Title I Annual Parent Meeting Walnut Grove Elementary School Home of the Wolves

1. Title I Annual Parent MeetingWalnut Grove Elementary SchoolHome of the Wolves September 17, 2013Dr. Cindy Callaway, PrincipalKen Cline, Assistant Principal Schoolwide Title I Program

2. What is Title I? • Title I is a federally funded program designed to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging state academic standards and state academic assessments. • The Title I Mission is to ensure that each child successfully meets or exceeds Georgia’s proficient and advanced levels of student performance and meet or exceeds expectations on local, state, and national assessments. • Title I is the largest federally funded program for elementary, middle and high schools. Through Title I, money is given to school districts around the country based on the number of low-income families in each district. Each district uses its Title I money for extra educational services for children most in need of educational help. The focus of the Title I program is on helping all students meet the same high standards expected of all children. • Title I helps students, teachers, and parents. Title I programs can help: • children do better in school and feel better about themselves; • teachers understand the needs and concerns of students and parents; and • parents understand their child and be more involved in the child’s education.

3. As a parent, what is my role in supporting my student’s success? Parents are an important part of the Title I Team and are partners with the school in helping all students achieve. As a parent of a child in a Title I school, you have the right to: • be involved in the planning and implementation of the parent involvement program in your school; • ask to read the progress reports on your child and the school; • request information about the professional qualifications of your child’s teacher(s) including the degrees and certification held, and whether the teacher is certified in their respective area of instruction; • help to decide if Title I is meeting your child’s needs, and offer suggestions for improvement; • ask about your child’s school designation under the new Georgia ESEA Flexibility Waiver ; • know if your child has been assigned, or taught by a teacher that is not highly qualified for at least four consecutive weeks; and • help develop your school’s plan for how parents and schools can work together.

4. Rights of Parents/Guardians Parents/guardians of students in a Title I School have the following rights: • right to be informed (through the Annual Title I Meeting and other means); • right to be involved in the school (volunteering for Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) activities, as a Room Parent, and in classrooms); • serving on committees such as PTO, the School Council, and system advisory committees and councils; participating in school meetings (including Title I Planning Meetings); attending school activities and programs (including PTO); and taking part in parent-teacher conferences and meetings that pertain to your child’s learning; • right to be involved in the development of the School-Parent Compact; • right to request information about the professional qualifications of your child’s teacher(s) (including right to be notified if your child is being taught by a non-highly qualified teacher for more than four weeks); and • right to request opportunities for regular meetings for you to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decision about the education of your child(ren) (the school must respond to any such suggestions from parents/guardians as soon as practically possible). • right to be involved in the development of the Title I Schoolwide Plan • Right to be involved in the revision and development of the Title I Parental Involvement Plan/Compact

5. Ways Parents/Guardians Can Get Involved Become active in your Title I Program by doing the following: • learn more about the school, curriculum, special programs, Title I and your rights and responsibilities; • teach your child in ways that will add to what the teacher is doing; • know your rights because knowledge is power; • participate and support your child academically at school and home; • make decisions about your child’s education and academic program; and • keep in contact with your child’s teacher through telephone, e-mail, or face-to-face conversations. • monitor your child’s progress through parent-teacher conferences, PAGES Agenda, Infinite Campus • use the WGES Parent Resource Center to gain information about supporting your child academically outside of school • know the school is committed to providing information concerning your child’s education in a timely manner, in parent friendly language • review standardized assessment results with your child

6. Title I Parent Plan • What is the Title I Parent Plan? • Purpose • Annual revision • Shared responsibilities • Feedback from all stakeholders

7. Title I Compact • What is the Title I Compact? • Purpose • Revised annually • Parent feedback

8. The Responsibilities of the School Title I schools are responsible for the following actions: • sending notifications to parents about the school’s policy in an understandable language and format; • holding an annual meeting, at a convenient time for parents, to discuss the school’s parental involvement plan, budget, how funding is spent and the rights of parents to be involved; • developing jointly, with the parents of participating students, a school-parent compact; • offering parental meetings at various times (schools may also pay for transportation and childcare, when reasonable and necessary); • involving parents in the planning, review, and improvement of Title I programs, including the school parental involvement policy; • building capacity by supporting the development of parent advisory councils or parent leadership teams; and • providing information to parents about the state standards and curriculum and how parents can monitor their child’s program. • set annual measurable goals for improvement based on assessment results. • share goals and targeted areas with all stakeholders on an ongoing basis.

9. School Participation in Title I Some Title I schools are schoolwide programs. Other schools may have a targeted assistanceprogram. In Schoolwide Title I Programs: • 40% or more of students in the school qualify for free or reduced price meals (economically disadvantaged/low income); • the purpose is to improve the entire educational program in a school which should result in improving the academic achievement of all students, particularly the lowest achieving students; and • all students who attend the school are eligible for services, and funds may be used for all students. In Targeted Assistance Title I Programs: • 36% - 39% of students in the school qualify for free or reduced price meals (economically disadvantaged/low income); • the purpose is to provide for all eligible students the opportunity to meet the State’s challenging student academic achievement standards; • only targeted students are served, and Title I funds received must be used only for programs that provide services to eligible children identified as having the greatest need for special assistance; and • eligible students are identified by the school as failing, or most at risk of failing, to meet the State’s challenging student academic achievement standards.

10. Title I Status Identification Based on Georgia’s statewide accountability system, the College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI), Title I schools can be identified as Reward Schools, Priority Schools, Focus Schools, or Alert Schools. • Reward Schools are the highest performing and progressing Title I schools (10% of Title I schools). • Priority Schools are the lowest achieving Title I schools (5% of Title I schools). • Focus Schools are Title I schools that have the largest within-school gaps between the highest-achieving subgroup(s) or the lowest-achieving subgroup(s) (10% of Title I schools). • Alert Schools are both Title I and non-Title I schools in which achievement falls far below (3 standard deviations) the state’s average performance on statewide assessments or fall into one of two categories for elementary schools (subgroup alert or subject alert).

11. Walnut Grove Elementary School’s Participation in Title I and Designation • Walnut Grove Elementary School participates in Title I as a schoolwide program. This means that 40% or more of students who attend Walnut Grove Elementary School qualify for free or reduced price meals and all students who attend the school are eligible for services. • Walnut Grove Elementary School is not a designated Title I Reward School, Priority School, Focus School, or Alert School.

12. How Are Title I Funds Spent? (1 of 2) Title I schools receive federal funds that may be spent in the areas of: • instruction (supplies, technology supplies, computer software, equipment, computers, and books and periodicals); • improvement of instructional services through professional learning; • educational media services (books and periodicals for the Media Center); • support services for parent involvement purposes; and • transportation costs for instructional activities outside of the school day (field trips cannot be financed with Title I funds). Expenditures with Title I funds must be for: • the purpose of meeting the academic needs of Title I students as identified through the school’s School Improvement Plan; and • instructional purposes. A portion of Title I funds must be spent for the purpose of parent/guardian involvement. WGES parents/guardians have input into how parent involvement money is spent.

13. How Are Title I Funds Spent? (2 of 2) WGES Title I funds have been budgeted to purchase items such as: • Saxon Phonics for kindergarten; • instructional supplies such as paper, laminating film, and printer cartridges to provide those supplies that are lacking after all school system funds have been spent (not to replace those provided by the school system); • computers for classroom and the Computer Labs; • software programs such as Reading A – Z and Imagine Learning; • SMARTBoards (interactive whiteboards) for classrooms; • books for classrooms, the Leveled Library, and the Media Center; • test preparation booklets; • printing the school handbook and providing to each student a Parent Achievement Guide for Every Student (PAGES); • labels for use in the Parent Achievement Guide for Every Student (PAGES); • resources for parent/guardian check-out from the Parent Resource Center; • a printer for the Parent Resource Center; and • transportation costs for students attending Intersession and/or Saturday School.

14. Highly Qualified Status of WGES Teachers A highly qualified teacher is defined as a teacher who: • holds at least a bachelor’s degree from a four-year institution; • is fully certified by the State for the academic content area(s) and grade-level(s) which he/she teaches; and • demonstrates competency in each core academic content area he/she teaches. The content areas are English, Reading, Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, History, Civics and Government, Geography, Economics, the Arts, Foreign Language, Special Education, and English as a Second Language (ESOL). All WGES teachers are highly qualified. This is documented through the Georgia Professional Standards Commission.

15. Curriculum (1 of 4) The curriculum in all kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms is based on the Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS). CCGPS was developed when 47 states developed Core State Standards (CCSS). The CCSS were developed to provide consistent and clear academic expectations in grades kindergarten through twelve in English/Language Arts, Literacy in Social Studies and Science, and Mathematics. These Standards are a clear set of goals and expectations for what students should know and be able to do by the time they complete a grade-level. The standards found in CCSS are: • college and career ready success; • internationally benchmarked ensuring that students are globally competitive; • have consistent expectations for all which are not dependent on a student’s zip code; • focused, coherent, and clear to help students understand what is expected of them; • create a foundation to work collaboratively across states and districts.

16. Curriculum (2 of 4) Standards: • provide clear, consistent expectation about what knowledge, skills, and practice students should have and learn at each grade level; • set expectations; and • guide teachers and parents on what they need do to help students graduate from high school prepared to enter college and/or a career. The CCGPS is: • made up of grade-specific standards for grades kindergarten through twelve; • defines end of the school year expectations; • defines a cumulative progression designed to enable students to meet college and career readiness; and • addresses: English Language Arts (Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language); Mathematics; and literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and technical subjects.

17. Curriculum (3 of 4) CCGPS guides: • curriculum (the subject matter taught at each grade level); and • assessments (tests that determine the level of learning a student has achieved). The forms of academic assessment used to measure student progress towards mastery of CCGPS are: • classroom assessments; • Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (GKIDS); • Georgia Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT); • Georgia Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests Modified (CRCT-M); • Georgia Alternative Assessment (GAA); • High School End of Course (EOCT); and • Writing Assessments.

18. Curriculum (4 of 4) These assessments now require: • more reading; • complex text; • increased focus on Lexile measures (reading levels); and • thinking.

19. Student Assessment/Accountability • Standardized Assessments – CRCT, GKIDS, 3rd and 5th Grade Writing Tests, AIMSweb, Teacher Created Tests • Accountability – College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI) – new statewide accountability system2012-13 Performance and Performance Flags

20. Questions/Handouts • Frequently Used Terms/Definitions/ Abbreviations • Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), Title I, Part A Section 118 • PTA’s National Standards for Family-School Partnerships • National PTA Parent’s Guide to Student Success • School Parental Involvement Plan • School-Parent Compact • CCGPS Brochure