Title III

William Jeremy Bell Director of Federal Programs

William Jeremy Bell

Director of Federal Programs

Title III Coordinator

700 Clinton Street, Dawson Building #3

P. O. Box 10

870-246-5563

william.bell@arkadelphiaschools.org

Welcome and Overview

Welcome to the Titles III 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 III

The purposes of the Title III program are:

  1. to help ensure that children who are limited English proficient, including immigrant children and youth, attain English proficiency, develop high levels of academic attainment in English, and meet the same challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards as all children are expected to meet;

  2. to assist all limited English proficient children, including immigrant children and youth, to achieve at high levels in the core academic subjects so that those children can meet the same challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards as all children are expected to meet, consistent with section 1111(b)(1);

  3. to develop high-quality language instruction educational programs designed to assist State educational agencies, local educational agencies, and schools in teaching limited English proficient children and serving immigrant children and youth;

  4. to assist State educational agencies and local educational agencies to develop and enhance their capacity to provide high-quality instructional programs designed to prepare limited English proficient children, including immigrant children and youth, to enter all-English instruction settings;

  5. to assist State educational agencies, local educational agencies, and schools to build their capacity to establish, implement, and sustain language instruction educational programs and programs of English language development for limited English proficient children;

  6. to promote parental and community participation in language instruction educational programs for the parents and communities of limited English proficient children;

  7. to streamline language instruction educational programs into a program carried out through formula grants to State educational agencies and local educational agencies to help limited English proficient children, including immigrant children and youth, develop proficiency in English, while meeting challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards;

  8. to hold State educational agencies, local educational agencies, and schools accountable for increases in English proficiency and core academic content knowledge of limited English proficient children by requiring — (A) demonstrated improvements in the English proficiency of limited English proficient children each fiscal year; and(B) adequate yearly progress for limited English proficient children, including immigrant children and youth, as described in section 1111(b)(2)(B); and 9) to provide State educational agencies and local educational agencies with the flexibility to implement language instruction educational programs, based on scientifically based research on teaching limited English proficient children, that the agencies believe to be the most effective for teaching English.

District Implementation

Currently, APSD does not receive 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).

District's GEPA Statement for Title III

Currently, APSD does not receive funds from this area per state and federal guidelines; therefore, the district does not submit a GEPA statement for this particular fund at this time.

Parent's Right to Know

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:

  • Peake Elementary School at 870-246-2361

  • Goza Middle School at 870-246-4291

  • Arkadelphia High School at 870-246-7373

This letter is available annually on the district website (here).

Disabled Parents

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.

Complaint Procedures

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:

Feedback

Please complete any surveys for any campus and for the district

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

cliipart-Capitol