SES is and will remain one of the more convtroversial asepcts of NCLB. It’s controversial for two reasons. First, there is a free market versus traditional school tension inherent in the provision which manisfests itself in arguments over the application of highly qualified techer provisions to the SES providers and how SEAs hold SES providers academically accountabile. Second, the US Department of Educaiton has aggressively tried to monitor and encourage more eligible students to take advantage of the federal tutoring opportunities. So far, many of the eligible students (most in fact) have not availed themselves of the benefits and the reasons for this slow participation rate is a hotly contested topic. These arguments were discussed this weekend in the Tennessean:
Only a fraction of Metro students eligible for free, private tutoring are getting it, six years after the federally mandated program first came to Tennessee.For students who do get it, results are negligible, a University of Memphis study and a state comptroller’s report reveal.But for many families who sent their children to about 40 contracted providers in the state — some offering hourlong sessions for $70 — the program was the only way past educational challenges.”If it wasn’t for A to Z (In-Home Tutoring), he would have never been able to show what he could do; he wouldn’t have graduated with a regular diploma,” Shirley Percle said of her son, Tommy. “He’s more outgoing now. All his shyness is gone; he doesn’t feel ashamed.”
