Innovations in Education: Creating Strong Supplemental Educational Services Programs

摘要

The second publication in the Innovations in Education series: Creating Strong Supplemental Educational Services Programs is presented. This series, to be released over the next six months, identifies concrete, real-world examples of innovations flourishing throughout this great land, in six important areas: public school choice, supplemental educational services, charter schools, magnet schools, alternative teacher certification, and school leadership. Although the term 'supplemental educational services' is enjoying newfound prominence, its meaning is as old as education itself: tutoring. This important provision of the No Child Left Behind Act provides eligible low-income parents with the same opportunities more affluent parents have long enjoyed: the chance to engage a highly skilled tutor, or access other forms of academic enrichment, to help their child catch up if they have fallen behind. For school districts, this extra help for their neediest students can be an important complement to ongoing school improvement efforts. This report was developed to give district leaders some guidance as they implement supplemental services. In doing so, it draws on examples from five diverse districts across the country whose implementation experiences yield some common themes and lessons that might be helpful to others working on supplemental services.