Title I Training Page

Title I Launchpad graphic depicting girl with rocket on back.

Overview

Title I funds are targeted to support at-risk student populations by allocating funds to:

schools with higher rates of poverty. (Part A)
migrant students. (Part C)
neglected or delinquent students. (Part D)

Title I, Part A

Title I, Part A provides local educational agencies (LEAs) with high numbers or high percentages of children from low-income families with funds to help ensure that all students are receiving a high quality education.

Key Terms and Concepts

The table below offers brief details of key terms and concepts pertaining to this program. Use the links to read more detailed explanations and guidance.

Schoolwide Program	A Title I Schoolwide Program is a one option for serving students at schools with high numbers of at-risk students and poverty rates of 40% or higher. Schoolwide programs use Title I, Part A funds to upgrade the educational program of the entire school, with special attention to providing services to students identified as at-risk. Title I, Part A funds must be used to address the educational needs of the school.
Consolidated Schoolwide Program	Districts can choose to have their schoolwide program schools consolidate select Federal, State, and Local funds to allow for additional flexibility. Schools must include in their schoolwide plan how funds will be consolidated and how the purposes of each program will be met. For more information about consolidating funds in a schoolwide program, review this training. PowerPoint \| Recorded Webinar
Targeted Assistance Program	A targeted assistance program is one of two programs that can be implemented at a Title I school and is designed to provide supplemental educational assistance beyond the regular classroom for students at-risk of not meeting state standards.
English Learner Parent Notification	Title I grantees must notify parents if a student has been identified as an EL. This notification must be sent no later than 30 days after the beginning of the school year (CDE defines the date of October 1 as the beginning of the school year). Notifications must be understandable and, to the extent practicable, in a language the parent can understand. Notifications must include: the process by which the child was identified, the child’s level of English proficiency, how such level was assessed, and the status of the child’s academic achievement, the programs offered by the district designed for English Learners, how the programs will meet the educational strengths and needs of the child, how the programs will specifically help their child learn English and meet age appropriate academic achievement standards, the specific exit requirements of the programs, and how the program meets the objectives of an individualized education program, if applicable.
Method for Serving	LEAs can select one of seven methods for serving schools to focus Title I funds based on the needs of the community. LEAs can adjust the method for serving schools in the Consolidated Application; however it is recommended that LEAs pick a method that aligns to their local resource distribution philosophies first. Total District Enrollment less than 1,000 students One School per Grade Span Percentage District Wide 35% Rule District Wide Grade Span Grouping + District Wide Percentage Grade Span Grouping + Group Wide Percentage Grade Span Grouping + 35% Rule
Comprehensive Needs Assessment	A comprehensive needs assessment is a process that is used to identify needs and performance challenges, determine root causes, and set priorities for future action in a school or district. Title I, Part A; Title I, Part C; Title II, Part A; and Title IV, Part A require LEAs to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment in order to identify needs that will be addressed with ESEA funds.
Evidence-Based Intervention (EBI)	ESSA defines an evidence-based intervention as an activity, strategy, or intervention that demonstrates a statistically significant effect on improving student outcomes or other relevant outcomes.
Rank Order	LEAs must serve Title I, Part A schools in a ranked order by poverty. LEAs may pick one of six poverty measures by which they rank their schools for Title I, Part A funding. Schools above 75% poverty rate must be served with Title I funds. Once funds are allocated through the chosen method for serving schools, schools with higher poverty rates must receive the same or higher per pupil allocation than schools with a lower poverty rate, thus establishing a rank order. Rank Order does not apply to LEAs with fewer than 1,000 students or with only one school per grade span.
Notifying Parents of Educator Qualifications	ESSA requires LEAs that receive Title I funds to notify parents at Title I schools that they can ask for and receive specific information about a teacher's qualifications. LEAs must also notify parents about an unqualified teacher (unlicensed and/or teaching out-of-field) who has been teaching their children for four or more consecutive weeks at a Title I school. CDE provides template letters for these notifications that LEAs should customize for annual local use.
Non-Public Schools Equitable Services	LEAs with non-public schools within the district boundaries must have the opportunity to access Title funds for the grade spans being served by the LEA through an annual consultation process.
Title I Set Asides	Set asides are funds that meet a specific purpose and are excluded from rank order calculations. Required Set Asides: Parent & Family Engagement - While any LEA can use this set aside, LEAs that receive more than $500,000 in Title I, Part A funds are required to set aside funds for parent and family engagement activities (90% of which must be at the school level). Homeless - LEAs must set aside enough funds to support students experiencing homelessness. The Consolidated Application minimum is $50 per LEA. Optional set asides LEAs can leverage: Neglected Facilities Set Aside (if applicable) - Follows Grants Fiscal requirements for funding neglected facilities by providing transition programs, reentering the traditional education system, or to support students in a neglected facility meet academic requirements. Preschool Set Aside - Provide support for preschool activities such as direct intervention with students, transition to kindergarten supports, professional development for preschool teachers. Family Literacy Set Aside - District-led programs like a literacy program for families in Title I schools; adult GED, ESL, and/or parenting classes; parent & child activities; student activities involving literacy.
District Managed Activities (DMA)	Districts can set aside a portion of their Title I, Part A funds to support Title I schools with activities managed at the district level. This is often used in working with schools identified for comprehensive (CS) or targeted (TS) support and improvement OR to provide a benefit to a group of Title I schools. However, DMA is not truly “districtwide” in that non-Title I schools may not be supported through this set-aside unless the school was a Title I school in the previous year.
Supplement, Not Supplant (SNS)	Title I, Part A funds must supplement the amount of funds that would, in the absence of Title I funds, be available from non-Federal sources for the school, including funds needed to provide services that are required by law for children with disabilities and English learners. Title I funds cannot supplant funds or activities currently funded though local or state sources.
Carryover	LEAs have the flexibility to carryover unspent funds to the next fiscal year. However, for Title I, Part A there is a restriction that no more than 15% of a year's funds may be carried over. For more information about Title I carryover, click here and see the section “Use of Funds”.
Comparability	Comparability is a fiscal check intended to ensure Title I schools receive an equitable share of State and local funds. Districts are required to run internal comparability reviews every year to ensure compliance. CDE runs a biennial review as an additional check. If CDE’s review determines an LEA’s schools are not comparable, the LEA must submit a demonstration of compliance. LEAs are not required to submit demonstration of compliance if they do not accept Title I, Part A funds or have: Less than 1000 students, Only one school per grade span, or Two or more schools in the same grade span, but any Title I school(s) has less than 100 students.
Equitable Distribution of Teachers (EDT)	ESSA requires state education agencies to evaluate annually whether low-income and minority students are taught disproportionately by ineffective, out-of-field, or inexperienced teachers compared to their higher-income, non-minority peers. ESSA also requires local education agencies (LEAs) accepting Title I, Part A funds to create plans to address any such disparities. CDE releases EDT data annually in the summer to districts that are eligible. Small LEAs (enrollment less than 1,000 or no more than one school per grade span) are exempt from these analyses.
Support & Improvement	Federal statute requires states that accept ESSA funds identify schools for Comprehensive or Targeted Support and Improvement as follows: Comprehensive (CS) Lowest performing 5% of Title I schools in the state High Schools with low graduation rates Chronically Low Performing Student Group(s) (former A-TS that did not meet exit criteria) Targeted (TS) Any schools with at least one consistently underperforming disaggregated group Additional Targeted (A-TS) A subset of TS schools with at least one disaggregated group that, on its own, meets the criteria for the CS-Lowest Performing 5% For more about Federal Accountability, visit the Accountability Launchpad webpage (coming soon) or the full Federal Accountability webpage.

Eligibility

Title I funds are allocated through four statutory formulas that are based primarily on census poverty estimates and the cost of education in each state. An LEA’s Title I allocation is the sum of the amount that the LEA receives under each formula. LEAs target the Title I funds they receive to schools with the highest percentages of children from low-income families. If a Title I school is operating a targeted assistance program, the school provides Title I services to children who are failing, or most at risk of failing, to meet challenging State academic standards.

After an LEA selects a method for serving their schools, schools that will be receiving Title I funds can operate one of two program models, Schoolwide or Targeted Assistance.

Schoolwide Program

A school operating a schoolwide program does not need to identify particular students as eligible to participate. There are three basic requirements:

Conducting a comprehensive needs assessment of the entire school, using academic achievement and growth data, process data, and perception data from school staff, parents, and others in the community. The Unified Improvement Plan (UIP) should serve as the school’s comprehensive needs assessment.
Preparing a comprehensive schoolwide plan that describes how the school will improve academic achievement, particularly for the lowest-achieving students, by addressing the priority performance challenges identified in the comprehensive needs assessment. (For more on writing a schoolwide plan, click here.)
Annually reviewing the schoolwide plan using data from State and local assessments, other indicators of academic achievement and growth, process data, and perception data to determine if the schoolwide program has been effective in addressing the priority performance challenges and increasing student achievement, particularly for the lowest-achieving students. Schools need to revise the plan annually, as necessary, to ensure continuous improvement.

Targeted Assistance Program

A targeted assistance program is designed to provide extra educational assistance to at-risk students, identified as having the greatest need for special assistance. The program must provide an accelerated, high-quality curriculum and minimize the removal of children from the regular classroom during regular school hours. In addition, the progress of eligible children must be reviewed on an ongoing basis, and the program should be adjusted as necessary.

To be eligible, the student must be 21 or younger and at a grade level at which the local educational agency provides a free public education. Eligible students are children identified by the school as failing, or most at risk of failing, to meet the Colorado English Language Proficiency (CELP) and Colorado Academic standards (CAS) on the basis of multiple, educationally related, objective criteria established by the local education agency and supplemented by the school.

Allowable Use of Funds

The purpose of Title I, Part A funds is to enable schools to provide opportunities for children to acquire the knowledge and skills required to meet the Colorado English Language Proficiency (CELP) and Colorado Academic Standards (CAS).

Schoolwide Program

A school operating a schoolwide program may use Title I funds for any activity that supports the needs of students in the school as identified through the comprehensive needs assessment and articulated in the schoolwide plan. In implementing the schoolwide plan, a school must, among other things, use effective methods and instructional strategies that are based on evidence (evidence-based interventions), provide instruction by highly-qualified teachers, provide high-quality, ongoing professional development, and increase parent involvement. For examples of allowable uses of funds, click here.

Targeted Assistance Program

Some of the allowable supports for students identified in a Targeted Assistance Program are:

Additional targeted academic interventions for identified students.
Expanded learning time, before- and after-school programs, and summer programs.
Providing professional development with resources to teachers, principals, other school leaders, and paraprofessionals who work with eligible children.
Implementing strategies to increase the involvement of parents of eligible children.

For more examples of allowable uses of funds in Targeted Assistance Programs, click here.

Administrative Caps

Direct administrative costs and indirect costs cannot account for more than ten-percent of the grantee’s annual allocation.
The LEA can apply its restricted indirect cost rate (up to 10%) to the portion of its subgrant that it does not reserve for administrative costs.

For more information about Direct Program, Direct Administrative, and Indirect Costs visit our guidance webpage.

Stakeholder Engagement

Activities supported with Title I, Part A funds must be planned through consultation with parents, teachers, principals, other school leaders, special service providers, students, community-based organizations, local government representatives, Indian tribes or tribal organizations that may be located in the region served by the LEA, charter school representatives, and any other relevant stakeholders. The LEA must also engage in continued consultation with these stakeholders to evaluate the effectiveness of supported activities and determine next steps.

Visit these links for more information about ESEA Parent, Family, & Community Engagement Requirements and CDE Stakeholder Engagement Resources.

Key Tasks & Deadlines

Year at a glance image depicting annual calendar.

For details on the tasks and deadlines associated with Title II, visit the Title II tab of the Year at a Glance or download the Title I - Part A Tasks PDF

Resources

Title I, Part D - Neglected & Delinquent

The purpose of Title I, Part D is to:

Improve educational services for children and youth who are neglected (N) or delinquent (D) so that they have the opportunity to meet challenging State academic content and achievement standards;
Provide children and youth who are N or D services so that they can successfully transition from institutionalization to further education or employment; and
Prevent youth from dropping out of school and provide youth who have dropped out and youth returning from correctional facilities with a support system to ensure their continued education.

There are three subparts to Title I, Part D.

Subpart 1 provides funding to support the education of youth in state-operated institutions (State Agencies).
Subpart 2 aids local educational agencies (LEAs) that work with local facilities that serve adjudicated youth.
Subpart 3 deals with Program Evaluation.

To learn more about Title I, Part D eligibility and allowable uses, click here.

Key Terms & Concepts

Institution for Neglected Youth	A public or private residential facility, other than a foster home, that is operated for the care of children who have been committed to the institution or voluntarily placed in the institution under applicable state law, due to abandonment, neglect, or death of their parents or guardians.
Institution for Delinquent Youth	A public or private residential facility for the care of children who have been adjudicated to be delinquent or in need of supervision.
At-Risk Children or Youth	This term includes children and youth who have been adjudicated within the juvenile justice system but have returned to a school operated by the school district, migrant children or youth, immigrant children or youth, gang members, pregnant and parenting youth, children who are at-risk of failure or have failed before, children who have limited English proficiency, and children who have dropped out of school.
Regular Program of Instruction	Educational program, not beyond grade 12, in an institution or community day program for N & D youth that consists of classroom instruction in basic school subjects like reading, math, career and technical education, that is supported by non-federal funds. Manufacture of goods or institutional maintenance is considered classroom instruction.
Institution-wide Project	Subpart 1 recipients can upgrade the entire education effort of the facilities. This would provide services to the entire facility versus those targeted populations. Please review the Institution-Wide Project Toolkit if interested.

Key Tasks & Deadlines

Year at a glance image depicting annual calendar.

For details on the tasks and deadlines associated with Title ID, visit the Title ID tab of the Year at a Glance or download the Title I - Part D Tasks PDF