Creating Strong Supplemental Educational Services Programs

By Paige, Rod

Excerpt
Excerpt: I am pleased to introduce the second publication in the Innovations in Education series; Creating Strong Supplemental Educational Services Programs. This series, to be released over the next six months, identifies concrete, real-world examples of innovations flourishing throughout this great land, in six important areas; public school choice, supplemental educational services, charter schools, magnet schools, alternative teacher certification, and school leadership. Although the term ?supplemental educational services? is enjoying newfound prominence, its meaning is as old as education itself; tutoring. This important provision of the No Child Left Behind Act provides eligible low-income parents with the same opportunities more affluent parents have long enjoyed; the chance to engage a highly skilled tutor, or access other forms of academic enrichment, to help their child catch up if they have fallen behind. For school districts, this extra help for their neediest students can be an important complement to ongoing school improvement efforts. But as we have learned in the first two years of this historic law, successfully setting up a supplemental educational services program takes a lot of work and foresight. States play a key role by approving and monitoring the ?providers?--including nonprofit organizations, faith-based groups, for-profit companies, collaboratives of teachers, and school districts--that may deliver the tutoring. Parental choice is central--the statute purposely sets up a marketplace so that parents can find a provider that works best for their child?s needs. And in between parents and providers is the school district, ideally serving as a fair broker, contracting with and paying providers, informing parents, and making sure the system is working smoothly. Of course, doing all of that is easier said than done.

Table of Contents
Table of Contents: Embrace the Spirit of SES 9 -- Build Relationships with Providers 15 -- Reach Out to Inform Parents 23 -- Set Clear Goals and Track Progress 31 -- Considerations for States 41 -- Acknowledgments 43 -- Appendix A: District Profiles 45 -- Forsyth County Schools, Georgia (47) -- Los Angeles Unified School District, California (49) -- Rochester City School District, New York (51) -- San Diego City Schools, California (53) -- Toledo Public Schools, Ohio (55) -- Appendix B: Research Methodology 57 -- Appendix C: Resources 59 -- Notes 61