The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) created a new stream of funding under Title IV, Part A (referred to as Student Support and Academic Enrichment (SSAE) program by the federal government) that provides districts an opportunity to advance their efforts to improve access to well-rounded educational opportunities in a safe and healthy learning environment. The Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) aims to ensure that the allocated funds totaling $11,673,342 are used across Oklahoma schools to accomplish the following goals:
- Provide all students with access to a well-rounded education;
- Improve school conditions for learning to ensure safe and healthy students;
- Improve the use of technology to improve academic achievement; and
- Ensure better outcomes for all students.
In Oklahoma, Title IV, Part A funds will be used as part of a comprehensive strategy known as the Oklahoma Champions of Excellence Program. This program will establish rubrics for Programs of Excellence that will supplement the existing accountability system by providing schools the option to celebrate aspects of their school programs. Title IV, Part A funds are not awards, but serve the role of investing into schools who are seeking to improve or advance student achievement by addressing well-rounded education, safe and healthy schools, and effective use of technology.
Districts who apply to use Title IV, Part A funds must use funds to develop and implement programs and activities that are coordinated with other schools and community-based services and programs. During the design and development of its plan, a district or consortium of districts must engage in consultation with stakeholders in the area served by the district and be able to provide appropriate documentation (e.g., agendas, sign-in sheets, minutes) of such consultation. Together, stakeholders should examine relevant data to understand students' and schools' most pressing needs, including:
- Local needs and/or root causes;
- Identification of system inequities, including marginalized or underrepresented students whose needs may not be showing up in a survey or other data tools; and
- Prioritization when several significant needs are identified.
Such stakeholders must include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Parents
- Teachers
- Principals
- Students
- School leaders
- Charter and/or Non-Public school teachers, principals, and other school leaders, when applicable
- Specialized instructional support personnel
- Indian tribes or tribal organizations, when applicable
- Local government representatives
- Others with relevant and demonstrated expertise
- Community-based organizations
Six focal areas have been identified for the statewide competitive grant process and the Oklahoma Champions of Excellence Program is poised to grant no less than $50,000 for LEAs and consortia of LEAs to develop and implement programs and activities that support access to one or more of the following focal areas, thus advancing the designation of the LEA or member LEAs according to the Programs of Excellence rubrics:
- Fine Arts
- Mathematics (with an emphasis on improving quality of and access to coursework beyond Algebra 2)
- Science (with an emphasis on grades PK-5)
- Social Studies and Civics
- World Languages
- Safe and Healthy Schools
- Computer Science
- English Language Arts
The 2018-2019 competitive grant competition received just over twice as many funds requested as there were available, leaving difficult decisions to be made by the external review panels. A table summarizing the 2018-2019 awardees is available at: https://sde.ok.gov/title-iv-part-competitive-grants