Using Title II, Part A Funds to Promote Student Achievement

The way that we currently use funds from Title II, Part A, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act needs to change substantially.

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Idea of the Day

Idea of the Day

Last month the Department of Education released findings from an annual survey of school districts regarding their spending of a $2.3 billion federal grant program that is intended to improve the quality and effectiveness of our nation’s teachers. According to the survey’s findings, three-quarters of the funds from Title II, Part A, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act[1] support class-size reduction and professional development.[2]

The latest report shows that over the past decade, professional development has overtaken class-size reduction as the single-largest spending category.

In the 2002-03 school year, 57 percent of Title II, Part A funds were spent on class-size reduction, while only 27 percent of these funds were spent on professional development.
In the 2012-13 school year, 44 percent of these funds went to professional development, while 31 percent of these funds were used for class-size reduction.

For more on this topic, please see:

Ensuring Title II, Part A Funds Are Used for Student-Achievement Gains by Kaitlin Pennington

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