Evaluation of the Implementation of the Rural and Low-Income School (RLIS) Program. Interim Report

摘要

The Rural and Low-Income School (RLIS) program is part of the Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP) that was authorized under Title VI, Part B of the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). The RLIS program provides additional funds to help rural districts serving low-income students make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as described in section 1111(b)(2) of the ESEA. RLIS funds may be used to support a variety of activities, including teacher recruitment and retention; teacher professional development; support for educational technology; parental involvement activities; activities authorized under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program; and activities authorized under Title I, Part A, and Title III of the ESEA. RLIS funds are distributed to state education agencies, which then distribute money to the school districts that meet the following RLIS funding criteria: (a) the district is not eligible for a grant from the Small, Rural School Achievement (SRSA) program, which serves rural school districts that have fewer than 600 students or that serve extremely sparsely populated areas; (b) 20 percent or more of the children ages 5 through 17 served by the district are from families with incomes below the poverty line; and (c) all of the schools included in the district must have a National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) locale code of 6 (small town), 7 (rural), or 8 (rural near an urban area).