General Title I Requirements

The information below is designed to support districts that are mandated to reserve Title I funds as Set-Aside for Students identified as Neglected or Delinquent. The set-asides and services for youth living in neglected facilities or youth living in delinquent facilities are separate from each other. Set-Aside for Students identified as Neglected or Delinquent is mandatory dollars taken from the District’s Title I, Part A Allocation for comparable services to students who reside in eligible institutions for Neglected children within the boundaries of the district. In addition to the mandatory Set-Aside for Students identified as Neglected or Delinquent, a district, at its discretion, may reserve funds for Children in local institutions for delinquent children and neglected or delinquent children in a community-day program (34 CFR 200.77[a][2-3]).

Neglected Children and Youth – children and youth living in a child-caring institution that need care due to abandonment, neglect, or death of their parents/guardians.

Neglected Programs – a public or private residential facility for neglected children and youth, other than a foster home, that is operated for the care of children and youth who have been adjudicated delinquent or in need of supervision.

Delinquent Children and Youth – children and youth in a child-caring institution who have been adjudicated to be delinquent or in need of supervision.

Delinquent Facilities – a public or private residential facility for delinquent children and youth, other than a foster home, that is operated for the care of children and youth who have been adjudicated delinquent or in need of supervision.

Set-Aside for Students Identified as Neglected or Delinquent

Title I, Part A, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), seeks to make sure the Set-Aside for Students identified as Neglected or Delinquent is a set-aside fund that must be reserved from the district's Title I, Part A allocation for services to students who reside in eligible institutions for neglected children within the district's boundaries. Set-Aside for Students identified as Neglected or Delinquent is only required by the district if there are students in an eligible institution for neglected children and youth and if these neglected children and youth attend a non-Title I school, similar to how it calculates the proportional share for equitable services (ESSA Section 1113[c][3][B]; 34 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] 200.77[a][4]).  Therefore, if a district submits an October neglected count to the State for a local facility (public or private) that serves neglected children, which in turn generates Title I funds for the district, the district must provide Title I services to children in the facility that are “comparable to those provided to children in Title I Schools.”

Set-Aside for Students identified as Neglected or Delinquent serve children in neglected institutions, and if appropriate, children in delinquent institutions, and neglected or delinquent students in community day programs, shall be determined based on the total allocation received by the district and prior to any allowable expenditures or transfers by the district.

The Title I, Part A Set-Aside for Students identified as Neglected or Delinquent ensures that all children in neglected facilities have a significant opportunity to receive a fair, equitable, high-quality education, and close educational achievement gaps. Students who reside in local neglected facilities (that also attend school within the district) must receive the same services and opportunities offered by the district. (ESSA sections 1113[c][3][A][ii-iii], and [B][i-ii]).

Set-Aside for Students Identified as Neglected or Delinquent Allowable and Unallowable Uses of Funds

Programs and activities supported by the Set-Aside for Students identified as Neglected or Delinquent funds must be:

• Consistent with the purpose of Title I, Part A Set-Aside for Students identified as Neglected or Delinquent,
• Necessary, addressing identified needs,
• Reasonable, considering the scope of impact and associated costs,
• Used for evidence-based activities,
• Utilized to supplement local and state funds, not supplant funds, 
• Coordinate with other available funds and resources to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of spending.

Decision rules help determine whether a proposed use of funds is allowable and appropriate in terms of Federal, State, and local requirements, laws, and regulations. The rules, listed below, may also be found in a checkbox form. Allowable and unallowable decision rules include:

• Do the proposed uses comply with federal requirements regarding the use of TIPD funds?
• Do the proposed uses align with the goals and objectives of the TIPD part of the North Dakota State plan?
• Do the proposed uses align with the requirements for, and the needs expressed (needs assessment), in the subgrantee’s application?
• Do the proposed uses comply with other applicable Federal regulations for the uses of Title I grant funds?
• Do the proposed uses of funds comply with applicable State or local laws and regulations?
• Will the proposed use(s) of funds improve outcomes for the students served, and how?
• Is the amount of TIPD funds to be spent on the suggested uses reasonable given its proportion of the facility’s overall TIPD allocation?
• Are there other potential funding sources (State or district funds) available to pay for the proposed use(s) of funds?

For questions or additional information on Title I, Part A, please contact:

Jen Withers/Neglected and Delinquent Coordinator – jwithers@nd.gov or 701-328-4612

For more information, visit Title I, Part D

Districts must provide services for homeless children who attend Title I and non-Title I schools, including providing educationally related support services to children in shelters. The services in non-Title I schools must be comparable to those provided to children in Title I schools. A district must reserve “such funds as may be necessary” [ESSA 1113(c)(3)(A)], to serve homeless children attending both Title I and non-Title I schools (regardless of receiving a McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grant). Funds must be reserved even if all schools in the district are Title I schools. The reserved funds must address the educational needs of the homeless students and must take into account homeless students enrolled in nonpublic schools, institutions for neglected children, and local institutions for delinquent youths.

A district must provide eligible nonpublic school children, their families, and teachers with Title I, Part A educational services that are equitable to those provided to eligible public-school children, their families, and teachers. These services must be determined in consultation with nonpublic school officials.

Title I Requirements

Each State is required to have “professional standards for paraprofessionals working in a program supported with funds under [Title I, Part A], including qualifications that were in place on the day before the date of enactment of the [ESSA].” As such, each State must ensure that its LEAs and schools continue to comply with the paraprofessional requirements in place on December 9, 2015 (including those requirements under section 1119(c) and (d) of the ESEA, as amended by NCLB, and any State-specific requirements that were in place on that date). Specifically, each State and its LEAs must continue to ensure that each paraprofessional who is hired by the LEA and works in a program supported by Title I, Part A funds has a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent and has completed at least two years of study at an institution of higher education, obtained an associate’s or higher degree, or met a rigorous standard of quality and can demonstrate, through a formal State or local academic assessment, knowledge of, and the ability to assist in instructing, reading, writing, and mathematics.

A paraprofessional provides instructional support by reinforcing a teacher’s instruction in the classroom. Section 3201(11) further defines a paraprofessional as an individual who is employed in a preschool, elementary school, or secondary school under the supervision of a certified or licensed teacher, including individuals employed in language instruction educational programs, special education, and migrant education.

Title I paraprofessionals must have a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent and meet one of the following three requirements to be employed in a Title I program:

1. Obtained a working knowledge in reading, mathematics, and writing by completing two years of study (48 semester hours) at an institution of higher education; or
2. Obtained an associate’s (or higher) degree; or
3. Met a rigorous and objective standard of quality and demonstrated knowledge of and the ability to assist in instructing reading, writing, and mathematics by taking and passing one of North Dakota’s approved assessments.

Individuals holding a North Dakota educator’s professional license meet the requirements under ESSA, and the teaching license number could be used in lieu of the paraprofessional certificate of completion number.

A paraprofessional assists teachers and students under the direction of a professional teacher.

• In a Title I targeted assistance program, these requirements pertain to all Title I-paid instructional paraprofessionals.
• In a Title I schoolwide program, Title I funds support all teachers and paraprofessionals, and the Title I paraprofessional requirements apply to all paraprofessionals with instructional duties, regardless of whether the position is supported with Title I funds. This includes all instructional paraprofessionals paid with the district, Title I, school improvement, Special Education, BIA, or other funding sources.

Please note: The requirements for Title I paraprofessionals are not meant to apply to those persons who are in training or hold non-instructional positions, such as student teachers, interns, technology assistants, behavior monitors, etc.

Exceptions to the ESSA requirements include a paraprofessional who serves only as a translator; a paraprofessional who only conducts parental involvement, and separate programs that are physically located in the Title I school but are not part of the school’s overall organizational structure or schoolwide program (e.g., preschool, district-wide Special Education, etc.), and these programs are not supported with Title I funds.

Districts must ensure paraprofessionals in a targeted assistance program supported with Title I funds and all paraprofessionals in a schoolwide program, no matter the funding source, meet one of the following requirements [ESSA 111(g)(2)(J) and (M)]:

• Completed at least 48 semester hours of study at an institution of higher education;
• Obtained an associate’s (or higher) degree; OR
• Met a rigorous standard through an approved assessment.

Visit Title I Paraprofessional Certificate of Completion for additional information.

Preschool programs supported by Title I, Part A funds must also meet, at a minimum, the education performance standards of the Head Start Performance Standards that are aligned with the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework: Ages Birth to Five (2015).

• Non-Regulatory Guidance - Supporting School Reform by Leveraging Federal Funds in a Schoolwide Program (PDF)

Title I Policy Committee of Practitioners Title I, under the Every Student Succeeds Act, requires that the Office of Educational Improvement & Support establish a Committee of Practitioners. The Title I law is very specific in outlining membership representation for the Committee of Practitioners. The Committee of Practitioners must include:

• Representatives from local educational agencies as a majority of its members
• Administrators, including the administrators of programs described in other parts of this policy
• Teachers, including vocational educators and higher education
• Parents
• Members of the local school boards
• Representatives of private school children
• Pupil services personnel

It is the role of the Committee of Practitioners to “…review, before publication of, any proposed or final State rule or regulation” pertaining to Title I. Committee members are often asked to review and be aware of various issues in Title I, including standards development, the state assessment system, and other current issues.

When selected, committee members are asked to consider serving on the committee for at least a three-year period, basically to ensure consistency within the committee’s membership. However, agreeing to be on the committee only commits service for one year; each year the Office of Educational Improvement & Support contacts each individual on the committee to verify membership for the upcoming school year.

The committee is asked to assist in selecting the recipients of several awards administered in the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction and review applications and reports before being submitted to the U.S. Department of Education.

2024-2025 NDDPI Title I Committee of Practitioners