Initiating Contact with Private/Home School Officials Regarding Participation in the Title I Program
With the wintry weather we’ve had this month, it’s hard to believe spring could be right around the corner! Many districts already have been using their hold harmless percentages to plan their budgets for next year. As a reminder, the hold harmless percentages are posted on the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) website and discussed in the January webinar. This is the time of year that districts also need to plan for equitable services for the next school year.
Districts annually must contact officials of each private/home school with children who might reside in the district to determine whether those officials would like for their eligible students to participate in equitable services under Title I, Part A (ESEA section 1117(b)(1). Each district has the responsibility to contact all private and home schools within and outside the district that might have students eligible to participate in Title I programs.
A district may not be aware, however, of every instance in which a student who resides in a participating Title I, Part A public school attendance area attends a private school outside the district. If a private school has students it believes may be eligible for services because they reside in a participating Title I, Part A public school attendance area in another district, and the private school has not been contacted, private school officials should contact the district directly. This will ensure their eligible students are considered for services.
A district can customize the Letter of Notification to Private Schools and Participation Survey contained in the Title I Sample Documents found on the Title I, Part A website. This document is sent annually to private/home school officials to determine their interest in participating in equitable services. The letter includes a brief description of the services, as well as the Non-Public School Participation Survey.
Districts may send this form by certified mail in order to document receipt of the form by private/home school officials. Other methods to document the sending of the notification could include an email with a read receipt, screenshots of invitations sent or a picture of an addressed, stamped envelope.
Once returned, the surveys will be used to: identify the schools wishing to participate; help plan and initiate consultation; help with data collection; and help with the Title I, Part A application completion. Districts may use March-April as a potential time window for sending the Letter of Notification and Participation Survey.
A district may set a reasonable deadline – taking into consideration private/home school schedules – for private/home school officials to indicate their intent to participate. When doing so, a district must provide clear and sufficient notice of the deadline, identify potential consequences for not meeting the deadline and give adequate time for private/home school officials to respond.
The Title I Letter of Notification to Private Schools and Participating Survey is not to be confused with the Private, Non-profit (PNP) Schools Declaration of Participation for Title II-A, Title IV-A and IDEA-B assurance forms and the Private, Non-profit Schools and Home Schools Declaration of Participation for Title III-EL assurance forms. Those documents are for private schools and home schools physically located in your school district’s geographic boundaries for Title II-A, Title IV-A, IDEA-B and Title III-EL.
For additional information on the PNPs and the Kentucky Commissioner of Education’s letter on Declaration of Participation dated Jan. 25, visit KDE’s Additional Federal Grant Information webpage. Additional Title I, Part A equitable services resources can be found on KDE’s Title I, Part A webpage and Non-Public School Ombudsman webpage. Questions may be sent to your KDE Title I, Part A consultant.
Title I Reporting Reminders for 2020-2021
- Title I status in Infinite Campus (IC) must be updated to match the Title I status submitted on the district Consolidated Application in the Grant Management Application and Planning (GMAP) system. Reference the Title I data standards, Section A, to verify and update school Title I status in Infinite Campus.
- Targeted Assistance Programs MUST complete a record on the student Title I Services tab for each student receiving Title I services during the current school year. Reference the Title I data standards, Section B, to complete student records for Title I services received in a targeted assistance-designated facility.
- 2020-2021 Title I status will populate on the School Report Card.
- 2020-2021 Title I data will be extracted from the IC reporting warehouse on July 1 for state and federal reporting purposes.
For more information, email Margalee Conlee.
Annual Evaluation/Review of the Schoolwide Program
Title I regulations require that a school operating a schoolwide or targeted assistance program annually evaluate the implementation of, and results achieved by, the program. The evaluation must determine whether the program was effective in increasing the achievement of students in meeting the challenging state standards, particularly those students who had been furthest from achieving the standards.
The school must revise its plan as necessary based on the results of the evaluation to ensure the continuous improvement of student achievement. The intent of the evaluation is to determine if strategies are contributing to improvement in student achievement or increases in other activities – like parent and family engagement or high-quality professional development – that lead to increases in student achievement.
The school must decide whether the review will be conducted internally (by school staff) or externally (by a person or persons outside of the school, such as district staff, regional educational laboratory, institution of higher education or any technical assistance provider). The decision should be made collaboratively between schools and their districts.
Districts and schools are encouraged to use outside reviewers when possible. The annual evaluation examines whether the schoolwide or targeted assistance program is being effectively implemented and whether the implementation is improving student achievement. The annual review should not only address student achievement, but also teacher quality, parent and family engagement, coordination of funds and other components that directly and indirectly affect achievement.
The annual review is designed to reveal areas of strength within the program and areas that need revision in order to better position the school to continue making academic improvement.
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