What is Title I
by Ed Schmidt
Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged.
The purpose of the NCLB Title I program is to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging State academic achievement standards and state academic assessments. This purpose can be accomplished by
1. Ensuring that high-quality academic assessments, accountability systems, teacher preparation and training, curriculum, and instructional materials are aligned with challenging State academic standards so that students, teachers, parents, and administrators can measure progress against common expectations for student academic achievement.
2. Meeting the educational needs of low-achieving children in our Nation's highest-poverty schools, limited English proficient children, migratory children, children with disabilities, Indian children, neglected or delinquent children, and young children in need of reading assistance.
3. Closing the achievement gap between high- and low-performing children, especially the achievement gaps between minority and nonminority students, and between disadvantaged children and their more advantaged peers.
4. Holding schools, local educational agencies, and States accountable for improving the academic achievement of all students, and identifying and turning around low-performing schools that have failed to provide a high-quality education to their students, while providing alternatives to students in such schools to enable the students to receive a high-quality education.
5. Distributing and targeting resources sufficiently to make a difference to local educational agencies and schools where needs are greatest.
6. Improving and strengthening accountability, teaching, and learning by using State assessment systems designed to ensure that students are meeting challenging State academic achievement and content standards and increasing achievement overall, but especially for the disadvantaged.
7. Providing greater decision-making authority and flexibility to schools and teachers in exchange for greater responsibility for student performance.
8. Providing children an enriched and accelerated educational program, including the use of schoolwide programs or additional services that increase the amount and quality of instructional time.
9. Promoting school-wide reform and ensuring the access of children to effective, scientifically based instructional strategies and challenging academic content.
10. Significantly elevating the quality of instruction by providing staff in participating schools with substantial opportunities for professional development.
11. Coordinating services under all parts of this title with each other, with other educational services, and, to the extent feasible, with other agencies providing services to youth, children, and families.
12. Affording parents substantial and meaningful opportunities to participate in the education of their children.
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is directly aligned to the Title I program. The NCLB Act creates funding through the Title I program that schools receive. Schools are now held accountable to their students, families, and community more than ever through Academic Standards testing. Families need to work very closely with schools to make sure their child(ren) are making adequately yearly progress. Title I schools that are not making adequate yearly progress are held to higher standards than non-Title I schools. Schools that do not meet AYP in one year are placed on academic warning. Schools that do not meet AYP in more years than one are placed in academic status. There are several levels to the academic status that a Title I school could be placed in. Schools not making academic progress in two or more years must offer Public School Choice to all students. Schools not making academic progress in three or more years must offer PSC and Supplemental Educational Services. Schools not making academic progress in four or more years are placed in corrective action or restructuring. More information on PSC and SES are listed under the Title I program.
