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A targeted assistance school must use funds only for programs that provide supplemental services for Title I identified children. The goal of a targeted assistance school is to improve teaching and learning to enable Title I, Part A participants to meet the academic standards all children are expected to master.

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Eligible Children

The school identifies children who are failing or most at risk of failing to meet North Dakota’s challenging academic standards and having the greatest academic need. Children who are economically disadvantaged, children with disabilities, migrant children, homeless children, and limited English proficient children are eligible for Title I, Part A services on the same basis as other children that are selected for services.


From the list of eligible children, the school selects those children who have the greatest need for special assistance to receive Title I, Part A services in the identified focus areas. Core academic areas include English, reading/language arts, mathematics, science, world languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography.

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Eligible Schools

Schools that qualify to receive funds because they are at or above the district’s poverty percentage or meet the state’s poverty for Title I eligibility are eligible to operate a targeted assistance program. The district may choose to implement either a schoolwide or targeted assistance program based on the needs assessment. If a school doesn’t qualify for a schoolwide program, it is eligible for a targeted assistance program.

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Needs Assessment

As part of continuous school improvement planning, the school conducts a comprehensive needs assessment. This determines the focus areas of the Title I, Part A services. A targeted assistance school must identify students who are failing or most at risk of failing to meet state standards. An educational objective measure must be used to determine the students with the greatest academic needs.


Those students with the greatest academic need in the identified focus areas are provided Title I, Part A services. The school must keep on file a list of this ranking of individual students.

 

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Ranking School Allocation

The district must allocate funds to school attendance areas identified as eligible and selected to participate in rank order based on the percentage of low-income students. The school allocation is determined by a per-pupil amount times the total number of children from low-income families in each school. Funds are allocated for use by the school, but it remains the responsibility of the district to ensure compliance of school expenditures.

 

Small districts with less than 1,000 students or only one school per grade span may use other methods to determine school allocations.

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Targeted Assistance Program - Seven Components

Component 1: Use Title I, Part A resources for supplemental programs to help participating Title I children meet the academic expectations all children are expected to meet.

Component 2: Ensure planning for students receiving Title I services is incorporated into the existing school plan.

Component 3: Use effective evidence-based instructional strategies that:

  • Give primary consideration to providing extended learning time such as extended school year, before and after school, and summer programs;
  • Help provide an accelerated, high-quality curriculum; and
  • Minimize removing children from the regular classroom during regular school hours.

Component 4: Coordinate with and support the regular educational program that may:

  • Include services to assist preschool children's transition to elementary school.
  • Use funds to provide health, nutrition, and other social services if funds are not available from other public or nonpublic sources, then funds may be used (if these needs of the targeted students are part of the comprehensive needs assessment); and as a last resort, funds can be used to provide basic medical equipment such as eyeglasses, hearing aids and professional development to assist staff in identifying and meeting the comprehensive needs of eligible children.

Component 5: Provide professional development opportunities and other sources for administrators, teachers, and other school staff who work with participating children with Title I, Part A resources to the extent practicable.

Component 6: Provide strategies to increase parent and family engagement, such as family literacy services.

Component 7: Coordinate and integrate federal, state, and local services and programs, including violence prevention, nutrition programs, housing programs, Head Start, adult education, vocational and technical education, and job training.

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Targeted Assistance Record-Keeping

The district should maintain records of the following items and have the documentation available in the event of an audit or monitoring. This is not meant to be an all-inclusive list but rather provide guidance when it comes to documenting a targeted assistance program.

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Setting Up a Targeted Assistance Program

Review this step-by-step guide to assist when setting up a targeted assistance program.

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