SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL SERVICESREQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS
Pursuant to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act,
Section 1116(e)
For the three-year period of:
2009-2010 School Year
APPLICATIONS ARE DUE AT THE ISSUING OFFICE
by 4:30 p.m., March 27, 2009
Sheila Box, SES/Choice Coordinator
Alaska Department of Education & Early Development
801 W. 10th Street, Suite 200
P.O. Box 110500
Juneau, AK 99811-0500
(907) 465-8743
Fax: (907) 465-2989
E-mail:
Supplemental Educational Services Request for Applications
2009-2010 School Year
Table of Contents
1. Background Information page 1
2. Responsibilities page 2
3. SES Provisions in Alaska page 4
4. Application Process page 7
Application
Cover Page page 8
Section 1 – Removal from State Approved Provider Lists page 11
Section 2 – Program Design/Content page 11
Section 3 – Evidence of Effectiveness page 12
Section 4 – Assessment of Student Progress page 12
Section 5 – Communication with Parents and School page 13
Section 6 – Location and Delivery of Services page 13
Section 7 – Connection to Standards page 14
Section 8 – Qualifications of Instructional Staff page 14
Section 9 – Program Cost page 14
Section 10 – Financial and Organizational Capacity page 15
Appendices
Appendix A – Provider Profile page 16
Appendix B – Assurances page 18
Appendix C – Indication of District Contact Form page 19
Appendix D – District Selection Chart page 20
Form # 05-09-027 Supplemental Educational Services Request For Application
Alaska Department of Education & Early Development Page i
Supplemental Educational Services Request for Applications
2009-2010 School Year
1. BACKGROUND
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), signed into law by President George W. Bush January 8, 2002, aims to ensure that all students be proficient in reading, writing, and math at the end of 12 years, or 2014. Each school’s progress is measured annually, and Title I Schools that do not meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) for two consecutive school years are identified as schools in need of improvement, and are required to implement a series of measures designed to help those students most in need. One of these measures is to offer Supplemental Educational Services usually beginning in the third year of not meeting AYP, though there are some exceptions. The U.S. Department of Education defines SES as additional academic assistance occurring outside of the regular school day for low-income eligible students who attend Title I schools that did not make AYP for three or more consecutive years in the same content area. This additional academic assistance is intended to contribute to increasing the academic proficiency of students served by the providers in reading, language arts, mathematics, and science.
[NCLB Section 1116(e)(12)(C)]
SES includes tutoring, remediation or other education interventions provided that such approaches are consistent with Alaska’s performance standards (grade level expectations) outlined in the booklet Content and Performance Standards for Alaska’s Students: http://www.eed.state.ak.us/standards/pdf/standards.pdf. SES must be high quality, research-based, and specifically designed to increase student academic achievement.
[NCLB Section 1116(e)(12)(C)]
When SES becomes required at a particular school, the local school district must notify parents/guardians of eligible children no later than the first day of school that the opportunity for SES is available to them, and provide them with information about providers available to serve the school. Parents/guardians may select any state-approved SES provider that they feel will best meet their child’s needs. In small schools, a local parent advisory group or PTA may make a recommendation for the entire school, which parents may or may not choose to follow. The school district will sign an agreement with providers selected by parents/guardians, who will then provide services to the child and report on the child’s progress to parents/guardians and the child’s school. Schools must continue offering SES to eligible students until the school makes AYP for two consecutive years, and is therefore no longer identified for school improvement, corrective action, or restructuring.
Eligible Students
Eligible students are all students from low-income families who attend Title I schools that are in their second year of school improvement, in corrective action, or in restructuring. Eligibility is not dependent on whether the student is a member of a subgroup that caused the school to not make AYP or whether the student is in a grade that takes the statewide assessments as required by NCLB. (In some cases a school may offer SES in the first year of school improvement, either because public school choice is not available or because the U.S. Department of Education has authorized a pilot program to allow a school to offer SES in the year before public school choice.) [NCLB Section 1116 (e)(12)(A)]
If the funds available are insufficient to provide SES to each eligible student whose parents/guardians requests those services, the school district must give priority to providing services to the lowest-achieving eligible students. In this situation, the school district must use objective criteria to determine the lowest-achieving students. For example, the district may focus services on the lowest-achieving eligible students in the subject area that caused the school to be identified. The services should be tailored to meet the instructional needs of eligible students to increase their academic achievement and help them attain proficiency in meeting the state’s achievement standards.
Funding
Districts with Title I schools in school improvement status are required to spend an amount equal to 20 percent of their Title I, Part A allocation to provide or pay for transportation to a school of choice, or SES, or a combination of the two, unless a lesser amount is needed. For each student receiving SES, the district must spend either the Per Pupil Amount (PPA) as determined by the state formula used to allocate funds to districts, or the actual cost of SES services, whichever is less. Per Pupil Amounts for each school required to offer SES are listed in the SES Per Pupil Amounts, Site and District Information document found at: http://www.eed.state.ak.us/nclb/SES.html.
[34CFR 200.48]
(Note that Per Pupil amounts as well as schools listed and student numbers are subject to change annually).
2. RESPONSIBILITIES
State Responsibilities
The Alaska Department of Education & Early Development has a number of responsibilities in ensuring that SES are available to all eligible students. The Department must approve SES providers, maintain a list of approved providers, display certain information on its Web site, monitor its districts implementation of SES, and monitor the quality and effectiveness of providers. Specifically, the Department must:
1. Consult with parents, teachers, districts, and interested members of the public to promote maximum participation by providers to ensure, to the extent practicable, that parents have as many choices as possible [Section 1116(e)(4)(A); 34 C.F.R. §200.47(a)(1)(i)].
2. Provide and disseminate broadly, through an annual notice to potential providers, information on the opportunity to provide SES and the process for obtaining approval to be an SES provider [Section 1116(e)(4)(E); 34 C.F.R. §200.47(a)(1)(ii)
3. Develop and apply objective criteria for approving potential providers [Section 1116(e)(4)(B); 34 C.F.R. §200.47(a)(2)].
4. Maintain an updated list of approved providers across the State, for each district, from which parents may select, and indicate which providers are able to serve students with disabilities or LEP students [Section 1116(e)(4)(C); 34 C.F.R. §200.47(a)(3)(ii)]. An SEA should also give each district a list of approved providers in its general geographic location.
5. Post on its Web site, for each district, the amount equal to 20 percent of the district’s Title I, Part A allocation available for SES and choice-related transportation (also known as the “20 percent obligation”) and the per-pupil amount available for SES [34 C.F.R. §200.47(a)(1)(ii)(B)].
6. Develop, implement, and publicly report on standards and techniques for monitoring the quality and effectiveness of services offered by approved SES providers, and for withdrawing approval from providers that fail, for two consecutive years, to contribute to increasing the academic proficiency of students served by the providers [Section 1116(e)(4)(D); 34 C.F.R. §200.47(a)(4)].
7. Develop, implement, and publicly report on standards and techniques for monitoring a district’s implementation of SES [34 C.F.R. §200.47(a)(4)(iii)].
8. Monitor each district’s implementation of SES, including any district that spends less than the amount needed to meet its 20 percent obligation and chooses to spend the remainder of that obligation on other allowable activities to ensure that the LEA complies with the criteria in 34 C.F.R. §200.48(d)(2)(i) [34 C.F.R. §200.48(d)(3)].
9. In addition to its regular monitoring, review by the beginning of the next school year any district that spends significantly less than the amount needed to meet its 20 percent obligation and has been the subject of multiple complaints, supported by credible evidence, regarding implementation of the public school choice and SES requirements [34 C.F.R. §200.48(d)(3)(ii)(A)].
District Responsibilities
District responsibilities focus on notifying parents/guardians about the availability of SES, arranging for the services to be provided, and monitoring the services for the purpose of improving academic achievement. Specifically, the district must:
1. Notify parents about the availability of services, at least annually [Section 1116(e)(2)(A); 34 C.F.R. §200.46(a)(1)].
2. Help parents choose a provider, if requested [Section 1116(e)(2)(B); 34 C.F.R. §200.46(a)(2)].
3. Apply fair and equitable procedures for serving students if not all students can be served [Section 1116(e)(2)(C); 34 C.F.R. §200.46(a)(3)].
4. Ensure that eligible students with disabilities and LEP students receive appropriate services [34 C.F.R. §200.46(a)(4), (5)].
5. Enter into an agreement with a provider selected by parents of an eligible student [Section 1116(e)(3); 34 C.F.R. §200.46(b)].
6. Assist the SEA in identifying potential providers within the LEA [Section 1116(e)(4)(A); 34 C.F.R. §200.46(a)(2)].
7. Protect the privacy of students who are eligible for or receive SES [Section 1116(e)(2)(D); 34 C.F.R. §200.46(a)(6)].
8. Prominently display on its Web site, in a timely manner to ensure that parents have current information: (a) beginning with data for the 2007–2008 school year and for each subsequent school year, the number of students who were eligible for and the number of students who participated in SES; and (b) for the current school year, the list of providers approved by the SEA to serve in the LEA and the locations where services are provided [34 C.F.R. §200.39(c)(1)(ii), (iii)].
9. Meet its 20 percent obligation. If an LEA spends less than the amount needed to meet its 20 percent obligation, then it must either: (a) spend the remainder of that obligation in the subsequent school year; or (b) meet the criteria in 34 C.F.R. §200.48(d)(2)(i) [34 C.F.R. §200.48(d)(1), (2)].
SES Provider Responsibilities
Provider responsibilities focus on the delivery of services, and include items that are required to be included in the agreement of service between the district and the provider for each student.
1. Enabling the student to attain his or her specific achievement goals (as established by the district, in consultation with the student’s parents and the provider) [Section 1116(e)(3)(A); 34 C.F.R. §200.46(b)(2)(i)(A)].
2. Measuring the student’s progress, and regularly informing the student’s parents and teachers of that progress [Section 1116(e)(3)(A), (B); 34 C.F.R. §200.46(b)(2)(i)(B), (ii)].
3. Adhering to the timetable for improving the student’s achievement that is developed by the district in consultation with the student’s parents and the provider [Section 1116(e)(3)(A); 34 C.F.R. §200.46(b)(2)(i)(C)].
4. Ensuring that it does not disclose to the public the identity of any student eligible for or receiving SES without the written permission of the student’s parents [Section 1116(e)(3)(E); 34 C.F.R. §200.46(b)(2)(v)].
5. Providing SES consistent with applicable health, safety, and civil rights laws [Section 1116(e)(5)(C); 34 C.F.R. §200.47(b)(2)(iii)].
6. Providing SES that are secular, neutral, and non-ideological [Section 1116(e)(5)(D); 34 C.F.R. §200.47(b)(2)(ii)(D)].
7. Ensure that instruction and content are aligned to Alaska’s performance standards (grade level expectations) outlined in the booklet Content and Performance Standards for Alaska’s Students located at: http://www.eed.state.ak.us/standards/pdf/standards.pdf. [NCLB 1116(e)(5)(B)]
3. SES PROVISIONS IN ALASKA
Schools Required to Offer SES
The state of Alaska has chosen to define School Improvement (SI) with the following levels [Alaska Administrative Code 4AAC 06.835].
· Level 1 = NCLB Alert Status - The school has missed AYP for one year.
· Level 2 = NCLB First Year SI - The school has missed AYP two consecutive years – SES only if Choice unavailable
· Level 3 = NCLB Second Year SI - The school has missed AYP three consecutive years – SES Required
· Level 4 = NCLB Corrective Action - The school has missed AYP four consecutive years – SES Required
· Level 5 = NCLB Restructuring – The school missed AYP five consecutive years – SES Required
Many schools in Alaska are in extremely remote areas, making the Level 2 Choice provision of NCLB impractical or impossible. Because of this, the State Board of Education passed regulations requiring Alaska schools to offer Supplemental Educational Services at Level 2 if the school is unable to offer Choice because the nearest school is more than 50 miles away or there are no roads between the school in improvement and any other school that could provide Choice [Alaska Regulation 4AAC 06.855].
Providers Without an Alaska Background
Due to the unique nature of providing SES in Alaska, the Department of Education & Early Development particularly encourages applications from Alaska regional and community-based entities that are familiar with the parents and students to be served and who have the capacity to provide services on a face-to-face or small group basis. Applicants from outside Alaska are also encouraged, but it is strongly recommended that outside entities wishing to apply review the district map available at http://www.eed.state.ak.us/Facilities/pdf/doe2008map.pdf and the Delivering Supplemental Educational Services in Alaska PowerPoint at http://www.eed.state.ak.us/nclb/SES.html that describes the features of some of our rural schools.
SES Program Design and Delivery
SES programs in Alaska may be designed and delivered in a variety of formats such as individual tutoring, computer-assisted tutoring, small group tutoring, and delivery over the phone. Note: Providers who operate several types of programs which are markedly different from each other, (i.e. a face-to-face and an online program; or two programs that vary widely in duration) must submit separate applications for each program.