Purpose of Title I

     Title I (of the federal No Child Left Behind legislation) is a federal program that provides opportunities for the children served under this program to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to meet challenging state content standards.

     Title I resources are distributed to district schools having the greatest needs in amounts sufficient to make a difference in the improvement of the school’s academic program.

     Title I coordinates services with other educational agencies and, to the degree possible, with health and social services programs.

     Title I provides greater decision-making authority and flexibility within the schools. However, greater responsibility for student performance is the exchange made for this flexibility.  Student progress is measured each year by administrators, teachers, and parents to ensure that the students will be able to reach the goals set by NCLB.

What Goes into a Schoolwide Title I Program?

     A schoolwide Title I program allows schools that qualify to use Title I money to pay for educational programs for the whole school.  To qualify for a schoolwide program, a school must have 40% or more of the students from low-income families.  All schools in Laurens School District 55 qualify.  Our district has chosen to use the Title I funds in all six of the elementary schools in the district.

     A Title I schoolwide program can offer services and programs that can help improve your child’s education.   According a publication of the Channing Bete Company, the benefits of  schoolwide programs include the following:

§  High Standards for All Students

§  Improved Programs

§  Parent Involvement

§  More Ways to Use Resources

     In order to plan for a Title I schoolwide program, the school conducts a comprehensive needs assessment to see what is needed for all of the students to meet education standards.  Yearly reviews of the program tell the school if the program is being successful.  If there is not enough improvement in student achievement, the Title I planning team may decide to make changes in the program.

Parental Involvement

     Parental Involvement is an integral part of the Title I program.   Parents are encouraged to become partners in helping their children achieve and become actively involved in all aspects of the process of the Title I program, from the writing of the plan to its implementation and evaluation.

     A strong connection between the home and the school is a key element in student success.  Materials, strategies, and help from teachers are available to parents of students receiving Title I services.  Opportunities for active parent participation should include, but not be limited to open house, parent workshops, school-parent compacts, home visitation, parent-teacher organizations, conferences, and newsletters.

     The No Child Left Behind legislation requires schools to utilize a portion of their Title I funds to support parent involvement.  Parents should contact the school principal with any comments or suggestions regarding the school’s parent involvement expenditures.

Parent Involvement Policy and School-Parent Compact

     Each Title I school is required to ask for input from parents regarding the development of a parent involvement policy and a school-parent compact.

     The parent involvement policy explains how the school plans to work with parents to review and improve parent programs and describes how parents can participate in planning those programs.

     The school-parent compact outlines how parents, the Title I school staff, and students will share the responsibility for improved student academic achievement and the way in which the school and parents will build and develop a partnership to help children achieve the State’s high standards.

     Parents can do many things to help at school, but there is much that can also be done at home.  Parents can make sure that their child has a quiet place to study, limit the amount of TV time each day, and review homework.  We encourage parents to volunteer in our school, attend meetings and parent-teacher conferences, and join the school parent-teacher organization (PTO).  We also invite parents to share suggestions about our Title I plan and other suggestions for our school.  There is a suggestion box in the main office that is checked regularly.  The principal shares those suggestions with the Title I Planning Team.

Description and Explanation of Curriculum, Forms of Academic Assessment, and Proficiency Levels Students are Expected to Meet

     Laurens District 55 schools provide a high-quality curriculum based upon the South Carolina Curriculum Standards.  This curriculum has been approved by the South Carolina Board of Education and adopted by the Laurens School District 55 Board of Trustees.  Textbooks used in the classrooms have been reviewed by a committee of teachers and adopted and endorsed by the State Department of Education.  Specific educational programs in each school are targeted to meet the identified needs of the children in the school.

     Laurens School District 55 administers a variety of standardized assessments to its students.  The Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (PASS), which is part of the state assessment program, is given to students in grades three through eight and measures student performance on the state standards.  The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) is a group-administered ability test battery given to students in grade two for identification as Gifted and Talented.  The English Language Development Assessment (ELDA) is given to all students whose Home Language Survey indicates that a language other than English is their primary language.  Beginning in the tenth grade, the High School Assessment Program (HSAP) is administered.  This test is in accordance with No Child Left Behind and measures students’ academic achievement on high school academic standards.  Our district also uses NWEA’s Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) in grades two through ten to guide instruction. To monitor student   progress   throughout  the  year,   all   students

are given teacher-prepared and textbook–provided assessments. 

     Based upon requirements of No Child Left Behind, all students in grades three through eight are expected to achieve the “Met” level on PASS by the end of the 2013-2014 school year.

Parent’s Right to Know

     As a parent of a student enrolled at Waterloo Elementary School, you have the right to know the professional qualifications of the classroom teachers and instructional assistants who instruct your child.  Federal law allows you to ask for the following information about your child’s classroom teachers and requires the school district to give you this information in a timely manner:

• whether the teacher is certified to teach the subjects and/or grade levels the teacher is teaching,
• whether the teacher’s certificate is a waiver or substandard certificate,

• the teacher’s academic major, graduate degrees, if any, and
• the teacher’s certification area.

     If you would like to receive this information, please contact the district’s director of personnel, Mrs. Renee' Madden at 864-984-3568.

South Carolina Department of Education Complaint Resolution Procedures

     The State Department of Education (SDE) has the authority to hear complaints and appeals regarding certain federal programs and requires school districts to distribute the following information concerning the South Carolina Department of Education’s complaint resolution procedures:

• Organizations or individuals may file a complaint that applies to Title I within thirty days of receiving the decision by the school district or group of districts.
• Complaints and appeals must be made in writing and they must contain a statement indicating the violation, specific requirements of the law or regulations allegedly violated.  Complaints and appeals must be filed with the State Superintendent of Education at the S.C. Department of Education, 1429 Senate Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29201.
• The SDE will confirm receipt of the complaint within ten business days and will conduct an investigation to determine the merits of the complaint.  The Deputy Superintendent will issue a final decision regarding the complaint within 60 days, except under exceptional circumstances that warrant an extension.
• The final decision of the SDE may be appealed to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education.

Title I Expenditures for 2010-2011

     Listed below are the activities that Waterloo Elementary has implemented this year through collaboration of the members of the SIC/Title I Planning Team.

§  Reading Recovery teacher

§  Class Size Reduction in Grade 1

§  Computer Lab Assistant and Instructional Software Maintenance

§  Part-time Parenting Coordinator

§  Part-time Instructional Coach

§  Instructional Materials and Supplies

§  Funds for Field Trips to the Adair Center

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Ms. Taria Stokes, Principal

Fall 2010