What is Title I?

In 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) introduced the federal support program for poor and special need students that would become known as Title I.

The initial goal of Title I was to provide funding to help alleviate the effects of poverty in those schools with high poverty rates that otherwise might not get the funding needed from state and local authorities.

Ten years later, the Federal Government introduced what would be known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandating access to education for all children with disabilities.

Changes to the program in the 1980’s included budget cuts, the introduction of block grants, and a temporary name change from ‘Title I’ to ‘Chapter 1’. The biggest change, though, was the introduction of accountability. States were required to set achievement standards for Title I (then Chapter 1) students and to take action if those standards were not met.

By 1994, concern over America’s schools led to the passage of the ‘Improving America’s Schools Act’ (IASA) which introduced for the first time federal requirements for state-based standards and assessments. IASA also renamed Chapter 1 back to Title I.

In 2002, Congress passed the latest version of Title I under a law called ‘No Child Left Behind’ (NCLB). Specific remedies for poor school performance were now clearly specified as were specific definitions for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). NCLB focused much greater attention on the performance of the most disadvantaged children. Now, the failure of these most disadvantaged students impacts the entire school and even the entire school system. Additionally, specific remedies for poor performance were defined by the law and required to be implemented by local school districts. These remedies include two programs: ‘Supplemental Education Services’ (SES) and ‘Parent Choice Transfer Option’ (PCTO).

NCLB was the seventh reauthorization of the original Elementary and Secondary Education Act passed in 1965. Congress is now working on the eighth. Local Title I personnel are prepared to implement the new authorization with the same attention to Federal law and local needs they always have.