Springfield, Ill. – Illinois State Board of Education staff will present the State Board with a comprehensive plan to increase the agency’s role in regulating tutoring services provided under No Child Left Behind at its meeting next week. This proposal responds to the United States Department of Education’s recent push for states to assume more regulatory responsibility for tutoring providers. If adopted, Illinois’ regulations will be among the most comprehensive in the country.

Under the Federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), students from low-income families attending schools that do not make adequate yearly progress for three consecutive years are eligible to receive tutoring services outside of the regular school day which are known as Supplemental Educational Services (SES). School districts are responsible for funding the services through their Federal funds. There are currently 75 providers are on the approved list in Illinois. Projections for next school year are that 360,000 students in more than 600 Illinois schools will be eligible for services.

“With these changes Illinois will be taking a leadership role in regulating tutoring services,” said State Board Chairman Jesse Ruiz. “We need to enhance our oversight of tutoring providers in Illinois and do more to help ensure that districts implement this Federal requirement. Students are entitled to these services and we want parents to know that their children are being tutored by proven providers that will bring the best results.”

At its June 16 meeting the State Board will review the proposal which details actions steps including:

• improved application criteria to more closely review a provider’s educational program;
• added requirements for detailed financial reporting and the public release of financial information, including the percentage of a provider’s per-student rate that covers tutoring costs and the percentage that goes toward profits and overhead;
• procedures to ensure a provider does not charge the district more than its actual cost for services;
• addition of a mandatory code of ethics for all providers;
• enhanced monitoring through data collection, reporting and site visits;
• assistance for community-based organizations and government entities in developing SES programs;
• development of a state-wide web-based reporting system to assist with oversight and monitoring of providers; and
• creation of a toolkit of parent notices and provider contracts to assist districts with SES implementation.

ISBE will continue to take steps to ensure that school districts meet their SES obligations under NCLB which include:

• notifying parents of the requirement to offer SES services;
• helping parents choose a provider;
• determining which students should receive services if not all students can be served;
• contracting with providers;
• providing information to ISBE to assist with the monitoring of providers; and
• protecting the privacy of students receiving services.

Agency staff and Board members Dr. Vinni Hall and Dr. Andrea Brown developed the proposal with input from other state education agencies, local school districts and tutoring providers. If the State Board approves the proposal at its June 16 meeting, work to implement the changes will begin immediately.