Targeted Assistance and Schoolwide Programs

Title I Targeted Assistance Program

Title I funds in a targeted assistance school must be used to improve the academic achievement of identified Title I students. Students selected for service must be identified based on multiple, objective, educationally related criteria. Criteria must also be developed to indicate when a student may exit the Title I program. Title I supplemental services may be delivered in a number of ways, i.e., in-class instruction; pull-out instruction; and/or extended day, week, or year instruction.

Title I teacher(s) and paraprofessionals must be highly qualified and are responsible for providing supplemental services to identified students. Title I staff must coordinate with other school personnel and involve parents in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the Title I program. All schools ranking into Title I for the first time operate a Targeted Assistance Program.

Title I Schoolwide Program

A schoolwide program is a comprehensive reform strategy designed to upgrade the entire educational program in a Title I school; its primary goal is to ensure that all students, particularly those who are low achieving, demonstrate proficient and advanced levels of achievement on state academic achievement standards.

A schoolwide program has three core elements:

the comprehensive needs assessment
the comprehensive schoolwide plan
the annual evaluation of the plan

Unlike a targeted assistance program, a schoolwide program provides educational services to all students, improves all structures that support student learning and aligns all resources to achieve a common goal: improved student achievement for all students.

A school operating a schoolwide program must have a current schoolwide plan. The schoolwide plan must:

Include a comprehensive needs assessment; identify school reform strategies; provide instruction by highly qualified teachers; offer high-quality, ongoing professional development; create strategies to attract highly qualified teachers; create strategies to increase parental involvement; develop plans to assist in transitions; identify measures to include teachers in decisions; conduct activities to ensure students receive effective, timely, additional assistance; and must coordinate and integrate federal, state and local services and programs.

A school operating a schoolwide program must also retain documentation related to the three core elements listed above. Documentation should be kept on site for at least five (5) years.

Documents should be accessible to all stakeholders and may be requested by the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) for monitoring purposes.

Visit Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Public Law 114-95, Section 1114, Schoolwide Programs