Challenge

The Title I and Title II programs were created under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to promote high-quality education for all children. Title I provides funds to school districts and schools with high percentages of low-income students to help increase student academic achievement. Title II aims to improve student achievement by improving teacher and principal quality, and increasing the number of highly qualified teachers and principals in classrooms and schools.

Since the last national study of Title I, there have been changes in program requirements. Most recently, more than 40 states and the District of Columbia were allowed flexibility in certain program requirements in exchange for a commitment to key reform principles.

For the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education, Westat is conducting a national in-depth examination of the policies promoted by these programs.

Solution

We are surveying the 50 states and the District of Columbia, and nationally representative samples of 570 districts, 1,300 schools, and 9,100 academic and special education teachers.

Survey data and information from state policy documents will be used to address questions such as:

• What content standards (i.e., what students should know in a subject) and high school graduation requirements are states adopting, and what materials and resources do states, districts, and schools provide to help teachers implement the state content standards?

• How do states and districts identify and reward their highest performing schools, identify and support their lowest performing schools, and offer differentiated support for schools that are neither highest performing nor lowest performing?

• How do states and districts evaluate teacher and principal effectiveness, and what supports do states, districts, and schools provide to improve teacher and principal effectiveness?

The study’s first round of data collection took place in the 2013-14 school year, with a follow-up survey expected at a later date.

Results

The study’s first report provides policymakers with detailed information on how ESEA provisions have been playing out in states, districts, schools, and classrooms across the country. The key findings include the following:

• Most states adopted and most principals and teachers reported implementing state standards that focused on college- and career-readiness in 2013-14.

• Many state assessments incorporated more sophisticated response formats to better assess students’ college- and career-readiness.

• States used ESEA flexibility to move away from the 100% proficiency goal required under the 2002 reauthorization of ESEA (known as the No Child Left Behind Act [NCLB]) and to target a narrower set of schools—those with persistently lowest performance or substantial student achievement gaps—for additional support.

• Almost all states adopted new laws or regulations related to educator evaluation systems between 2009 and 2014, and 60% of districts reported full or partial implementation in 2013-14.