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Title I in FCPS

Focus

Title I is a federal grant reauthorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2001. The purpose of this legislation is "to help the neediest schools and students reach the same challenging standards expected of all children" (Public Law 107-110). The Title I grant addresses four major goals:

• Improve language arts strategies and skills.
• Develop mathematics concepts and skills.
• Promote critical thinking and problem solving skills.
• Encourage family engagement in the education of children.

Schools are eligible for Title I funds based on the percent of low-income students. In FCPS, the elementary schools with the highest level of poverty receive funding that is used for positions and resources to meet the needs of their students. The Title I grant supports high need FCPS schools in the following way:

Language Arts:

The Title I grant-funded language arts teachers work with students and classroom teachers to develop reading and writing skills. The teachers work together to assess students' strengths and needs. They plan appropriate literacy instruction that helps students meet the challenging standards in the FCPS Program of Studies (POS) and the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL). Many schools also use Title I funds to serve the lowest achieving first grade students through the Reading Recovery® Program. Several schools implement Literacy Collaborative™, a professional development model designed to support best practices for classroom literacy instruction.

Mathematics:

The Title I grant-funded mathematics teachers provide instruction to help students develop math concepts. problem-solving strategies, and computational skills. Math teachers and classroom teachers collaboratively assess students' strengths and needs, and plan appropriate mathematics instruction that helps students meet the challenging standards in the FCPS Program of Studies (POS) and the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL).

Professional Development:

Title I funding enables high need schools to support development of teacher knowledge of content and pedagogy in order to raise student achievement and close achievement gaps. Title I grant-funded reading and math teachers as well as classroom teachers in schools with Title I funding participate in ongoing professional development focused on research-based best instructional practices.

Family Engagement:

Title I funding supports schools' commitment to working in a partnership with families. Each school develops a School-Home Compact and a School Family Involvement Policy which outline the many opportunities available for parents to become involved in their children's education. A District Advisory Council, comprised of representatives from schools receiving Title I funds, meet regularly and collaborates with Title I staff to strengthen parent engagement in these schools.

Accountability:

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), known since 2001 as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), requires states to set annual measurable objectives for increasing student achievement to ensure that all children have an opportunity to obtain a high-quality education. Under the provisions of the two-year flexibility waiver granted by the U.S. Department of Education (USED) on June 29, 2012, the Virginia Board of Education has set new federal Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs) aimed at raising achievement in the Commonwealth’s lowest-achieving schools. The new AMOs in reading and mathematics replace the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) targets which schools were previously required to meet. Any school receiving Title I funds that does not meet the AMO for one or more groups of students will be required to use a web-based, school improvement tool approved by the Virginia Department of Education for assessing, planning, implementing and monitoring student progress. If a school receiving Title I funds is identified as a USED Priority or USED Focus school, state-approved and monitored school improvement interventions are required.
Title I staff collaborates with other FCPS offices within Instructional Services, the Departments of Special Services, Professional Learning and Accountability, Information Technology, Facilities and Transportation, Human Resources, and Cluster offices to support all students in schools receiving Title I funding in order to meet and exceed local, state, and federal goals.

Current Focus

As required by the grant, Title I funding assists schools in closing the achievement gaps through:

• Developing and monitoring the implementation of the division’s Title I, Part A application to ensure funds are available to support student learning in FCPS schools with high levels of poverty
• Providing meaningful professional learning to support student achievement
• Providing additional support for schools receiving School Improvement grants in order to meet Annual Measureable Objective (AMO) requirements
• Providing opportunities for meaningful family engagement and strengthening communication with families

• In FCPS schools receiving Title I funds, Spring 2013 Standards of Learning (SOL) results for the disadvantaged student subgroup will meet or exceed the federal AMOs for reading and mathematics through one of three methods: achieving the proficiency target, three-year average, or reducing the failure rate by ten percent compared to the previous year.

Future Focus

In expectation of receiving future Title I grants, schools receiving Title I funding will be assisted in closing achievement gaps through:

• Developing and monitoring the implementation of the division’s Title I, Part A application to ensure funds are available to support student learning in FCPS schools with high levels of poverty
• Providing meaningful professional learning to support student achievement
• Providing additional support for schools receiving School Improvement grants in order to enhance student achievement and meet Annual Measureable Objectives (AMO) requirements
• Providing opportunities for meaningful family engagement and strengthening communication with families

In FCPS schools receiving Title I funds, Spring 2014 Standards of Learning (SOL) results for the disadvantaged student subgroup will meet or exceed the federal AMOs for reading and mathematics through one of three methods: achieving the proficiency target, three-year average, or reducing the failure rate by ten percent compared to the previous year.

Data Narrative

As in all FCPS schools, students' proficiency is reported to the Virginia Department of Education based on performance on Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments in grades 3-6 (including results for the Virginia Grade Level Alternative assessment, Virginia Modified Achievement Standard Test and Virginia Alternate Assessment Program for identified students), as well as performance on the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA2) in grades 1-2.

Division and school SOL test results and teacher quality information can be found at: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/statistics_reports/school_report_card/index.shtml

Individual school results can be additionally found at: http://www.fcps.edu/profiles