Title I is a part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which provides federal funds through theGeorgia Department of Education to local educational agencies (LEAs) and public schools with high numbers or percentages of poor children. These funds help ensure that all children meet challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards. LEAs target the Title I funds they receive to public schools with the highest percentages of children from low-income families. These funds may be used for children from preschool aged to high school. Title I is designed to support State and local school reform efforts tied to challenging State academic standards in order to reinforce and enhance efforts to improve teaching and learning for students. Title I programs must be based on effective means of improving student achievement and include strategies to support parental involvement.
Under Title I, local educational agencies (LEAs) are required to provide services for eligible private school students, as well as eligible public school students. These services must be developed in consultation with officials of the private schools. The Title I services provided by the LEA for private school participants are designed to meet their educational needs and supplement the educational services provided by the private school.
Components of each school’s Title I program include:
A comprehensive needs assessment of the entire school.
School-wide reform strategies that provide opportunities for all children to meet the state’sproficient and advanced levels of student academic achievement and use effective methods and instructional strategies that are based on scientifically based research.
Instruction by highly qualified teachers.
High quality and ongoing professional development for teachers, principals, and paraprofessionals and, if appropriate, pupil services personnel, parents, and other staff.
Strategies to attract high-quality highly qualified teachers to high-needs schools.
Strategies to increase parental involvement.
Plans for assisting preschool children in the transition from early childhood programs, such as Head Start, EvenStart, Early Reading First, or a state-run preschool program, to local elementary school programs.
Measures to include teachers in the decisions regarding the use of academic assessments.
Activities to ensure that students who experience difficulty mastering the proficient or advanced levels of academic achievement standards are provided with effective, timely additional assistance.
Coordination and integration of Federal, State, and local services and programs, including program supported under No Child Left Behind violence prevention programs, nutrition programs, housing programs, Head Start, adult education, vocational and technical education, and job training.