A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Biennial Evaluation Report - FY 93-94

Chapter 106

General Assistance to the Virgin Islands

(No CFDA number)

I. Program Profile

Legislation: Section 4501 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (20 U.S.C. 3141) (expired September 30, 1999).

Purpose: To provide general assistance to improve public education in the Virgin Islands.

Funding History

Fiscal Year Appropriation Fiscal Year Appropriation
1980 $3,000,000 1988 $4,787,000
1981 2,700,000 1989 4,730,000
1982 1,920,000 1990 4,391,000
1983 1,920,000 1991 4,366,000
1984 1,920,000 1992 4,500,000
1985 2,700,000 1993 2,455,000
1986 4,784,000 1994 1,227,000
1987 5,000,000

II. Program Information and Analysis

Population Targeting

In fall 1992, public elementary and secondary school enrollment in the Virgin Islands was approximately 22,729 (III.1). These students tend to have extremely high educational needs relative to the needs of students in the States. According to an index based on educational deficiencies that includes several student and family background characteristics, the Virgin Islands ranks first among all States and the District of Columbia in educational needs (III.2). Teachers of eighth-grade math in the Virgin Islands were twice as likely as teachers nationally to say they got some or none (as opposed to all) of the resources they needed; two-thirds (66 percent) of the teachers in the Virgin Islands indicated this response on the NAEP questionnaire (III.3). The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 1992 mathematics assessment shows the Virgin Islands ranking last on eighth-grade math proficiency (III.4).

Services

Services include general maintenance and repair of school buildings; asbestos abatement; classroom construction; and the provision of textbooks, materials, and supplies (III.5).

III. Sources of Information

  1. Digest of Education Statistics (Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, 1993).

  2. Analysis of Factors Relating to Federal General Assistance to the Virgin Islands (Washington, DC: Pelavin Associates, Inc., 1988).

  3. The State of Mathematics Achievement (Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, 1991).

  4. NAEP 1992 Mathematics Report Card for the Nation and the States (Washington, DC: national Center for Education Statistics, 1993).

  5. Program files.

IV. Planned Studies

None.

V. Contacts for Further Information

Program Operations:
Daniel F. Bonner, (202) 260-1907

Program Studies:
Stephanie Stullich, (202) 401-1958

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