An analysis of 1,400 school improvement plans from Title I schools in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin from the 2007-08 school year found that more than 90 percent included at least one “potentially effective” parent-involvement activity, and 70 percent included at least one extended-learning activity, such as a before-school, after-school, or summer program.
The report from the federal Institute of Education Sciences found that very few of the plans included activities that involved parents in decisionmaking. Just 5 percent of before-school, 20 percent of after-school, and 5 percent of summer school programs offered academic support for struggling learners. Under the No Child Left Behind law, the plans are required for Title I schools that fail to meet academic-improvement targets two years in a row.
