Teacher, Principal, and Leader Residency Access Act
Bill: S.3171 | Sponsor: Sen. Kennedy, John (R-LA)
Policy area: Education

Summary:
Teacher, Principal, and Leader Residency Access Act
This bill expands the federal work-study programs at institutions of higher education (IHEs) to include work-study programs that compensate students serving in a residency program at the IHE. Residency program refers to a school-based educator preparation program in which a prospective teacher, principal, or school leader (1) works for one academic year with a mentor teacher, principal, or other school leader; (2) receives concurrent instruction from the IHE; (3) acquires effective teaching or school leader skills; and (4) attains certification or licensure prior to completion of the program.

To ensure that Federal work-study funding is available for students 
  enrolled in residency programs for teachers, principals, or school 
                    leaders, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Teacher, Principal, and Leader 
Residency Access Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Across the United States, local educational agencies 
        and elementary schools and secondary schools are struggling to 
        meet the growing demand for qualified teachers. In 2017-18, 
        more than 100,000 classrooms in the United States were staffed 
        by instructors who were unqualified to teach. These classrooms 
        are disproportionately located in low-income, high-minority 
        schools, although schools of every kind have been affected by a 
        lack of qualified applicants in key subjects, including 
        mathematics, special education, science, world languages, 
        career and technical education, and teachers of English 
        learners.
            (2) Teacher shortages are in significant part driven by 
        teacher turnover. Research shows that teacher turnover is 
        higher for those who enter the profession without adequate 
        preparation. Teachers who enter the profession through a 
        comprehensive, high-quality program with student teaching, 
        formal feedback on their teaching, and multiple courses in 
        student learning, as required in high-quality teaching 
        residency programs, are more likely to remain in the profession 
        compared to teachers who enter through a route that lacks these 
        components. Not only are under-prepared teachers less effective 
        on average, they are also 2 to 3 times more likely to leave 
        teaching than fully prepared teachers.
            (3) Teacher shortages and teacher turnover are costly. Each 
        time a teacher leaves a school, it not only increases demand 
        but also imposes replacement costs on the local educational 
        agency, which range from $9,000 per teacher in small, rural 
        local educational agencies to more than $20,000 in large, urban 
        local educational agencies. The national price tag of 
        replacement costs for teachers is more than $8,000,000,000 a 
        year.
            (4) Teaching residency programs, which recruit candidates 
        to work as paid apprentices to skilled expert teachers while 
        completing highly integrated coursework, have been successful 
        in recruiting talented, diverse candidates into high-need 
        fields and local educational agencies.
            (5) Research on teaching residency programs shows that such 
        programs are effective in bringing more teachers of color into 
        the profession and in preparing such teachers to stay for the 
        long term. In the United States, about 49 percent of 
        individuals in teaching residency programs are students of 
        color, and the same percentage of public school students are 
        people of color, but only 20 percent of teachers are people of 
        color.
            (6) The teaching residency program model creates long-term 
        benefits for local educational agencies, schools, and for the 
        students served by such agencies and schools. Rigorous studies 
        of teaching residency programs have found significantly higher 
        retention rates for graduates of teaching residency programs, 
        addressing one of the primary contributors to teacher 
        shortages, as well as positive evidence about educator 
        effectiveness.
            (7) A review of teaching residency program evaluations 
        shows that teachers who completed high-quality teaching 
        residency programs tend to have higher teaching retention rates 
        over time compared to teachers who did not complete such 
        programs, including--
                    (A) in San Francisco, where 80 percent of 
                candidates completing a teaching residency program were 
                still in the classroom after 5 years, compared to 38 
                percent of candidates who entered the classroom through 
                a different route;
                    (B) in Boston, where teaching residents 
                participating in the Boston Teacher Residency program 
                had higher retention rates compared to teachers who 
                were not teaching residents, with 80 percent of 
                residents still teaching in Boston Public schools for a 
                third year, compared to 63 percent of teachers who were 
                not teaching residents, and 75 percent of teaching 
                residents still teaching for a fifth year, compared to 
                51 percent of teachers who were not teaching residents; 
                and
                    (C) in Tennessee, where 95 percent of Memphis 
                Teacher Residency program participants were still 
                teaching for a third year, compared with 41 percent of 
                teachers statewide.
            (8) Additional studies of teaching residency programs show 
        similarly high retention rates of graduates, ranging from 80 
        percent to 90 percent teaching in the same district after 3 
        years, and 70 percent to 80 percent teaching in the same 
        district after 5 years.
            (9) According to data from the San Francisco Unified School 
        District, principals find graduates of teaching residency 
        programs to be well prepared, and in many cases to be better 
        prepared than new teachers who were not in teaching residency 
        programs. Research also shows that teaching residents 
        strengthen schools across the country by reducing teacher 
        shortages and providing local educational agencies with a more 
        sustainable educator workforce.
            (10) In 2019, there were at least 50 teaching residency 
        programs nationwide, each of which range in size from 5 to 100 
        teaching residents per year. Several States, including 
        California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, 
        New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia, 
        are supporting teaching residency programs through regional 
        network partnerships that regularly bring together leadership 
        from across local educational agencies and preparation programs 
        to share knowledge and develop more enduring and reciprocal 
        relationships between such agencies.
            (11) Teaching residency programs align with the purpose of 
        the Federal Work-Study Program to provide valuable work 
        experience and work related to a student's course of study and 
        intended profession. Further, the Federal Work-Study Program 
        prioritizes teaching reading based on scientifically based 
        research on reading, a feature consistent with efforts in 
        teaching residency programs to equip all new teachers, 
        regardless of subject area, with the skills to support reading 
        and literacy skills for all students.
            (12) According to a recent report by the George W. Bush 
        Institute on principal talent management, preparing successful 
        principals requires new, comprehensive approaches by school 
        districts, universities, States, and others who pull together 
        to train and support principals. Thoughtfully designed and 
        implemented principal residency programs can be a powerful 
        piece of this comprehensive and collaborative approach to 
        training future educational leadership.
            (13) Residencies for aspiring school principals are a 
        promising approach to initiate principal candidates into school 
        leadership practice and have become a part of some 
        comprehensive principal preparation programs over the past 20 
        years. Principal residencies reinvent the traditional 
        internship experience, which has often been the capstone 
        experience in principal preparation. Residency immerses 
        principal candidates in rigorous apprenticeship experiences 
        that are designed to advance leadership and management 
        practices, as well as emphasize data analysis, action, 
        reflection, and accountability.

SEC. 3. FEDERAL WORK-STUDY FOR RESIDENCY PROGRAMS FOR TEACHERS, 
              PRINCIPALS, AND OTHER SCHOOL LEADERS.

    Section 443 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087-53) 
is amended--
            (1) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) in the header, by inserting ``School-Based'' 
                before ``Tutoring'';
                    (B) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by striking ``tutoring in reading'' and 
                        inserting ``school-based activities, including 
                        residency programs, tutoring in reading,''; and
                            (ii) by striking subparagraphs (A) and (B) 
                        and inserting the following:
                    ``(A) employed--
                            ``(i) as reading tutors for children who 
                        are preschool age or are in elementary school; 
                        or
                            ``(ii) in family literacy projects; or
                    ``(B) serving in a residency program of the 
                institution.''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking 
                        ``and'' after the semicolon;
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 
                        period and inserting ``; and''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) ensure that any student compensated with the 
                funds described in paragraph (1) who is serving in a 
                residency program receives compensation for time spent 
                in training and travel directly related to such 
                residency.''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Residency Programs for Teachers, Principals, and Other School 
Leaders.--
            ``(1) Use of funds.--Funds granted to an institution under 
        this section may be used to support students serving in 
        residency programs, including compensation for time spent in 
        training and travel directly related to such residency.
            ``(2) Priority.--An institution shall--
                    ``(A) give priority to students who are serving in 
                a residency program and who have been determined to be 
                eligible for a Federal Pell Grant under section 401; 
                and
                    ``(B) ensure that any student compensated with the 
                funds described in paragraph (1) for a residency 
                program receives appropriate training to acquire 
                teaching skills or school leader skills.
            ``(3) Federal share.--The Federal share of the compensation 
        of work-study students compensated under this subsection may 
        exceed 75 percent.
            ``(4) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Residency program.--The term `residency 
                program' means a school-based educator preparation 
                program in which a prospective teacher, principal, or 
                other school leader--
                            ``(i) for 1 academic year, works alongside 
                        a mentor teacher, principal, or other school 
                        leader who is--
                                    ``(I) the teacher of record; or
                                    ``(II) rated as effective or above 
                                in the State's school leader evaluation 
                                and support system (as described in 
                                section 2101(c)(4)(B)(ii) of the 
                                Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
                                of 1965) or, if no such ratings are 
                                available, on other comparable 
                                indicators of performance;
                            ``(ii) receives concurrent instruction 
                        during the year described in clause (i) from 
                        the institution, which may be courses taught by 
                        local educational agency personnel or residency 
                        program faculty, in, as applicable--
                                    ``(I) the teaching of the content 
                                area in which the teacher will become 
                                certified or licensed;
                                    ``(II) teaching skills; and
                                    ``(III) leadership, management, 
                                organizational, and school leader 
                                skills necessary to serve as a 
                                principal or other school leader;
                            ``(iii) acquires effective teaching skills 
                        or school leader skills; and
                            ``(iv) prior to completion of the program, 
                        attains full State teacher, principal, or 
                        school leader certification or licensure, and 
                        becomes profession-ready.
                    ``(B) Profession-ready.--The term `profession-
                ready'--
                            ``(i) when used with respect to a teacher, 
                        means a teacher who--
                                    ``(I) has completed a teacher 
                                preparation program and is fully 
                                certified and licensed to teach by the 
                                State in which the teacher is employed;
                                    ``(II) has a baccalaureate degree 
                                or higher;
                                    ``(III) has demonstrated content 
                                knowledge in the subject or subjects 
                                the teacher teaches;
                                    ``(IV) has demonstrated the ability 
                                to work with students who are 
                                culturally and linguistically diverse;
                                    ``(V) has demonstrated teaching 
                                skills, such as through--
                                            ``(aa) a teacher 
                                        performance assessment; or
                                            ``(bb) other measures of 
                                        teaching skills, as determined 
                                        by the State; and
                                    ``(VI) has demonstrated proficiency 
                                with the use of educational technology; 
                                and
                            ``(ii) when used with respect to a 
                        principal or other school leader, means a 
                        principal or other school leader who--
                                    ``(I) has an advanced degree, or 
                                other appropriate credential;
                                    ``(II) has completed a principal or 
                                other school leader preparation process 
                                and is fully certified and licensed by 
                                the State in which the principal or 
                                other school leader is employed;
                                    ``(III) has demonstrated 
                                instructional leadership, including the 
                                ability to collect, analyze, and 
                                utilize data on evidence of student 
                                learning and evidence of classroom 
                                practice;
                                    ``(IV) has demonstrated proficiency 
                                in professionally recognized leadership 
                                standards; and
                                    ``(V) has demonstrated the ability 
                                to work with students who are 
                                culturally and linguistically diverse.
                    ``(C) School leader.--The term `school leader' has 
                the meaning given the term in section 8101 of the 
                Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
                    ``(D) School leader skills.--The term `school 
                leader skills' refers to evidenced-based competencies 
                for principals and other school leaders, such as--
                            ``(i) shaping a vision of academic success 
                        for all students;
                            ``(ii) creating a safe and inclusive 
                        learning environment;
                            ``(iii) cultivating leadership in others;
                            ``(iv) improving instruction; and
                            ``(v) managing people, data, and processes 
                        to foster school improvement.
                    ``(E) Teaching skills.--The term `teaching skills' 
                has the meaning given the term in section 200.''.
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