All That Money and for What Purpose? Examining Selected State Departments' of Education Accountability for Implementation, Monitoring, and Evaluation of Supplemental Education Services

Abstract

This study examined the accountability of selected state departments of education on how they implemented, monitored, and evaluated Supplemental Education Services (SES). No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requires low-performing Title I schools to use federal funds to extend the school day for at-risk children by providing SES afterschool programs. This funding amounts to millions of dollars annually and ultimately billions of dollars over the course of NCLB. Utilizing actor-network theory, this study examined how state departments of education (SEA) responded to the legislated accountability mandates of NCLB to reallocate federal funds to SES in order to provide remedial services to students. The study was composed of interviews with SEA officials as well as survey responses of SES providers. Documents from various sources including each state's SES policies and criteria for approving SES, state websites, and the states' lists of approved SES providers were reviewed. The results of the research study were reported by the states' monitoring and evaluation procedures, the collaborative efforts with SES providers, and issues and concerns raised as a result of monitoring and evaluation. Noteworthy findings from the SEA interviews show that they were the main gateway for SES providers gaining access to the schools; and while they monitored and evaluated the SES, these areas, along with collaboration, remained as areas of concern. In addition, the study found that there was a lack of connection between SES performance in the schools they serviced to the state and school accountability consequences for those schools. The survey responses from the SES providers showed that while they were given guidelines by the SEA, ongoing assistance was not available. Perhaps, even after all of the millions of federal dollars sent to each state for the 12 years of NCLB, there has been no change in the states' academic ranking. There are some areas that merit further investigation, such as how to connect expectations of SES providers to state accountability measures for schools serviced; how each state evaluates SES, and how are SES marketed and funded in school districts. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone [phone]. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]