NCLB Parental Choice and SES 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which federal agency maintained the national database of approved SES providers under NCLB?
- U.S. Department of Education
- Each state educational agency maintained its own list (Correct answer)
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Government Accountability Office
Correct answer: Each state educational agency maintained its own list
Each state educational agency maintained its own approved SES provider list; there was no single national database.
Question 2: Under NCLB, when a student transfers to a higher-performing school using public school choice, that student has the right to remain at the new school until:
- The end of the school year in which the transfer occurred
- The original school exits improvement status
- The student completes the highest grade offered at the receiving school (Correct answer)
- The district reassigns the student for capacity reasons
Correct answer: The student completes the highest grade offered at the receiving school
Students who transfer under NCLB's choice provision may remain at the receiving school through the highest grade it offers.
Question 3: A district spends only 14% of its Title I Part A set-aside on school choice transportation and wants to roll the remaining 6% back into general Title I spending. What does NCLB say about this?
- Allowed, as long as the 20% cap is a ceiling, not a floor
- The unused funds must be spent on SES instead (Correct answer)
- The unused funds must be spent on SES or returned to the state
- Not allowed; all 20% must be spent on choice and SES combined
Correct answer: The unused funds must be spent on SES instead
If transportation costs are less than the reserved amount, remaining funds must be used to provide SES rather than returned to the general pool.
Question 4: Which of the following best describes how NCLB's parental choice provisions differed from traditional school transfer policies?
- NCLB allowed transfers only within magnet school networks
- NCLB mandated transfers as a federal entitlement tied to school performance status (Correct answer)
- NCLB gave districts full discretion to decide whether to offer transfers
- NCLB required state legislatures to vote annually on enabling transfers
Correct answer: NCLB mandated transfers as a federal entitlement tied to school performance status
NCLB made school choice a federal entitlement automatically triggered by a school's failure to meet AYP, overriding district discretion.
Question 5: What happened to SES and mandatory public school choice requirements when ESSA replaced NCLB in 2015?
- Both were maintained with stricter federal mandates
- Both were eliminated and replaced with state-designed interventions (Correct answer)
- SES was kept but public school choice was removed
- Public school choice was kept but SES was made optional
Correct answer: Both were eliminated and replaced with state-designed interventions
ESSA eliminated the federal SES and mandatory public school choice requirements, shifting school improvement design authority to states.
Question 6: Under NCLB, an SES provider that fails to help students meet agreed achievement goals may face which consequence?
- Automatic federal fine equal to the contract amount
- Removal from the state's approved provider list (Correct answer)
- Mandatory merger with a higher-performing provider
- Loss of its nonprofit tax-exempt status
Correct answer: Removal from the state's approved provider list
States could remove ineffective SES providers from the approved list if they failed to produce student academic gains.
Question 7: Which of the following scenarios correctly triggers BOTH public school choice AND SES eligibility for students under NCLB?
- A school misses AYP for two consecutive years
- A school misses AYP for three or more consecutive years (Correct answer)
- A school misses AYP in only one subject area for two years
- A school is placed on a state watch list but has not missed AYP
Correct answer: A school misses AYP for three or more consecutive years
Both public school choice and SES are available starting in year 3 of improvement (three or more consecutive years of missing AYP).
NCLB Parental Choice and SES 5
Which federal agency maintained the national database of approved SES providers under NCLB?