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Parents/Guardians Right to Know

Title I, Part A Programs
The Title I, Part A Program makes it possible to expand the basic educational programs schools and districts offer with services and interventions that support struggling learners. Title I, Part A is one of many programs governed by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act or ESEA. There are two kinds of programs that schools can fund through Title I, Part A — schoolwide and targeted assistance.
• Schoolwide means that all students—based on academic need—are eligible to receive the additional instruction this federal program will fund.
• Targeted assistance makes it possible to provide the same benefits but only to selected students based on
academic need.
Your Right to Know
ESEA directs schools and districts to notify parents about four key requirements of a Title I, Part A program.
1. Professional qualifications of teachers and paraprofessionals who instruct
2. Notification if your child’s teacher is not highly qualified
3. Individual report card that lets you know how your child is progressing
4. Notification that the school has entered school improvement because its students did not make Adequate Yearly Progress—meet the state standard in math or reading or both—for two school years in a row.

Your Right to Know —Professional Qualifications of Teachers
Parents of children, who attend schools that receive Title I, Part A funding, have the right to request and receive information about the qualifications of the educators who teach their children core subjects—reading, English language arts and mathematics. The same applies to paraprofessionals who instruct. At a minimum, the information you receive must explain these 3 essential components of an educator’s qualifications.
1. Whether or not the teacher met state qualifications and certification requirements for the grade level and
subject(s) he or she is teaching,
2. Whether or not the teacher has an emergency or conditional certificate by which state qualifications were
waived.
3. What undergraduate and graduate degree(s) the teacher holds, including graduate certificates and additional
degrees, and major(s) or area(s) of concentration.

Your Right to Know—Qualifications of Paraprofessionals Who Instruct
Districts employ paraprofessionals to provide instructional support— consistent with the instruction provided by the classroom teacher or teachers. In schools that operate a schoolwide program, all paraprofessionals who instruct must have special qualifications. In schools that operate a targeted assistance program, the paraprofessionals who instruct students served by the Title I, Part A program must also have earned these same qualifications.
1. Completed at least two years of study at an institution of higher education, or
2. Obtained an associate’s or higher degree, or
3. Meet a high standard of quality either through a) the ETS ParaPro Assessment, or b) an paraeducator apprenticeship program approved by Wisconsin.

Notification If Your Child’s Teacher Is Not Highly Qualified.
ESEA directs schools to send timely notice to parents and guardians IF their child has been assigned to, or taught for more than four consecutive weeks by—a teacher of a core academic subject—who is not highly qualified.

Report Card for Every Student
You have a right to know how well your child is progressing. Schools that operate Title I, Part A programs must generate a report card for every student that explains how well that student scored on the state assessment in, at least, reading, English language arts and mathematics.

State Report Card
The Office of Public Instruction—Wisconsin’s education agency—publishes a State Report Card online, https://apps2.dpi.wi.gov/reportcards/home . Use this website to find important information about your school and district, such as the results of state testing, enrollment numbers, facts and figures about the teachers in your school and much more.

Notification—Mandatory Throughout School Improvement
Federal law—ESEA—sets a standard for state, district and school accountability, and directs public schools that receive Title I, Part funds to reach 100% proficiency: all students reach state academic standards in math and reading. Under ESEA, schools, whose students have taken the state assessments and have not met these standards—two years in a row—begin a process of improvement in the next school year. There are five Steps to school improvement. At each Step, schools and districts must make sure parents and guardians receive a detailed explanation of the causes and consequences of the school’s performance and how to get involved in their student’s education.
These notifications must be clear and concise. You should be able to distinguish notifications related to school improvement from other information the school or district sends home. Here are the basics you should expect from your school district.
• What it means to enter a program of school improvement
• Reason this school was identified for improvement
• How the school compares—academically—to other schools in the district and state
• What the school is doing to address the problem.
• What the school district or state is doing to help this school
• How you can get involved, and how you can help to address the academic issues that led to the need for
school improvement
• Public School Choice—the option to transfer your student to another public school not in a Step of
improvement
• Supplemental Educational Services—the option to access remedial instruction for your student

Ask Us About Title I, Part A Programs & Your Right to Know
Menominee Indian School Distirct
715-799-3824

U.S. Department of Education: 1-800-USA-LEARN (872-5327)