Improving America’s Schools: Study of Title I and Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) encourages schools to develop and implement programs using federal funds to improve student achievement. Changes likely under the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)—such as more rigorous standards and assessments aimed at college- and career-readiness; more sophisticated accountability systems and incentives for improving student achievement; more prescriptive models for turning around low-performing schools; and more emphasis on strengthening the educator workforce to every state, district, and school in the United States—are already under way, as a result of a waiver process created by the U.S. Department of Education. This project involves evaluating implementation of Titles I and II of ESEA, relying on surveys at the state, district, school, and teacher levels. Title I provides support for programs to support struggling students, while Title II helps prepare, train, and recruit high quality principals and teachers, among other activities.

To help shed light on these changes, the research team is surveying all 50 states and the District of Columbia and selecting nationally representative samples of districts, principals, and teachers to examine (1) state, district, and school policies and programs, and policy and program responses to ESEA reauthorization; (2) change over time in areas such as educator focus on college- and career-readiness standards and distribution of effective educators; and (3) progress states, districts, and schools make toward improving student outcomes. Westat is our partner on this project.