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ESEA Monitoring

Overview

DEED’s vision for monitoring is to help build school district awareness of the requirements associated with accepting federal funds, capacity to self-assess against the requirements of the grants, and understanding of how they can best utilize grant funding to improve services for students. Monitoring is an opportunity to identify districts’ technical assistance and support needs and leverage Federal funds in support of better outcomes for all students.

DEED’s monitoring system is designed to accomplish the following objectives:

  • Focus on What Matters by ensuring districts are making progress toward increased student achievement and improved quality of instruction for all students through implementation of Federal programs;
  • Improve Communication with Districts by strengthening partnerships through continuous feedback and assessment of the DEED monitoring resources, process, and system;
  • Differentiate and Customize Support for Districts by using the monitoring system to identify technical assistance to support district needs as well as areas in which districts are making progress and can serve as a model or resource for other districts; and
  • Ensure Basic ESEA Requirements Are Met by reviewing program and fiscal requirements for compliance.

Risk Assessment

DEED conducts a risk assessment of all 54 school districts annually for ESEA Federal Programs. The risk assessment has several elements, including:

  • Results of previous audits
  • Personnel changes and turnover in key federal programs staff
  • Number of findings the district received in its previous monitoring
  • Whether previous findings were cleared
  • Total allocation amounts inclusive of all title programs
  • Timely submission of required reports and reimbursement requests
  • Time since last monitoring
  • Whether the district’s Consolidated Application was in substantially approvable form by June 30th
  • Key district staff attendance at program trainings and meetings (ie. April Workshop)

Depending on the annual risk assessment, each district will likely be monitored every 4 to 6 years.

Timeline

  • • Early Fall
    • ◦ Risk assessment completed by DEED
    • ◦ Determine which districts are considered "high risk", and will be monitored
    • ◦ Preliminary notifications sent to districts
  • • Mid to late Fall
    • ◦ Districts being monitored receive official notification
    • ◦ DEED hosts technical assistance webinar for those being monitored.
  • • December thru April
    • ◦ Monitoring occurs, either virtual or on-site
  • • 30-60 days post-monitoring
    • ◦ DEED sends completed monitoring report and findings letter to the district
  • • 60 days after report and letter are sent
    • ◦ Districts respond to issues of non-compliance

Preparation

Monitoring Indicator Form

In preparing for monitoring, districts should start with the monitoring indicator form. Each year, the updated form is posted to DEED’s form page. This document outlines all the requirements that will need to be met. This document is a great self-assessment tool for districts not being monitored in the current year. The monitoring indicator form outlines examples of documentation that could help satisfy each requirement.

The ESEA monitoring Indicator District Response form is available on the DEED Forms page.

On-Site Monitoring

For onsite visits, districts can typically expect 2 or 3 DEED staff to arrive in-person. Any other program managers that are required for interviews will participate virtually. During the planning process, DEED may need the district’s assistance in travel details – such as flight information, lodging recommendations, and in-district transportation options. Prior to arriving onsite, DEED will work closely with the district to determine which district staff will be part of each program interview, and an agenda will be developed. It is important that the district personnel participating in the ESEA programs being monitored be present and ready to speak in-depth about their program during the on-site visit. This includes the ESEA Federal Programs manager and the individual program-specific staff. DEED understands that in some districts, this may be one person wearing all the hats. Also, in some cases the district may invite school staff to join parts of these interviews, however, it is very rare that the school staff can speak fully to the program requirements. For example, the Title I teacher in a school will likely not be able to address the district-level Title I-A indicators.  It is also recommended that the business manager be available for interviews if determined necessary by the on-site review team.

During the interviews, DEED staff will ask guiding questions on the different monitoring indicators. The purpose of the on-site visit is to gather more information related to each of these indicators. Specifically, the on-site visit will address any questions that were unanswered from the initial required documentation collection. DEED staff is also interested in highlighting promising practices from districts that can be shared with other districts.

DEED will also participate in Title I-A site visits and interviews. During the site visit, DEED will visit a pre-selected school or schools and will interview the principal, a teacher, a paraprofessional and a parent. These visits give DEED the opportunity to engage with schools in a way that we don’t normally get to do. It is a chance for us to hear from the schools themselves. We generally provide the interview questions to the district beforehand, so that they may share them with the interviewees.

The onsite monitoring visit will end with a formal exit meeting. During this meeting, DEED will share out high-level observations from their interviews, and will share the timeline for next steps. This is also an opportunity for districts to provide feedback to DEED about the monitoring process, and to ask questions.

Virtual Monitoring

For virtual monitoring, the interview process is very similar to the onsite interviews, however there are some obvious differences. DEED will create virtual sessions to accommodate the interviews. Just as with onsite visits, It is important that the district personnel participating in the ESEA programs being monitored be present and ready to speak in-depth about their programs.

For site visits, DEED conducts the necessary interviews either by phone, or virtual platform.

Resources

Important Dates

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