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and rights of a quality program.  Following are some major ideas taken from these publications to encourage parents and  educators to think differently about teaching and learning as the school year starts.  CAPS members will receive full informaton about the publications in September.

Many High Schools Fail to Use Power of Title I for Reform

Title I, the federal program to improve the academic performance of children from low-income families, often is thought to apply to younger children only.  This is a myth.  If a district receives Title I funds, it must rank all schools in order of poverty.  Any school that is 75% low-income or greater must receive funds before any school with a lower percentage of low-income students, regardless of whether the school is a high school, a middle school, or an elementary school. 

Congress put this 1994 provision in the Title I law so that

high poverty high schools would no longer be ignored under Title I.  Before then, a district could give elementary schools priority over high schools when distributing Title I funds, no matter how high the poverty level was in high schools.

Resources from Title I could substantially improve the educational outcomes of students in poverty, if used wisely.  They are meant to be used to improve the quality and effectiveness of teaching, provide high-quality professional development for teachers, a rich curriculum for all students, and timely and effective individual assistance to students struggling academically.

A problem at the local level is that it is often more difficult to establish that a high school is "high poverty" than an elementary school.  Many high school students are reluctant to apply for free and reduced lunches, a figure used to calculate a

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This broadening approach to vocational education is not being used by high schools as fully as it should.   Too often students are still separated into academic or vocational tracks.  A student in the latter one probably will have narrow vocational education courses which deny him/her the opportunity to develop flexible and high-level knowledge and skills.

Schools can use AAI as a tool for reform.  For example, AAI

standards say schools should make sure that work-based learning experiences have high quality.  Schools should be measuring student understanding of principles behind technology and production as well as how well students use the skills.  Students should be able to explain why and what they are doing.  This kind of assessment is far more meaningful than counting right answers on multiple-choice tests or the number of hours of coursework a student has.

(From All Aspects of the Industry: Making It Real)