Title I Part A - Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged

The Title I-A program provides supplementary services and materials for economically disadvantaged children. The focus of these funds is to promote academic success for at-risk students in core content areas (math, reading, language arts, science, and social studies). Some examples of support are: additional teachers/paraprofessionals, a strong family engagement component, and academic interventionists. Parent involvement is an important component of Title I-A programs.

How do you determine who qualifies?
Poverty, economic disadvantage, is determined by those students who qualify for free and reduced lunch.

What is the source of the funding?
Funds are provided by federal taxes paid by individuals and businesses.

Are there special guidelines?
Schools must meet specific poverty percentages (40%) to qualify. Schools may provide services as Targeted Assistance Programs (TAP) (to specific children who qualify), or as School-Wide Programs (SWP) (to all students attending the school). Funds may only be used to provide additional, supplemental services and materials. They may not replace (supplant) services already provided to the general student population through state and local funds. Funds must be made available to private schools serving children living in the district.

How much funding does DCS receive?
Funding varies from one year to the next because it is based on the number of poverty children who qualified in the previous October student count (fall FTE count).

Title I - A funded services are provided to students in both Davis and Dade Elementary Schools of Dade County Schools.

Who benefits from the funding?
In school-wide programs, all students benefit from Title I funds. In targeted-assistance programs, only the group of students meeting criteria set by the school benefit from the funds. Schools must operate for one full year as a targeted program before they may become school-wide.