ESEA Flexibility Waiver and Implications for Title I Schools and Districts

Tr i s h B o l a n d , P h . D.

Fe d e ra l P ro g ra m A d m i n i s t rat i o n C o l o ra d o D e p a r t m e nt o f Ed u ca t i o n S p e c i a l Ed u ca t i o n D i re c to rs M e et i n g O c to b e r 1 1 , 2 0 1 2

Changes to Title I Accountability

 No more Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) or schools on Improvement, Corrective Action, or Restructuring  School and district performance frameworks are used to assess a school or district’s success  No changes to parents rights and responsibilities under Title I and Title III

Public School Choice & Supplemental Education Services

 Districts with Title I schools accredited with a Priority Improvement or Turnaround plan must set aside 15% of its Title I allocation to support Choice and SES.

 Public School Choice is available to any student that attends a Title I school that has an accreditation plan type of Priority Improvement or Turnaround. The district pays for transportation to a higher performing school .

  Recent scenario involving a high needs student Parents must be notified a minimum of 30 days prior to the start of school.

 Prior year’s plan type determines if choice must be offered.

Public School Choice & Supplemental Education Services, cont.

 Supplemental Education Services (SES) is additional tutoring for non-proficient students in a Title I school that has an accreditation plan type of Priority Improvement or Turnaround. The district pays for this tutoring out of its Title I allocation.

 Only students not yet proficient in reading, math, or ELD are eligible for services.

 District need only offer one window of services (2 under the old system), but funds remaining must be used to provide additional activities that accelerate non-proficient students.

  Providers are selected by the state through an RFP process.

The district may limit the number of providers, as long as the parents of eligible students are involved in the selection process.

District Set Asides

 Districts that receive Title IA funds and were accredited with a Priority Improvement or Turnaround plan in the prior year must set aside 10% of the district ’s Title IA allocation for professional development in the “Does Not Meet ” areas identified in the District Performance Framework.

 Districts may also set funds aside at the district level for additional support for their Title I schools that have an accreditation plan of Priority Improvement or Turnaround.

Focus and Priority Schools

 ESEA Flexibility waiver required that Colorado identify Priority and Focus schools.

 A Priority school is a Title I school that is among the lowest 5% performing schools in the state (33 in Colorado).

 A Focus school is a Title I school that is among the next lowest 10% performing schools in the state (66 in Colorado) or have a graduation rate below 60%.

 Currently, all the Focus schools are Title I schools that are accredited with Priority Improvement or Turnaround plan. However, not all Title I schools that are accredited with Priority Improvement or Turnaround plan are Focus schools.

 Priority schools have been eligible for the School Improvement Grant (1003g), which has a 3 -year cycle.

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