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SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today announced 100 grantees will share $43.6 million in 21st Century High School After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens (ASSETs) grants. For a list of grantees, please visit Funding Results: 21st Century High School ASSETs.

"The high school years are a critical time for teenagers, particularly disadvantaged students, to prepare themselves for college or careers " said O'Connell. “The ASSETs grants support programs where kids can go to stay safe and get academic help before and after school so they can pass more challenging coursework and the high school exit exam. With this funding, I hope the ASSETs program will help address the disturbingly persistent academic achievement gap between subgroups of students who are African American or Latino and their peers who are white or Asian."

ASSETs provides incentives for schools and communities to work together and establish before- and after-school enrichment programs that provide academic support; educational enrichment; safe, constructive alternatives for high school students; and assistance in passing the California High School Exit Exam. Programs may operate before school, after school, weekends, summer, intersession, and vacation.

ASSETs is part of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program that was authorized in 1996 under federal law. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 transferred the administration of this program to the states and expanded local accountability for student academic achievement.

In this round of competitive funding, ASSETs was designed to serve a fourth cohort of high school students and provide continued funding for existing cohorts. A cohort is a specific group of educational agencies targeted to receive assistance to improve the academic achievement of socioeconomically disadvantaged students.The grantees were awarded five one-year grants subject to the performance of the grantee and the availability of funds.

Two supplemental ASSETs grants were also available on a competitive and limited basis. Equitable Access Funding grants were available to fund programs that would provide equal access to, and participation in, programs for students according to needs determined by the local community. Applicants could also apply for Family Literacy Funding to provide services to support the adult family members of the pupils who will participate in the ASSETs program based on need.

The grantees qualified for ASSETs funding because they had high schools that were eligible to participate in federal Title I schoolwide programs and/or had 40 percent or more of students from low-income families. The grantees were selected because they proposed the best plans to provide academic assistance, enrichment, and family literacy services; developed effective collaboration and partnerships; developed responsible program administration; built a capacity for effective evaluation; and properly justified a per-student cost for their programs. The grantees must satisfy periodic reporting and accountability requirements throughout the term of the five-year grant in order to receive continued funding.

For more information on ASSETs, please visit Past Funding Profile (ID 1000): 21st Century High School ASSETs.