Parental Choice Options
Supplementary Education Programs

Supplemental Education Programs provide additional academic services to students who are in low-performing schools.

These services may include tutoring, remediation, or other educational interventions and are usually provided after the school day, on weekends or during the summer. However, the services can be provided during the regular school day. Supplemental educational services also must be high quality, research-based, and specifically designed to increase student academic achievement.

Supplementary Education Programs often play an integral role in providing children with greater depth in learning about subjects they are interested in or need additional help in understanding. Several programs are also geared to prepare students for advanced study in science, math, and other core subjects and preparation for post-secondary education and professional occupations.

Some programs are fee-based, while others provide scholarships or are geared toward economically disadvantaged children and/or children of color.

Many colleges and universities, as well as public and private schools and community-based organizations provide programs that challenge students academically and socially, and support their short- and long-term career goals and interests.

Parents who can afford them have commonly taken full advantage of these types of programs for their children. Low-income and working-class parents have historically had limited access to such programs.

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) expands opportunities for such families with its Supplemental Educational Services (SES) provision. This provision gives parents of eligible children the opportunity and the funding to choose a tutor or other academic support providers to help their child succeed in school.

Under NCLB, students attending schools that need improvement must be given the opportunity to transfer to a better-performing, traditional public school in the school district or to a charter school in the area. Also, supplemental educational services must be made available to students from low-income families who attend schools that have been in need of improvement for two consecutive years.