Title I Program
What is Title I?
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Title I is funded by the federal government. Money is given to school districts to help children who are behind in school. The amount of funds given to each community depends on the number of low-income families it has. The idea behind Title I is to make sure all children understand, remember, and use what they are taught in each school grade.
 Who benefits from it?
Title I programs are designed to help the children who need it most -- those who are furthest behind in school. Each school community decides how it will spend its Title I money and decides which students are most in need of services.
 How can parents help their children in Title I?
Title I places great importance on service to children and their families and on parent involvement in planning the program, monitoring student progress, participating in the program as a volunteer, and evaluating the effectiveness of the Title I program. Parents are encouraged to become involved with the Title I program by attending Parent Advisory Council meetings and workshops and by volunteering time to work with students at home and school.
Parents can help their children be more successful by teaching their children in ways that add to what the teacher is doing, by learning more about their school, by supporting their children and the school, and by making decisions about their children's education. Your school can give you ideas on helping your child in each of these four areas. The school is also eager to hear your ideas for getting parent involved in their children's education.
 What are some typical Title I services?
Students usually receive Title I instruction in reading, language arts, or math. Sometimes they are taught in more than one of those subjects. Each school community -- administrators, teachers, and parents -- decides how the federal money should be spent. Usually the funds are used to hire special teachers, aides, and tutors. The money can also be used to train and support parents and staff, buy equipment and books, do a study to discover which children need Title I services the most, and support parent involvement.
Title I money must be used to expand the education children already get in the regular classroom. Title I schools in the Anchorage School District use their funds for a variety of items, including the following types of support:
 What are the basic program requirements?
- Focus on the use of instructional practices and programs that have a research based track record of effectiveness.
- Use of assessments, state, district, and formative classroom assessments that determine student levels of proficiency and academic growth. (There are no additional assessments that Title I requires, but the focus on using assessments to determine individual instructional needs and practices is fundamental to Title I.)
- Requirement for highly qualified teachers (districtwide) and paraprofessionals (Title I schools only).
 Do Title I programs need to show results?
Title I programs are required to review whether their instruction is effective. They need to show that students overall are doing better than they were before. They also need to show that each child in the program is improving because of Title I services.
 What are School Choice and Supplemental Services?
In schools that receive Title I funding, NCLB has in place a series of requirements that must be met by schools that are not making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) according to state assessments. For each year that a Title I school does not meet the AMO (annual measurable objective), it moves into a higher level of school improvement:
 Level I -
No sanctions.
Level II - School choice must be offered for students who are low income. School writes a two-year school improvement plan that is submitted to the state.
Level III - Supplemental services must be offered to students who are low achieving.
Level IV - Corrective action; district action to support change.
Level V - Restructuring; additional district or possible state action to support change.
ASD is participating in a pilot program that allows supplemental services to be offered in Level II and delays school choice until Level III.
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