The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), formerly the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, assists with providing federal funds through the Georgia Department of Education to local school districts and public schools that have high percentages of economically disadvantaged children.
The primary purpose for this initiative is to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic content and student academic achievement standards.
Supplemental Educational Services
Supplemental educational services (SES) is additional academic assistance designed to increase the academic achievement of students attending a Title I school that has been designated by the state to be in need of improvement for more than one year. These services include academic assistance such as tutoring and is provided to students in subjects such as reading and math. SES must be provided outside of the regular school day.
Each Title I school in needs improvement (NI) status has a school improvement plan that includes instructional strategies, based on scientific research, to increase the academic achievement of all students. Many Title I schools provide individual or group tutoring services during or after school. In addition, outside providers (tutoring services) will offer supplemental educational services (SES) to eligible students from low-income families during a school’s second year of needs improvement status. SES is additional instruction designed to increase students’ academic achievement in low-performing schools. These services, which may include tutoring, are provided by outside sources approved by the Georgia Department of Education, not by the school itself. The content and instruction are aligned with the county and state academic content standards. SES must be provided outside the regular school day and must include interventions that are of high quality, research-based, and specifically designed to increase student academic achievement. All supplemental educational services are based on the state and county curriculum objectives.
Parents can select any provider on the list that they feel will best meet their child’s needs. DeKalb County Schools will sign an agreement with the selected provider who will then provide services to the child and report on the child’s progress to the parents and the district. This component of Title I offers parents choices in addressing their child’s educational needs and offers students extra academic help.
Only students from low-income families are eligible for supplemental services. If the funds available are not sufficient to provide SES to each eligible student, DeKalb County Schools must serve the lowest-achieving eligible students first. The school will continue to provide high-quality academic help to students who are not eligible for SES.
DeKalb County Schools is allowed to pay for only SES providers approved by the Georgia Department of Education. Parents may not ask for both school choice and supplemental educational services. Instead they must choose between transferring their child to a higher-performing school or leaving the child at the current school and requesting supplemental educational services/tutoring.