Newspaper Page Text
August, 1984—National BLACK MONITOR
NCTIP... » « « » (ContinuedfrompageJ2f_
provides federal dollars to school
districts to enable educational services
tor children who are behind in school.
' WWy'T k ,ost ( tla P |er 1 money is useti ,o provide
extra help in reading and math tor
’ 25 elementary school children whose test
Jscores show that they are not performing
at or near the level of other children their
KK 111 Ba
KfiSL 9' /, Educational programs are possible
K||l ■ because Chapter I funds pay the salaries
Owlr ’ ’ I of teachers and classroom aides to work
mkT educationally disadvantaged
children in small groups in their own
Former State Commissioner of Education classrooms or in special workrooms, and
Wilson Riles addresses the 1978 Conference in because Chapter I funds purchase special
Los Angeles, California.
A workshop session at the 1978 Annual Conference in Los Angeles, California.
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Former NCTIP Chairperson Elayne D. Brodie and former Commissioner of Education
Dr. Thomas Minter at the 1978 Annual Conference in Los Angeles, California.
Page 14
materials and equipment designed to
help children who are having trouble
learning to read or do math. Chapter I
funds are also used to train Chapter I
and regular teachers so they are better
prepared to help children in need of
special educational assistance. In addi
tion, Chapter I funds are used to train
and promote parent participation in
planning, carrying out, and evaluating
Chapter I programs. Parents work on
school committees to support and im
prove their children’s instructional ac
tivities and in the classroom as Chapter I
aides.
Why Are the December 1983
Amendments of Chapter /
So Important?
When Title I became Chapter I, some
major protections for eligible children
and their parents were lost. The 1983
amendments made things better by clos
ing the biggest targeting loopholes,
strengthening evaluation requirements,
and requiring more meaningful parent
involvement. (See Technical Amend
ments to the Education Consolidation
and Improvement Act, P.L. 98-211,
printed in the Congressional Record,
November 18, 1983, Page H. 10599. It is
available in many public libraries. Also
see House Report No. 98-51 and House
Conference Report No. 98-574. These
are printed in the U.S. Code Congres
sional and Administrative News or can
be obtained by writing your congres
sional representative.)
What Are Chapter I’s
Most Important Rules?
1. Targeting Schools
Chapter I money goes to those schools
with the highest concentration of
children from low-income families.
When the law was first passed it con
tained an exception to the targeting rule
which allowed school districts to spend
some of their Chapter I funds on district
wide compensatory education projects
for low-income children. In December
1983, Congress amended Chapter I and
took out this exception to the targeting
rule.
2. Serving Children Most in Need
When Chapter I became law it was not
clear whether schools were required to
serve first those children furthest behind
in school, or whether other criteria
would be used. The December 1983
amendments clarified the intent of
Chapter I to reach first those children
furthest behind their classmates in school
and therefore most in need of extra
educational help.
3. Involving Parents in Program
Planning and Operations
Have you joined AOIP?
The effect of the December 1983
amendments was to strengthen Chapter
I’s parent involvement requirements. At
first the Chapter I law only said that pro
grams had to be “designed and im
plemented in consultation with
parents....” Now Chapter I requires that
school districts hold a meeting for,
parents of all eligible children in the
school district to tell them about Chapter
1 and to set up a process for keeping
parents involved throughout the year. It
also requires that school districts have
written policies to make sure that
• parents are involved in planning and
carrying out programs.
• parents have the opportunity to give
their views on Chapter I policies; and
• parents (and the general public) have
access to program plans and evaluations.
4. Providing Extra Educational
Help to Children in Need
Chapter 1 funds are supposed to pro
vide extra educational help to children
who are behind in school. This means
that Chapter I should not be a substitute
for the regular educational program, but
should be provided on top of those ser
vices. Schools that receive Chapter I
monies should in no way be penalized by
having their other resources reduced. For
example, Chapter I schools should have
about the same number and quality of
regular teachers, support personnel, in
structional materials, and supplies as
non-Chapter I schools.
5. Designing Programs of
Sufficient Size, Scope and Quality
Chapter I requires that projects be “of
sufficient size, scope, and quality” and
that funds be concentrated on a suffi
ciently limited number of students and
services to ensure that the needs of par
ticipating children are met. The law does
not define how to meet these re
quirements, but Chapter I services
should generally involve smaller classes,
more hours of instruction in reading and
math, special teachers and aides, and
more varied instructional approaches
and materials than the regular school
program.
6. Evaluating Programs
for Effectiveness
Chapter I requires school districts to
evaluate projects to see if project goals
are being met. Student achievements in
the basic skills—reading, language arts,
and math—must be measured. Evalua-*
tion must also show whether students
who improved in Chapter I were able to
keep up at their improved level for more
(Continued on page 16 J