No Child Left Behind Act: Education Actions Could Improve the Targeting of School Improvement Funds to Schools Most in Need of Assistance. Report to Congressional Requesters. GAO-08-380

Under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA), the federal government provides millions of dollars annually to assist schools that have not met state academic goals. In the 2006-2007 school year, over 10,000 such schools were identified for improvement. NCLBA requires states to set aside 4 percent of their Title I funds to pay for school improvement efforts. The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to determine: (1) the extent to which states have set aside these funds and used other resources for school improvement; (2) which schools received improvement funds and the extent funds are tracked; (3) the activities states and schools have undertaken and how activities are assessed; and (4) how the Department of Education (Education) supports states' improvement efforts. GAO administered a survey to state education officials and received a 100 percent response rate, matched survey data to an Education database, and conducted site visits to five states. GAO recommends that Education review its monitoring to ensure that states comply with NCLBA requirements for allocating school improvement funds for district-level activities and prioritizing funds to the lowest achieving schools, provide guidance on when and how states are to make information available about which schools receive improvement funds, and analyze the effects of removing a hold-harmless provision on those districts protected by it. Education agreed with these recommendations. The following are appended: (1) Scope and Methodology; (2) Comments from the Department of Education; and (3) GAO Contacts and Acknowledgments. (Contains 8 tables and 11 figures.) [This report was published by the United States Government Accountability Office, formerly the General Accounting Office.]