Welcome to the Title I section of the website.

Arkansas schools and districts use federal resources in their efforts to improve student achievement, to ensure that students are proficient in meeting our state standards, and to prepare for a successful future.

The Arkadelphia Public School District is a subrecipient of Federal Grant Program funds to supplement and complement the efforts of local school systems, the private sector, public and private nonprofit educational research institutions, community-based organizations, parents and students to improve the quality of education.

District personnel receive technical assistance from ADE:DESE personnel in our efforts to apply best-practices in both fiscal and programmatic matters and to maintain communication efforts not only in the program planning stage but the implementation stage as well.

Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended, provides financial assistance through State Educational Agencies (SEAs) to Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) and public schools with high numbers or high percentages of children from low-income families to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic content and student academic achievement standards.

LEAs are required to target the Title I funds they receive to public schools with the highest percentages of children from low-income families. Individual public schools with poverty rates above 40 percent may use Title I funds, along with other federal, state, and local funds, to operate a "schoolwide program" to upgrade the instructional program for the whole school.

Schools with poverty rates below 40 percent, or those choosing not to operate a schoolwide program, may offer a "targeted assistance program" in which the school identifies students who are failing, or most at risk of failing, to meet the state's challenging performance standards, then designs, in consultation with parents, staff, and district staff, an instructional program to meet the needs of those students.

Both schoolwide and targeted assistance programs must be based on effective means of improving student achievement and include strategies to support parental involvement.

The programs that comprise Title 1, Part A include:

• Highly-Qualified Paraprofessionals

• Parental Involvement

• Preschool

• Private Schools

• Supplemental Education Services and School Choice

• Targeted Assistance School and Schoolwide Programs

Each campus hosts a Title I Annual meeting in the fall semester while the district hosts a meeting in the spring. Resources from these meetings will be available as they are posted here.

The Title I Committee for the district and for each campus may be found here.

Each APSD campus is currently using the Schoolwide model for implementation.

Each campus hosts a Title I Annual meeting in the fall semester while the district hosts a meeting in the spring. Resources from these meetings will be available as they are posted here.

The Title I Committee for the district and for each campus may be found here.

Currently, APSD uses the funds from this area per state and federal guidelines.

Personnel, students, their families, and other interested parties are invited to ask questions, to provide feedback, and to contribute to the process as part of our consultation with stakeholders. Therefore, we invite you to use our APSD Federal Programs Engagement Survey (feel free to provide feedback for this and any of the pertinent sections).

Arkadelphia Public Schools is a District Schoolwide program, therefore all students will have access to and participate in the program regardless of gender, race, national origin, color, disability, or age. Title I funds will be used to provide Instructional Facilitators for each campus and paraprofessionals for the elementary schools to help monitor the academic progress and meet the needs of students in the specified categories and other at-risk students. Title I funds will be used to purchase instructional technology and software i.e. Smartboards, Chomebooks, and Zearn to assist all students in all settings. Title I funds will be used to purchase supplemental instructional materials and supplies to support all students and provide professional development to all teachers.

Our school receives federal funds for programs that are part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended (2015). Throughout the school year, we will continue to provide you with important information about this law and your child's education. Based on current education law, teachers must have earned State certification and licensure. State certification and licensure is the training required to be a teacher.

We are very proud of our teachers and feel they are ready for the coming school year. We are prepared to give your child a high- quality education. You have the right to request information about the professional qualifications of your child’s teacher(s) or paraprofessional(s). A paraprofessional provides academic or other support for students under the direct supervision of a teacher. If you request this information, the district or school will provide you with the following as soon as possible:

• if the teacher has met State certification and licensing requirements for the grade levels and subjects for which the teacher provides

  instruction;

• if state certification and licensing requirements have been waived (is not being required at this time) for the teacher under emergency

  or other temporary status;

• if the teacher is teaching in the field of discipline for which they are certified or licensed;

• if the teacher has met State-approved or State-recognized certification, licensing, registration, or other comparable requirements. These requirements apply to the professional discipline in which the teacher is working and may include providing English language instruction to English learners, special education or related services to students with disabilities, or both; and

• if your child is receiving Title I or Special Education services from paraprofessionals, his or her qualifications.

Our staff are committed to helping your child develop the social, academic and critical thinking he or she needs to succeed in school and beyond. That commitment includes making sure that all of our teachers and paraprofessionals are highly skilled.

If you would like to request information about your child’s teacher(s) or paraprofessional(s), or if you have any questions about your child’s assignment to a teacher or paraprofessional, please use this form to contact our campus for more information.

You have a right to request information regarding the professional qualifications of the classroom staff working with your child.

Our district or school will be able to provide you with the following information regarding the qualifications of your child’s teacher(s):

• Whether the teacher meets the state qualifications and licensing criteria for the grades and subjects that he or she teaches.

• Whether the teacher is teaching under emergency or provisional status because of special circumstances.

• Whether the teacher has any advanced degrees and the field of discipline of the teacher’s certification or degree.

If at any time your student has been taught for four (4) or more consecutive weeks by a teacher(s) that is not highly qualified, then you will be notified by the school.

You also have the right to request information regarding the qualifications of the paraprofessional(s) assisting your child’s teacher(s).  If your child is receiving Title I, Part A services from a paraprofessional, then our district or school is able to provide you with the following information:

• Whether the paraprofessional has completed at least two years of study at an institution of higher education.

• Whether the paraprofessional has completed an associate’s degree (or higher).

• Whether the paraprofessional has met a rigorous standard of quality through our state’s certification procedure for determining the quality of paraprofessional staff.

• Whether the paraprofessional has: (a) the knowledge of and ability to assist in instructing reading, writing, and mathematics or (b) the knowledge of and the ability to assist in learning activities, such as homework, reading readiness, writing, mathematics, and other support as appropriate.

To request this information, please contact the office by phone during school hours:

• Perritt Primary School at 870-246-2260

• Peake Elementary School at 870-246-2361

• Goza Middle School at 870-246-4291

• Arkadelphia High School at 870-246-7373

  
  

Disabled parents have a right to ask for auxiliary aids and services to afford them an equal opportunity to participate in and to enjoy the benefits of a Title I, Part A Programs.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) requires the state educational agency (SEA) to investigate any complaint provided to the SEA.

Any individual, organization or agency (complainant) may file a complaint with the Arkansas Department of Education if that individual, organization or agency believes and alleges that a local educational agency, the state educational agency, or an agency or consortium of agencies is violating a federal statute or regulation that applies to a program under the ESEA. The complaint must allege a violation that occurred not more than one (1) year prior to the date that the complaint is received, unless a longer period is reasonable because the violation is considered systemic or ongoing.

For more information, please refer to:

•  Commissioner’s Memo COM-21-013 Final Rule: Federal Program Complaint Resolution

•  ADE Rules Governing Federal Program Complaint Resolution

Please complete any surveys for any campus and for the district

• APSD Federal Programs Engagement Survey (feel free to provide feedback for any of the pertinent sections)

Please consider volunteering by campus

• Each campus trains its volunteers for the specific roles and/or tasks

Please let us know how we can collaborate with you more effectively