Title I

The purpose of Title I, Part A is to provide resources to schools and districts to ensure that all children have a fair, equitable, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and close educational achievement gaps.

Title I, Part A is intended to support LEAs in:

• Improving teaching by promoting effective instruction for at-risk children and for enriched and accelerated programs;
• Expanding eligibility of schools for schoolwide programs that serve all children;
• Encouraging school-based improvement planning;
• Establishing accountability based on results;
• Promoting meaningful parent and family engagement;
• Coordinating with health and social services agencies;
• Focusing resources on the schools with the highest percentage of students living in poverty.

Title I, Part A targets resources to districts and schools in greatest need. The program is the largest ESEA program supporting both elementary and secondary education. The USDE allocates funds based on census poverty rates from ages 5 through 17. Eligibility is based on statutory formulas. Although the amount of Title I, Part A funds a school and district may receive is based on poverty rates, the children that benefit from the program(s) are not, necessarily, students in poverty. Rather, Colorado’s Title I, Part A programs work to address the needs of a school's lowest performing students and those students most at risk for not meeting the Colorado English Language Proficiency (CELP) and Colorado Academic Standards (CAS).

Comprehensive Needs Assessment

Activities supported with Title I, Part A funds must be planned based on a comprehensive needs assessment and in consultation with parents, teachers, principals, and other relevant stakeholders. The LEA must also engage in continued consultation with these stakeholders to evaluate and improve supported activities.

Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement

Title I, Part A requires LEAs to engage stakeholders in developing the Unified Improvement Plan (UIP), the ESEA Consolidated Application, schoolwide plans and in the planning of Title I funded activities. Additionally, LEAs must implement programs, activities and procedures for the involvement of parents and families in Title I-funded activities. There are several Parents Right to Know notifications that are required as part of receiving Title I, Part A including notifying parents of the qualifications of their child’s teacher, information regarding the assessments, and language instruction identification. Click here for more information regarding parent Title I parent engagement and notification requirements.

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). The law provides many flexibilities and opportunities for districts and schools to meet the purpose of Title I, Part A. In schoolwide programs, the use of Title I, Part A funds is based on a comprehensive needs assessment. In targeted assistance schools, the program is designed to provide extra educational assistance beyond the regular classroom to identified at-risk students.

In addition to the requirements for schoolwide and targeted assistance programs, Title I, Part A funds must also meet the following fiscal requirements:

• Maintenance of Effort – An LEA may only receive Title I, Part A funds if it maintains educational expenditures from State and local funds from on year to the next. An LEA cannot reduce its own spending and replace those funds with Federal funds.
• Comparability – An LEA may receive Title I, Part A funds only if State and local funds will be used in Title I schools that are at least comparable to those in non-Title I schools. An LEA may meet this requirement on a grade-span or school-by-school basis.
• Supplement not Supplant – Title I 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.
• Reasonable and Necessary – All expenditures must be reasonable and necessary.