About Federal Programs

Director, James Harrell About Federal Programs

Welcome to Colquitt County School System TITLE I Federal Programs The Mission of the Title I, Part A Federal Program is to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging state academic achieement standards and assessments. Title I, Part A provides federal dollars to help supplement educational opportunities for children who live in high poverty areas who are most at risk of failing to meet state's challenging achievement standards Title I is a part of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). This act provides federal funds through the Georgia Department of Education to local school districts with high numbers or percentages of poor children to help ensure that all children meet challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards. The school district targets the Title I funds they receive to public schools with the highest percentages of children from low-income families. These funds may be used for children from preschool aged to high school. Title I is designed to support State and local school reform efforts tied to challenging State academic standards in order to reinforce and enhance efforts to improve teaching and learning for students. Title I programs must be based on effective means of improving student achievement and include strategies to support parental involvement. Under Title I, local school districts are required to provide services for eligible private school students, as well as eligible public school students. These services must be developed in consultation with officials of the private schools. School Improvement Plans of ALL Colquitt County schools: These plans are developed to assist with school improvement efforts annually and the implementation and monitoring of focused, research-based strategies. Through the development of these plans, it is the expectation of the district to build teacher and leader capacity to design and deliver high-quality learning experiences and raise student achievement and graduation rates. Title I, Part A – Academic Achievement of Disadvantaged Students is the largest single federal aid for elementary and secondary education. This grant is to ensure that all children have a fair, equal and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and to achieve proficiency on challenging academic achievement standards set forth by the State. Title I, Part C - Migrant Education Program is designed to support comprehensive educational programs for migrant children to help reduce the educational disruption and other problems that result from repeated moves.

Title II, Part A – Teacher Training is to increase academic achievement by increasing teacher and principal quality. This grant helps by increasing the number of highly qualified teachers in the classroom, increasing the skills of principals and assistant principals and increasing the effectiveness of teachers and principals by holding Districts and schools accountable for improvements in student academic achievement. Title III – English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) is a federally funded supplemental program that concentrates on delivering language instruction educational programs to students who have a primary language other than English. This program is designed to improve the education of English Learners (ELs) by helping them learn English and meet challenging state academic content and student academic achievement standards. Title X, Part C - McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is designed to address the problems that homeless children and youth have faced in enrolling, attending, and succeeding in school. Under this program, State educational agencies must ensure that each homeless child and youth has equal access to the same free, appropriate public school education, including a public preschool education, as other children and youth.

Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) – Georgia’s Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) is the result of a federal grant program and is intended to enhance the ability of districts and schools to efficiently and accurately manage, analyze and use education data to increase student achievement. Educators can access the SLDS via a link in a school's Student Information System (SIS) on a daily basis. Clicking on the link takes teachers, leaders, and support staff to the SLDS page where they can view a vast amount of longitudinal student information such as assessment results, Lexile scores, and attendance at the classroom level. Online support and training through Georgia Virtual Learning is available to assist teachers as they use SLDS. A series of concise interactive online modules take new users through the steps for making the best use of the powerful data that SLDS brings to Georgia's citizens and educators. http://www.gavirtuallearning.org/pl/slds

ESEA Waiver and Georgia’s Accountability System Beyond NCLB In September of 2011, the United States Department of Education (US ED) invited states to seek relief from various sections of the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) known as No Child Left Behind. The consensus from across the nation was that the law was driving the wrong behaviors, from teaching to the test to lowering academic standards. At the same time, educators also acknowledged that the one-size-fits-all interventions of the mandate had done little to promote teacher and leader effectiveness. Therefore, the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) applied for and received an ESEA Waiver in 2012 to allow greater flexibility in the way struggling schools are identified, held accountable, and supported. The ESEA Waiver will also allow Georgia’s accountability system to focus more on college and career readiness and will provide districts greater flexibility with federal funding. The Georgia ESEA Flexibility Waiver will be in effect for the 2012-2013 school year and remain in place for three years. However, it is important to note that if Congress reauthorizes ESEA between now and the 2014- 2015 school year, the reauthorized law will take priority over Georgia’s Waiver. Beginning in 2012-2013, Georgia will provide support to three categories of schools identified using student achievement data and graduation data from the 2010-2011 school year. Priority Schools · Schools among the lowest five percent of Title I schools in the state based on the achievement of the “all students” group in terms of proficiency on the statewide assessments (CRCTs and EOCTs) and that have demonstrated a lack of progress on those assessments over a number of years · Title I-participating or Title I-eligible high schools with a graduation rate less than 60 percent over a number of years · Tier I or Tier II schools under the School Improvement Grants (SIG) program that are using SIG funds to implement a school intervention model Focus Schools · At the elementary and middle school levels, Title I schools that have the largest within-school gaps between the highest-achieving subgroup or subgroups and the lowest-achieving subgroup or subgroups · At the high school level, Title I schools that have the largest within-school gaps in graduation rates · Title I high schools with a graduation rate less than 60 percent over a number of years and are not identified as Priority Schools Alert Schools Beyond US ED requirements, Georgia will also identify three types of Alert Schools, both Title I and Non- Title I. · Subgroup Alert - Schools having low achievement in a particular student subgroup, such as English Learners or Special Education students · Subject Alert - Schools having low achievement in a particular subject content area, such as math or science · Graduation Alert - Schools having low graduation rates Reward Schools (formerly Title I Distinguished Schools) Reward Schools will be identified in September of 2012 and will continue to be announced on an annual basis. There are two ways a Title I school may be identified as a Reward School. A school may be classified as either a Highest-Performing School or a High-Progress School. · Highest-Performing Reward Schools must be in the top 5% of Title I schools (78 schools) and either have the highest performance for “All Students” over three years or be among high schools with the highest graduation rates in Georgia. · High-Progress Reward Schools must be in the top 10% of Title I schools (156 schools) and either have the highest progress in performance for “All Students” over three years or be a high school that is making the most progress in increasing graduation rates. Schools are not eligible for “Reward” recognition if they are identified as a Priority School or Focus School. College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) Within the NCLB Waiver proposal, Georgia is introducing a companion statewide communication and accountability tool for school improvement, the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI). With this tool, the GaDOE is seeking to transition Georgia schools from adequacy to excellence by ensuring that the K-12 experience provides students with the academic preparation to compete globally with career skills aligned to the evolving requirements of our workforce. The CCRPI has been designed around a comprehensive definition of college and career readiness: the level of achievement required in order for a student to enroll in two or four year colleges and universities without remediation, fully prepared for college level work and careers, including the United States military. The CCRPI provides multiple indicators to determine a school’s performance, rather than using a single test score given at one point in time. These indicators reflect the importance of statewide tests such as the CRCTs, EOCTs, and Writing Assessments, as well as place an emphasis on how well students are prepared for their next level of schooling, as well as graduation, college, and careers. With the CCRPI, a numerical score out of 100% will be given to every school in the state. This numerical score will be based on achievement, achievement gap closure, and progress. Achievement will be weighted as the predominant factor, and a school may earn additional points for “Exceeding the Bar Indicators.” Georgia is using 2012-2013 as a study year for completing work on the CCRPI and will publish initial data in 2013. The calculations related to the CCRPI are separate from the US ED required methodology for identifying Title I Priority, Focus, and Reward Schools. Parents Have A Right To Know: Welcome to the Parent Guide for Georgia’s parents. This is the most up-to- date information and resource designed to serve parents throughout their child’s education. Parent Involvement is vital to the success of our children. When schools and families support each other, students achieve at higher levels. There is no doubt that parents are the child’s first teacher. A strong relationship with our parents is our aim. http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/External-Affairs-and-Policy/AskDOE/Pages/Parents.aspx GaDOE’s Press Releases – View ALL News Releases from the Georgia Department of Education http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/External-Affairs-and-Policy/communications/Pages/PressReleaseViewAll.aspx? PressView=default