On January 8, 2002, the United States
Congress reauthorized Title I as a part of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
Act of 2001. Although the Title I focus has not changed from the focus that
existed under the “Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994,” the NCLB
legislation brought about many changes in the accountability attached to
Title I funding. Among the changes are sanctions for schools that do no make
adequate yearly progress for two consecutive years and rewards for schools
that make adequate yearly progress for three consecutive years. The Title I
Department is responsible for providing the necessary leadership and
assistance to schools to ensure that the intent of the legislation is
carried out.
In Muscogee County, the Title I program is
funded to provide extra services to help economically disadvantaged children
meet the same high level of academic proficiency as that which is expected
of all children. This multi-million dollar grant provides funds for
school-wide programs in 22 elementary schools and five middle schools, for a
Targeted Assistance program in one elementary school, for three institutions
for neglected children, and for approximately 130 homeless children. Title I
funds are also used to provide services for students in elementary and
middle schools who attend the Rose Hill Center for Alternative Education and
the Teenage Parenting Center. The major areas of focus for Title I programs
are reading and mathematics. The major components of Title I school-wide
programs (SWP) are school-wide needs assessments, research-based strategies
and data-driven decision-making for improvement, assessment, staff
development, and parental involvement.
MISSION
To ensure that all students in Title I
schools are provided significant opportunity to obtain a high quality
education that enables them to reach or exceed proficiency on challenging
academic achievement assessments by providing support and resources to
schools; by encouraging the use of continuous assessment and data driven
educational decision-making; and by assisting schools in creating the
alignment of teacher training, scientifically-based strategies, educational
best practices, and instructional materials with State curriculum standards.
VISION
High expectations and continuous growth
toward academic excellence for all subgroups of students in Title I schools.
