Title I Federal Aid: History, Programs, and NCLB Impact

Introduction: Goals and Questions Behind Title I

On the U.S. Department of Education website, the headline above Title I reads: "Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged." Further into the government's description of Title I — the largest and oldest federal aid program for elementary and secondary schools — readers learn that it exists in order "to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging State academic achievement standards and state academic assessments." Those are laudable, lofty, idealistic, and thoroughly worthy goals. But numerous questions arise in the mind of an objective Title I researcher, such as: (1) What is the most effective way in which Title I funds may be used? (2) What do teachers envision when they project Title I impacts five years from now? (3) Do Title I resources truly make a substantial difference in a child's success?

History of Title I Legislation

Congress passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in 1965, and the most significant, substantial, and best-known portion of the legislation was Title I, which provided money to assist poorly performing students in "disadvantaged" schools. One drawback of the original legislation was that Title I funds could not be co-mingled with any other grants or funding sources a school receives. That ESEA restriction was eased in 1988, when Congress reauthorized the bill (renaming Title I "Chapter 1"), which at that time allowed schools with at least 75% of the student body below the poverty line to use the funds to create school-wide programs. The advantage of this measure was that funded programs could be integrated into a school, and all low-income children — not just "at risk" or "low-achieving" students — would benefit.

In 1994, the Improving America's Schools Act (IASA) changed Chapter 1 back to Title I and built more flexibility into the program. The "new" Title I called for accountability and shifted the focus from low-income and poorly achieving students to students from all economic backgrounds. The IASA Title I also offered funding for programs featuring students with high academic potential — a significant new innovation.

The most recent version of Title I emerged as part of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation in 2001, a product of the George W. Bush Administration and members of Congress who jointly participated in its creation. The NCLB has set highly ambitious goals — for all its programs, including Title I — that some educators and politicians argue are unachievable. Indeed, a number of states began to lower passing scores on the standardized tests that the new law mandates. Several U.S. Senators initiated legislation that would allow states to obtain a waiver to escape the strict requirements. After all, if stringent rules regarding student achievement in math and English/language arts are not met by a target date, schools can lose federal aid and/or be taken over for "restructuring." Notwithstanding the outcome of such waiver attempts, the ideal Title I program under NCLB should be school-wide, funded from multiple sources, and designed to prepare students to meet challenging new state standards.