Title I is the United States Federal Government’s largest education program to support public schools.  The purpose is to help every child receive a high quality education and to achieve the high academic standards set by the State of Minnesota.

The U.S. Department of Education (USED) gives a share of Title I funds to each state based on the percentage of poverty in the state.  The Minnesota Department of  Educaton (MDE) then gives the money to school districts based on district poverty. 

Schools with 40% or more of the students eligible to receive free or reduced priced lunch are eligible to receive Title I funds. This percentage can change from year to year.  Click here to see a list of the eligible Title I elementary, secondary and alternative schools and programs in Saint Paul Public Schools.

Title I also provides funding to support:

• Neglected and Delinquent Education Programs
  • Boys Totem Town, Juvenile Detention Center Programs
• Homeless / Foster Care Education Programs
  • Project REACH / Fostering Connections,
• Early Learning
• Parent Involvement
• School Improvement
• Non Public School Title I Services

Each school decides how Title I funds will be used in their school to improve education for all children.  Site based leadership teams in collaboration with parents determine how Title I funds will be used to help support the school’s identified needs.  Data is reviewed to determine the greatest needs in a school, devise strategies to improve student achievement in the school through a schoolwide or school improvement plan..

Title I requires that ever schoolwide Title I school, has a schoolwide plan for how to improve education for all students. For schools that have been identified by the State as a school in need of improvement, those schools must also complete an improvement plan. Because of the way the Saint Paul Public School's plan is configured, every school's plan meets the requirements for both requirements (Schoolwide Plan and School Improvement Plan). The plan is called the School Continuous Improvement Plan or SCIP.  Title I schools must ensure that Title I funds are used to support the work designated in the SCIP. The SCIPs are continuously revised based data and on the needs of the schools.

Schools are required to plan how they will involve parents in the education of their children. Each school must write, with the help of parents, a school Family Engagement Plan.  The school’s Family Engagement Plan describes how schools and families work together to help children succeed.

Schools must also work with parents to develop a Compact. A Parent/School Compact is a shared agreement that articulates how parents, children and the school will work together to support the child’s learning. The Parent/School Compact should be shared at the beginning of the school year with parents and then reviewed during conferences.

Some ways Title I funds may be used to to support parents, build capacity, include parents in decision making include:

• Translate school information into families’ first language
• Provide interpreters
• Host activities to help families, help children learn by building their capacity to do so.
  • Support for registering student for post secondary (e.g. How to complete the FASFA)
  • Support for understanding assessments or the curriculum in use.
• Provide transportation to academic meetings, school activities.
• Provide childcare meetings and school activities.
• Offer parenting classes (e.g. literacy classes).

Students most in need of educational help are provided with additional support services. Title I Schools also set goals for school improvement, measure student progress using Minnesota State Standards, and provide programs and services beyond what the district usually provides. Such  as:

• Providing tutoring or extended day support.
• Providing additional academic supports during the school day.
• Supporting teachers with professional development and job embedded coaching in the content areas to improve instruction.
• Provide cultural liaisons to support students and families.

Parents have the right to:

• Request information about the qualifications of their child’s teacher.
• Be informed if their child is being taught for more than four consecutive weeks by a teacher not licensed in the area of instruction.
• See progress reports for their child and the school.
• Help decide if the school is meeting their child’s needs and offer suggestions for improvement.

The Schoolwide model is used in all but one Title I in SPPS schools that receive Title I services.  A schoolwide Title I model means a school uses Title I funds to support comprehensive strategies for improving the whole school so every student achieves high levels of academic proficiency. Schoolwide programs have great latitude to determine how to organize their program and allocate the multiple funding sources available to them. As a schoolwide program, schools do not have to identify particular children as eligible for services,  The exception receives a Targeted Services Model.

Groveland Park Elementary and Gateway to College are public Saint Paul school that use a Targeted Assistance model.  A Title I public school that operates a Targeted Assistance school program:

• Receives Title I funds but is ineligible or has chosen not to operate a Title I schoolwide program.
• Uses Title I funds to provide services to a select group of children--those identified as failing, or most at risk of failing, to meet the State's challenging content and student performance standards. 

Schoolwide model: The school uses the Title I funding across the whole school, supporting and supplementing state and local funds to improve the education of historically disadvantaged students.

Targeted Assistance model: Title I funds provide services to eligible children identified as having the greatest need for special assistance.   Those students must also reside within the attendance area of a Title I school.  In this model Title I teachers pull out eligible students from class for extra instruction.

In both models Title I funding must always supplement and never supplant the regular education program at a school.

The Office of Title I - Federal Programs oversees Targeted Assistance Title I programs at Non Public Schools. Through consultation, Saint Paul Public Schools works with the non public school to determine the size, scope and nature of the program to be delivered by the district at the non public school site.