Supplemental Educational Services (SES) School and District Page

The State of Wisconsin has posted a draft of the ESEA Flexibility Waiver. If approved by the US Department of Education, this waiver would eliminate the current Supplemental Educational Services (SES) requirement starting Fall 2012. In lieu of the SES requirement, districts would be required to design extended learning opportunities in consultation with parents of eligible students.

The federal reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), known as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), requires each state to conduct an annual review of district and school performance to determine Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for each district and school. The annual review of district and school performance or AYP in Wisconsin is currently based on four objectives: test participation, graduation rate at the secondary level or attendance rate for elementary and middle levels, and achieving a designated proficiency rate on two academic indicators - Reading and Mathematics.

A school not meeting AYP criteria for two consecutive years in one or more of the listed objectives is identified as a school identified for improvement (SIFI).

In Title I schools that have not made AYP for three years in reading and/or math, the school district is required to arrange for the provision of Supplemental Educational Services for eligible students.

District Requirements for SES
Local school districts are required to:

• Annually notify parents of the availability of the state-approved SES providers that are under contract with the district to provide services to students in eligible schools
• Work to ensure parents have good, easy-to-understand information about the services
• If requested, help parents select a provider from the state-approved list
• Work with the parent and SES provider to develop a statement of specific achievement goals for the child
• Set aside a specified amount of Title I funds to pay for Supplemental Educational Services for each participating child

Resources for Districts

• Supplemental Educational Services Non-Regulatory Guidance - Detailed information regarding the law, in a question and answer format, is available on the federal website at http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/suppsvcsguid.pdf
• Giving Parents Options: Strategies for Informing Parents and Implementing Public School Choice And Supplemental Educational Services Under No Child Left Behind - A September 2007 publication from the US Department of Education that provides school districts and States with ideas and strategies for reaching parents and implementing the public school choice and SES provisions of No Child Left Behind can be found at http://www.ed.gov/admins/comm/choice/options/givingparentsoptions.pdf
• Parent Notification Template - A document incorporating the information that must be included in a notice to parents regarding Supplemental Educational Services can be found at http://dpi.wi.gov/esea/doc/sample-ss.doc
• Sanctions for Title I Schools Not Making AYP - Schools that fail to make AYP are subject to a variety of sanctions based on the number of years that such status has been maintained. A summary of the sanctions and timeline can be found at http://dpi.wi.gov/esea/doc/sanctions-schools.doc

For questions about this information, contact Rachael Bergstrom (608) 266-2813

Last updated on 2/6/2012 8:33:51 AM