Chapter 1 Accountability: Greater Focus on Program Goals Needed

Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the implementation of Chapter 1 program improvement provisions, focusing on the: (1) process states and school districts use to identify schools for program improvements; and (2) implementation of the joint and local phases of program improvement.

Recommendations

Matter for Congressional Consideration

Matter	Status	Comments
To improve the identification process and to help reduce the emphasis placed on standardized achievement-test results, Congress should amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to require states to establish, for schools' Chapter 1 programs, multiple desired outcomes related to the statutory goals of Chapter 1.	Closed – Implemented	The "Improving America's Schools Act of 1994" (P.L. 103-382) substantially changed the nature of the Chapter 1 program improvement process, partially along the lines that GAO recommended.
To improve the identification process and to help reduce the emphasis placed on standardized achievement-test results, Congress should amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to require districts to assess program effectiveness by considering whether evidence from multiple indicators of student performance shows substantial progress in achieving these outcomes.	Closed – Implemented	The "Improving America's Schools Act of 1994" (P.L. 103-382) substantially changed the nature of the Chapter 1 program improvement process, partially along the lines that GAO recommended.
Congress should require state education agencies to specify, in their state program improvement plans: (1) the desired outcomes for Chapter 1 schools; (2) the indicators that will be used to measure student progress toward those desired outcomes; (3) minimum standards for student performance on each indicator; and (4) a definition of substantial progress toward meeting the desired outcomes as a group (that is, how districts will weigh evidence from multiple indicators in judging whether their Chapter 1 schools are effective). Districts should be allowed to set higher standards than required by their state education agency and to use, with the approval of their state agency, additional or alternative desired outcomes and indicators.	Closed – Implemented	The "Improving America's Schools Act of 1994" (P.L. 103-382) substantially changed the nature of the Chapter 1 program improvement process, partially along the lines that GAO recommended.
Congress should remove from the program improvement provisions, the local condition that, it can be argued, allows states and districts to disregard a school's achievement-test results if other indicators demonstrate that its Chapter 1 program is effective. This would prevent ambiguity about the identification process when multiple indicators of student performance are used to evaluate schools' Chapter 1 programs.	Closed – Not Implemented	The "Improving America's Schools Act of 1994" (P.L. 103-382) changed the Chapter 1 program improvement process in a way that makes this recommendation irrelevant.
To help ensure that states establish adequate standards for identifying Chapter 1 schools in need of improvement, Congress should consider amending the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to require that the Secretary of Education review and approve the desired outcomes and indicators specified by states in their state program improvement plans. This review could focus on determining whether states have specified: (1) desired outcomes and indicators that reflect high educational standards and pertain to the statutory goals of Chapter 1; and (2) a reasonable definition of substantial progress toward meeting multiple desired outcomes.	Closed – Implemented	The "Improving America's Schools Act 1994" (P.L. 103-382) substantially changed the Chapter 1 program improvement process, partially along the lines that GAO recommended.

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Topics

Education

Academic achievementCompensatory educationDisadvantaged personsEducational testingElementary school studentsPublic schoolsSchool districtsSecondary school studentsState-administered programsTechnical assistance