COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
P.O. BOX 2120
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23218-2120
SUPTS. MEMO NO. 168
August 20, 2004
INFORMATIONAL
|
TO: |
Division
Superintendents |
|
FROM: |
Jo Lynne
DeMary Superintendent
of Public Instruction |
|
SUBJECT: |
Title I School
Improvement Requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
(NCLB), Public Law 107-100 |
This
memorandum serves as a reminder of the obligations that Title I schools in
improvement have to implement sanctions required under the No Child Left Behind
Act of 2001. NCLB requires school
divisions to identify for improvement Title I schools that, for two consecutive
years and in subsequent years, do not make adequate yearly progress (AYP) in
the same subject area(s)- reading and/or mathematics. Certain
Title I schools have now been designated as Year One, Year
Two, or Year Three School Improvement schools
based on 2003-2004 state assessment results.
These schools must offer or continue to offer the public school choice
option to all students in Targeted Assistance and Schoolwide Program
schools. The Board of Educations guidance on public school choice is located at http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/nclb/BoardGuidancePSChoice.pdf.
Year Two
and Year Three schools are also required to provide
supplemental educational services (tutorial services) to eligible low-income
students. The providers of these services must be selected from the Board of
Education approved list that is posted on the Department of Educations website at http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/nclb/#supplemental. A school
must continue to offer public school choice and supplemental educational
services until it achieves two consecutive years of making AYP in the
designated subject(s).
As
a condition of a Title I federal grant award, school divisions assure that a
school will offer public school choice and supplemental educational services, if
required. These assurances are found in the Applications
for 2004-2005 NCLB Federal Funds located at http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Instruction/OCP/nclb-applications.html.
Additionally, the Title I and the consolidated applications include a
supplemental document that addresses the implementation of School Improvement
sanctions according to the provisions outlined in the federal legislation.
It is important that school divisions with schools in Title I School
Improvement demonstrate their best effort to implement the legislation as
written. With particular reference to
public school choice, a
school division must demonstrate and document its best effort to implement this
requirement with fidelity. The
legislation does not consider lack of
capacity a justification for not offering the
public school choice option to parents.
When capacity is an issue, school officials need to
employ ingenuity in creating capacity in schools to receive additional
students. In
addition, if supplemental educational services are offered in a Year One school, they must be
offered in conjunction with the provision of choice rather than as a
substitute.
The
U.S. Department of Educations guidance on these issues is very clear. Superintendents should
read the full guidance at http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/nclb/PublicSchoolChoiceGuidance2-6-04.doc with a particular focus on
questions B-11 (supplemental educational services in Year One schools); E-7 (lack of
capacity); and E-8 (options to create capacity).
Among other significant School Improvement sanctions are: 1) corrective
actions that are required for Year
Three Title I schools and are listed in
Section 1116(b)(7) of the legislation; and 2) the continued revision of the
schools improvement plan. (A school division in LEA Improvement
must reserve 10 percent of its Title I funds for professional development.)
The Virginia
Department of Education will conduct a public school choice and supplemental
educational services division survey in mid-September. U.S. Department of Education information on
Title I School and LEA Improvement can be found at http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/edpicks.jhtml?src=ln.
Please
direct any questions to the appropriate Title I specialist below.
Title I Specialists
Regions I, II, and V: Mr. Shady Clark, Jr., (sclark@mail.vak12ed.edu) at (804) 225-2901
Regions III, VII, and VIII: Mrs. Doris (Gabie) Frazier (gfrazier@mail.vak12ed.edu) at (804) 225-2907
Regions IV and VI: Dr. Robert Bourdeaux (rbourdea@mail.vak12ed.edu) at (804) 225-2904
JLD/BAS/saj