Major Management Challenges at the Department of Education

The Department of Education (Education) has made varying levels of progress in addressing the five key management challenges and program risks GAO identified in 2003, but some challenges remain . Education has made good progress in addressing the two challenges related to its student aid programs. Also, Education has made some progress on the remaining three challenges, which relate to the goals and requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA).

Because Education's Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) has made good progress in addressing the two challenges related to its student aid programs, GAO has removed this program from its high-risk list. Education took several steps to help reduce vulnerability of student aid programs to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement. For example, FSA implemented a process to better ensure that certain grants were not issued to ineligible students, added controls to verify the existence of foreign schools and their students, and created a work group to help enhance its student loan default management efforts. Also, FSA completed several critical tasks aimed at integrating and improving systems supporting the student aid programs, issued its first 5-year performance plan, and developed a comprehensive human capital strategy. Although FSA has made many improvements in these areas, it needs to continue its progress and take additional steps to fully address GAO's recommendations. For example, recommendations that Education improve its human capital management initiatives, collect information from schools that could be used to improve one of its loan programs, and take steps to ensure that its plans for monitoring and providing technical assistance to schools are carried out have not been fully addressed. Further, FSA has made good progress in addressing previously identified financial management and internal control weaknesses and has sustained these improvements. FSA received an unqualified, or “clean,” opinion on its financial statements for fiscal years 2002, 2003, and 2004. In addition, the auditors indicated good progress in addressing previously identified internal control weaknesses with no material weaknesses reported in FSA's fiscal year 2003 and 2004 audits. However, the auditors reported that FSA should continue to strengthen those internal controls that are related to the calculation and reporting of the loan liability activity and subsidy estimates as well as its information systems controls. Additional information on Education's progress in addressing these challenges and the removal of the student aid programs from the high-risk list can be found in Hig h-Risk Series: An Update ( GAO-05-207 ).

In 2003 GAO reported that Education would face several new management challenges in helping states and school districts meet the goals and requirements of the NCLBA and several implementation challenges remain. Education has taken some steps to help states and school districts meet the new NCLBA requirements related to improving student achievement and teacher quality . A primary goal of NCLBA is that all students reach state determined proficiency levels in reading and math by school year 2013-14. The act focuses on student assessments and requires state plans demonstrating how schools will reach this goal. Also, NCLBA established a requirement that all teachers of core subjects be highly qualified, as defined in the act, by the 2005-06 school year. While Education has issued guidance and provided technical assistance to help states and school districts, it needs to do more. For example, GAO recommended that Education establish processes and time frames for states that have not met all NCLBA requirements to have fully approved plans, and that Education provide more information and assistance to help state and school district officials understand and meet NCLBA requirements for teachers, especially for special education teachers and teachers in small and isolated rural districts.

Education has made some progress in transforming education into an evidence-based field ; however, additional efforts to support this research are needed. Education is responsible for ensuring that federal funds are invested in scientific educational practices that work and that the quality of research it funds or conducts meets the highest standards. However, research on the effectiveness of some programs remains limited, and as states implement improvement actions required by NCLBA, such as school choice and supplemental educational services, rigorous research will be required to evaluate the outcomes of actions taken by states and school districts. In this regard, GAO has made several recommendations to Education. For example, GAO recommended that Education support research on effective strategies for specific populations, such as students in small and isolated rural schools, where other strategies may not be appropriate, and that Education include an examination of the academic outcomes and retention rates of transferring students in its planned NCLBA implementation study.

In its efforts to link federal funding to accountability for results to help states meet the assessment and accountability requirements of NCLBA, Education has made some progress, but additional actions are needed. Education's ability to monitor states' progress depends on states developing approved state plans and assessment systems and having accurate and reliable state data. To address this, GAO recommended that Education provide additional support for states' efforts to improve the validity and reliability of data used to determine whether schools are meeting state proficiency goals.

Related GAO Products

Reduce Vulnerability of Student Aid Programs to Fraud, Waste, Abuse, and Mismanagement

Office of Federal Student Aid: Better Strategic and Human Capital Planning Would Help Sustain Management Progress . GAO-05-31 . Washington, D.C.: October 6, 2004.

Low-Income and Minority Serving Institutions: Department of Education Could Improve Its Monitoring and Assistance . GAO-04-961 . Washington, D.C.: September 21, 2004.

Federal Family Education Loan Program: Statutory and Regulatory Changes Could Avert Billions in Unnecessary Federal Subsidy Payments. GAO-04-1070 . Washington, D.C.: September 20, 2004.

Student Consolidation Loans: Further Analysis Could Lead to Enhanced Default Assumptions for Budgetary Cost Estimates . GAO-04-843 . Washington, D.C.: August 20, 2004.

Student Loan Programs: Lower Interest Rates and Higher Loan Volume Have Increased Federal Consolidation Loan Costs. GAO-04-568T . Washington, D.C.: March 17, 2004.

Direct Student Loan Program: Management Actions Could Enhance Customer Service , GAO-04-107 . Washington, D.C.: November 20, 2003.

Student Loan Programs: As Federal Costs of Loan Consolidation Rise, Other Options Should Be Examined . GAO-04-101 . Washington, D.C.: October 31, 2003.

Federal Student Aid: Expanding Eligibility for Less Than Halftime Students Could Increase Program Costs, But Benefits Uncertain. GAO-03-905 . Washington, D.C.: September 10, 2003

Student Loans and Foreign Schools: Assessing Risks Could Help Education Reduce Program Vulnerability. GAO-03-647 . Washington, D.C.: July 25, 2003.

Taxpayer Information: Increased Sharing and Verifying of Information Could Improve Education's Award Decisions. GAO-03-821 . Washington, D.C.: July 18, 2003.

Response to the Department of Education's Request to Reconsider the High-Risk Designation of Federal Student Aid Programs. GAO-03-885R . Washington, D.C.: June 9, 2003

Student Financial Aid: Monitoring Aid Greater Than Federally Defined Need Could Help Address Student Loan Indebtedness. GAO-03-508 . Washington, D.C.: April 30, 2003.

Federal Student Aid: Timely Performance Plans and Reports Would Help Guide and Assess Achievement of Default Management Goals . GAO-03-348 . Washington, D.C.: February 14, 2003.

Improve Financial Management and Internal Control

Office of Federal Student Aid: Better Strategic and Human Capital Planning Would Help Sustain Management Progress. GAO-05-31 . Washington, D.C.: October 6, 2004.

Department of Education's Federal Direct Loan Program: Status of Recommendations to Improve Cost Estimates and Presentation of Updated Cash Flow Information. GAO-04-567R . Washington, D.C.: March 29, 2004.

Department of Education: Status of Efforts to Address Major Management Challenges . GAO-03- 872T . Washington, D.C.: June 10, 2003.

Response to the Department of Education's Request to Reconsider the High-Risk Designation of Federal Student Aid Programs. GAO-03-885R . Washington, D.C.: June 9, 2003.

Department of Education: Status of Efforts to Address Major Management Challenges, GAO-03- 531T . Washington, D.C.: March 12, 2003.

Improve Student Achievement and Teacher Quality

Charter Schools: To Enhance Education's Monitoring and Research, More Charter School-Level Data Are Needed. GAO - 05-5. Washington, D.C.: January 12, 2005.

No Child Left Behind Act: Improvements Needed in Education's Process for Tracking States' Implementation of Key Provisions. GAO-04-734 . Washington, D.C.: September 30, 2004.

No Child Left Behind Act: Additional Assistance and Research on Effective Strategies Would Help Small Rural Districts. GAO-04-909 . Washington, D.C.: September 23, 2004.

Special Education: Additional Assistance and Better Coordination Needed among Education Offices to Help States Meet the NCLBA Teacher Requirements. GAO-04-659 . Washington, D.C.: July 15, 2004.

Public Schools: Comparison of Achievement Results for Students Attending Privately Managed and Traditional Schools in Six Cities . GAO-04-62 . Washington, D.C.: October 29, 2003.

Special Education: Federal Actions Can Assist States in Improving Postsecondary Outcomes for Youth. GAO-03-773 . Washington, D.C.: July 31, 2003.

No Child Left Behind Act: More Information Would Help States Determine Which Teachers Are Highly Qualified. GAO-03-631 . Washington, D.C.: July 17, 2003.

Transform Education Into an Evidence-Based Field

No Child Left Behind Act: Education Needs to Provide Additional Technical Assistance and Conduct Implementation Studies for School Choice Provision. GAO-05-7. Washington, D.C.: December 10, 2004.

No Child Left Behind Act: Additional Assistance and Research on Effective Strategies Would Help Small Rural Districts. GAO-04-909 . Washington, D.C.: September 23, 2004.

Student Mentoring Programs: Education's Monitoring and Information Sharing Could Be Improved . GAO-04-581 . Washington, D.C.: June 25, 2004.

Education and Care: Head Start Key Among Array of Early Childhood Programs, but National Research on Effectiveness Not Completed . GAO-03-840T . Washington, D.C.: July 22, 2003.

Link Federal Funding to Accountability for Results

No Child Left Behind Act: Improvements Needed in Education's Process for Tracking States' Implementation of Key Provisions. GAO-04-734 . Washington, D.C.: September 30, 2004.

Special Education: Improved Timeliness and Better Use of Enforcement Actions Could Strengthen Education's Monitoring System. GAO-04-879 . Washington, D.C.: September 9, 2004.

Flexibility Demonstration Programs: Education Needs to Better Target Program Information. GAO-03-691 . Washington, D.C.: June 9, 2003.

Title I: Characteristics of Tests Will Influence Expenses; Information Sharing May Help States Realize Efficiencies . GAO-03-389 . Washington, D.C.: May 8, 2003.

Disadvantaged Students: Fiscal Oversight of Title I Could Be Improved . GAO-03-377 . Washington, D.C.: February 28, 2003.