President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) into law on January 8, 2002. The act reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1964. This reform gives districts flexibility in how they spend their federal education dollars, in return for setting standards for student achievement and holding students and educators accountable for results. NCLB is designed to help all students meet high academic standards. States disaggregate data for students by poverty, race/ethnicities, disabilities and limited English proficiencies to ensure that no child – regardless of his or her background – is left behind. NCLB provides options for parents so that their children receive the best possible education. It also invests in teaching practices that have been demonstrated to work. The law aims to foster an environment in which every child can learn and succeed.
Resources for Information on the No Child Left Behind Act
1) No Child Left Behind Act Desktop Reference – Available to be downloaded at www.ed.gov. Free copies may be obtained at 1-800-USA-LEARN or 1-8777-4-ED-PUBS; or order online at www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html.
2) Public Law 107-110 No Child Left Behind Act (law, regulations and guidance) – Available at <http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/edpicks.jhtml?src=ln>.
Listed below are some of the programs in NCLB with the contact at the Kentucky Department of Education. Also, check with the director/coordinator of each program in your local school district.
Title I, Part A – Improving Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged
Contacts – Claude Christian, Jennifer Baker, Debbie Hicks, Charliese Lewis, Jaynae Laine, Mary Marshall, Dawn Offutt, Robert Simpson, Ava Taylor, Joe Whitworth 502-564-3791
Description – Title I, Part A provides formula grants to districts. Districts then allocate funds to Title I schools based on their number of low-income children. The district must use Title I funds only in schools that have been selected for services through allowable procedures. Funds are used to improve student achievement in high poverty schools.
Title I, Part B - Reading First
Contacts – Linda Holbrook 502-564-2106
Description – Reading First is a state-administered competitive grant. Districts must implement comprehensive reading programs based on scientifically based reading research, including the following five components: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
Title I, Part B, Subpart 3 – Even Start Family Literacy
Contacts – Bill Buchanan 502-564-7056
Description – Even Start provides low-income families with integrated literacy services for parents and their young children (birth-age 7). Even Start is a competitive grant awarded to partnerships of local districts and other organizations.
Title I, Part C – Education of Migratory Children
Contacts – Charlies Lewis, Ann Bruce, and Dawn Offut 502-564-3791 Description – The Migrant Education Program provides states with funding based on counts of migrant children between 3 and 21 years old. A migratory child is defined as a child under 22 years of age who is a migrant agricultural worker or fisher, or who has a parent, spouse or guardian who is a migrant agricultural worker and who has moved across school district boundaries within the previous 36 months to obtain temporary or seasonal employment in agricultural or fishing work. The state Migrant Program subgrants with districts to provide supplemental instruction and support services to eligible migrant children. The state also contracts with nine (9) regional administrative centers whose primary functions are the collection and transfer of pertinent student data.
Title I, Part D – Neglected and Delinquent (N & D) Programs
Contact – Linda Morse 502-564-3791
Description – N & D programs provide financial assistance to educational programs for youths in state-operated institutions or community day programs. The program also provides financial assistance to support districts' programs involving collaboration with locally operated correctional facilities. Allocations are made to state agencies. Allocations are awarded to districts with high numbers or percentages of child and youth in locally operated juvenile correctional facilities, including facilities involved in community day programs.
Title I, Part F – Comprehensive School Reform (CSR)
Contacts – Debbie Hicks, Jennifer Baker 502-564-3791
Description – CSR competitive grants provide financial incentives for low performing schools. Start-up funds are provided so that schools can implement whole school reforms using scientifically based research methods and strategies that will improve the achievement of all children in the school.
Title II, Part A – Teacher and Principal Training and Recruitment (Quality)
Contacts – Michael Dailey 502-564-1479
Description – Title II, Part A combined Eisenhower Professional Development and Class-size Reduction funds. Funds made available through formula allocations to districts must be used to supplement, not supplant, non-Federal funds. Districts must conduct a needs assessment to determine the activities needed to give teachers the subject matter knowledge and teaching skills and to give principals the instructional leadership skills to help students meet state and local academic achievement standards.
Title II, Part D – Education Technology
Contacts – Mary Beth Carter 502-565-2020 x 224
Description – Ed Tech supports improved student academic achievement through the use of technology in schools by supporting high-quality professional development; increases access to technology and the Internet; the integration of technology into curricula; and the use of technology for promoting parental involvement and managing data for informed decision-making. States distribute funds by formula to school districts based on each district's share of funds under Title I, Part A and to high-need districts or partnerships including high-need districts on a competitive basis.
Title III – Language Acquisition Program
Contacts – Shelda Hale, 502-564-2106
Description – Title III assists school districts in teaching English to limited English proficient students (LEP) and in helping these students meet the same challenging state standards required of all students. Districts must use Title III funds to provide high-quality language instruction programs that are based on scientifically based research and that have demonstrated that they are effective in increasing English proficiency and student achievement. Districts are required to provide high-quality professional development to classroom teachers, principals, administrators and other school/community-based personnel in order to improve the instruction and assessment of LEP students.
Title IV, Part A – Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities
Contacts – Nijel Clayton 502-564-3678
Description – Title IV provides districts with formula allocations. Districts must have a plan for keeping schools safe and drug-free that includes appropriate and effective discipline policies, security procedures, prevention activities, a student code of conduct, and a crisis management plan for responding to violent or traumatic incidents on school grounds.
Title IV, Part B – 21st Century Community Learning Centers
Contacts – Linda Robinson 502-564-3678
Description – The 21st Century grants are competitive and provide services, during non-school hours or periods, to students and their families for academic enrichment, including tutorial and other services to help students, particularly those who attend low-performing schools, to meet student achievement standards.
Title V, Part A – Innovative Programs
Contacts – Joe Whitworth 502-564-3791
Descriptions – Title V provides formula allocations to districts to implement promising educational reform programs and school improvement programs based on scientifically based research.
Title VI – Flexibility Provisions
Contacts – Joe Whitworth 502-564-3791
Descriptions – The transferability provision allows districts to move up to 50% of their funds among most ESEA formula programs (Title II, Part A; Title II, Part D; Title IV, Part A and Title V, Part A), and into, but not out of, Title I, Part A. The Rural and Low-income Schools program allocates funds to eligible districts through a formula. Generally, these funds may be used for teacher recruitment and retention, professional development, parent involvement as well as activities authorized under Title I, Part A; Title II, Part D; Title III, Part A and Title IV, Part A. These funds must be used to supplement, and not supplant, any other federal, state, or local education funds. The Small Rural School Achievement program is a formula grant program direct from the U.S. Department of Education to eligible districts. The program gives these small districts flexibility to consolidate some federal funds. The applicable funding (i.e., Title II, Parts A and D, Title IV and Title V funds) may be consolidated and used for local activities authorized under one or more of the following programs: Title I, Part A; Title II, Part A; Title II, Part; Title III; Title IV, Part A; Title IV, Title V, Part A.
Title X, Part C – Education for Homeless Children and Youth
Contacts – Mary Marshall 502-564-3791
Description – Title X, Part C is intended to ensure that homelessness does not cause children to be left behind in school. Requirements regarding homeless students apply to all districts, regardless of whether the district receives a McKinney-Vento Homeless grant. All districts must adopt policies to ensure that homeless children and youths are not stigmatized or segregated and transportation is provided at the request of the parent or guardian (or in the case of an unaccompanied youth, the liaison) to and from the school of origin. Schools must immediately enroll homeless youth, even if the child or youth is unaccompanied by a parent or guardian and is unable to produce records normally required for enrollment.