National Title I and School Reform Project
The Center for Law and Education's National Title I, and School Reform Advocacy Project is a nationwide effort to help communities improve the quality of education for low-income, low-achieving students. The project focuses on the largest elementary and secondary education program -- Title I -- as the a primary vehicle for broad-based school reform.
What is Title I? Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act gives billions of dollars to school districts, based on the number of poor children they serve, to provide extra educational services for low-achieving students. Title I requires schools to develop programs which will enable students to meet challenging standards. The law specifically requires that programs: use an accelerated curriculum; have high quality teachers; provide extra assistance to students who need it; and involve parents in key decisions about how the programs operate. While some Title I programs have proven successful, many fail to comply with federal law. For example, instead of offering an accelerated curriculum to enable students to meet challenging standards, many Title I programs pull students out of class and teach them a watered-down-curriculum, virtually guaranteeing that they will never achieve the high standards set for all students.
What are the Project's goals? The National Title I and School Reform Advocacy Project works to mobilize parents, community advocates, and school personnel, to use federal Title I, and state and local law and policy to bring about broad-based school reform.
What are the Project's activities? Through the Project, parents and advocates across the country have launched advocacy efforts, developing and implementing strategies to improve local Title I programs. While the strategies vary greatly -- including parent education and mobilization, developing federal, state, and local policies which support standards-based school reform, and school partnerships for program improvement -- all seek to
improve the core quality of the educational program. Specifically, the Project activities are in the following areas:
Site Work: The project works intensively with a number of cities across the country -- including Chicago, Milwaukee, and New York -- providing, for example, technical assistance, document drafting and review, strategic policy advice, and training. In each of these cities individuals and/or groups are committed to using Title I as a lever for reform.
Materials: Periodically, the Project publishes longer and shorter pieces analyzing new laws, offering strategic advice for changing educational practice and programs, and providing guidance and tools to parents, educators and advocates working to change schools.
Community Action for Public Schools: Through Community Action for Public Schools (CAPS), the National Title I and School Reform Advocacy Project also reaches parents, advocates, and educators. Members of CAPS receive fact sheets about Title I, parent involvement, and related laws and policies. Members also have full access to our website, and to a staff of people who can help them with school change.
Federal Advocacy: The Project represents the interests of low-income students and parents in the policymaking process at the federal level. Additionally, Project staff provide legislative updates to interested persons, analyze the potential results of proposed legislation, and work to ensure that parents and advocates across the country have a voice in the legislative process.
Training: Project staff conducts training across the country on wide-ranging topics, including but not limited to: classroom change to support standards-based reform; parent involvement in planning and implementing high quality programs; the importance of understanding standards; how to decipher what is happening in your child's school; program assistancce and academic testing; and many others.
The Project participates in the Mobilization for Equity, an initiative of the National Coalition of Advocates for Students, of which CLE is a member.
The Project participates in the Mobilization for Equity, an initiative of the National Coalition of Advocates for Students, of which CLE is a member.