Approximately half of SEA Chapter 2 allocations are spent to deliver technical assistance services to districts and schools. Local school districts targeted 40 percent of their total Chapter 2 allocations to programs to acquire and use library materials, computer software or hardware, and other instructional or educational materials. There is typically no relationship between Chapter 2 administration and decisionmaking at the State level, with decisionmaking authority vested in a few hands at high levels of State education bureaucracies. Chapter 2 State Advisory Committees are not influential in SEA decisionmaking. Their input is acknowledged, but their role is strictly advisory.
SEAs tend to minimize accountability requirements.
The accountability strategies used most often by SEAs for local Chapter 2 programs include review of LEA applications, review of LEA evaluations, and review of LEA documentation. Fewer than half of the SEAs indicated that they conduct yearly evaluation studies. Local accountability mechanisms are influenced largely by SEA accountability requirements that focus on assessing compliance with Federal and State regulations and on fiscal accountability. The study has focused in particular on the use of Chapter 2 State funds to support and leverage effective schools strategies. The study has also attempted to assess the impact of such programs on students and schools.