Title I School Choice Supplemental Educational Services and Student Achievement

A key aim of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is to provide new educational options to parents whose children attend Title I schools identified for improvement, corrective action, or restructuring because of a lack of yearly progress. The first option allows children to transfer to another school in the district, and the second provides the opportunity to enroll children in supplemental educational services. This report examines the characteristics of students participating in the two options and the related impact on student achievement. Although participation rates were low, participants in school choice and supplemental educational services came from the disadvantaged populations that NCLB is intended to target. Participants in supplemental services experienced significant gains in achievement. Sample sizes were substantially smaller for the school choice analysis, reducing the power of the analysis to detect effects for this group.