Supplemental Educational Services are additional educational opportunities for academic instruction designed to increase the academic performance of students. These services can include tutoring, remediation, and other educational interventions, and must be provided outside of the regular school day. Supplemental services must be high quality, research-based and specifically designed to increase student academic achievement in language arts and math.

These services offer students extra help in academic subjects such as reading, language arts, and mathematics. SES services are provided outside the regular school day—before or after school, on weekends, or in the summer.

Note: Title I schools that do not make adequate yearly progress for two years in a row must offer students the opportunity to transfer to a better-performing public school. For information about this school choice option, visit the U.S. Department of Education’s website.

Who can get SES?

As part of the No Child Left Behind Act, states are required to set definitions of adequate yearly progress (AYP), the minimum performance that districts and schools must reach every year on state achievement tests. Title I schools that don’t make AYP for at least three years must offer SES to students. Schools must continue to offer SES to their students until the school shows adequate yearly progress for two years in a row. If the demand for SES exceeds available funds, districts may give priority to the lowest achieving eligible students.

School districts are required to tell families whether their children are eligible for SES. Families can also find out whether a child is eligible by contacting the school principal, school district, a local community group, or the U.S. Department of Education (toll-free at 1-800-872-5327).