Title I Information

Title I serves schools with two program models: school-wide and targeted assistance.

A school-wide program is a comprehensive reform strategy designed to upgrade the entire educational program in a Title I school; its primary goal is to ensure that all students, particularly those who are low-achieving, demonstrate proficient and advanced levels of achievement on state academic achievement standards. This school-wide reform strategy requires that a school do the following:

• Conduct a comprehensive needs assessment;
• Identify and commit to specific goals and strategies that address those needs;
• Create a comprehensive plan;
• Conduct an annual review of the effectiveness of the school-wide program and revise the plan as necessary.

Adopting this strategy should result in an ongoing, comprehensive plan that is unique to the entire school community. The emphasis in school-wide program schools is on serving all students, improving all structures that support student learning, and combining all resources, as allowed, to achieve a common goal.

School-wide programs maximize the impact of Title I.

The following are actions evidenced in school-wide programs:

• Plan for comprehensive, long-term improvement;
• Serve all students with highly-qualified teachers and paraprofessionals;
• Provide continuous learning for staff, parents, and the community;
• Use research-based practices to develop and implement enriched instruction for all students;
• Use inclusive approaches to strengthen the school’s organizational structure;
• Consolidate resources to achieve program goals;
• Engage in continuous self-assessment and improvement; and
• Coordinate and integrate federal, state and local services and programs.

A targeted assistance program signifies that the services are provided to a select group of children–those identified as failing, or most at risk of failing, to meet the State’s challenging content and student performance standards–rather than for overall school improvement, as in schoolwide programs. Like schoolwide program schools, the goal of a targeted assistance school is to improve teaching and learning to enable Title I, Part A participants to meet the challenging State performance standards that all children are expected to master.

The following are actions evidenced in targeted assistance programs:

• Based on effective means for improving achievement of participating children;
• Use effective instructional strategies that give primary consideration to extended-time strategies;
• Provide accelerated, high-quality curricula, and minimize removing children from the regular classroom during regular school hours;
• Coordinate with and support the regular education program;
• Provide instruction by highly-qualified and trained professional staff; and
• Implement strategies to increase parental involvement.

If your child attends a Cocke County school, he or she is enrolled in a Title I school-wide program. In this type of program, all students in the school are supported in some way by Title I funding. Title I funds are spent on personnel, instructional materials and supplies, instructional technology, and parent activities. Committees of school personnel and parents, as well as input from annual surveys, decide how Title I funding can best meet the needs of all students. Parents are an important part of the Title I planning team; your involvement is encouraged and welcomed.