Signs of improvement with SES.

Two years after a federal law mandated adequate yearly progress, a few urban school districts are seeing results with tutoring programs.

Philadelphia School District is offering more than 650 children in grades 3-9 extra help and tutoring in math and literacy skills.

Under No Child Left Behind, those schools identified as "in need of improvement" are to receive Supplemental Education Services paid for via Title I funds.

Every state has to approve the providers of SES for that state. Once approved, providers, which have contracts with school districts, create their own curriculum for children below grade level.

But Philadelphia also offers an extended-day program, paid with budget dollars, that is offered to children in need but not economically eligible for SES. It also provides programs for enrichment in the arts.

Under Pennsylvania's interpretation of NCLB, 30 hours of tutoring should be supplied to children with the greatest academic needs. However, Philadelphia is offering 160 hours of tutoring. "We're doing this beyond the letter of the law," says Joseph Jacovino, who heads the accountability office in the Philadelphia schools.

Last year, students who participated in SES had a six-month gain in reading from fall to late spring versus students who didn't participate in the program. And in math, students leaped two years and one month ahead.

Jacovino says while the results are more than promising, he wants to see "sustainable growth over time." "One year is not necessarily the answer."

The program is part of various reforms underway in the district, including extending instructional blocks of time for literacy and math and a uniform core curriculum so students who move from school to school within the district can pick up where they left off.