Improving Teacher Quality in U.S. School Districts: Districts' Use of Title II, Part A, Funds in 2002-2003. Policy and Program Brief

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, places a major emphasis on teacher quality as a significant factor in improving student achievement. Under NCLB, Title II, Part A provides funds to states and districts to conduct a variety of teacher-related reform activities. Unlike previous authorizations of Title II, which provided funds primarily for professional development in mathematics and science, under NCLB funds can be used for a variety of teacher quality activities in any subject area. In 2002-2003, Title II, Part A provided states and districts approximately $2.85 billion for teacher quality reforms. To gain a better understanding of how school districts were responding to the high level of Title II, Part A funding and the wide range of teacher quality reforms allowed under it during the first year of NCLB, the U.S. Department of Education collected baseline data from districts around the nation to answer the question: How did districts report spending their federal Teacher Quality funds in 2002-2003? Data for this brief come from a nationally representative sample of 800 school districts drawn from the 2000-2001 Common Core of Data (CCD). In drawing the sample, districts were stratified by size and level of poverty. The key findings in this evaluation brief summarize the completed survey instruments from 82 percent of the sampled districts. All weights were adjusted for nonresponse. District poverty data come from the U.S. Census Bureau. Key findings include: (1) The great majority of the nation's districts reported that they received Title II, Part A funds, with high-poverty districts receiving more funds than low-poverty, and large districts receiving more than small; (2) Districts reported using the majority of Title II, Part A funds for teacher salaries to reduce class size and for professional development for teachers; (3) Districts reported using Title II, Part A sources to fund over 30,000 teachers; and (4) Districts reported using their funds for professional development across a variety of subject areas. (Contains 5 exhibits and 3 footnotes.)[This report was published by the Office of the Under Secretary's Policy and Program Studies Service.]