In 1965 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) authorized funding for what was to become a major force in supporting the needs of low-achieving children. Formerly called Chapter I, the new Title I program currently serves about 10 million children and 90% of America's school districts. In 1998, Title I funds totaled more than $8 billion; but despite its size, the program reaches only about two-thirds of eligible younger children and few of the eligible secondary students (Kushner, 1999, p. 22).
The last authorization of ESEA occurred in 1994 when Congress sought to improve the quality of Title I projects by focusing on schoolwide reforms to help provide a quality education for all children, moving away from the former "pull-out" programs which emphasized remedial help. Providing a comprehensive approach to education by coordinating links between other state and local initiatives is one of the major changes in the program's design. The curriculum and assessments were also changed to reflect research that shows that low-achieving children can succeed when they are provided with challenging learning materials and high expectations.

Another critical change was the acknowledgment that parent involvement is critical to a child's education and that students achieve more when the schools are welcoming to parents, valuing their involvement in a variety of ways. While the programs differ from school to school, Title I requires that schools and parents develop partnerships and write a compact that describes the responsibilities of each group (Kushner, 1999, p. 22). The hope is that these programs will help break down any barriers to parent involvement or misperceptions that might occur between parents and teachers. Some of the compact requirements include:

· Holding an annual meeting for parents
· Providing parent literacy training and parenting classes
· Helping teachers and staff include parents as equal partners
· Developing community involvement

These changes represent a fundamental departure from the earlier format, which focused on individual children and remedial instruction. In addition, new money will probably be issued in the form of block grants, which will likely send 95% or more of the money to local school districts. Currently, census data, or student eligibility for free and reduced lunch (which determines the total number of low-income children in the district), is used to identify schools that are eligible for Title I funding. A district with 10 children or at least 2 % of their population identified as low-income is eligible for a grant. A school where 50 % or more of the students are identified as low-income is eligible for a schoolwide Title I program.

Source

Kushner, Susan, & Henrich, Carolyn. (1999). Giving all children a chance: Title I in transition. The National PTA Magazine, 24(4), 22-23.

For more information

Department of Education Web site
http://www.ed.gov

The National PTA's Web site
http://www.pta.org

Summarized by Anne S. Robertson.