****

**Private School Participants in Programs under the *No Child Left Behind Act* and the**

***Individuals with Disabilities Education Act*:**

**Private School and Public School District Perspectives**

**U.S. Department of Education**

**Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development,**

**Policy and Program Studies Service**

Prepared by:

**Gayle S. Christensen**

**Sarah Cohodes**

**Devin Fernandes**

**Daniel Klasik**

**Daniel Loss**

**Michael Segeritz**

The Urban Institute

Washington, D.C.

**2007**

This report was prepared for the U.S. Department of Education under Contract Number ED04C0057/0001 with the Urban Institute.  Stephanie Stullich served as the contracting officer’s representative.  The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the Department of Education.  No official endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education is intended or should be inferred.

**U.S. Department of Education**

Margaret Spellings

*Secretary*

**Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development**

Doug Mesecar

*Acting Assistant Secretary*

**Policy and Program Studies Service**

Alan Ginsburg

*Director*

**Program and Analytic Studies Division**

David Goodwin

*Director*

 August 2007

This report is in the public domain, except for the photograph on the front cover, which is used with permission and copyright, 2007, Getty Images.  Authorization to reproduce it in whole or in part is granted.  While permission to reprint this publication is not necessary, the suggested citation is: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, Policy and Program Studies Service, Private School Participants in Federal Programs Under the *No Child Left Behind Act* and the *Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,*Washington, D.C., 2007.

Copies of this report may be ordered in the following ways:

· **Mail.**  Write to:

ED Pubs

Education Publications Center

U. S. Department of Education

P. O. Box 1398

Jessup, MD 20794-1398

· **Fax.**  Dial 301-470-1244.

· **Telephone**(toll-free).  Dial 877-433-7827 (877-4-ED-PUBS).  If 877 service is not yet available in your area, call 800-872-5327 (800-USA-LEARN).  Those who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a teletypewriter (TTY) should call 1-800-437-0833.  

· **E-mail.**  Send your request to: edpubs@inet.ed.gov.

· **Online.**  Order a copy of the report at: www.edpubs.ed.gov.  This report may also be downloaded from the Department’s Web site at www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/opepd/ppss/reports.html.

· **Alternate formats.**  Upon request, this publication is available in alternate formats such as Braille, large print, or computer diskette.  For more information, please contact the Department’s Alternate Format Center at 202-260-0852 or 202-260-0818.

**Contents**

**v**Exhibits****

**ix**Acknowledgments****

**xi**Executive Summary****

xi**Background******

xi**Report findings******

xiv**Conclusion******

**1**1. Introduction****

1**Private School Students and the *Elementary and Secondary Education Act* (*ESEA*)******

4**Title I******

5**“Parentally Placed” Private School Students and the *Individuals with Disabilities Education Act* (*IDEA*)******

6**Research Background and Evaluation Questions******

**9**2. Methods****

**11**3. Private School Participants in Federal Education Programs****

12**Private School Participants in *ESEA* Programs******

17**Reasons Private Schools Do Not Have Participants in *ESEA* Programs******

17**Parentally Placed Private School Participants in *IDEA*******

**19**4. Provision of Services****

20**Provision of *ESEA* Program Services******

26**Provision of *IDEA* Services******

27***IDEA* “Child Find” Practices******

**31**5. Consultation Process****

32***ESEA* Program Consultation******

39***IDEA* Consultation******

41**Other Sources Utilized by Public School Districts and Private Schools for Assistance in Implementing Federal Education Programs******

**43**6. Funding****

43**Public School District Expenditures for Services for Private School Students in *ESEA* Programs******

44**Determining the Number of Private School Students From Low-Income Families******

45***IDEA* Funding******

**47**7. Conclusions****

47**Participation in Federal Education Programs******

48**Provision of Services and Funding******

48**Consultation******

**51**References****

**53**Appendix A—Detailed Tables****

**101**Appendix B—Methodology****

101**Sample Design and Weighting******

102**Questionnaire Development and Data Collection******

102**Description of Subgroups******

103**Analytic Techniques******

**105**Appendix C—Survey Instruments****

107**Private School Survey******

123**Public School District Survey******

# Exhibits

xii**Exhibit E-1 Total Private School Students Participating in Title I, Part A, 1979–2004******

4**Exhibit 1 Overview of *ESEA* Programs Eligible for Private School Student Participation******

5**Exhibit 2 Total Private School Students Participating in Title I, Part A, 1979–2004******

12**Exhibit 3 Private Schools With at Least One Participant in Federal EducationPrograms, 2004–05******

13**Exhibit 4  Private Schools With at Least One Participant in *ESEA* Programs, 2004–05******

13**Exhibit 5 Size of Private Schools, 2004–05******

14**Exhibit 6 Percent of Private School Students Participating in *ESEA* Programs by School Religious Affiliation, 2004–05******

15**Exhibit 7 *ESEA* Program Participation Rate of Students at Private Schools With*ESEA* Participants by School Religious Affiliation, 2004–05******

16**Exhibit 8 Private Schools With at Least One Student, Teacher or Parent Participating in *ESEA* Programs, 2004–05******

17**Exhibit 9 Reasons Private Schools Did Not Have Participants in *ESEA*Programs, 2004–05******

18**Exhibit 10 Reasons Private Schools Did Not Have Student Participants inTitle I, Part A, 2004–05******

21**Exhibit 11 Private School and Public School District Reports of *ESEA* ProgramService Provision, 2004–05******

23**Exhibit 12  Types of *ESEA* Program Services, 2004–05******

24**Exhibit 13 Title I, Part A, Parental Involvement Activities, 2004–05******

24**Exhibit 14 Title I, Part A, Professional Development Activities, 2004–05******

25**Exhibit 15 Reasons Public School Districts Did Not Allocate Title I, Part A, Funds for Services for Private School Participants, 2004–05******

26**Exhibit 16 *IDEA* Services, 2004–05******

27**Exhibit 17 Reasons Public School Districts Provided *IDEA* Services to Some ButNot All Eligible Private School Students, 2004–05******

28**Exhibit 18 Private School Reports of the Average Number of Parentally Placed Private School Students Identified for Special Education Services, 2004–05******

28**Exhibit 19 Child Find Procedures Used to Identify Parentally Placed Private SchoolStudents Eligible for *IDEA* Services, 2004–05******

29**Exhibit 20 Private School Assistance in Child Find Activities, 2004–05******

33**Exhibit 21 Timely and Meaningful Consultation for *ESEA* Programs, 2004–05******

**Exhibit 22  Among Private Schools With Participants in a Particular *ESEA* Program,the********Percent of Students Who Attended a Private School That Engagedin Timely******34**and Meaningful Consultation, 2004–05******

35**Exhibit 23 Private School Officials Engaging in *ESEA* Consultation, 2004–05******

35**Exhibit 24 Reasons *ESEA* Consultation Did Not Take Place, 2004–05******

36**Exhibit 25 Barriers to Timely and Meaningful *ESEA* Consultation, 2004–05******

37**Exhibit 26 *ESEA* Program Consultation Topics, 2004–05******

38**Exhibit 27 Title I, Part A, Consultation Topics, 2004–05******

39**Exhibit 28 *IDEA* Consultation, 2004–05******

40**Exhibit 29 Public School District *IDEA* Consultation Topics, 2004–05******

41**Exhibit 30 Private School Reports of Useful Consultation, 2004–05******

42**Exhibit 31 Technical Assistance for Implementation of Federal EducationPrograms, 2004–05******

44**Exhibit 32 *ESEA* Program Fund Allocation, 2004–05******

55**Exhibit A-1  Total Private School Students Participating in Title I, Part A,  1979–2006******

56**Exhibit A-2 Characteristics of Public School Districts Serving Private Schools, 2004–05******

57**Exhibit A-3 Private School Characteristics, 2003–04 and 2004–05******

58**Exhibit A-4 Private Schools With at Least One Participant in Federal EducationPrograms, 2004–05******

59**Exhibit A-5 Private Schools With *ESEA* Program Participants, 2004–05******

60**Exhibit A-6******HYPERLINK \l "_Toc172704361"**Percent of Students Participating in *ESEA* Programs by Private SchoolEnrollment Size******

**Exhibit A-7 *ESEA* Program Participation Rate of Students at Private Schools With*ESEA*******60**Participants by Private School Enrollment******

61**Exhibit A-8 Reasons Private Schools Did Not Have Participants in *ESEA*Programs, 2004–05******

62**Exhibit A-9 Reasons Private Schools Did Not Have Student Participants inTitle I, Part A, 2004–05******

63**Exhibit A-10 Public School Districts With at Least One Private School Student, Teacher, or Parent Participating in *ESEA* Programs, 2004–05******

64**Exhibit A-11 Types of *ESEA* Program Services Provided for Private SchoolParticipants, 2004–05******

66**Exhibit A-12  Percent of Private Schools With Participants Receiving *ESEA* ProgramServices, 2004–05******

67**Exhibit A-13 Title I, Part A, Parental Involvement Activities, 2004–05******

68**Exhibit A-14 Title I, Part A, Professional Development Activities, 2004–05******

69**Exhibit A-15  Public School District Allocation of Title I, Part A, Funds, 2004–05******

70**Exhibit A-16 Private School Student Participation in Title I, Part A, ServicesDuring Nonschool Hours, 2004–05******

71**Exhibit A-17 Location and Provider of Title I, Part A, Services, 2004–05******

72**Exhibit A-18  Reasons Public School Districts Did Not Allocate Title I, Part A, Funds for Services for Private School Participants, 2004–05******

73**Exhibit A-19 *IDEA* Services, 2004–05******

74**Exhibit A-20 Location of *IDEA* Services, 2004–05******

75**Exhibit A-21  Reasons Public School Districts Did Not Provide *IDEA* Services for Eligible Private School Students, 2004–05******

76**Exhibit A-22  Reasons Public School Districts Provided *IDEA* Services to Some But Not All Eligible Private School Students, 2004–05******

77**Exhibit A-23 Private School Notification of *IDEA* Services and ReferralProcedures, 2004–05******

77**Exhibit A-24  Average Number of Parentally Placed Private School Students Identifiedby Public School Districts and Referred by Private Schools forSpecial Education Services, 2004–05******

78**Exhibit A-25  Evaluators Used to Determine Private School Student *IDEA*Eligibility, 2004–05******

79**Exhibit A-26  Child Find Procedures Used to Locate and Identify Private School Students Eligible for *IDEA* Services, 2004–05******

80**Exhibit A-27  Assistance from Private Schools in Identifying Private School StudentsEligible for *IDEA* Services, 2004–05******

81**Exhibit A-28 Timely and Meaningful *ESEA* Program Consultation, 2004–05******

**Exhibit A-29  Private Schools With Participants in *ESEA* Programs That Reported********Public School Districts Engaged in Timely and Meaningful******82**ConsultationWith Private School Officials, 2004–05******

83**Exhibit A-30******HYPERLINK \l "_Toc172704389"**Private School Officials Engaging in *ESEA* Consultation, 2004–05******

84**Exhibit A-31 Reasons *ESEA* Consultation Did Not Take Place, 2004–05******

85**Exhibit A-32 Title I, Part A, Timely and Meaningful Consultation, 2004–05******

86**Exhibit A-33 Barriers to Timely and Meaningful *ESEA* Consultation, 2004–05******

87**Exhibit A-34 *ESEA* Program Consultation Topics, 2004–05******

90**Exhibit A-35 Title I, Part A, Consultation Topics, 2004–05******

91**Exhibit A-36******HYPERLINK \l "_Toc172704396"**Documentation of *ESEA* Consultation, 2004–05******

92**Exhibit A-37 *IDEA* Consultation, 2004–05******

93**Exhibit A-38 Private School Report of “Usefulness” of *IDEA* Consultation, 2004–05******

94**Exhibit A-39 *IDEA* Consultation Topics, 2004–05******

95**Exhibit A-40 Technical Assistance for Implementation of Federal EducationPrograms, 2004–05******

**Exhibit A-41 Public School District Provision of *ESEA* Program Services for PrivateSchool Participants as Predicted by Districtwide******96**Working GroupParticipation******

97**Exhibit A-42******HYPERLINK \l "_Toc172704404"***ESEA* Program Fund Allocation, 2004–05******

98**Exhibit A-43 Title I, Part A, Allocations for Services for Private SchoolParticipants, 2004–05******

99**Exhibit A-44******HYPERLINK \l "_Toc172704407"**Public School District Methods Used to Determine the Number ofPrivate School Students From Low-Income Families, 2004–05******

100**Exhibit A-45 Private School Assistance With Identifying Private School StudentsFrom Low-Income Families,  2004–05******

# Acknowledgments

The Urban Institute would like to thank all of the people who assisted in developing the survey, pilot-testing it, and completing it. Without their support, this report would not have been possible.

We would also like to thank the following people from the U.S. Department of Education who assisted in developing the survey and provided comments on the report: Pamela Allen and Maureen Dowling from the Office of Innovation and Improvement, Office of Non-Public Education; and Beth Franklin and Stephanie Stullich from the Policy and Program Studies Service.

Public school district administrators and private school officials took time out of their hectic days to answer the surveys. We are grateful to all of the public school districts and private schools that chose to participate in this study. We would like to thank public school district administrators from the following districts: Los Angeles Unified School District (Calif.), Colonial Intermediate Unit #20 (Pa.), Seattle Public Schools (Wash.), Milwaukee Public Schools (Wis.), Elmira City Schools (N.Y.), and Albuquerque Public Schools (N.M.), and the Division of Federal Programs and Instructional Equity (Ky.).  We would also like to thank private school administrators from the following private schools and dioceses: Lynden Christian Schools (Wash.), St. Thomas More Cathedral School (Va.), St. Mary's Catholic School (Mich.), St. Mary of the Mills School (Md.), the Immaculate Conception School (Calif.), Diocese of Nashville (Tenn.), Archdiocese of Detroit (Mich.), and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles (Calif.). These public school districts and private school administrators provided valuable feedback on early versions of the surveys. 

While we appreciate the assistance and support of all of those who helped with the report and surveys, any errors are, of course, our own.

# Executive Summary

## Background

Public school districts are required to provide equitable services to eligible private school students through the *Elementary and Secondary Education Act* (*ESEA*), as reauthorized by the *No Child Left Behind Act of 2001* (*NCLB*), and the *Individuals with Disabilities Education Act* (*IDEA*), reauthorized in 2004.  Twelve major *ESEA* programs require public school districts to provide services and benefits to private school participants on an equitable basis.  *IDEA* requires that public school districts conduct a child find process to locate students with disabilities enrolled by their parents in private schools, and to expend a proportionate amount of funding on special education and related services to such eligible children enrolled in private schools.  

Both *ESEA* and *IDEA* also require that public school districts engage in timely and meaningful consultation with private schools about the provision of services to private school students and their teachers and parents. This consultation must occur before any decision is made that impacts the opportunities for participation of private school students, teachers, and parents and throughout the design, development, implementation, and assessment of those services.

This report describes participation of private school participants in federal education programs, the consultation process between private schools and public school districts, and public school district allocation of federal funds for services for private school participants. The results presented in this report are based on surveys conducted in 2005–06 among a nationally representative sample of public school districts with at least one private school located within their boundaries and a nationally representative sample of private schools located within the geographic boundaries of the sample districts.  

## Report findings

The study resulted in four key findings:

· Less than half of private schools reported having at least one participant (students, teachers, or parents) in an *ESEA* program, though Catholic schools were more likely than other private schools to have at least one participant in an *ESEA* program (80 percent). 

· Forty percent of private schools with no *ESEA* participants reported not participating in *ESEA* programs because they had no knowledge of these programs.  

· Public school districts and private schools with participants in a particular *ESEA* program generally reported similar levels of consultation about that *ESEA* program.

· Less than half (43 percent) of private schools had at least one participant in *IDEA*; 38 percent of private schools reported that the public school district engaged in timely and meaningful consultation with private school officials, representatives, or parents regarding participation in *IDEA*, while 86 percent of public school districts reported conducting such consultations with appropriate parties.  *IDEA* does not require public school districts to consult with all private schools but rather with private school representatives and representatives of parents of parentally placed students with disabilities attending private schools located in the district.  However, the public school district may consult with a representative of the private school and the private school may be unaware of the consultation.

***Participation***

**Overall, 44 percent of private schools had at least one participant in an *ESEA* program.****However**, **there was not a single individual *ESEA* program (e.g. Title I, Part A) in which more than 20 percent of private schools had at least one participant.** The two *ESEA* programs with the highest levels of participation were State Grants for Innovative Programs (20 percent) and Improving Teacher Quality State Grants (20 percent).  Sixteen percent of private schools had participants in Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Education Agencies (Title I, Part A), the largest *ESEA* program.

**Exhibit E-1Total Private School Students Participating in Title I, Part A, 1979–2004**

Exhibit Reads: More than 180,000 private school students participated in Title I, Part A, programs in 1979–80.

Source: Consolidated State Performance Reports. See Exhibit A-1 for more detailed data.

Title I, Part A, is the only federal program where data are available on the participation of private school students over time.  In the 2003–04 school year, there were more than 188,000 private school students nationwide participating in Title I, Part A.  This represented 3 percent of the entire private school population and 1 percent of all Title I, Part A, participants.  The number of private school students participating in Title I has increased gradually over the years, although it remains below the high of 213,500 reached in 1980–81 (See Exhibit E-1).

**Catholic schools were more likely to report having at least one participant in *ESEA* programs than were non-Catholic schools.**Eighty percent of Catholic schools reported having a participant in at least one of the 11 *ESEA* programs covered in this study, compared with one-quarter of non-Catholic schools.  More than one-third (37 percent) of Catholic schools reported having participants in Title I, Part A, compared with 7 percent of other religious private schools and 6 percent of nonsectarian schools.  

**The percentage of students participating in a particular *ESEA* program in a given private school varied substantially by the religious affiliation and size of the school.** While nonsectarian schools were less likely than Catholic schools to have participants in *ESEA* programs, those that did have participants were likely to have a majority of their students participating in four out of the five programs in which private schools most often reported having participants.  Among private schools with at least one participant in *ESEA* programs, the smaller schools (those with fewer than 100 students) tended to have a higher fraction of students participating in most of the *ESEA* programs.

The most common reason given by private schools for not having participants in *ESEA* programs was a conscious decision not to be involved in federal programs (58 percent). **Forty percent of private schools with no *ESEA* participants reported having no knowledge of federal education programs under *ESEA*.**  However, 14 percent of the private schools that reported no knowledge of *ESEA* programs (6 percent of private schools with no *ESEA* participants) also reported that they consciously chose not to participate. 

***IDEA* had the highest percentage of private schools with participants of any federal education program.**  Forty-three percent of private schools had at least one participant in *IDEA*.

***Provision of Services***

**The vast majority of public school districts containing at least one private school within their boundaries reported providing no services to private school students under the following *ESEA* programs; English Language Acquisition (85 percent); 21st-Century Community Learning Centers (93 percent); Reading First (96 percent); Even Start (97 percent); Mathematics and Science Partnerships (98 percent); and Migrant Education (98 percent).**However, these figures do not take into account whether public school districts received federal funds for these programs or had eligible private school students within district boundaries.

**Private schools reported that the most common services provided through *ESEA* programs were professional development for private school teachers and the provision of equipment and materials.** Forty-five percent of public school districts offered Title I, Part A, services to private school participants, with the majority indicating that a public school district employee provided these program services at the private school site.  

**For *IDEA*, the most common services that public school districts provided were speech and language therapy (92 percent) and special education instruction (78 percent).**

***Consultation***

**Public school districts and private schools with participants in a particular program generally reported similar levels of consultation about that *ESEA* program.**

Limited communication from the public school district was the most common reason private schools gave for the absence of timely and meaningful consultation. Seven percent of public school districts identified poor coordination within the public school district office as a barrier to timely and meaningful consultation.

*ESEA* introduced new consultation requirements for Title I, Part A.  In addition to already existing requirements, consultation must include discussion of student assessment, professional development, and activities for parents.  Both public school districts and private schools reported that, in general, these new Title I, Part A, consultation topic requirements were less likely to be discussed than the long-standing requirements.  For example, only 52 percent of public school districts and 41 percent of private schools reported discussing ‘activities for parents,’ one of the new required consultation topics, compared to long-standing required topics such as ‘types of services’ (81 percent of public school districts and 83 percent of private schools) and ‘number of students generating funds’ (80 percent of public school districts and 73 percent of private schools).

**For *IDEA*, 38 percent of private schools reported that the public school district engaged in timely and meaningful consultation with private school officials, representatives, or parents regarding participation in *IDEA*, while 86 percent of public school districts reported conducting such consultations with appropriate parties.**  One possible explanation is that public school districts are required to consult with some, but not all, private schools located within their boundaries.  Additionally, public school districts may consult with an organization like a diocese on behalf of a group of private schools.

## Conclusion

A majority of private schools did not have participants in federal education programs and chose not to participate.  Catholic schools, however, had much higher rates of participation among their students, teachers, and parents than did other types of private schools.  A number of private schools reported lacking information about federal education programs and poor communication from public school districts.  The lack of information and communication likely contributed to lower participation and reflects an opportunity to improve participation rates.  Public school districts, in contrast, generally reported making an effort to involve private school participants. Regardless, it appears there may still be work to be done to achieve equitable participation in federal education programs for private school students, teachers, and parents, and to better educate the private school community on federal education benefits.

# 1. Introduction

More than five million students attend more than 28,000 private elementary and secondary schools in the United States, representing more than 10 percent of all K–12 students in the United States. Catholic schools make up 28 percent of those private schools; other religious schools represent approximately half of all private schools.  However, 46 percent of private school students attend Catholic schools, while 36 percent of private school students attend other religious schools and 18 percent of private school students attend private schools with no religious affiliation.  Three-quarters of the nation’s private schools are located in cities and suburbs.

This report describes the participation patterns of private school participants in federal education programs.  It also examines the consultation process between private schools and public school districts regarding program eligibility and service provisions per *ESEA* and *IDEA* requirements. Additionally, it explores public school district allocation of federal funds for services to private school participants. The results presented in this report are based on surveys conducted in the fall and winter of the 2005–06 school year to a nationally representative sample of public school districts with at least one private school located within their geographic boundaries and a nationally representative sample of private schools geographically located within those public school districts.  

## Private School Students and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)

The federal government has provided for the participation of private school students in education programs since 1965, when the *Elementary and Secondary Education Act* (*ESEA*) was originally enacted.  *ESEA* included provisions requiring public school districts to provide equitable services to eligible private school students under certain programs.  Under these programs, federal funds were *not* provided directly to private schools but were to be used to provide services to eligible students who were enrolled in private schools, as well as to their teachers and parents (see *ESEA*, Section 1120, Section 5142, and Section 9501).

Since the passage of *ESEA*, two Supreme Court decisions have substantively changed the landscape in which private school students receive equitable services.  First, in 1985, the Supreme Court ruled in *Aguilar v. Felton* that Title I instructional services could not be provided to private school students in religiously affiliated private schools.  Because Title I, Part A, is one of the largest federal education programs and most private schools are religiously affiliated, the *Aguilar* decision led to a substantial decline in the number of private school students receiving Title I education services.  This trend began to reverse as public school districts purchased mobile vans and other forms of capital to facilitate the legal instruction of eligible private school students.  

In 1997, the Supreme Court overturned the *Aguilar* decision in *Agostini v. Felton*.  This ruling provided increased flexibility to public school districts in the provision of federal education services to private school students, allowing them to deliver services on site at the students’ private schools.  Currently, public school districts may provide services to private school students at a public school, at a private school regardless of religious affiliation, or at a neutral location.  Specifically, the *Agostini* decision found that public school personnel could provide Title I services in private religious schools without violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (which prohibits the establishment of a state religion), provided certain safeguards are in place to prevent excessive entanglement between church and state.

In 1994, the *Improving America’s Schools Act* (*IASA*) reauthorized *ESEA* and made two notable changes.  First, Title I distributed funds based on the number of poor children and not academic achievement scores.  Second, *IASA* included Uniform Provisions for the participation of private school students and teachers, and strengthened the language requiring consultation between private school and public school district officials, stating that the consultation must be timely and meaningful.  

In 2002, the reauthorization of *ESEA* through the *No Child Left Behind Act* (*NCLB*) left the private school provisions of *IASA* largely intact.  Under Title I, the consultation requirements were strengthened, adding a requirement that public school districts maintain a written affirmation of consultation signed by an official of each participating private school.  A requirement that services provided to private school students and teachers be made in a “timely manner” was added and the list of programs requiring equitable participation under the Title IX uniform provision was expanded.

Provision for equitable participation of private school students is required in 12 major programs  (See Exhibit 1).  Nine of the twelve programs are governed by the Title IX Uniform Provisions, which require that public school districts and other grantees provide services and benefits for private school students and teachers that are comparable to those received by their public school counterparts.  These services must be proportionate with the number of eligible students attending private schools in the public school district jurisdiction.  Public school districts must spend an equal amount of funds per eligible private school student, offer private school students and teachers activities equivalent to those available to public school participants, and ensure that the services and programs provided remain secular, neutral, and nonideological.

Furthermore, public school districts receiving money under *ESEA* programs governed by the Uniform Provisions must consult with the private schools in a timely and meaningful fashion on the following topics:   

1. How children’s needs will be identified;

2. What services will be offered;

3. How, where, and by whom the services will be provided;

4. How the services will be assessed, and how the results of those assessments will be used to improve the program;

5. The size and scope of equitable services and the amount of available funds;

6. How and when the public school district will make decisions regarding provision of services (including who will receive them and who will provide them); and

7. A thorough discussion of the views of private school officials on the provision of contract services through potential third-party providers.

This consultation must occur both before any decision is made that impacts the participation of private school students and teachers and throughout the design, development, implementation, and assessment of those services.

There are three *ESEA* programs requiring equitable participation that are not subject to the Title IX Uniform Provisions: Title I, Part A; State Grants for Innovative Programs; and Javits Gifted and Talented Education.  Each have individual provisions governing the equitable participation of private school students, and these requirements differ slightly from the Title IX Uniform Provisions.  In Title I, Part A, in addition to providing equitable services and benefits to eligible private school students, public school districts are also required to provide equitable services to the parents and teachers of those students, consult in a timely and meaningful way with private schools on a number of specific topics, and obtain written affirmation from private schools that such consultation has taken place.  Equitable participation stipulations in State Grants for Innovative Programs require that public school districts provide secular and neutral services to private school students and their teachers, in consultation with private school officials.  Expenditures for services for private school students must be consistent with the number of students enrolled in private schools within the public school districts’ boundaries.  For Javits Gifted and Talented Education, the secretary of education grants funding for specific programs benefiting gifted and talented students. As a result, the secretary is held responsible for ensuring equitable participation of both students and teachers in private schools during the grant-making process. In the past few years, the number of grants through Javits Gifted and Talented Education has been quite small.  For this reason, the program was not included in this report.

Exhibit 1Overview of *ESEA* Programs Eligible for Private School Student Participation

## Title I

This report provides a particularly in-depth examination of Title I, Part A, which is the largest federal education program and also has special requirements related to private school participants. As a consequence, the participation of private school students, teachers, and parents receiving Title I, Part A, services and the specific requirements of the program are given special attention in this report. 

Title I, Part A, is the only federal program in which data are available on the participation of private school students over time. In the 2003–04 school year, there were over 188,000 private school students nationwide participating in Title I, Part A.  This represented 3 percent of the entire private school population and 1 percent of all Title I, Part A, participants.  The number of private school students participating in Title I has increased gradually over the years, although it remains below the high of 213,500 reached in 1980–81 (See Exhibit 2).

**Exhibit 2Total Private School Students Participating in Title I, Part A, 1979–2004**

Exhibit Reads: More than 180,000 private school students participated in Title I, Part A, programs in 1979–80.

Source: Consolidated State Performance Reports. See Exhibit A-1 for more detailed data.

##  “Parentally Placed” Private School Students and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

The *Individuals with Disabilities Education Act* (*IDEA*) requires equitable provision of services for children with disabilities enrolled by their parents in private schools.  In 1975, Congress passed the *Education For All Handicapped Children Act*.  It required that students with disabilities “receive special education and related services specially designed to meet their needs.”  The goal of this act was to provide students with disabilities a free and appropriate public education (FAPE).  In 1990, the act was reauthorized as *IDEA*. 

The 2004 *IDEA* legislation assigned distinct responsibilities related to consultation and funding to public school districts.  After consulting with private school officials and parent representatives, public school districts must conduct a child find process similar to the activities undertaken for the agency’s public school district children to ensure equitable participation for eligible students attending private schools located in the public school district’s jurisdiction, regardless of the child’s residence.

In addition, the public school district must spend a proportionate amount of federal funds for special education and related services for children with disabilities enrolled in private schools by their parents.  This amount is based on the counts of eligible children with disabilities produced through the child find process.  

The public school districts have a responsibility to provide equitable services for parentally placed private school students with disabilities as a group. No parentally placed private school child with a disability has an individual right to receive some or all of the special education and related services that the child would receive if enrolled in a public school.  After timely and meaningful consultation has occurred, the public school districts expend a proportionate share of federal *IDEA* funds on special education and related services for such children.  The 2004 reauthorization of *IDEA* strengthened consultation requirements stating that public school districts must engage in timely and meaningful consultation with private school representatives and representatives of parents of parentally placed students during the design and development of special education programs.  In addition, public school districts must obtain written affirmation from private school representatives that timely and meaningful consultation has taken place.

## Research Background and Evaluation Questions

Both *ESEA* and *IDEA* require that public school districts provide benefits and services associated with federal education programs to private school students and other eligible participants (i.e., teachers and parents).  Public school districts have some flexibility in deciding where and how services will be provided to students.

The Department of Education conducted a study in 1998 focused solely on Title I, Part A, services.  The report found that “despite generally positive assessments of the working relationships between Title I administrators and staff and private school representatives, there are significant differences in their reports about who is involved in consultation and about the topics that are discussed.”  

Building on this previous research, this report provides a current overview of details surrounding private school students’ participation in federal education programs—how much money is allocated, what services are provided, and in what form. This report examines private school student, teacher and parent participation in 11 of the 12 major *ESEA* programs that have such equity requirements, as well as *IDEA*. The study was guided by four major evaluation questions:

· **Participation.**How many private school students, teachers, and parents participate in federal education programs?

· **Services.** What are the services provided by federal education programs to private school participants?

· **Consultation.**What is the nature and extent of consultation between public school districts and private schools regarding federal education programs?

· **Funding.**What percentage of federal education program funds do public school districts allocate for services to private school participants?

In addition, the study examines the location of Title I, Part A, services provided to private school participants and the child find practices public school districts use to seek out and identify children with disabilities enrolled by their parents in private schools.

Six chapters follow.  Chapter 2 describes the research methods behind the study.  Chapter 3 provides a description of participation rates of private school students, teachers, and parents in different federal education programs as reported by private schools.  Chapter 4 reports on the services provided to private school participants based on responses from both private schools and public school districts.  Chapter 5 examines the consultation process, again relying on reports from the private schools and the public school districts.  Chapter 6 looks at reports by public school districts on the amount of federal program funds allocated for services for private school participants.  Chapter 7, the final chapter, presents overall conclusions.  Throughout the report notable differences in the responses of private schools and public school districts are identified. The final section suggests possible reasons for these differences.

# 2. Methods

Surveys of a nationally representative sample of both public school districts and private schools provide the data for the results presented in this report (Appendix C). The data were collected during the fall and winter of 2005–06. The original sample included 607 public school districts and 1,501 private schools. The response rate was 98 percent for public school districts and 80 percent for private schools. A basic description of the sample design is provided below and a more detailed description of the methods can be found in Appendix B. 

**Public school districts.** The sample universe was created using the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data (CCD) Local Education Agency Universe File (2002–03) and the Private School Universe Survey (PSS) (2003–04).

The sample of public school districts was selected prior to the sample of private schools.  Public school districts were drawn at random from a list of public school districts with at least one private school located within their geographic boundaries.  Public school districts were stratified based on size, rate of free and reduced-price lunch program participation, and number of private school students located within their boundaries.  Public school districts with only one or two private schools in their boundaries were further stratified by the religious affiliation of the private schools. Each public school district was randomly selected with a probability proportionate to the number of private schools located within the public school district’s boundaries. As a result, public school districts with many private schools located within their boundaries had a much greater chance of entering the sample.  In all, 607 public school districts were selected.

This sample design allows an analysis of public school district responses in two different ways.  First, the sample can be weighted to represent a simple average of all public school districts with at least one private school within their boundaries.  Public school districts with one or many private schools in their boundaries are treated the same. This approach facilitates simple discussion of results by describing the average characteristics of all public school districts regardless of the number of private schools in their boundaries.  The primary disadvantage of this approach is that it may give an inaccurate picture of the district where most private schools are located because private schools tend to be concentrated in large public school districts.  For example, one third of private schools are located in public school districts with more than 30,000 public school students; but these public school districts represent only 3 percent of public school districts with at least one private school. 

The second approach takes into account the distribution of private schools across public school districts by stratifying the public school districts by the number of private schools in their boundaries.  In other words, every private school is linked with the data relevant to the public school district in which it is located and the average is taken across all private schools.  This approach does not require weighting so the estimates are also more precise than the first approach. The primary disadvantage of this approach is that it is difficult to discuss the public school district results in simple terms because the district results are all implicitly weighted by the number of private schools located in their boundaries.  

The different approaches result in differences in descriptions of the public school district context in which private schools operate. For example, the average public school district with at least one private school within district boundaries had about 6,000 public school students. But the average private school was located in a public school district that served nearly 90,000 public school students and that had, on average, 75 private schools within their boundaries (See Exhibit A-2).

While the body of the report provides responses of public school districts in terms of the average public school district with at least one private school in its boundaries, the appendix has two sets of statistics for public school district responses to the survey.  The first set is in terms of the average for public school districts with one private school in their boundaries; the second can be interpreted as the percent of private schools operating under certain public school district conditions.  Large differences in these estimates are noted in the body of the report.

**Private schools.**  Private schools were randomly selected from those located in the sampled public school districts in inverse proportion to the number of private schools in the public school district.  This was done to adjust for the fact that public school districts with larger numbers of private schools had a higher probability of being selected for the district sample.  The resulting sample of private schools, therefore, was nationally representative. The private schools were identified using the Private School Universe Survey**matched to public school districts by ZIP Code using the Common Core of Data.  In order to ensure representative data, private schools were stratified according to the enrollment of the public school district in which they are located, religious affiliation, rate of free and reduced-priced lunch program participation in the public school district in which the private school is located, and number of students in the private school. A sample of 1,501 private schools was selected.  Catholic schools responded at higher rates than private schools with other religious affiliations.  As a result, the data were weighted to adjust for the differential response rate among private schools with different religious affiliations in order to ensure a nationally representative sample of private schools.

One limitation of this data is that data was not collected from organizations like archdioceses, which may have participated in the *IDEA* consultation process on behalf of Catholic schools under its jurisdiction.  The questions posed to private schools related to *IDEA* consultation were designed to include consultation that occurred with archdioceses.  Nevertheless, the findings on the degree to which consultation took place should be interpreted with caution.

# 3. Private School Participants in Federal Education Programs

*ESEA* requires that public school districts provide equitable services to eligible private school students, teachers, and parents in certain federal education programs. Public school districts are also required to provide special education and related services to some eligible students under *IDEA*. This section explores private school student, teacher and parent participation in federal education programs.  It also examines why private school participants might not take part in these programs.

## Private School Participants in ESEA Programs

**There was not a single individual *ESEA* program in which more than 20 percent of private schools had at least one participant.**The two *ESEA* programs with the highest levels of participation were State Grants for Innovative Programs (20 percent) and Improving Teacher Quality State Grants (20 percent). The participation rate was over 15 percent in three other programs: Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities State Grants (19 percent), Title I, Part A (16 percent), and Educational Technology State Grants (16 percent)  

(See Exhibit 3).

For six other *ESEA* programs, 6 percent or fewer private schools had at least one participant: Even Start, Reading First, 21st-Century Learning Communities, Mathematics and Science Partnerships, English Language Acquisition, and Migrant Education.  These programs generally have lower rates of public school district participation, and therefore, fewer private school students receiving equitable services.  As a result of the low levels of participation and the resulting small sample size for these programs, the majority of the report focuses on the five programs where at least 15 percent of private schools had at least one participant.

**Exhibit 3Private Schools With at Least One Participant inFederal Education Programs, 2004–05**

**Overall, 44 percent of private schools had at least one participant in an *ESEA* program.****But participation varied widely by religious affiliation.**Eighty percent of Catholic schools had *ESEA* program participants, while 28 percent of other religious schools and 25 percent of nonsectarian schools had reported participants. A similar pattern of participation was evident for the largest *ESEA* program, Title I, Part A. Sixteen percent of private schools overall had participants in Title I, Part A, as compared to more than twice that rate (37 percent) among Catholic schools (See Exhibit 4).

**Exhibit 4 Private Schools With at Least One Participant in *ESEA* Programs, 2004–05**

**Exhibit 5Size of Private Schools, 2004–05**

Private schools with *ESEA* program participants tended to be larger than private schools on average (237 students vs. 172 students). This is largely because Catholic schools were significantly more likely to have participants in *ESEA* programs and these private schools tended to be larger than other religious or nonsectarian private schools (See Exhibit 5). However, it could also be because larger private schools are more likely to find it worthwhile to have participants.  As a result, a much larger fraction of all Catholic school students were in a private school with at least one *ESEA* program participant (83 percent as compared to 30 percent of other religious private school students and 17 percent of nonsectarian private school students). Overall, about half (51 percent) of private school students were in a private school with at least one *ESEA* participant.

Overall, less than 10 percent of private school students participated in any one of the five federal programs where private schools most often indicated having participants (See Exhibit 6). A higher fraction of students in Catholic schools participated, ranging from 3 percent in Reading First to 23 percent in Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities State Grants. In other religious and nonsectarian schools, less than 5 percent of students participated in any one of the five programs. 

**Exhibit 6Percent of Private School Students Participating in *ESEA* Programsby School Religious Affiliation, 2004–05**

The percentage of private school students participating in *ESEA* programs in each school varied based on the particular program (See Exhibit 7).  Of the five *ESEA* programs with the largest number of private schools with participants, the average participation rate of private school students within a private school were lowest in Title I, Part A, and Reading First (22 and 25 percent of students in the average private school, respectively).  The other three programs—Educational Technology State Grants, Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities State Grants, and State Grants for Innovative Programs—had a higher percent of students participating (34 percent, 65 percent, and 50 percent of students in the average private school, respectively). The reason for this might be that not all students qualify as eligible for Reading First and Title I, Part A, services. However, it is not possible to know the number of eligible private school students for each program from the available data.

**Exhibit 7*ESEA* Program Participation Rate of Students at Private SchoolsWith *ESEA* Participants by School Religious Affiliation, 2004–05**

The percentage of students participating in a particular *ESEA* program in a given private school varied substantially by the religious affiliation and enrollment of the school. For example, while nonsectarian schools were less likely than Catholic schools to have participants in *ESEA* programs, those that did have participants were likely to have a majority of their students participating in four out of the five programs that private schools most often reported having participants. By comparison, only 14 percent of Catholic school students participated in Title I, Part A, when schools had at least one *ESEA* participant, while the average at nonsectarian schools with *ESEA* participants was 72 percent.  This finding also helps explain why, among private schools with at least one participant in *ESEA* programs, the smaller schools (those with fewer than 100 students) tended to have a higher fraction of students participating in most of the five *ESEA* programs (See Exhibit A-7). Nonsectarian private schools with *ESEA* participants have the smallest average number of students (138 compared to the average of 237) (See Exhibit 5). 

The Reading First program seemed to follow different patterns related to the density of private school student participation, the religious affiliation of the private school, and private school size.  A larger percentage of students in private schools with a religious affiliation other than Catholic participated in Reading First (46 percent compared with 23 percent in Catholic schools and 20 percent in nonsectarian).  Additionally, unlike the other four *ESEA* programs discussed here, the percentage of private school students participating in Reading First was higher in private schools with less than 300 students (20 to 33 percent) than in larger schools (9 to 11 percent).

**Exhibit 8Private Schools With at Least One Student, Teacher or ParentParticipating in *ESEA* Programs, 2004–05**

According to reports from private schools with at least one *ESEA* participant, participation in various *ESEA* programs among private school students and teachers was similar.  Eleven percent of private schools reported that at least one of their teachers participated in Safe and Drug-Free Schools and another eleven percent reported having at least one student who participated.  Reports from private schools regarding the participation of their students and teachers in Title I, Part A, State Grants for Innovative Programs, and Reading First reflected similar trends.  The largest differences in participation levels between students and teachers were seen in Education Technology State Grants and Improving Teacher Quality State Grants with a larger percentage of teachers participating in these programs, which is not surprising given the focus of these programs.  Only Title I, Part A, and Even Start provide services directly to parents.  Less than one percent of private schools reported having at least one parent who participated in one of these programs (See Exhibit 8).

## Reasons Private Schools Do Not Have Participants in ESEA Programs

**Of the 56 percent of private schools with no *ESEA* participants, the majority (58 percent) reported that they made a conscious decision not to participate.****Forty percent of private schools with no *ESEA* participants reported having no knowledge of federal education programs under *ESEA*** (See Exhibit 9).  However, 14 percent of the private schools that reported having no knowledge of *ESEA* programs also reported making a conscious decision not to participate.  Nonsectarian private schools were significantly less likely than other religious schools to report they made a conscious choice not to participate (See Exhibit A-8). Additionally, 8 percent of private school officials reported that they contacted the public school district to inquire about *ESEA* programs but did not receive a response.  

**Exhibit 9Reasons Private Schools Did Not Have Participants in *ESEA* Programs, 2004–05**

At private schools where students did not receive Title I, Part A, benefits, the most common reason (50 percent) for lack of student participation was that the private school did not have educationally needy students residing in a Title I, Part A, attendance area.  The second most common reason (44 percent) for student nonparticipation was that the private school chose not to participate (See Exhibit 10).

## Parentally Placed Private School Participants in IDEA

***IDEA* had the highest percentage of private schools with participants of any federal education program (43 percent).**The rate of participation among Catholic schools with at least one student receiving *IDEA* services (62 percent) was significantly higher than in nonsectarian (39 percent), and other religious private schools (30 percent) (See Exhibit A‐4). 

Exhibit 10Reasons Private Schools Did Not Have Student Participants in Title I, Part A, 2004–05

# 4. Provision of Services

Under certain programs, public school districts are required by *ESEA* to provide services and benefits to private school students and teachers that are equitable to the services and benefits that public school students and teachers receive.  New *ESEA* requirements for equitable participation of private school participants in Title I, Part A, include parental involvement for parents of Title I participants and professional development for teachers of Title I participants.  

In addition, the *IDEA* requires that public school districts carry out timely and meaningful consultation with private school and parent representatives on issues that may affect the equitable provision of services to parentally placed private school students with disabilities in federally funded special education and related services.  *IDEA* also requires public school districts to conduct child find activities to locate, identify, and evaluate parentally placed private school students with disabilities attending private schools located in the geographic area served by the district.  

This section examines the provision of *ESEA* services to private school participants by public school districts with a special focus on the new requirements for parents and teachers of students participating in Title I, Part A, and the provision of *IDEA* services for private school students with disabilities.  It also describes the *IDEA* child find process public school districts use in identifying private school students with disabilities. 

## Provision of ESEA Program Services

**The vast majority of public school districts containing at least one private school within their boundaries reported providing no services under Reading First; English Language Acquisition; 21st-Century Community Learning Centers; Even Start; Migrant Education; and Mathematics and Science Partnerships.**Low rates of service provision partially reflect the relatively small number of public school districts that received funds for these programs rather than a failure on the district’s part.****About half of private schools with *ESEA* participants had participants who received services from State Grants for Innovative Programs (48 percent) and Improving Teacher Quality State Grants (48 percent), the same programs that public school districts (with at least one private school in their boundaries) most frequently reported providing for private school participants (50 percent) (See Exhibit 11). 

Also, as noted earlier, responses from private schools with *ESEA* participants and from public school districts with at least one private school in their boundaries do not necessarily make for accurate cross-comparisons.  Private schools tend to be located in very large public school districts that have many private schools within their boundaries. When public school districts responses were weighted to account for the number of private schools in their boundaries, the percent of private schools in public school districts that provide services under State Grants for Innovative Programs and Improving Teacher Quality State Grants (and other programs) is higher (65 percent and 68 percent, respectively) (See Exhibit A-11).  This suggested that public school districts serving a larger fraction of private schools are more likely to provide *ESEA* program services than is otherwise indicated by the simple district percentage.

**Exhibit 11Private School and Public School District Reportsof *ESEA* Program Service Provision, 2004–05**

These weighted public school district findings raise the question: Why are service provision rates reported by private schools lower than the rates reported by public school districts—and by 20 percentage points? One reason may be that public school districts provide services to private school participants in some, but not all, private schools located within their boundaries. Other explanations for these discrepancies are discussed in detail later in this report.

**Private schools reported that the most common services provided through *ESEA* programs were professional development for private school teachers and the provision of equipment and materials.** Not surprisingly, nearly all private schools with participants in *ESEA* programs identified Improving Teacher Quality State Grants as a source of support for professional development for private school teachers (93 percent), though other programs were also frequently identified. More than half of private schools with participants in the respective programs identified Title I, Part A (54 percent), Safe and Drug-Free Schools (53 percent), Educational Technology State Grants (62 percent), and State Grants for Innovative Programs (74 percent) as sources for equipment or materials.  Similarly, among private schools with participants, Title I, Part A, and Safe and Drug-Free Schools were most often reported as sources of instructional services for students (79 and 53 percent, respectively)  (See Exhibit 12).

Public school districts reported a similar pattern of service by program with two exceptions.  Public school districts were much more likely to report providing professional development through Title I, Part A (63 percent), than private schools reported teachers receiving such services (33 percent).  Public school districts were also more likely to report providing Title I, Part A, parental involvement services (60 percent) than private schools reported parents of eligible students receiving such services (27 percent).

More detailed findings suggested that private schools may have underreported professional development and parent involvement services their participants received when asked about these two areas in broad terms. When private schools and public school districts were asked about specific Title I, Part A, parental involvement activities, a much higher percentage reported service provision. Ninety-two percent of public school districts reported providing at least one parental involvement activity to private school parents, and 84 percent of private schools reported that parents received such services****(See Exhibit 13).****Still, private school–public school district differences remained.

A similar pattern emerged for professional development. As with parental involvement activities, *ESEA* requires equitable participation of private school teachers of Title I, Part A, participants in professional development. When asked about specific Title I professional development activities, a much higher percentage of public school districts and private schools indicated such activities took place than when asked about professional development services generally. Eighty-eight percent of public school districts reported providing at least one professional development activity in the past year, and 83 percent of private schools with at least one participant in Title I, Part A, reported the involvement of their staff in a professional development activity in the past year****(See Exhibit 14).****Interestingly, a much larger percentage of private schools reported teachers receiving payment for graduate courses and services at the school site than public school districts reported providing.

**Exhibit 12 Types of *ESEA* Program Services, 2004–05**

**Exhibit 13Title I, Part A, Parental Involvement Activities, 2004–05**

**Exhibit 14Title I, Part A, Professional Development Activities, 2004–05**

Public school districts were also asked additional questions about Title I, Part A, including how funds were allocated, what services were offered during nonschool hours, and where services were provided. **Seventy-eight percent of public school districts providing Title I, Part A, services expended funds for services on a private school by private school basis, based on the number of students in that private school who were from low-income families.** Twenty‐eight percent of private schools were located in public school districts that expended funds by combining or pooling the funds and providing services to the students most at risk. (See Exhibit A-15). 

Among public school districts that provided Title I, Part A, services to private school students, 37 percent provided these services to private school students during nonschool hours (See Exhibit A‐16).  Sixty-three percent of public school districts reported that private school students did not participate in Title I, Part A, activities during nonschool hours.  Of these districts, 44 percent did not offer extended time services under Title I, Part A, to either public or private school students while 30 percent offered extended time services in which private school students did not participate. Public school districts that provided Title I, Part A, services to private school students reported that services were typically provided by a public school teacher at a private school site (49 percent) (See Exhibit A-17).

Fifty-six percent of public school districts that received Title I, Part A, funds did not provide funds for Title I services to private school participants (See Exhibit A-18).****These public school districts reported several reasons for not allocating funds for services to private school students (See Exhibit 15).  Notably, public school districts most commonly cited private school refusal as the reason for not providing services.  As noted earlier, the majority (58 percent) of private schools, where participants did not receive federal services, made a conscious decision not to participate.  However, a significant number of private schools (40 percent) reported no knowledge of federal education programs (See Exhibit 9).

**Exhibit 15Reasons Public School Districts Did Not Allocate Title I, Part A, Fundsfor Services for Private School Participants, 2004–05**

## Provision of IDEA Services

**The majority of public school districts reported providing *IDEA* services to parentally placed private school students, while 11 percent of public school districts reported providing no services to eligible private school students.**  The most common reason given by public school districts for not providing any services was parents declining services (61 percent) (See Exhibit A-21).  Forty-three percent of private schools reported that they had students receiving *IDEA* services****(See Exhibit A-4).****The discrepancy between public school district and private school reporting is at least partially attributable to the fact that while many private schools do not have students receiving *IDEA* services, many public school districts have several private schools inside their boundaries with at least one student receiving such services.  

The most common services public school districts provided were speech and language therapy (92 percent) and special education instruction (78 percent) (See Exhibit 16).  The top three types of services that private schools reported at least one of their students received were: speech-language (45 percent), special education instruction (34 percent), and transportation (19 percent). The provision of services tended to be direct rather than consultative. For example, 63 percent of public school districts reported that special education instructional services were direct while 15 percent reported that they were consultative (See Exhibit A-19). Both public school districts and private schools reported that these services were somewhat more likely to happen at public school sites than private school sites (See Exhibit A-20).

**Exhibit 16*IDEA* Services, 2004–05**

Thirty-eight percent of public school districts reported providing *IDEA* services to some but not all eligible private school students (See Exhibit A-22).  Eighty-one percent of public school districts reported that the reason not all eligible private school students received services was parental refusal of services. Twenty-nine percent reported inadequate *IDEA* funds as a reason that not all eligible children received services (See Exhibit 17).  It is important to note that *IDEA* does not require that all eligible students receive services or that public school districts spend more than the proportionate share of *IDEA* funds to provide services to eligible private school students.

**Exhibit 17Reasons Public School Districts Provided *IDEA* Servicesto Some But Not All Eligible Private School Students, 2004–05**

## IDEA “Child Find” Practices 

In addition to spending a proportionate amount of federal funds for special education and related services for children with disabilities enrolled in private schools by their parents, public school districts are also required to conduct “child find” activities similar to the activities used for locating, identifying, and evaluating students with disabilities in public schools.  

Ninety‐two percent of public school districts with at least one private school in their boundaries reported conducting a child find process to identify *IDEA* eligible students in private schools.

**In contrast, less than half (45 percent) of private schools indicated that they received information about the referral of students with possible disabilities** (See Exhibit A-23).  Fifty-three percent of private schools reported receiving information from the local public school district regarding services for private school students with disabilities. 

Public school districts reported that their own staff most frequently determined *IDEA* eligibility for private school students (86 percent).  Thirty-three percent of public school districts reported using a contracted third party (See Exhibit A-25).  Public school districts reported identifying twice as many students eligible for services than private schools reported referring for services (See Exhibit 18).

**Exhibit 18Private School Reports of the Average Number of Parentally PlacedPrivate School Students Identified for Special Education Services, 2004–05**

In order to fulfill their *IDEA* obligations to conduct a thorough child find process, public school districts engaged in a variety of child find activities, including outreach to private schools, distribution of informational brochures, and providing information on Web sites (See Exhibit 19). Seventy-two percent of public school districts with at least one private school located within their boundaries provided outreach to private schools, which was the most common child find activity for identifying students with disabilities.

**Exhibit 19Child Find Procedures Used to Identify Parentally Placed PrivateSchool Students Eligible for *IDEA* Services, 2004–05**

Private schools can assist public school districts with child find activities but are not required to do so. Forty-three percent of private schools provided public school districts with contact information of parents of students with suspected disabilities****(See Exhibit 20). In addition, 37 percent of private schools reported referring students or parents to the public school district’s *IDEA* representative. A smaller percentage of private schools also engaged in other assistance activities, including organizing parent information sessions (18 percent) and providing the public school district with a mailing list of all parents (11 percent).  Forty-two percent of private schools reported that the public school district did not ask for the private school’s assistance with child find activities.

**Exhibit 20Private School Assistance in Child Find Activities, 2004–05**

# 5. Consultation Process

Consultation between public school districts and private schools is required by both *ESEA* and *IDEA* before any decision is made that affects the opportunities of eligible private school students and teachers to participate. For both *ESEA* and *IDEA* the consultation must be timely and meaningful. Public school districts and private schools engage in consultation for *ESEA* programs regarding identifying students’ and teachers’ needs, types of services, provision of services, program assessment, size, scope and funding of services, third-party providers, and public school districts’ decision-making processes about the services.  Title I, Part A, requires consultation to include additional topics and written confirmation of consultation.  New requirements of *ESEA* have expanded Title I, Part A, consultation topics to include parental involvement and professional development.  

*IDEA* also includes a consultation provision that requires public school districts to consult with private school representatives and representatives of parents of children with disabilities during the design and development of special education and related services regarding: a) child find; b) proportionate share of funds; c) consultation process; d) provision of special education and related services; and e) written explanation by the public school district regarding services. Public school districts may consult with individual private schools or organizations that represent a group of schools, like an archdiocese.  Public school districts are required to expend a proportionate share of *IDEA* funds for services to private school students with disabilities.  

Key Findings in Consultation Process for Federal Education Programs under *ESEA* and *IDEA*(continued)

*IDEA*

· Thirty-eight percent of private schools reported that the public school district engaged in timely and meaningful consultation with private school officials, representatives, or parents regarding participation in *IDEA*, while 86 percent of public school districts reported conducting such consultations with appropriate parties.  *IDEA* does not require public school districts to consult with all private schools but rather with private school representatives and representatives of parents of parentally placed students with disabilities attending private schools located in the district.  However, the public school district may consult with a representative of the private school and the private school may be unaware of the consultation.

## ESEA Program Consultation

For *ESEA*, 28 percent of private schools with at least one *ESEA* participant reported that the relevant public school district did not consult with them about *ESEA* program participation (See Exhibit A-31).  However, within many of the individual *ESEA* programs, a vast majority of both public school districts and private schools with participants in a particular program reported taking part in timely and meaningful consultation as required. **Moreover, public school districts and private schools with participants in a particular program generally reported similar levels of consultation about that *ESEA* program.** For example, consultation about Title I, Part A, was particularly high with 97 percent of public school districts and 92 percent of private schools reporting that timely and meaningful consultation about this program had taken place.  There were only three programs in which fewer than 80 percent of private schools with participants reported engaging in required consultation with the public school district.  Among the programs in which fewer private schools reported having participants, including Mathematics and Science Partnership and Migrant Education, a higher percentage of private schools with participants in a particular program reported consultation than public school districts (See Exhibit 21).

Exhibit 21 helps illustrate that among private schools with participants in a particular program, a large majority engages in consultation related to that program. However, it does not examine whether there are high rates of participation when considering *all*private schools that engaged in consultation. One might expect that private schools engaging in consultation about a program would be more likely to have participants in that program. This appears to be the case for most of the larger programs. For example, 59 percent of private schools with at least one *ESEA* program participant consulted about State Grants for Innovative Programs and 81 percent of those private schools had participants in the program (See Exhibit A-29).  Similar results were found for Improving Teacher Quality State Grants, Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities State Grants, and Educational Technology State Grants. For Title I, Part A, 71 percent of private schools with one *ESEA* program participant consulted about the program, but 51 percent of those private schools had participants in the program. This may be because of the eligibility requirements of Title I, Part A. In the smaller programs, such as Even Start and 21st-Century Community Learning Centers, a lower fraction of private schools that engaged in consultation about the program have participants in those programs. For example, 12 percent of private schools consulted about 21st-Century Community Learning Centers and 27 percent of those private schools participated in that program. This may be because this is a discretionary grant, targeted to serving a more limited number of public school students within the district and, thus, a more limited number of private school students. 

**Exhibit 21Timely and Meaningful Consultation for *ESEA* Programs, 2004–05**

Among students at private schools with participants in a given *ESEA* program, large majorities were found to be attending a private school that had engaged in consultation regarding the particular program (See Exhibit 22).  For example, more than 90 percent of students who attended private schools in which participants received services under Title I, Part A, Math and Science Partnerships, or Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities State Grants attended a private school that engaged in consultation with the public school district regarding these programs. Among students at private schools with other participants receiving services under Even Start, fully 100 percent attended a private school that reported engaging in consultation with the public school district. With regard to other programs, the percentage remained near 80 percent, not including the 21st-Century Community Learning Centers program in which only 59 percent of students attending a school with program participants attended a school that also engaged in consultation.  For the most part, these numbers are consistent with the numbers reported in Exhibit 21, which show the number of private schools with *ESEA* program participants that also reported engaging in consultation. The only noticeable disparity is with the Migrant Education program. Although 74 percent of private schools with participants in the program reported engaging in consultation, 97 percent of students that attended a private school with Migrant Education participants were attending a school that had engaged in consultation.

**Exhibit 22 Among Private Schools With Participants in a Particular *ESEA* Program, the**

**Percent of Students Who Attended a Private School That Engaged in Timely**

**and Meaningful Consultation, 2004–05**

Eighty-nine percent of private schools with *ESEA* program participants reported that the official who engaged in consultation was a school level administrator from the private school, though nearly half reported that officials at the diocesan or association level were involved (See Exhibit 23).

**Exhibit 23Private School Officials Engaging in *ESEA* Consultation, 2004–05**

Private schools that reported that they did not engage in timely or meaningful consultation with the relevant public school district most commonly also reported the reason was that the public school district did not contact them (64 percent).  Over one quarter (28 percent) reported that they chose not to participate in consultation (See Exhibit 24).

**Exhibit 24Reasons *ESEA* Consultation Did Not Take Place, 2004–05**

***Barriers to Timely and Meaningful*ESEA*Consultation***

Private schools and public school districts were also surveyed about the barriers that affected timely and meaningful consultation.  **Limited communication from the public school district was the most common reason private schools gave for the absence of timely and meaningful consultation (34 percent).**  More than one-quarter of private schools also reported that limited understanding of the equitable participation requirements by public school districts was a barrier to effective consultation (See Exhibit 25).

For public school districts, the most commonly cited barrier to timely and meaningful consultation was lack of assistance from private schools in identifying the needs of their students and teachers (23 percent). The next most common barrier reported by public school districts was their own limited understanding or experience with the equitable participation requirements of *ESEA*programs (13 percent).  Seven percent of public school districts identified poor coordination within the public school district office as a barrier to timely and meaningful consultation.

**Exhibit 25Barriers to Timely and Meaningful *ESEA* Consultation, 2004–05**

***Topics******Covered******in******Consultation***

**The most common topics discussed in consultations included the needs and numbers of eligible students, the amount of funding available, the types of services to be provided, and the location of services.**  These reports come from private schools that had participants in *ESEA* programs.  Special topics of consultation associated with Title I, Part A, are discussed after the more general *ESEA* consultation topics.

While there was some variation in consultation topics across *ESEA* programs, the amount of funding available tended to be the most frequently discussed topic and the location of services to be least frequently discussed topic (See Exhibit 26). 

**Exhibit 26*ESEA* Program Consultation Topics, 2004–05**

The *No Child Left Behind Act* introduced new consultation requirements for Title I, Part A.  In addition to already existing requirements, consultation must include discussion of how services will be academically assessed, professional development, and activities for parents.  **Both public school districts and private schools reported that, in general, newly required topics for Title I, Part A, were discussed less frequently than long-standing requirements.**  For example, the topics most frequently reported as a focus of consultation were two long-standing required topics: ‘types of services’ (81 percent of public school districts and 83 percent of private schools) and ‘number of students generating funds’ (80 percent of public school districts and 73 percent of private schools).  The topic that was least often identified as a subject of consultation was among the new required topics: ‘activities for parents’ (52 percent of public school districts and 41 percent of private schools) (See Exhibit 27).

Catholic schools were more likely to report that consultations occurred than either other religious or nonsectarian private schools, and larger public school districts were more likely to report consultation had occurred than smaller public school districts (See Exhibit A-35).

**Exhibit 27Title I, Part A, Consultation Topics, 2004–05**

***Records******of******Consultation***

Title I, Part A, requires that public school districts maintain a written affirmation of consultation signed by officials of each participating private school.  Some districts maintain additional written records of consultation regarding Title I, Part A, and the other programs requiring equitable participation.  Consultation documentation can take several forms, including letters of intent to participate in programs, written records of meetings and other types of consultations themselves, and sign-off forms used to ensure that adequate consultation has taken place.  Eighty-one percent of public school districts maintained written records of Title I, Part A, consultation and 72 percent reported using a sign-off form for Title I. The vast majority of public school districts also reported keeping written records of consultation about other *ESEA* programs (See Exhibit A-36).

## IDEA Consultation

There was a contrast in consultation rates for *IDEA* between private schools and public school districts.  Thirty-eight percent of private schools reported that the public school district engaged in timely and meaningful consultation with private school officials, representatives, or parents regarding participation in *IDEA*, while 86 percent of public school districts reported conducting such consultations with appropriate parties (See Exhibit 28).   *IDEA* does not require public school districts to consult with all private schools but rather with private school representatives and representatives of parents of parentally placed students with disabilities attending private schools located in the district.  However, the public school district may consult with a representative of the private school and the private school may be unaware of the consultation.

**Exhibit 28*IDEA* Consultation, 2004–05**

The survey asked who represented private schools in the consultations and just under half (49 percent) of private schools participating in consultations reported that school level administrators engaged in *IDEA* consultations.  Yet almost all (96 percent) of the public school districts reported that they consulted with private school administrators at the school level.  About one-third of private schools reported that representatives from an intermediary organization participated in consultations.  Such organizations would include associations that represent a number of private schools as well as diocesan organizations.  Parents were reportedly also involved in consultation.  Forty percent of private schools reported that parents participated in *IDEA* consultations while just over 50 percent of public school districts reported consultation with parents. Almost 60 percent of public school districts and private schools reported that there was written documentation of *IDEA* consultations (See Exhibit A‐37).

***Topics******Covered******in*****IDEA*****Consultations***

*IDEA* requires that public school districts engage in consultation about a number of topics that impact the design, development, and provision of equitable special education services for eligible private school students with private school representatives and representatives of parents of parentally placed students with disabilities attending private schools located in the district. ****According to public school districts, the most common *IDEA* topics covered in consultation were the identification of eligible children, the location of services, and the types of special education services to be provided.****Between 89 and 94 percent of public school districts reported that their consultations covered these topics (See Exhibit 29).

**Exhibit 29Public School District *IDEA* Consultation Topics, 2004–05**

**More than half of private schools reported that these same issues, as well as others, were handled in a useful manner in consultation.**  Consultation on topics related to the amount of funds available for private school students, handling disagreements about services, and distribution of funds if insufficient were less likely to be considered useful, according to private school reports (See Exhibit 30). For a number of topics, Catholic schools were significantly more likely to consider consultations useful (See Exhibit A-38).  

**Exhibit 30Private School Reports of Useful Consultation, 2004–05**

## Other Sources Utilized by Public School Districts and Private Schools for Assistance in Implementing Federal Education Programs

Public school districts often utilized various sources for guidance in implementing *ESEA* and *IDEA* requirements.  The three most common sources of assistance included:  the state (75 percent), the U.S. Department of Education Web site (56 percent), and U.S. Department of Education publications (55 percent) (See Exhibit 31).  The most common source of assistance private schools relied on was U.S. Department of Education publications (28 percent).    

Only a small fraction of public school districts (10 percent) and private schools (13 percent) used district-wide working groups for technical assistance. Interestingly, public school districts appeared to have a higher level of service provision for private school participants where this was the case.**More specifically, public school districts with these working groups had higher odds of providing services to private school participants in some *ESEA* programs.**  Similarly, private schools that took part in such groups were more likely to have participants in *ESEA* programs (See Exhibit A-40).  

**Exhibit 31Technical Assistance for Implementation of Federal Education Programs, 2004–05**

# 6. Funding

For *ESEA* programs, public school districts are required to spend an equal per-pupil amount of funds to serve public and private school students, teachers, and parents, taking into account the number and educational needs of those participants.  *IDEA* requires that public school districts spend a proportionate amount of funding on special education and related services to such eligible children enrolled in private schools.

## Public School District Expenditures for Services for Private School Students in ESEA Programs

Public school districts were surveyed about the funds they received for various *ESEA* programs and the percentage of those funds allocated for services for private school participants.  The two largest *ESEA* programs by funding level were Title I, Part A, and Improving Teacher Quality State Grants. The average public school district with at least one private school located in its boundaries was allocated $1.47 million and $349,962 for these two programs, respectively (See Exhibit 32).  However, because private schools are concentrated in large public school districts the average private school is in a district with considerably more federal program funds (See Exhibit A-42).

**Public school districts typically allocated between 2 percent and 6 percent of total *ESEA* program funding for serving private school participants.**  The *ESEA* program with the highest average percentage allocated for services to private school students was State Grants for Innovative Programs; the average public school district reported that 6 percent of its State Grants for Innovative Programs funds were allocated for services to private school participants. The lowest was Title I, Part A, in which 2 percent of funds were allocated for services for private school participants. This may partially be attributable to low rates of low-income private school students and the low rate of private school participation overall in Title I, Part A (14 percent).

**Exhibit 32*ESEA* Program Fund Allocation, 2004–05**

Private schools were asked about the Title I, Part A, funds that were used for services for private school students. Thirty-eight percent of private schools surveyed knew the amount of Title I, Part A, funds generated by their students from low-income families and residing in Title I attendance areas.  Of these private schools, the average amount expended for Title I, Part A, services was $953 per private school student (See Exhibit A-43).

## Determining the Number of Private School Students From Low-Income Families

The *ESEA* legislation allows four methods for determining the number of private school students eligible for Title I, Part A, funds within a public school district’s boundaries.  These include using the same method of counting that is used for public school children, confidentially surveying families of private school students, applying the percentage of low-income public school students in the participating public school attendance area to the number of private school students in that attendance area, or using a low-income measure that correlates with the measure used to determine low-income public school students.  **Seventy-three percent of public school districts participating in Title I, Part A, reported using the same method of determining poverty in both public and private schools**(See Exhibit A-44).****

Fifty-two percent of private schools that had participants in *ESEA* programs provided some type of assistance to aid public school districts in identifying eligible students.**** Seventy-two percent of private schools that assisted public school districts in identifying students eligible for Title I, Part A, provided the names and addresses of students to the public school district. This was the most common form of assistance (See Exhibit A-45).

## IDEA Funding

**Twenty-nine percent of public school districts that reported providing *IDEA* services to some but not all parentally placed private school students with disabilities indicated that they had inadequate *IDEA* funds to serve all eligible private school students within their boundaries.**  Public school districts are required to expend a proportionate share of federal *IDEA* funds, which is calculated based on a formula in the regulations, to provide services to parentally placed private school children with disabilities.  Among districts that did not provide any *IDEA* services to any parentally placed private school students with disabilities, 3 percent reported having inadequate funds.  In both cases, large majorities of public school districts reported that parental refusal of services was the reason they served some or none of the *IDEA* eligible private school students within their boundaries****(See Exhibit A-22).

# 7. Conclusions

This study examined the extent to which private school students, teachers, and parents, participate in federal education programs authorized under the *Elementary and Secondary Education Act*(*ESEA*) and the *Individuals With Disabilities Education Act* (*IDEA*).  It also examined the consultation process between private schools and public school districts regarding a number of topics related to the provision of services and eligibility requirements for these programs. Last, it looked at how public school districts allocated federal funds to support the equitable participation of private school participants in these programs.  A national sample of 607 public school districts and 1,501 private schools were surveyed for the analysis.

The picture presented is not a simple one.  Discrepancies existed between the reports of private schools and public school districts in a number of places but not in all of them. These differences involved timely and meaningful consultations between public school districts and private schools and public school district provision of services for private school participants.  In general, public school districts****consistently reported higher levels of consultation and service provision than private schools.  There are some plausible reasons for the discrepancies.  For one, public school districts may only have consulted with *some*rather than *all*relevant private schools.  Under *IDEA* public school districts are not required to consult with all private schools but rather with private school representatives and representatives of parents of parentally placed students with disabilities attending private schools located in the district or to provide services to all eligible private school students.  In addition, private schools may not have perceived certain activities carried out by public school districts as services. For example, private schools with Title I, Part A, participants often reported that public school districts did not provide parental involvement activities or professional development. But when explicit examples were given, the vast majority of these private schools indicated that their participants had received services. However, it is also clear that some public school districts are not consulting with private schools and not providing services to private school participants.

Highlights of the results are below.

## Participation in Federal Education Programs

Over 40 percent of private schools had participants in *IDEA*; however, there was not a single *ESEA* program in which more than 20 percent of private schools had participants. A much higher fraction of Catholic schools had participants in *ESEA* programs, especially Title I, Part A.  

In the majority of cases where a private school did not have participants in any *ESEA* program, the private school had made a conscious decision not to participate.  However, 40 percent of private schools without participants in such programs reported having no knowledge of their availability.

Provision of Services and Funding

Among private schools that had participants in *ESEA* programs, private schools most frequently reported that participants received services related to professional development and equipment and materials. Generally, public school districts reported a somewhat higher level of service provision than private schools. These differences between private schools and the public school districts may partially be a result of different perceptions of what constitutes certain services.  As noted earlier, when private schools were asked generally about Title I, Part A, parental involvement services and professional development, a minority of private schools reported receiving services.  However, when specific examples of these services were given, a large majority of private schools with Title I, Part A, participants indicated that parents or teachers had received services.

Public school districts allocated between 2 and 6 percent of their federal education funds for services for private school students, teachers, and parents.  

## Consultation

The majority of private schools with participants in *ESEA* programs reported participating in consultation with public school districts regarding *ESEA* program participation.

Title I, Part A, was the most commonly discussed program in consultations between public school districts and private schools.  Title I, Part A, requires written affirmation that consultation has occurred.  Other programs for which a large percentage of private schools reported engaging in consultation were Teacher and Principal Recruiting and Training, Enhancing Education Through Technology, Safe and Drug-Free Private Schools and Communities; and State Grants for Innovative Programs.

The topics most frequently discussed in these consultations included the needs and numbers of eligible students, the amount of funding available, and the types of services to be provided.  In Title I, Part A, consultations, the most common topics discussed were the number of students generating funds, decisions regarding which students would receive services, and the types of services to be provided.  Less than half of private schools that participated in Title I, Part A, consultations reported that these consultations covered parental activities, assessment methods, and professional development in a timely and meaningful way, even though they are required. 

Less than half of all private schools reported consultation regarding *IDEA* services.****However, *IDEA* does not require public school districts to consult with all private schools but rather private school representatives and representatives of parents of parentally placed students with disabilities attending private schools located in the district.  The most frequently reported topics of *IDEA* consultations were the identification of eligible children, the location of services, and the types of special education services to be provided.  Almost two-thirds of the private schools reported receiving no information from their public school district about referring students for *IDEA* eligibility.  Just over half of private schools reported the public school district contacted them about *IDEA* services.  More than half of private schools assisted public school districts in identifying *IDEA* eligible students.  The vast majority of private schools were located in public school districts that reported conducting a child find process to identify *IDEA* eligible students at private schools.  Public school district staff overwhelmingly determined *IDEA* eligibility for private school students and, indeed, tended to identify more eligible students than private schools reported referring.

# References

Altshuler, Sandra J., and Sandra Kopels (2003). “Advocating in Private Schools for Children 

With Disabilities: What’s New With *IDEA*?” in *Social Work*, Vol. 48, Issue 3: 320-329.

Broughman, Stephen P., and Nancy L. Swaim (2006). *Characteristics of Private Schools in the United States: Results From the 2003-2004 Private School Universe Survey* (NCES 2006-319). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics.

Rubenstein, Michael G., Keith S. Gayler, and Bruce M. Haslam (1998). *Title I Services for Private School Students Under the Reauthorization of ESEA: A Snapshot of Federal Assistance in Transition*. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept of Education, Office of the Under Secretary.

U.S. Department of Education, Consolidated State Performance Report for State Formula Grant Programs Under the *Elementary and Secondary Education Act* as amended by the *No Child Left Behind Act of 2001,*OMB number:1810-0614, Section III, School Choice and Supplemental Educational Services. Washington, D.C., 2004.

Stullich, Stephanie, Brenda Donly, Simeon Stolzberg (1999). *Targeting Schools: Study of Title I Allocations Within School Districts*. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, Office of the Under Secretary, Planning and Evaluation Service. 

# Appendix A—Detailed Tables

Exhibit A-1 Total Private School StudentsParticipating in Title I, Part A,1979–2006                

**Exhibit A-2Characteristics of Public School Districts Serving Private Schools, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-3Private School Characteristics, 2003–04 and 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-4Private Schools With at Least One Participant in Federal Education Programs, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-5Private Schools With *ESEA* Program Participants, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-6**

**Percent of Students Participating in *ESEA* Programs by Private School Enrollment Size**

**Exhibit A-7*ESEA* Program Participation Rate of Students at Private Schools With *ESEA***

**Participants by Private School Enrollment**

**Exhibit A-8Reasons Private Schools Did Not Have Participants in *ESEA* Programs, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-9Reasons Private Schools Did Not Have Student Participants in Title I, Part A, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-10Public School Districts With at Least One Private School Student, Teacher, or Parent Participating in*ESEA* Programs, 2004–05**

Exhibit A-11Types of *ESEA* Program Services Provided for Private School Participants, 2004–05 

continued...

**Exhibit A-11*ESEA* Program Services for Private School Participants, 2004**–**05 (Cont.)**

**Exhibit A-12 Percent of Private Schools With Participants Receiving *ESEA* Program Services, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-13Title I, Part A, Parental Involvement Activities, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-14Title I, Part A, Professional Development Activities, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-15Public School District Allocation of Title I, Part A, Funds, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-16Private School Student Participation in Title I, Part A, Services During Nonschool Hours, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-17Location and Provider of Title I, Part A, Services, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-18Reasons Public School Districts Did Not Allocate Title I, Part A, Funds for Services for Private School Participants, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-19*IDEA* Services, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-20Location of *IDEA* Services, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-21 Reasons Public School Districts Did Not Provide *IDEA* Servicesfor Eligible Private School Students, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-22Reasons Public School Districts Provided *IDEA* Servicesto Some But Not All Eligible Private School Students, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-23Private School Notification of *IDEA* Servicesand Referral Procedures, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-24 Average Number of Parentally Placed Private School Students Identified by Public SchoolDistricts and Referred by Private Schools for Special Education Services, 2004–05**

Exhibit A-25Evaluators Used to Determine Private School Student *IDEA* Eligibility, 2004–05

Exhibit A-26Child Find Procedures Used to Locate and Identify Private School Students Eligiblefor *IDEA* Services, 2004–05

**Exhibit A-27 Assistance from Private Schools in Identifying Private School Students Eligiblefor *IDEA* Services, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-28Timely and Meaningful *ESEA* Program Consultation, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-29 Private Schools With Participants in *ESEA* Programs That Reported**

**Public School Districts Engaged in Timely and Meaningful**

**Consultation With Private School Officials, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-30**

**Private School Officials Engaging in *ESEA* Consultation, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-31Reasons *ESEA* Consultation Did Not Take Place, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-32Title I, Part A, Timely and Meaningful Consultation, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-33Barriers to Timely and Meaningful *ESEA* Consultation, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-34*ESEA* Program Consultation Topics, 2004–05**

continued...

**Exhibit A-34 *ESEA* Program Consultation Topics, 2004**–**05 (Cont.)**

continued...

**Exhibit A**–**34*ESEA* Program Consultation Topics, 2004**–**05 (Cont.)**

Exhibit A-35Title I, Part A, Consultation Topics, 2004–05

Exhibit A-36

**Documentation of *ESEA* Consultation, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-37*IDEA* Consultation, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-38Private School Report of “Usefulness” of *IDEA* Consultation, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-39*IDEA* Consultation Topics, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-40Technical Assistance for Implementation of Federal Education Programs, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-41Public School District Provision of *ESEA* Program Services forPrivate School Participants as Predicted by Districtwide**

**Working Group Participation**

**Exhibit A-42**

***ESEA* Program Fund Allocation, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-43Title I, Part A, Allocations for Services forPrivate School Participants, 2004–05**

**Exhibit A-44**

**Public School District Methods Used to Determine the Number of Private School Students From Low-Income Families,2004–05**

**Exhibit A-45Private School Assistance With Identifying Private School Students From Low-Income Families, 2004–05**

# Appendix B—Methodology

## Sample Design and Weighting

The sample universe was created using the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data (CCD) Local Education Agency Universe File (2002–03) and the Private School Universe Survey (PSS) (2003–04).  ZIP Codes were used to match private schools to public school districts.  The sample of public school districts was selected prior to the sample of private schools.  Public school districts were drawn at random from a list of public school districts with at least one private school.  Each district was drawn with probability proportionate to the number of private schools located within district boundaries.  As a result, districts with many private schools had a much greater chance of entering the sample.  For the sampling, public school districts were stratified based on enrollment, free and reduced-priced lunch program participation, and number of private school students.  Public school districts with only one or two private schools were further stratified by the religious affiliation of the private schools located within their boundaries.  In all, 607 public school districts were selected.

This sample design allows for the description of public school districts in two different ways.  The first approach is to weight the sample so that it represents a simple average of all districts with at least one private school.  The original sample, with weights for large and small districts, gives any district weight proportional to the number of private schools located in the district.  To construct “equal-probability” weights, the “size-based” weights were divided by the number of private schools in the sampled district.  The resulting “equal-probability” weights lead to a weighted sample that equally emphasizes large and small districts with at least one private school.

The second approach takes direct advantage of having sampled districts with probability proportionate to the number of private schools in the public school district.  The sampling and weighting approach depends on the number of private schools.   Public school districts with 44 schools or more were included in the sample with certainty and assigned a weight that reflects their desired sampling probability (the number of private schools in their jurisdiction divided by 44).  Public school districts with between three and 44 private schools were sampled with probability proportionate to the number of private schools in them, and are given a weight of 1.  This group accounts for the largest share of sampled districts.  Public school districts with one or two private schools were oversampled to obtain proportional representation of private schools from these public school districts in the private school sample, and were given a weight of .4 and .8, respectively.  As a result of this design, only minimal weighting to the sample is needed and the public school district mean represents the average public school district context for private schools.

For ease of discussion, the results were presented using the first approach throughout the report.  The results from the second method are reported in Appendix A with policy relevant differences noted throughout the report.  

Private schools were randomly selected from those located in the sampled public school districts in inverse proportion to the number of private schools in the public school district.  Private schools were excluded from the sample if they had fewer than 10 students, were located in a private home, or had a major role of supporting home private schooling.  The resulting sample was intended to be nationally representative of private schools.  In order to ensure representative data, private schools were stratified on public school district enrollment, religious affiliation, free and reduced-priced lunch program participation, and number of students.  A sample of 1,501 private schools was selected.  While the sample itself was nationally representative, the data were weighted to adjust for nonresponse, especially as there was a differential response rate among private schools with different religious affiliations (see below).

## Questionnaire Development and Data Collection 

The surveys of private schools and public school districts were developed to gather information on the range of federal education programs where public school districts are required to provide services for private school participants.  A pretest of the two surveys was conducted during the summer of 2005.  Nine private schools and nine public school districts participated in the pretest. After completing the survey, the private schools and public school districts participated in a one-on-one comprehensive discussion of each survey question.  The results of the pretest were used to revise the questionnaires for the data collection.  The questionnaire was also reviewed and approved by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

Data collection took place in the fall and winter of 2005–06.  A series of follow-up efforts were undertaken to ensure a high level of response by public school districts and private schools.  The response rate for public school districts was 98 percent.  The response rate for public school districts was out of 598 eligible public school districts.  Public school districts were considered ineligible if they had consolidated or had no private schools.  

The response rate for private schools was 80 percent.  The response rate for private schools was out of 1,409 eligible private schools.  Private schools were considered ineligible if they were closed, had no K–12 students, or had no parentally placed students.  For private schools, the response rate by religious affiliation was as follows: 82 percent for Catholic schools, 74 percent for other religious schools, and 75 percent for nonsectarian private schools.  Appropriate weighting was used to account for the differential response rate among private schools by religious affiliation.

## Description of Subgroups

###### Public School Districts

###### Urban Setting

Urban setting classifications were determined using CCD locale codes for the given district, which are assigned by the Census based on district addresses.  The three urban setting classifications in this report were defined as follows:

Central City—Locale codes of (1) large city or (2) mid-size city.

Urban Fringe or Large Town – Locale codes of (3) fringe of large city, (4) fringe of mid-size city, or (5) large town.

Rural or Small Town—Locale codes of (6) small town, (7) rural outside Core Based Statistical Area or Metropolitan Statistical Area (CBSA and MSA), or (8) rural, inside CBSA or MSA.

###### Poverty

A district was considered “high poverty” if it fell in the top quartile of the sample universe of districts that were home to at least one private school based on the percent of children age 5-17 living below the poverty line according to Census data (above 18.1%).  All other districts were considered “low poverty.”

###### Enrollment

A district was considered “large” if it fell in the top quartile of the sample universe of districts that were home to at least one private school based on the district’s total enrollment (above 5,830 students).  All other districts were considered “small.”

Private Schools 

###### Urban Setting

Private schools were assigned the same urban setting as the public school district to which they were matched.  See above for public school district urban setting classification definitions.

###### Religion

Religious affiliation was assigned based on private school survey responses.  In cases where the respondent failed to answer this survey item, religious affiliation information from the Private School Survey Universe was used to classify the school.  “Catholic” schools included parochial, inter-parochial, diocesan, and private schools.  “Other religious” schools were those that had religious affiliations other than Catholic, while “non-sectarian” schools claimed no religious affiliation.

## Analytic Techniques

Data were cleaned to reconcile contradictory answers and outlying responses before analysis began.  Weights, as described above, were used in all analysis of public school district data to account for the method of sampling allowing accurate conclusions to be drawn about the overall population of public school districts that are home to private schools.  Additionally, robust standard errors were used to account for clustering of results on account of the likelihood of multiple private schools being sampled from each public school district.

In the appendix tables, public school district data are differentiated by poverty, size, and metro setting.  Similarly, in the appendix tables, private school results are broken down by private school religious affiliation (Catholic, other religious, and nonsectarian) and metro setting.  Means difference tests were calculated to compare responses within each subcategory.  In cases where there were multiple classifications in a particular category (e.g. urban setting), means were compared to the largest subgroup of that category.  Specifically, in the urban location category, more private schools and public school districts were categorized as “urban fringe or large town” than any other urban classification, so all other urban setting groups were compared to the results for the “urban, fringe, or large town” group.  Likewise, in the religious affiliation group for private schools, other religious schools were the comparison group.

A series of logistic regressions were used to examine the likelihood of public school district provision of federal program services and private school participant utilization of these services.  One set focused strictly on private school data and looked at the effect school type had on the participation of private school participants in federal education programs.  Specifically, these regressions looked at differences between elementary schools, secondary schools, and combined schools.  The second set of logistic regressions used both private school and public school district data and looked at the effect of participation in a districtwide working group.  All regressions that used public school district data controlled for public school district location, size, and poverty.  Similarly, all regressions that used private school data controlled for school location and religious affiliation.

# Appendix C—Survey Instruments

**Study of Private School Student Participation**

**in Federal Education Programs**

**U.S. Department of Education**

**Policy and Program Studies Service**

**The Urban Institute**

**Washington, DC**

## Survey of Private Schools

To complete this survey online go to:

www.privateschsurvey.schools.urban.org

Username: «Username»

Password: «Password»

*Responses to this data collection will be used only for statistical purposes.  The reports prepared for this study will summarize findings across the sample and will not associate responses with a specific district or individual.  We will not provide information that identifies you or your district to anyone outside the study team, except as required by law.*

We recommend you briefly reviewing the entire survey before trying to complete it.  You may need to collaborate with individuals with specific information about federal programs, including IDEA, to obtain all of the information necessary to complete the questionnaire.

Please return your completed questionnaire to:

Ary Amerikaner

Education Policy Center

The Urban Institute

2100 M Street, NW

Washington, DC 20037

If you have questions, please contact Ary Amerikaner at **PrivateSCHSurvey@ui.urban.org** or 1-866-859-0635.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB number.  The valid OMB control number of this information collection is 1875-0236.  The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 30 minutes per survey, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection.  If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimates(s) or suggestion for improving this form, please write to: U.S. Department of Education, Washington, 20202-4651.  If you have comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission of this form, write directly to: Policy and Program Studies Service, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, US Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20202.

O.M.B. NO. 1875-0236 ▪ Approval Expires 08/31/2008

**Part 1.  PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS**

**1.   Does your school participate in any federal education programs under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), (e.g., Title IA, Title VA).***(Circle one)*

YES................................................................................................1

NO..................................................................................................2

**2.   does your school have students receiving special education benefits under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), (e.g., evaluations and/or services?)**

*(Circle one)*

YES.................................................................................................1

NO..................................................................................................2

**Part 2.  IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)**

**Parentally placed private school students refers to students with disabilities who are placed in a private school by their parents when a free appropriate public education (FAPE) is not at issue.**

**3.   Did the public school district where your school is located contact you regarding benefits and services for students with disabilities for the 2004-05 school year?***(Circle one)*

YES.................................................................................................1

NO..................................................................................................2

**4.   During the 2004-05 school year, how many students did you refer to the public school districts for special education services?  (Be sure to include referrals made to school districts that are outside of the one in which you are located.)**

........................................................................_____________ students

**5.   Do you know how many students in your school were identified *by a public school district*as children with disabilities?**

(*Circle one)*

YES.....................................................1

NO.......................................................2

6. **Did your school assist the public school district in which your school is located by providing information about children suspected of having disabilities in any of the following ways?******

7. **Has the district provided you with information about how to make a referral for children with suspected disabilities?***(Circle one)*

YES.................................................................................................1

NO..................................................................................................2

8. **Did the public school district in which your school is located consult with representatives of parentally placed private school students with disabilities about IDEA in a *timely and meaningful* manner?***(Circle one)*

YES.................................................................................................1

NO...................................................................................................2

**8c. If YES, were you asked to provide a written affirmation documenting participation?***(Circle one)*

YES.......................................................................................1

NO.........................................................................................2

9. **Did any of your students receive the following services from a public school district under IDEA in the 2004**–**05 school year?**(Be sure to include students who are receiving services from school districts outside the one in which you are located.)  

10.  **Where are IDEA services provided for the children attending your school?**

**PART 3.  NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND (NCLB)**

11. For school year 2004–05, please indicate, by program, how many private school students and teachers/personnel participated or received services, checking N/A if your school did not participate.  Please also check the services provided to your school’s students or teachers/personnel under each program.  

**PART 4.  Title I (A)**

12. **In school year 2004**–**05, did your school provide school district or intermediate district administrators with the number of students from low-income families enrolled in your school living in a participating Title I (A) attendance area?**

(*Circle one)*

YES.................................................................................1

NO..................................................................................2

13. **In 2004–05, did any students at your school *receive* Title I (A) services?**       (*Circle one)*

YES..............................................................1

NO................................................................2

14. **Do you know the total amount of Title I (A) funds allocated for services for students at your school in 2004**–**05?**

(*Circle one)*

YES..............................................................1

NO................................................................2

15. **Which of the following parental involvement and professional development activities did your district provide for parents and teachers of students receiving Title I (A) services at your school in 2004**–**05?**

**Part 5.  Consultations with SCHOOL District Officials**

16. **Did you receive a “letter of intent” from the district regarding your intention to participate in federal education programs under NCLB?**

*****(Circle one)*

YES.................................................................................................1

NO..................................................................................................2

17. **Did consultation about private school participation in NCLB programs occur with the district?**

*****(Circle one)*

YES...........................................................................................1

NO............................................................................................2

18. **Did the school district or intermediate district consult in a *meaningful and timely fashion* with private school officials regarding participation in Title I (A)*?****(Circle one)*

YES.................................................................................................1

NO..................................................................................................2

19. **Did the district consult in a *meaningful and timely fashion* with private school officials regarding participation in any other NCLB programs*?***

**20.  In working with your public school district in the 2004-05 school year, to what extent did the following barriers impact timely and meaningful consultation?**

**Part 6. Background Information**

21. **Which best describes your school’s orientation or affiliation?**

22. **Which best describes your position(s)?**

23. **What is your school enrollment?**................................___________ students

24. **How would you best describe the grade level of your school?**

25. **Have you received help from any of the following sources in working with the district in implementing federal education programs for your students and teachers?**

**Study of Private School Student Participation**

**in Federal Education Programs**

**U.S. Department of Education**

**Policy and Program Studies Service**

**The Urban Institute**

**Washington, DC**

## Survey of District Administrators

To complete this survey online go to:

**www.privateschsurvey.districts.urban.org**

Username: «Username»

Password: «Password»

Responses to this data collection will be used only for statistical purposes.  The reports prepared for this study will summarize findings across the sample and will not associate responses with a specific district or individual.  We will not provide information that identifies you or your district to anyone outside the study team, except as required by law. 

We recommend you briefly reviewing the entire survey before trying to complete it.  You may need to collaborate with individuals with specific information about federal programs, including IDEA, to obtain all of the information necessary to complete the questionnaire.

Please return your completed questionnaire to:

Ary Amerikaner

Education Policy Center

The Urban Institute

2100 M Street, NW

Washington, DC 20037

If you have questions, please contact Ary Amerikaner at **PrivateSCHSurvey@ui.urban.org** or 1-866-859-0635.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB number.  The valid OMB control number of this information collection is 1875-0236.  The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 30 minutes per survey, including the time to review instructions, search existing data resources, gather the data needed, and complete and review the information collection.  If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimates(s) or suggestion for improving this form, please write to: U.S. Department of Education, Washington, 20202-4651.  If you have comments or concerns regarding the status of your individual submission of this form, write directly to: Policy and Program Studies Service, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, US Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20202.

O.M.B. NO. 1875-0236▪ Approval Expires 08/31/2008

**PART 1.  PRIVATE SCHOOLS AND PRIVATE SCHOOL STUDENTS COUNTS**

1. **How many non-profit, K**–**12 private schools, including religious schools, are located within your district boundary?**............ __________ private schools

**2.   How many of those private schools, including religious schools, participated in any federal education programs under No Child Left Behind-NCLB in school year 2004**–**05?**

......................................................................___________private schools

3.   **How many private schools had students with disabilities receiving benefits from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in school year 2004**–**05?**......................................................___________private schools

**Part 2.  IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)**

**Parentally placed private school students refers to students with disabilities who are placed in a private school by their parents when a free appropriate public education (FAPE) is not at issue.**

4. **Please indicate which of these child find procedures your district uses to identify *parentally placed* private school students with disabilities.**

5. **Who evaluates *parentally placed* private school students in your district to determine eligibility for services under IDEA?**

6. **Did your district consult in a *meaningful and timely fashion* with private school officials or parents regarding participation in IDEA*?****(Circle one)*

YES.................................................................................1

NO..................................................................................2 (Skip to Q7)

**6c.  If YES, did you obtain a written affirmation?**(C*ircle one)*

YES..................................................................................1

NO....................................................................................2

**7.   Did your district provide services to parentally placed private-school students with disabilities during school year 2004**–**05?** (C*ircle one)*

YES..................................................................................1

NO....................................................................................2

NOT APPLICABLE (No parentally placed private school students 

in my district were eligible)......................................................3 

8. **Where are the IDEA services provided for parentally placed students with disabilities?**

9. **Did ALL eligible private school students with disabilities receive services under IDEA?***(Circle one)*

YES..................................................................................1

NO....................................................................................2

10. **In *addition* to federal IDEA funds, what state and local funds, if any, are used to provide services to parentally placed private school students with disabilities in your district in SY 2004**–**05?**

$_____________ in local funds                         Check here  FORMCHECKBOX  if you do not know   $_____________ in state funds             Check here  FORMCHECKBOX  if you do not know

**Part 3.  Federal Programs under NCLB/ Services to Private School**

**Students and Teachers**

11. **For school year 2004**–**05, please indicate, by NCLB program, the total allocation that your district received and the amount allocated for services for private school participants.  (If you do not receive funds for a particular Title write ‘0’ under Total District Allocation. If you do not know allocations, write DK under Total District Allocation.) Please also check the types of services provided to private school participants, marking “None” if no services were provided to private school participants.**

12. **For school year 2004**–**05, please indicate the total number of private school students, teachers, and parents where appropriate who received services by program, marking “0” if no services were provided to the private school participants.    If your district received no funding or you do not know, please check the appropriate box to the right.**

**PART 4.  TITLE I (A)**

13. **In planning for the 2004**–**05 school year, what *method* did your district use to determine the number of private school children from low-income families?**

14. **In school year 2004**–**05, did any private school participants (students, teachers, or parents) in your district receive Title I (A) services?***(Circle one)*

YES..................................................................................1

NO....................................................................................2   

15. **Where and how do private school students receive Title I (A) services?**

16. **Do private school students participate in Title I (A) services or activities during non-school hours (i.e. summer programs or before and after-school programs)?***(Circle one)*

YES..................................................................................1

NO....................................................................................2   

17. **Please identify parental involvement activities for parents of private school Title I (A) participants.**

18. **Please identify professional development activities for private school teachers who have Title I (A) participants in their classes.**

**Part 5.  Consultation with Private School Officials**

19. **Did your district consult in a *meaningful and timely fashion* with private school officials regarding participation in Title I (A)*?****(Circle one)*

YES.................................................................................1

NO..................................................................................2

20. **Did your district consult in a *meaningful and timely fashion* with private school officials regarding participation in any of the following NCLB programs*?***

21. **In planning the 2004**–**05 school year, to what extent did the following barriers affect timely and meaningful consultation with private school representatives?**

**22. Does your district maintain written records of consultations with private school officials?**

**23. Does your district have a sign-off form to ensure that consultations with private school officials have occurred and encompass all appropriate topics?****

**24. Is each private school in your district sent a letter of “intent to participate” in federal education programs each year?***(Circle one)*

YES.........................................................................................1

NO..........................................................................................2

25. **Have you received help from any of the following sources in implementing federal education programs for your students and teachers?**

If your district received no Title I (A) funds, please skip to Question 19.

THANK YOU FOR ASSISTING US WITH THIS IMPORTANT SURVEY.  YOUR TIME AND EFFORT ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

Please return completed survey to:

Ary Amerikaner

Education Policy Center

The Urban Institute

2100 M Street, NW

Washington, DC 20037

If YES, how much? ____________

If YES, how many? ____________

Please return completed survey to:

Ary Amerikaner

Education Policy Center

The Urban Institute

2100 M Street, NW

Washington, DC 20037

If Your School Did Not Participate In Any Federal Education Programs Under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), Please Now Skip to Question 21.

If No, Please Skip To Question 9.

� ESEA, Section 9501(c)(3), Section 1120, (b)(2) and IDEA Section 612(a)(10)(A)(iii).

� The precipitous drop in participation in the 1985–86 school year was a consequence of the Supreme Court’s decision in Aguilar v. Felton in 1985.

� Stephen P. Broughman and Nancy L. Swaim, Characteristics of Private Schools in the United States: Results From the 2003-2004 Private School Universe Survey (NCES 2006-319). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics.

� Rubenstein, Michael G., Keith S. Gayler, and Bruce M. Haslam (1998). Title I Services for Private School Students Under the Reauthorization of ESEA: A Snapshot of Federal Assistance in Transition. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, Office of the Under Secretary.

� State legal prohibitions limit services for students in religiously affiliated private schools in some states.  NCLB allows for the option of a bypass in these states, or in states or public school districts that substantially fails to provide the required services, through the use of third-party contractors that meet the requirements of federal statutes. 

� ESEA, Section 9501(c).

� ESEA, Section 9501(c) (3).

� For further details on these requirements, see ESEA, Section 1120.  

� ESEA, Section 5142.

� The precipitous drop in participation in the 1985–86 school year was a consequence of the Supreme Court’s decision in Aguilar v. Felton in 1985.

� Sandra J. Altshuler and Sandra Kopels, “Advocating in Private Schools for Children With Disabilities: What’s New With IDEA?” Social Work, July 2003, Vol. 48, Issue 3, pp. 320-329.

� While the 2004 IDEA legislation placed the responsibility of child find and the provision of services on the public school district where the private school is located, previous IDEA legislation generally required the public school district where the child resided to conduct child find and to provide services for parentally placed private school children.  This change did not become effective until July 1, 2005.  Because this report includes data from the 2004�05 school year, referrals made by private schools to public school districts outside of their own public school district boundaries are included in this report.  This report also includes services provided by school districts outside of the public school districts where the private schools are located.  

� IDEA, Section 612(a)(10)(A).

� Rubenstein, et al., p. 1.

� Private schools were excluded from the sample if they had fewer than 10 students, were located in a private home, or had a major role supporting private home schooling.

� Question 11 of the public school district survey asked how much funding public school districts received for each NCLB program but did not ask explicitly about participation in a particular program. This means that if a district left an answer blank, it is unclear whether they received no funding for that program (and therefore were a nonparticipant) or whether they simply didn't know how much funding they received (but may actually be participating).  As a result, this data can’t be reported only for districts that participated. Private schools were not asked about the number of eligible students for federal programs, because they would not necessarily know about a student’s eligibility.

� A similar pattern holds across programs. The percent of private schools in districts that provide services under the following programs is as follows: State Grants for Innovative Programs (65 percent), Improving Teacher Quality State Grants (68 percent), Title I, Part A (62 percent), Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities (60 percent), Educational Technology State Grants (51 percent) (See Exhibit A-11).

� For private schools with students receiving IDEA benefits, 67 percent reported participating in consultations.  

� Analysis limited to the five ESEA programs with the highest percentage of private school participants.

� Specifically, Improving Teacher Quality Grants and Safe and Drug-Free Schools & Communities, controlling for public school district size, poverty, and location.

� The ESEA programs include specifically, Title I, Part A, Improving Teacher Quality State Grants, Educational Technology State Grants, Safe and Drug-Free Schools & Communities, and State Grants for Innovative Programs, controlling for urban setting and religious affiliation.

� ESEA, Section 1120(c)(1).

� In order to protect the identity of low-income families, the Department has issued guidance that public school districts should not require private schools to give them the names of low-income families.

� School type was defined based on the convention of the most recent NCES Private School Universe Report.  That is, an elementary school may contain any grade K-6 but no grade higher than grade 8.  A secondary school was any school that housed any grade 7-12 and no grade lower than 7.  A combined school was one that contained any grade K-6 and any grade 9-12.

�An LEA is a Local Educational Agency (e.g., local public school district)

� Questions asked in this survey regarding private school students should not include home schooled students.   

� An LEA is Local Educational Agency (e.g., local public school district)

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