What is a Title 1?

Title 1, a part of No Child Left Behind and the Every Student Succeeds Act, provides resources to schools where student needs are the greatest. Students receive additional opportunities to help them meet our state’s education standards.

• Requires that Title 1 funds be used for effective educational practices. Requires states to develop plans with annual measurable objectives.
• Requires local school districts to ensure that all Title 1 teachers are certified to teach, as required by the South Carolina Department of Education, in core academic areas.
• Requires annual assessments in grades 3-8. (PASS & SC Ready)
• Requires state and local report cards on student achievement. Requires corrective action if a school does not meet adequate goals.

The purpose of Title 1, Part A is to help local educational agencies (LEAs) improve teaching and learning in high-poverty schools and help children failing or most at-risk of failing meet challenging state academic standards.

This purpose is accomplished by such efforts as follows:

• providing an enriched and accelerated educational program;
• promoting schoolwide reform through schoolwide programs or through additional services that increase the amount and quality of instructional time;
• significantly upgrading the quality of instruction by providing staff in participating schools with substantial opportunities for professional development; and
• affording parents meaningful opportunities to participate in the education of their children at home and at school.

Parent & Family Engagement Policy

The Parent & Family Engagement Policy explains how the school works with parents to review and improve parent involvement and describes how parents can participate in planning programs for parents.

Parent & Family Engagement

Parent and Family Engagement is an integral partof the Title 1 program. Parents and family members are encouraged to become partners in helping their children achieve and become actively involved in all aspects of the process of the Title 1 program, from the writing of the plan to its implementation and evaluation. A strong connection between the home and the school is a key element in student success. Materials, strategies, and help from teachers are available to parents and family members.

Opportunities for active parent and family participation should include, but not be limited to, Meet the Teacher, parent conferences, parent workshops, school-parent and family compacts, parent-teacher organizations, and more. The Every Student Succeeds Act legislation requires schools to utilize a portion of their Title I funds to support parent and family engagement. Parents should contact the school principal with any comments or suggestions regarding the school’s parent and family involvement expenditures.

Parent/Family/School Compact

The compact shows how parents, school staff and students will share the responsibility to improve student achievement. It describes how the students, parents and school will have a partnership to help children meet the state’s education standards.

Title 1 Guidelines

• Title 1 is a federally funded program designed to offer students assistance in reading and/or math.
• Students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades are selected for the Title 1 program based on individual test scores from state testing and universal screeners. Class performance is also a consideration in conjunction with testing data.
• Springfield Middle School provides math and reading Title 1 services through in-class and small group support. This can occur during class time and during built-in Flex times to ensure students do not miss grade-level content.
• Title 1 funds are used to purchase books, math manipulatives, and other materials to be used by Title 1 students. Funds are also used to provide in-service opportunities for Title 1 teachers. Parents are asked to make suggestions for how they would like our Title 1 funds to be used.

Parents' Right to Know

All Title 1 schools must notify parents of their right to request information on the professional qualifications of their children’s teachers. As a parent of a student receiving Title I services, you have the right to know the professional qualifications of the classroom teachers and instructional assistants who work with your child. Federal law allows you to ask for the following information about your child's classroom teachers and requires the District to give you this information in a timely manner:

• whether the teacher is certified to teach the subjects and/or grade levels the teacher is teaching,
• whether the teacher's certificate is a waiver or substandard certificate
• the teacher's academic major, graduate degrees, if any, and
• the teacher's certification area.

If you would like to receive this information, please call the Personnel Department at 803-548-2527.

Selection of Title 1 Targeted Students

Each year, the school leadership team chooses which grade levels to target for additional academic support based on Reading and Math data. Students’ performance on the previous year’s Spring SCReady and current STAR performance in Reading and Math is considered. For students who did not take the SCReady assessment, additional criteria, such as prior STAR scores and class grades, are used to assess the needs. The data is then used to determine which students have the most need within an identified grade level to receive academic support in the areas of Reading and Math. Interventionists and teachers will continually monitor progress using assessments throughout the current year.

Teacher Qualifications

Springfield Title 1 teachers and interventionists are certified and meet the guidelines of ESSA. All the Title 1 teachers and interventionists have extensive training in math and/or reading.

Role of the Interventionist

At Springfield Middle, we use the inclusion and small group model. The interventionist is there as a support teacher and provides additional interventions during Flex periods or during class time when the teacher is not delivering new content; this could be during independent practice or small group practice. The core teachers and interventionist team together to provide a supportive academic environment for your child.

Title 1 Feedback

SpringfieldMiddle School continually monitors the implementation of the Title I plan and welcomes input from parents, families, school staff, and community members regarding its current and future Title I plans.