Title I

How It Works

Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), now reauthorized as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), is the largest federal education program, distributing over $18 billion annually to high-poverty schools. Schools qualify for Title I funding primarily based on the percentage of students from low-income families, generally those eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. There are two main types of Title I programs: schoolwide programs (for schools where 40% or more of students are from low-income families) allow the school to use Title I funds for whole-school improvement, while targeted assistance programs direct funds specifically to eligible students. Title I money is meant to supplement, not replace, state and local funding. Schools use Title I funds for additional teachers, tutoring programs, professional development, parent engagement, extended learning time, and instructional materials. Title I schools are subject to additional accountability requirements and must notify parents if a school is identified for improvement. On OpenSchoolData, Title I status is displayed as a school characteristic. Parents searching for schools should know that Title I status does not indicate low quality, it indicates that the school serves a high-poverty population and receives extra federal resources. Some of the highest-performing schools in the country are Title I schools that leverage these resources effectively.

Related Terms

• Free and Reduced-Price Lunch (FRL), A federal program providing subsidized meals to students from low-income families, widely used as a proxy measure for school-level poverty rates.
• Per-Pupil Spending, The total amount of money a school or district spends divided by the number of enrolled students, used to compare resource levels across schools and states.
• School Accountability, The system by which schools and districts are held responsible for student outcomes, including state ratings, improvement plans, and potential interventions for chronically low-performing schools.
• Achievement Gap, Persistent differences in academic performance between student groups defined by race, ethnicity, income, disability status, or English proficiency, one of the most studied problems in American education.