Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Instructional Leadership Act of 2013”.
Instructional Leadership Act of 2013
A BILL
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize competitive grants to prepare and train school principals on effective core competencies and instructional leadership skills.
Sec. 2 Findings
The Congress finds the following:
According to a 2004 study commissioned by the Wallace Foundation entitled “How Leadership Influences Student Learning”, principals are second only to teachers in impacting increased student academic achievement (Leithwood, Louis, Whalstrom).
According to education research conducted by the National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in 2010 entitled “Principal Effectiveness and Leadership in an Era of Accountability: What Research Says”, a school principal must serve as both an organizational leader and most importantly, is expected to be an instructional leader, meaning the principal must possess the knowledge and instructional skills to guide teaching and learning in a school (Rice).
There is a clear intention within the amendments made by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) that principals become instructional leaders. Section 2113(c) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6613(c)) calls for principals to have—
the instructional leadership skills to help teachers teach and students learn; and
to help students meet challenging State student academic achievement standards.
Despite this recognition of the importance of instructional leadership, adequate attention and resources have not been committed to training and supporting school principals—
in meeting the standards of instructional leadership in States where such standards exist; and
in developing such standards in States where such standards do not exist.
Licensure of school principals typically does not give adequate emphasis to instructional leadership skills in the certification process.
The term highly qualified principal added by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) should be defined in such Act to include a strong emphasis on instructional leadership.
Sec. 3 Grants for instructional leadership
In general— Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.) is amended by redesignating part I as part J and by inserting after part H the following new part:
“I Instructional Leadership
“1851. Competitive grants
“(a) Grants To develop innovative programs and sites—From the amounts made available under subsection (h), the Secretary shall make grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to develop and implement innovative programs and sites to train school principals in instructional leadership skills, including skills relating to—
“(1) establishing a vision for continuous school improvement and a shared responsibility for learning;
“(2) refining and implementing instructional practices aligned to the vision of continuous improvement;
“(3) providing on-going learning and professional development opportunities for teachers and other staff;
“(4) monitoring the alignment of curriculum, instruction, and assessment;
“(5) improving instructional practices through the purposeful observation and evaluation of teachers;
“(6) ensuring the regular integration of assessments appropriate to the needs of students into daily classroom instruction;
“(7) using technology and multiple sources of data to improve classroom instruction;
“(8) providing teachers and other staff with focused, sustained, research-based professional development; and
“(9) engaging all community stakeholders in a shared responsibility for student and school success.
“(b) Grants for pilot programs—In addition to awarding grants under subsection (a), from the amounts appropriated under subsection (h), the Secretary shall make grants, on a competitive basis, to State educational agencies or partnerships or consortia that include State educational agencies to develop and implement pilot programs designed to evaluate and promote the incorporation of standards of instructional leadership described in paragraphs (1) through (9) of subsection (a) into State principal certification or licensing requirements.
“(c) Duration—A grant made under this section shall be awarded for a period of 2 years, and may be renewed for a period of 2 additional years.
“(d) Applications
“(1) Eligible entities—An eligible entity desiring to receive a grant under subsection (a) shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require.
“(2) State educational agencies, partnerships, and consortia—A State educational agency, partnership, or consortia desiring to receive a grant under subsection (b) shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require.
“(e) Report—A recipient of a grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary a report describing the results of its activities funded by such grant. Such report shall be submitted at such time, in such manner, and containing such additional information as the Secretary may require.
“(f) Revised concept of effective principal
“(1) In general—Based on the reports submitted pursuant to subsection (e), the Secretary shall, by regulation, establish a definition of an effective principal that emphasizes standards of instructional leadership.
“(2) Considerations—In developing such a definition, the Secretary shall give consideration to the need for principals to—
“(A) lead elementary schools and secondary schools in a way that places student learning, professional development, and assistance for parents in helping their children learn at the center;
“(B) set high expectations and standards for academic, social, emotional and physical development of all students;
“(C) demand content and instruction that ensure student achievement of agreed upon standards;
“(D) create a culture of continuous learning for teachers, other staff, and parents on the subject of student learning and other school goals;
“(E) manage data and knowledge to inform decisions and measure progress of a student and school performance; and
“(F) actively engage the community to create shared responsibility for student academic performance and successful development.
“(g) Eligible entity—For purposes of this section, the term eligible entity means—
“(1) a State educational agency;
“(2) a local educational agency;
“(3) a nonprofit organization (such as a State principal association);
“(4) an institution of higher education; or
“(5) a partnership or consortium that includes at least one of the entities described in paragraphs (1) through (4).
“(h) Authorization of appropriations—To carry out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2014 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.”
Clerical amendment— The table of contents for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended by redesignating the item relating to part I of title I as relating to part J and by inserting before such item the following:
Sec. 4 Establishing state-of-the-art principal induction programs
In general— Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“E Establishing State-Of-The-Art Principal Induction Programs
“2501. Competitive grants
“(a) Grants—From the amounts made available to carry out this section, the Secretary may make grants, on a competitive basis, to States and eligible local educational agencies for the purpose of developing state-of-the-art principal induction programs.
“(b) Eligible local educational agency—In this section, the term eligible local educational agency means—
“(1) a high-need local educational agency (as such term is defined in section 2102(3)); or
“(2) a partnership consisting of a high-need local educational agency and—
“(A) an institution of higher education;
“(B) a professional organization that works with and for principals; or
“(C) any other nonprofit education organization.
“(c) Use of funds—A State or an eligible local educational agency that receives a grant under subsection (a) shall use the funds made available through the grant to develop a state-of-the-art principal induction program that—
“(1) provides new principals a minimum of 3 years of extensive, high-quality, comprehensive induction into the field of school administration; and
“(2) includes—
“(A) structured mentoring from highly qualified master or mentor principals who are certified, have school administration experience in a school similar to the school of the new principal, and are trained to mentor new principals;
“(B) at least 90 minutes each week for a new principal to carry out administrative and leadership tasks under the director of a master or mentor principal;
“(C) regular observation by a master or mentor principal of the new principal in the new principal’s school;
“(D) observation by the new principal of the master or mentor principal’s classroom;
“(E) observation by new principals of at least 3 principals and feedback (that uses research-validated benchmarks of leadership skills and standards that are developed with input from principals) at least 4 times each school year by multiple evaluators, including master and mentor principals;
“(F) paid release time for the master or mentor principal for mentoring, or salary supplements for mentoring new principals at a ratio of one full-time mentor to every 12 new principals;
“(G) a transition year for new principals to the school that includes a reduced workload for such principals; and
“(H) a standards-based assessment, which may include examination of practice and a measure of gains in student learning, of every new principal to determine whether the principal should move forward in the school administration profession.”
Clerical amendment— The table of contents for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 2441 the following: