Summary of Report 05-009

November 2004

Report Number 05-009

Because local education agencies (LEAs, which consist of independent school districts and open-enrollment charter schools) blend funds for at-risk students to maximize services, linking improvement in the performance of at-risk students to any single program funding stream is misleading and does not provide the Legislature with the information it needs to make service and funding decisions.

A change from the Texas Education Agency's (TEA) current focus on managing funding streams separately to a cost-outcome analysis across all funding streams would provide the Legislature, TEA, and LEAs with essential information that is currently lacking for management and decision making. In addition, changing to a cost-outcome analysis would decrease TEA's administrative burden, allowing TEA's education experts time to help LEAs improve services. A cost-outcome analysis quantifies the relationship between cost and agreed-upon outcome(s).

Furthermore, because LEAs already blend funds for at-risk students, combining state-level funding streams for at-risk students into a block grant to LEAs could provide benefits at the state and local levels. The benefits include greater accountability to the Legislature, increased local autonomy, and fewer administrative requirements for TEA and LEAs.

The 26 state and federal programs reviewed for this audit fell into six major types and served students at all grade levels. They all were structured to allow LEAs to implement various combinations of best practices for serving at-risk students. However, because other factors must also be present for successful learning--such as effective school leadership and a family and community that value learning--the quality of services provided with discretionary funding varies among LEAs.

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Download the Acrobat version of detailed descriptions of the 26 state and federal programs for at-risk students reviewed for this report:

21st Century Community Learning Centers Program (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
Accelerated Reading/Math Initiatives Program (.pdf) (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
Alliance Schools (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
AVANCE (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
Communities In Schools Program (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
Community Youth Development Program (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
Even Start Family Literacy Program (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
Federal GEAR UP (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
GEAR UP (Texans Getting Academically Prepared—TGAP) (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
Head Start/Ready to Read Program (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
High School Completion and Success Program (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
Investment Capital Fund Program (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
Limited English Proficiency Summer School Program (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
Limited English Proficient Student Success Initiative Program (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
Ninth Grade Success Initiative Program (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
One Community-One Child Program (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
Optional Extended Year Program (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
Pregnancy Related Services Program (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
Pregnancy, Education, and Parenting Program (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
Prekindergarten Program (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
Services To At-risk Youth Program (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
Texas 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
Texas After School Initiative Program (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
Texas Grants to Reduce Academic Dropouts (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
Texas Reading First Initiative Program (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*
Upward Bound (.pdf)  (Generate HTML Equivalent)*

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