Supplemental Educational Services for Children from Low-Income Families Under ESEA Title I-A

Publication Date: February 2004

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Education

Type:

Abstract:

Supplemental educational services are educational activities provided outside of normal school hours that are designed to augment or enhance the educational services provided during regular periods of instruction. Examples include tutoring in specific subject areas and preparation for academic achievement tests. The No Child Left Behind Act (P.L. 107-110) amended the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to authorize supplemental educational services as a means of school improvement. Local educational agencies (LEAs) are required to provide students from low-income families, who attend Title I-A schools that have been identified for a second year of school improvement, corrective action, or restructuring, the opportunity to receive supplemental educational services from a state-approved provider.

Public and private non-profit or for-profit providers are eligible to deliver supplemental educational services upon being approved by state educational agencies (SEAs). Parents of eligible students may select from approved providers offering services in the jurisdiction of the LEA where their child attends school, or that of a neighboring LEA. In instances where only a limited number of eligible children can be provided with supplemental educational services -- for example, because of funding constraints or the limited availability of approved providers -- priority must go to the lowest achieving eligible children. Providers are required to demonstrate that the services they provide contribute to the increased academic proficiency of the eligible children they serve, as measured according to state standards, in order to retain their status as approved providers.

If there is sufficient demand for supplemental educational services, LEAs must dedicate an amount equal to between 5% and 20% of their Title I-A allocations to fund them. Costs per pupil are limited to the lesser of an LEA's Title I-A allocation per poor student, or the actual cost of services. Nationwide, there is considerable variation across LEAs in the maximum amount of funding available per pupil.

As more schools are identified for a second year of school improvement, corrective action, or restructuring, LEAs are being required to offer increasing numbers of students from low-income families the opportunity to receive supplemental services. It appears that greater proportions of eligible students are choosing to receive supplemental educational services than to change schools under the ESEA Title I-A public school choice provisions. However, there have been challenges to implementation, such as the availability of services in rural areas, timely notification of parents regarding their children's eligibility for services, negotiation of contracts with providers for service delivery, and measurement of the effectiveness of supplemental educational services in improving student academic achievement.