Education for The Disadvantaged: ESEA Title I Reauthorization Issues

Publication Date: April 2002

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Education

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Abstract:

Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) authorizes aid to local educational agencies (LEAs) for the education of disadvantaged children. Title I grants are used to provide supplementary educational and related services to low-achieving children attending schools with relatively high concentrations of pupils from low-income families.

Title I has detailed provisions regarding allocation of funds, selection of schools, fiscal accountability, pupil assessment, program improvement, and parental involvement, but there are very few constraints on LEAs in selection of curriculum and staff, instructional approach, and other major aspects of Title I programs. Title I is essentially a “funding mechanism,” with encouragement, but no requirements, to employ any specific educational techniques or strategies.

Recent information on the effectiveness of Title I is based primarily on selected states and LEAs that have implemented standards-based reforms. While these results are generally positive, they may not be applicable to the program nationwide. Title I amendments adopted in 1994 attempted to improve effectiveness through greater targeting of funds on high poverty LEAs and schools; requiring states to adopt curriculum content and pupil performance standards, and assessments linked to these, for Title I students; a renewed focus on program improvement; and increased flexibility. The extent to which these major elements of the Improving America’s Schools Act have been implemented varies widely.

On January 8, 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, a bill to extend and revise ESEA Title I, was signed into law as P.L. 107-110. Highlights of P.L. 107-110 include: (a) all participating states will be required to implement standards-based assessments for pupils in each of grades 3-8 in reading and mathematics by the 2005-06 school year, and to develop and implement assessments at three grade levels in science by the 2007-08 school year; (b) all states will be required to participate in National Assessment of Educational Progress tests in 4th and 8th grade reading and mathematics to be administered every 2 years; (c) adequate yearly progress (AYP) standards, with a goal of all pupils reaching a proficient or advanced level of achievement within 12 years, will be applied to each public school, LEA, and state; (d) pupils at schools that fail to meet AYP for 2 consecutive years must be offered public school choice options, and if a school fails to meet AYP for a third consecutive year, pupils from low-income families must be offered the opportunity to receive instruction from a supplemental services provider of their choice; (e) “corrective actions” must be taken with respect to schools that fail to meet AYP for 4 consecutive years, and those that fail for 5 consecutive years must be “restructured”; (f) Title I allocation formulas are modified to increase targeting on high poverty states and LEAs under the Education Finance Incentive Grant formula, move Puerto Rico gradually toward parity with the states, and increase state minimum grants; (g) states must ensure that all of their teachers are “highly qualified” by the end of the 2005-06 school year; (h) within 4 years, all paraprofessionals paid with Title I funds must have completed at least 2 years of higher education or met a “rigorous standard of quality”; and (i) the authorization level for Title IA is $13.5 billion for FY2002, increasing to $25 billion for FY2007.