More on Dallas ISD & the federal tutoring program
Matthew Haag & I wrote Sunday about DISD's frustrations with a tutoring program required under the No Child Left Behind law. Twenty-six DISD schools must offer the tutoring, also called Supplemental Educational Services, to poor kids. DISD said they've found evidence of fraudulent billing by at least two SES providers. Beyond that, district officials say, they see little evidence that the tutoring actually helps, given all the money spent on it. Here's what Patricia Burch, a researcher at the University of Southern California, had to say:
The SES program is a good idea in principle. It is a good idea to use Title I funds to provide more instruction as needed to kids whose families might not be able to afford private tutors. But much of the design of the policy is all wrong. There's not enough teeth in it to make sure it lives up to its promises — by that I mean quality after school tutoring.Burch, along with UT-Austin researcher Carolyn Heinrich, is leading a four-year study of the tutoring program, focusing on Dallas ISD, Austin ISD, and three other urban school systems outside Texas. You can learn more about their work and prior research here. Texas Education Agency officials say they're looking at ways to improve their oversight of the tutoring program. Steve Pines of the national Education Industry Association holds up Florida as a promising model. Florida doesn't just look at scores on its big state test. It uses other tests to