Connecticut State Department of Education s1

CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

DIVISION OF TEACHING, LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT

PROVIDERS OF SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL SERVICES (SES)

2008-2009

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND (NCLB) ACT OF 2001 SECTION 1116 (e) (1)

Purpose: To compile a list of qualified supplemental educational service providers who will enter into agreements with local education agencies and parents/guardians to provide services to eligible students in low performing schools to improve academic achievement.

Applications Due: March 13, 2008

Published: February 2008

ED 611
CONNECTICUT STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

MARK K. MCQUILLAN

COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION

“The State of Connecticut Department of Education is committed to a policy of equal opportunity/affirmative action for all qualified persons and does not discriminate in any employment practice, education program, or educational activity on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, religion or any other basis prohibited by Connecticut state and/or federal nondiscrimination laws. Inquiries regarding the Department of Education's nondiscrimination policies should be directed to the Equal Employment Opportunity Manager, State of Connecticut Department of Education, 25 Industrial Park Road, Middletown, Connecticut 06457, (860) 807-2071.”

AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYER.

General Information 1

Purpose 1

Information Session 1

Eligibility Requirements 2

Eligible Service Providers 2

Responsibilities of Approved Providers 3

Responsibilities of the LEA 5

Funding 6

Duration and Monitoring 6

Reporting 6

Application Process and Timeline 7

Required Proposal Format 7

Important Information for Applicants……………………………………………………..8

How the Department Will Rate Proposals 9

Part I: Basic Program Information……………………………………………………….10

Part II: Indicators of Quality……………………………………………………………..13

Statement of Assurances …21

Attachment A: Providers with Multiple Locations/Franchises………………………….25

Attachment B: Code of Professional and Business Ethics………………………………26

Additional Information for Applicants…………………………………………………...29

Supplemental Educational Services Application Review Guide

Continuation Application

General Information

As part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, any local education agency (LEA) which has a Title I school in its second year of school improvement, in corrective action or in restructuring, shall arrange for the provision of Supplemental Educational Services (SES) to eligible students in the school from a provider with a demonstrated record of effectiveness or a high probability of success. Parents/guardians select a provider from an official list approved by the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE). Selected providers enter into contracts with school districts to provide services as described in their approved applications.

Purpose

This Request for Applications (RFA) is issued to select the providers of SES that will be included on the approved Supplemental Educational Services Provider List. The CSDE will maintain a list of providers approved to offer services in each identified district. All providers that meet the criteria will be included on the SES Provider List. Each application will be judged against the requirements necessary to be a provider. Applications which do not demonstrate compliance with all requirements may be rejected.

The CSDE will make every effort to promote maximum participation by providers to ensure, to the extent practicable, that parents and guardians have as many choices as possible. The state approved list will be updated annually. Each year, there will be an opportunity for new providers to demonstrate that their organizations meet the requirements of NCLB and this RFA. Providers of SES can be removed from the list if the provider fails for two consecutive years to contribute to increasing the academic proficiency of the students they serve or if they fail to meet the requirements of the federal law or this RFA.

Instruction will be in the areas of reading, writing and mathematics. Instruction must be designed to increase student achievement in reading and mathematics as demonstrated on the Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) and the Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT).

Information Session

There will be an information session for all applicants on February 19, 2008, at the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) Coltsville, 34 Sequassen Street, Hartford, CT from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Directions to CREC Coltsville can be found on the CREC website at: http://www.crec.org/crec/about/directions/coltsville.html .

Eligibility Requirements

To be included on the approved list of SES providers, applicants must:

· have a demonstrated record of effectiveness or have a high probability of improving student academic achievement;

· provide supplemental educational services that are consistent with the instruction provided and content used by the local school district and are consistent with and aligned to Connecticut’s curriculum frameworks and specific objectives and grade levels of the CMT and CAPT in reading and mathematics (all of the foregoing can be found on the Department of Education’s website at http://www.sde.ct.gov/);

· provide instruction that is high quality, research-based, and specifically designed to increase the academic achievement of eligible students on state assessments and attain proficiency in meeting the state’s academic achievement standards;

· use highly qualified instructors;

· provide letters of reference to parents/guardians and LEAs;

· provide instruction in addition to what is provided during the school day;

· provide instruction that is secular, neutral and non-ideological;

· meet all applicable federal, state and local health, safety and civil rights laws;

· at agreed-upon intervals, provide parents and guardians of children receiving supplemental services and the local school district with information on the progress of children in increasing achievement level;

· be financially sound; and

· if group instruction will be provided, have a student/teacher ratio of no more than 6 to 1. Additional information requirements apply to providers with a ratio greater than 3 to 1, as described within the application.

Eligible Service Providers

The term “provider” is defined as a public or private educational agency, non-profit entity or for-profit entity. Entities eligible to apply to provide supplemental educational services include, but are not limited to:

· Regional Educational Service Centers (RESCs)

· local or regional boards of education or public schools that have not been identified by the state as “in need of improvement”

· private schools

· charter schools

· community agencies

· libraries

· private companies

· colleges and universities

· faith-based organizations

· individuals, if organized as a for-profit or not-for-profit entity

Responsibilities of Approved Providers

Entities approved to provide SES are required to do the following:

· Provide supplemental educational services that are consistent with the instruction provided and content used by the local school district and are consistent with and aligned to Connecticut’s curriculum frameworks and specific objectives and grade levels of the CMT and CAPT in reading and mathematics (all of the foregoing can be found on the Department of Education’s website at http://www.sde.ct.gov/);

· Provide parents and guardians of students receiving SES and the appropriate local school district with information on the progress of the student in improving achievement, in a format and, to the extent practicable, in a language that parents/guardians can understand

· Ensure that all employees and subcontractors who interact with students will be fingerprinted and their background checked in accordance with Sec. 10-221d of the Connecticut General Statutes (http://www.cga.ct.gov/2005/pub/Chap170.htm#Sec10-221d.htm)

· Enter into an agreement with the LEA of the school that the student receiving services attends, which includes:

o a statement of specific achievement goals for each student based upon the child’s specific educational needs;

o a description of how the student’s progress will be measured;

o a timetable for improving achievement that, in the case of a student with disabilities, is consistent with the student’s Individual Education Program or Section 504 plan;

o the amount of instructional time to be provided;

o the location where the services will be provided;

o the means of transporting students to the place of instruction, if any, if the services will be provided in a location other than the students’ school;

o a description of how the student’s parents/guardians, teachers and the LEA will be regularly informed about the student’s progress;

o provisions for the termination of the agreement;

o provisions with respect to the making of payments to the provider by the LEA;

o an assurance from the provider that the identity of any student eligible for, or receiving, SES will not be disclosed without the written permission of the parent or guardian of the student;

o a description of the high-quality, research-based instructional program; and

o the academic and professional qualifications of staff responsible for the delivery of the instructional program.

· Submit a written annual report to the LEA and to the CSDE that summarizes the progress of all students provided with supplemental services

· Attend state sponsored meetings as required

· Request approval from the state for any changes in the approved application

· Provide services in the manner described in the approved application

· Maintain current contact information (contact person, telephone number, e-mail address) with the state.

Franchises or organizations that have multiple offices/locations that may provide services to Connecticut students must provide in the application contact information for each franchise/location that may provide services to Connecticut students as well as assurances that each franchise/location will provide services in the manner described in the application. The authorized agent of each local provider must sign Attachment A, and provide the required information described on the Attachment. Locations not included on Attachment A are not eligible to provide services.

If a provider plans to subcontract or enter into any kind of collaborative agreement with another entity to provide all or part of the supplemental educational services, that relationship must be explicit in the application. If no such relationship is specified in the application, the implication is that the applicant is solely responsible for the design, management, and operation of the program, as well as oversight and evaluation of the staff directly providing the services.

While providers are welcome to market their programs to parents/guardians of eligible students, a provider may not engage in practices that unduly influence parents/guardians to select their specific program. Such practices include, but are not limited to, offering incentives with monetary value, distributing forms to parents/guardians or to community agencies with a particular provider already “checked off” or “filled in,” altering forms previously filled out by parents/guardians, signing forms on behalf of parents/guardians, submitting forms to the district on behalf of parents/guardians and continuing to recruit participants after the district’s posted deadline has passed.

A provider may offer incentives to reward students for attendance, program completion or other measurable achievements. Such incentives may not exceed $25 in value per student annually and may not be in the form of cash or gift cards. As stated above, incentives for registering are not allowed.

Providers are advised to exercise caution with regards to hiring parents/guardians. While employing parents/guardians is not prohibited, such hires must be conducted consistent with fair hiring practices: the position must be posted, a clear description of duties must be defined, and the best qualified applicant based on the organizations usual hiring process (résumé, interview, etc.) must be offered the position. Complaints of impropriety will be investigated.

Revisions to the approved application will NOT be accepted during the school year, with the following exceptions:

· location of services,

· districts/schools served,

· grades served and subject areas (may be limited, not extended),

· maximum number of students to be served,

· time of day or days of week during which services are provided, and

· contact information.

SES providers may be required to participate in announced or unannounced site visits. Full cooperation is required to maintain approval.

Responsibilities of the LEA

Qualifying LEAs are required to:

· identify eligible students;

· notify parents and guardians annually in an understandable and uniform format, and to the extent practicable, in a language the parents and guardians can understand, of:

o the availability of SES;

o the approved providers available to serve eligible students within the LEA; and

o services, qualifications and demonstrated effectiveness of each approved provider.

· assist parents and guardians in choosing a provider from the approved state list, if requested;

· apply fair and equitable procedures for serving students if the number of spaces at an approved provider is not sufficient to serve all students;

· ensure that eligible students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and students covered under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 receive appropriate SES and accommodations in the provisions of those services;

· ensure that eligible students who have limited English proficiency receive appropriate SES and language assistance in the provision of those services;

· not disclose to the public the identity of any student who is eligible for or receiving SES;

· contact providers selected by the parents and guardians and enter into a contractual agreement on behalf of the student;

· enter into agreements with the providers selected by the parents and guardians for each participating student, which include: