The demand for supplemental educational services hasn’t kept pace with the growth of federal dollars to pay for them, according to a new analysis from the Civil Rights Project at UCLA.
Even though the number of districts required to offer SES under NCLB has grown in recent years, the percentage of students signing up for the free tutoring has declined, the 19-page paper says. These numbers are similar to national numbers that I collected from the U.S. Department of Education for this story three weeks ago.
“What is striking is that the increase in the number of eligible students has not translated into an increased demand for SES,” writes Gail L. Sunderman, who tracked participation in 11 districts from 2002-03 through 2006-07.
Evaluations of SES have been mixed and “are not encouraging,” Sunderman adds.
The future of SES is one of the top 10 issues to be addressed in NCLB reauthorization. SES providers are touting their own research that show increases in student achievement. They have a powerful ally in Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon of California, the senior Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee.
But this new report appears to give their opponents some evidence to counter the arguments in favor of SES.
