based, job-embedded professional development. 
SEC. 4. SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT. 
Section 1003(g)(5) (20 U.S.C. 6303(g)(5)) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ 
after the semicolon; 
(2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period 
and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(D) permitted to be used to supplement 
the activities required under section 2501.’’. 
SEC. 5. LOCAL SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT. 
Title II (20 U.S.C. 6601 et seq.) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
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‘‘PART E—BUILDING SCHOOL CAPACITY FOR 
EFFECTIVE TEACHING 
‘‘SEC. 2501. LOCAL SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES. 
‘‘(a) SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN-
CIES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall allot 
the amount made available to carry out this part for 
a fiscal year among the State educational agencies 
in proportion to the amounts received by the States 
under title I for such year. 
‘‘(2) USE
OF
ALLOTMENT.—A State edu-
cational agency that receives an allotment under this 
part shall— 
‘‘(A) reserve 95 percent of the fund to 
make subgrants to local educational agencies; 
and 
‘‘(B) use the remainder of the funds for 
administrative activities in carrying out this 
part. 
‘‘(3) PROPORTIONALITY.—To the extent prac-
ticable, the Secretary shall ensure that subgrants 
awarded under this part are equitably distributed 
among local educational agencies and serving urban 
and rural areas. 
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‘‘(b) FIRST AWARD.—In awarding subgrants under 
this part, a State educational agency shall first award 
grants to local educational agencies— 
‘‘(1) that demonstrate the greatest need for dis-
trict and school improvement subgrant funds; 
‘‘(2) in which the average graduation rates are 
less than 65 percent, if applicable; and 
‘‘(3) in which children eligible for free and re-
duced priced lunches under the Richard B. Russell 
National School Lunch Act constitute not less than 
40 percent of the total population of children aged 
5 to 17 served by the agency. 
‘‘(c) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY APPLICATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 
subgrant under this part, a local educational agency 
shall submit an application to the State educational 
agency at such time, in such manner, and containing 
such information as the State educational agency 
may reasonably require. 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 
pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include— 
‘‘(A) a description of how the local edu-
cational agency will assist schools identified 
under section 1116(b), and low-achieving sec-
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ondary schools with graduation rates less than 
65 percent, in— 
‘‘(i) implementing high-impact profes-
sional development; 
‘‘(ii) providing protected release time 
for high-impact professional development 
that occurs not less than multiple times 
per week; and 
‘‘(iii) using teaching standards, form-
ative assessments, teacher portfolio proc-
esses, evidence-based instructional prac-
tices, and teacher development protocols; 
and 
‘‘(B) a description of how the local edu-
cational agency will— 
‘‘(i) evaluate the effectiveness of the 
programs and assistance provided under 
subsection (d) and pursuant to subsection 
(e); 
‘‘(ii) prepare, support, and utilize in-
ternal teacher leaders, coaches, or content 
experts to facilitate school-based profes-
sional development; and 
‘‘(iii) ensure that the professional de-
velopment required under subsection (d) is 
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