Fwd: [arn2-strategy] NCLB Tutoring Unfulfilled Promise

[Susan Harman <susanharman@igc.org>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>
> Date: Sat Aug 26, 2006  1:03:55 PM US/Pacific
> To: ARN Main List <arn-l@interversity.org>,  arn2-strategy 
> <arn2-strategy@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [arn2-strategy] NCLB Tutoring Unfulfilled Promise
> Reply-To: arn2-strategy@yahoogroups.com
>
> TUTORING PROMISE PROVING HARD TO KEEP
>
> Associated Press -- August 26, 2006
> by Ben Feller
>
> Sandra Senda wanted a free private tutor for her kids, just like the No
> Child Left Behind law promised. She had no idea the deal came with a 
> big
> headache.
>
> She could not get an answer about when the program would start. By the
> time it did, half the school year was gone. Her son was accepted but 
> her
> daughter was not, without explanation.
>
> Exasperated, Senda went to her school board with a message: "It's not
> fair. Our tax dollars are going to this stuff. I want help for my
> daughter. I expect to get it."
>
> She finally did. And as the new school year begins in Hialeah, Fla.,
> Senda is determined to get her daughter, Genesis, into tutoring right
> away this time — without the hassle.
>
> As ideas go, the federal promise of free tutoring was bold. It also is
> proving hard to keep.
>
> Sluggish enrollment, local resistance, questionable oversight, and poor
> outreach to parents have hampered a program that Congress adopted 
> nearly
> five years ago.
>
> Of more than 2.2 million children eligible for tutoring, only 19 
> percent
> of them got it in 2004-05, according to auditors at the congressional
> Government Accountability Office.
>
> Enrollment is rising, but still fewer than two of 10 eligible kids take
> part.
>
> "It's appalling," said Michael Petrilli, who helped oversee the first
> years of the program for the Education Department.
>
> "There are places in this country where poor parents have no idea that
> free tutoring is even available for them," said Petrilli, now a policy
> leader for the Fordham Foundation, a conservative education think tank.
>
> Participation is the best gauge of the program because there is no firm
> data yet about what matters most — whether tutoring is helping students
> do better in math and reading.
>
> There are encouraging signs.
>
> The number of students in tutoring almost quadrupled from 2003 to 2005.
> Some districts have used aggressive and creative means to reach out to
> parents.
>
> But even optimistic observers acknowledge progress has been slow. In
> one-fifth of districts where tutoring was required, not a single 
> student
> received services, the GAO found.
>
> "At the very least, we should be reaching half the kids," said Jeanne
> Allen, president of The Center for Education Reform, which lobbies to
> expand choices for parents.
>
> "We should be able to do that with very little effort," she said.
>
> President Bush's education law promises choices. If a school receives
> federal poverty aid and does not make its goals for two straight years,
> students can transfer to a better school.
>
> But many parents skip that offer and chose tutoring instead. The option
> of a free tutor for poor children kicks in when a school falls short 
> for
> three straight years.
>
> Parents can pick any tutor from a list approved by their state. That
> often includes private tutors who would be too expensive for parents if
> they had to pay out of pocket.
>
> Yet there have been snags everywhere. Among the familiar ones:
>
> _Schools that cannot recruit tutors for students in highly rural areas,
> or for students with disabilities, no matter where they live.
>
> _School districts that do not tell parents that tutoring is available.
> Some letters sent home to parents come too late or are written in 
> jargon
> that is hard to understand.
>
> _Tutors who are not allowed into schools, limiting their access to
> students. Some tutors and teachers never coordinate their lessons, so
> students get disjointed instruction.
>
> _States that do not evaluate the quality of tutors, as the law 
> requires.
> No state yet has conclusive data linking tutoring to better student
> performance, the GAO found.
>
> Even the way the law works is awkward, Allen said.
>
> It requires the school districts to acknowledge that their schools have
> fallen short, give up some federal aid and promote the tutoring program
> even if they do not support it.
>
> Indeed, surveys show many school leaders are skeptical that tutoring
> will help.
>
> Districts must reserve up to 20 percent of federal aid for tutoring and
> student transfers. That would not come close to covering the costs for
> all eligible children.
>
> But money often is not the problem. Districts tend to spend much less
> than they can.
>
> In Broward County, Fla., school leaders sent a letter to parents that
> actually discouraged parents from seeking tutoring for their children.
> "We feel strongly that these funds can be much better spent helping
> students in the classroom," the district superintendent wrote.
>
> The state did not go for that. It ordered the district to write a new
> letter. Florida lawmakers have also ordered statewide changes this year
> to help more parents sign up.
>
> Cheri Pierson Yecke, the chancellor of K-12 public schools in Florida,
> said many school principals in her state have embraced tutoring. Others
> ask her what is in it for them.
>
> She tells them tutors can help kids do better on tests, which in turn
> keeps the school out of federal trouble. "Once schools start to look at
> it that way, they're much more aggressive about getting parents
> enrolled," she said.
>
> Congressional leaders who backed Bush's law are anxious for results,
> too. The Education Department has loosened its rules in some cities in
> hopes of spurring more enrollment.
>
> Education Secretary Margaret Spellings has warned state leaders that 
> she
> is ready to withhold money from states and districts that do not 
> comply.
> The agency says it has done a lot to help, although the GAO admonished
> the department for not providing enough guidance.
>
> "We all have to step up our vigilance," Spellings says of the various
> agencies involved.
>
> In places where the tutoring program seems to be working, there is a
> theme: Schools are involved as a partner, as opposed to being ordered 
> to
> comply and get out of the way.
>
> "Smart providers think of themselves as a guest in somebody's home,"
> said Steven Pines, executive director of the Education Industry
> Association, which represents private tutors.
>
> "If you have that kind of humility, you are more likely to be 
> embraced,"
> he said. "Providers are getting more savvy about this, or else they are
> not going to be invited back."
>
> Ultimately, he said, parents decide what works.
>
> In Washington, D.C., Stephanie Hayes has used the private tutoring
> option for two years. No hassles here. She has seen big changes in the
> reading skills of her 8-year-old son, Dion.
>
> "I'm not looking at this on a political level," Hayes said. "I'm just
> grateful that someone decided that we need to do this for these kids."
>
> ___
>
> On The Net:
>
> Background from the Education Department:
>
> http://www.ed.gov/nclb/choice/help/ses/index.html
>
> The Center for Education Reform: http://www.edreform.com
>
> Florida Department of Education: http://www.fldoe.org
>
>
>
>
>
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