How States and Districts Use Title II, Part A Funds

To support effective instruction and decrease achievement gaps in states and districts, over $2 billion per year is provided through Title II, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965. Westat recently completed the latest in a series of annual reports, State and District Use of Title II, Part A Funds in 2022-23 (PDF), to summarize state and district funding priorities in this area. Co-authors of the report at Westat are Ann Webber, MPP, Valerie Orellana, MEd, Roberta Garrison-Mogren, MA, and Eleanore Spies.

The following are some key findings from this report.

• States most commonly used Title II-A funds for program administration, monitoring, and technical assistance, representing 31% of all Title II-A spending at the state level.
• The number of states allocating funds for recruiting, hiring, and retaining effective educators has been steadily increasing each year, and the amount of funding budgeted for this activity has also increased.
• Districts most commonly used Title II-A funds for professional development, with 57% of all Title II-A district allocations used for this purpose.
• About 34% of districts reported using Title II-A funds for activities related to recruiting, hiring, and retaining effective educators.
• Roughly 63% of all districts reported examining the distribution of teacher quality or effectiveness across their schools, and the most commonly used measures of teacher quality were teacher certification and teacher evaluation ratings.

Related information: How do program funds support educator effectiveness?