The Issue

• In 2001, too many students were trapped in chronically underperforming schools. 
• Those stranded in long-struggling schools were overwhelmingly low-income and minority children. 
• Without access to higher performing educational alternatives, America’s historically disadvantaged students would continue to lag behind their peers and be denied opportunities that result from a quality education.

The Response: School Choice and Supplemental Educational Services

• While the No Child Left Behind Act has primarily marshaled the considerable strength of local, State, and Federal agencies to vigorously pursue the first strategy, faith-based and community-based organizations have played a key role in the second strategy.
• The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP), enacted in 2004 under President Bush’s leadership, provides disadvantaged students in the nation’s capital with scholarships of up to $7,500 to attend a participating faith-based or other private school.
• In 2007-2008 school year alone, more than 1,900 students attended one of 54 participating nonpublic schools in the District of Columbia. 
• Students attending a Title I low-income school identified as in need of improvement for 2 or more years are eligible for Supplemental Educational Services (SES). Parents of eligible students may obtain these free services for their children from any approved provider of their choice.
• Faith-based and community organizations comprise 25 percent of the State-approved SES provider organizations and are offering tutoring and enrichment services to disadvantaged public school students across the country.

The Results

• More than 2,600 low-income District of Columbia stu­dents have enrolled at non-public schools through the OSP since 2004.
• For school year 2006–2007, approximately 535,000 children were served under SES.
• A 2007 study by the RAND Corporation found that
:

• students receiving SES experienced statistically significant gains in achievement (based on a sample of nine large urban districts);
• effects appear to be cumulative - students participating for multiple years experienced gains twice as large as those of students participating for one year; and
• African-American and Hispanic students had the highest participation rates in SES, and experienced positive achievement effects from participating in SES.

More Information

• Frequently Asked Questions About Supplemental Educational Services
• Compassion in Action: Real Choices for Educational Improvement: How Faith-Based and Community Organizations Help Bridge the Achievement Gap