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Title I and LAP

Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) provides financial assistance to states and school districts to meet the needs of educationally at-risk students. Title I’s goal is to provide extra instructional services and activities which support students identified as failing or most at risk of failing the state’s challenging performance standards in mathematics, reading and writing.

The Title I program provides student with extra educational assistance beyond the regular classroom. Title I also provides support to private schools and homeless programs.

Title I schools with 40% or more of children from low-income families can develop School-wide Title I programs to upgrade the school's entire educational program, rather than to target services only to identified students. School-wide programs enrich the academic program for the whole child and for the whole school while removing the stigma of being labeled "disadvantaged."

Shiloh Hills Elementary and Evergreen Elementary are the Title I schools in the Mead School District and they both are School-wide Programs. Brentwood is a Title I Targeted Assistance School in the Mead School District. It is not a School-wide program.

School-wide advantages are as follows:

  • The planning process provides an opportunity for staff to come together, eliminating the isolation that characterizes working conditions for many educators
  • No time and effort documentation is required.
  • Funds from a variety of federal programs can be combined to provide a quality educational program.
  • Educators are released from restrictive mandates covering student grouping, minutes of instruction, etc.
  • School-wide programs can help to eliminate the stigma of the "disadvantaged" label.

Right to be Informed - Teacher Qualifications
When schools receive these federal grant dollars, there are a certain guidelines that must be adhered to. One of these is to inform parents of their right to be informed.

Under this act, parents of children in schools that receive Title I dollars have the right to request information regarding the professional qualifications of the student's classroom teachers. Para-professionals who work with students in a Title I program also have to meet certain educational requirements. You may contact our Human Services department at the Mead School District Offices to request this information.

LAP (Learning Assistance Program) is a state-funded program serving students with the greatest deficits in basic academic skills as identified by state assessment. Basic skills include reading, math, writing, and readiness.

LAP K-2 Focus Supplemental FTE: Transition year for legislated K-4 reading focus
K-4 students who struggle with reading or who do not have the readiness skills that will improve their ability to read are the first focus of the Learning Assistance Program. Districts must comply with this new requirement beginning with the 2015-2016 school year. We are using this year to transition to the K-4 reading focus.

Eligible students

  • K -12 students who score below standard on grade level statewide assessments
  • Students who score below standard at grade level on statewide assessments and 11th/12th grade students at-risk of not meeting state/local graduation requirements
  • Students identified in SPS's approved plan to receive services

Allowable activities/services

  • Extended learning time
  • Professional Development
  • Supplemental instruction
  • Family outreach for LAP eligible students
  • Individual or small group instruction.
  • Instruction in English/language arts and/or mathematics needed by students to pass the state assessments.
  • Inclusion in remediation programs, including summer school (secondary)
  • Language development for ELL
  • On-line curriculum and instructional support – credit retrieval – state assessment prep classes

How do Title I and LAP Programs Work?

Mead School District has two types of programs:

  • School-wide Title I: in a School-wide Title I building, the funds used by a school district and/or school can serve all students in a designated building. This is because the percentage of free/reduced lunch rate is or has exceeded 40% and the school has engaged in a year-long process to become a school-wide building. Once a school is a school-wide Title I building, it is always a school-wide Title I building, even if the free/reduced lunch percentage declines.
  • LAP: In a LAP building, the funds used by a school district and/or school must be directed to the education of students who are the most underperforming students in a building. These are the students who do not pass district or state assessments. The school's LAP program focuses on the students who are struggling the most to achieve standard.

In general, any use of Title I or LAP funds must align with the school's goals for improvement, which must be based on a comprehensive review of data and school needs. Further, funds must provide educational programs or materials that are in addition to basic education funding. This means the programs or materials funded through Title I or LAP must be on top of the basic education program that we proved all of Mead's students.

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