Title I and School Improvement
Title I
The Title I program provides financial assistance to local education agencies (LEAs) and schools with high numbers of disadvantaged children to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic standards. More than 50,000 public schools across the country use Title I funds to provide extra academic support and learning opportunities to help low-achieving children meet state standards in core academic subjects.
How Can I Obtain Title I Funds?
Title I funds are currently allocated through four statutory formulas that are based on census poverty estimates and the cost of education in each state. The four types of grants are:
Basic Grants: these provide funds to local education agencies in which the number of children is at least 10 and exceeds 2% of the LEA's school-age population
Concentration Grants: provide funds to LEAs where the number of children exceeds 6,500 or 15% of the total school-age population
Targeted Grants: based on the same data used for Basic and Concentration Grants except that the data are weighted so that LEAs with higher numbers or higher percentages of poor children receive more funds
Education Finance Incentive Grants (EIFG): distribute funds to states based on factors that measure a state's effort to provide financial support for education and the degree to which education expenses among LEAs within the state are equalized.
For more specific information on the Title I program, visit the U.S. Department of Education Web site.
School Improvement
In addition to the $10 billion that ARRA is allocating for Title I grants to school districts, there is a $3 billion allocation for School Improvement. This funding is intended to improve the lowest performing schools: those that have failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as specified in No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for 2 years in a row. These schools are considered to be in "School Improvement" status and are therefore eligible for the additional funding.
How Can I Obtain School Improvement Funding?
The additional $3 billion allocated for school improvement will be available in the fall of 2009. Additional information on Title I School Improvement Grants will be outlined in future guidance from the Department of Education.
Title 1 and the ARRA
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provides significant new funding for Title I, Part A. Ten billion dollars will be available to schools that have high concentrations of students whose families live in poverty in order to improve learning outcomes for at-risk students (40% of this $10 billion is supposed to be directed to middle and high schools.) An additional $3 billion will be available in the fall of 2009 in the form of School Improvement grants for schools that have been designated in need of improvement under NCLB.
For more about ARRA and its impact on Title I funding, visit the Recovery section of the US Department of Education Web site.
Click here to view "Stimulus Funding and Early Childhood: Understanding Title I" (PDF).
More questions about ARRA's impact on Title I? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions document (PDF).
Title I and School Improvement: Featured Products
Teaching Strategies has an array of products that can support your work with all children and their families. In many cases, our products align directly with the early learning standards specified in federal funding requirements for Title I and School Improvement.
Compiled to support teachers who use The Creative Curriculum® for Preschool, The Teaching Strategies Preschool Classroom Set (English and Spanish) addresses curriculum implementation, assessment, and family connection for new programs.
The Renewal Set (English and Spanish) is for programs already implementing The Creative Curriculum.
The Program Leadership Set (English only) specifically supports administrators and educational coordinators with off-the shelf professional development resources and planning tools.
Teaching Strategies Family Connection Pre-K Set (English and Spanish)
Teaching Strategies believes that teachers and families should build partnerships. The Teaching Strategies Family Connection Pre-K Set provides pre-K teachers with a variety of resources to connect with the families in their class.
The set includes The Creative Curriculum® LearningGames®, which provides families with individualized games; Kindergarten Here I Come!, which supports the transition to kindergarten; and various parent guides that support a family's understanding of what happens in a pre-K program.